JACKSON, Miss. - The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame's Class of 2013 will feature a diverse and accomplished group, representing several facets of the Mississippi sports world. Of ther six inductees, three have direct ties to Delta State University, including All-American Bill Buckner (FB), NBA standout and All-American forward Gerald Glass (MBB), and former sports information director Langston Rogers. The 2013 MS Hall of Fame Class will be inducted Friday, Aug. 2 beginning at 6 p.m. inside the Jackson Hilton Ballroom.
Bill Buckner: Bucker, a native of Starkville, has the unique distinction of being selected his football team's MVP four times in five years — at three different schools. Those schools included Starkville High, East Mississippi Junior College (where he played for Hall of Famer Bull Sullivan) and Delta State where he was an All American. Buckner also played one season at Mississippi State (1965), when he threw the first touchdown pass in the Houston Astrodome against the University of Houston. Bucker, the state director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for 25 years, already has been inducted to the Mississippi Community College Hall of Fame, the Delta State Hall of Fame and the East Mississippi Community College Hall of Fame.
Jimmy Giles: Giles, a native of Greenville and a former standout for Hall of Famer Marino Casem at Alcorn State, was inducted into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ring of Honor in 2011. He was named to the All-Time Tampa Bay Buccaneer team in 2004 and to the All-Time NFC Central Division team in 2001. Giles played in 188 NFL games, caught 350 passes for 5,084 yards and 41 touchdowns. He played in four Pro Bowls. Giles was All-SWAC in football and baseball at Alcorn for two seasons.
Gerald Glass: Glass, a native of Greenwood, was named to the Ole Miss basketball All-Century Team in 2009. After graduating for Amanda Elzy at age 16, Glass starred first at Delta State where he was All-Gulf South Conference in both 1986 and 1987 and the league's MVP in 1987. He led DSU to two NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and scored 1,249 points in just two seasons. He followed Coach Ed Murphy to Ole Miss, where he was a two-time All-SEC platyer who averaged 24 points per game as a senior. He was a first-round draft choice of the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA. Glass has returned to his high school alma mater, where he coached Amanda Elzy to a state championship in the 2011-12 season.
Earnest Larry "Doc" Harrington: Harrington, a Hattiesburg native, served Southern Miss as head athletic trainer for 30 years and as the head tennis coach 27 years. He also served as a trainer in the Senior Bowl for 25 years. Doc served as trainer for U.S. Olympic teams and has lectured in athletic trainer clinics around the world. This will be Doc's fifth Hall of Fame induction, following his induction into the Southeast Trainers Association Hall of Fame (2007), the Mississippi Athletic Trainer Association Hall of Fame (2003), the national Athletic Trainer Association Hall of Fame (1987) and the Southern Miss Athletic Hall of Fame (1987). His USM tennis teams compiled a match record of 407-179-2.
Langston Rogers: One of the nation's most decorated and award-winning sports information directors, Rogers is a native of Calhoun City and a graduate of Delta State where he played baseball for Hall of Famer Boo Ferriss. Rogers has received almost every honor that can be bestowed upon an active or past member of CoSIDA, the national sports information directors association, including induction into the organization's Hall of Fame. He also played baseball for Hall of Famer Bull Sullivan at East Mississippi Community College. He has been inducted into East Mississippi, CoSIDA, Delta State, Mississippi Sports Writers Association and Ole Miss Halls of Fame. In 1980, at age 36, he became the youngest president in CoSIDA's history, and in 2001 received CoSIDA's highest honor, the Arch Ward Award.
Michael Rubenstein: The late Michael Rubenstein, a native of Booneville, was one of the founders of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum and the museum's only executive director until his death in December, 2011. Rube, as he was known, helped create the Conerly, Howell, Gillom and Ferriss trophies. The Vanderbilt honors graduate was the sports director of WLBT in Jackson from 1974 until 1991 and is generally considered the most popular and most highly rated sports anchor in Mississippi TV history. He pioneered TV coverage of Mississippi's SWAC schools and won numerous broadcasting and reporting awards. In 2012, Boo Ferriss was named the first-ever winner of the The Rube, an award established in Rubenstein's honor to celebrate contributions to Mississippi sports.
ABOUT THE MISSISSIPPI SPORTS HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM
In April 1991, the Mississippi Sports Foundation was conceived over a casual lunch at a Jackson eatery. Today, with enthusiastic statewide support and some 500,000 visitors later, this once casual concept proudly stands as "Mississippi's First Museum for the 21st Century."
Operated by the Mississippi Sports Foundation, Inc. (MSF), a non-profit corporation established in June 1992, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum occupies 21,542 square feet on Lakeland Drive in Jackson. The site, donated by the City of Jackson, is adjacent to the Jim Buck Ross Agriculture and Forestry Museum and across from Smith-Wills Stadium.
Memorabilia from the former Dizzy Dean Museum is also a part of the Museum's second floor exhibit area.
The Jackson architectural firm of Cooke Douglass Farr Lemons/Ltd. (CDFL) designed the Museum shell with Communication Arts and Bud Hollomon of Jackson teaming to design the interior.
The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum employs advanced media technology to create an exhilarating sensory experience for visitors, not only from Mississippi but from across the country and around the world. And since its official opening on July 4, 1996, the Museum has hosted visitors from every state in the Union and from dozens of foreign countries.
REMEMBER THE PAST
The goal of the Museum, is to provide an exciting and informative experience for every visitor. The Museum is especially concerned about keeping memories alive among the young people of today and tomorrow.
As the late Michael Rubenstein, the museum's first executive director, pointed out, "By the time a youngster born in 2001 is 10 years old, it will have been 24 years since Walter Payton ran with a football, and 27 years since Archie Manning threw one, much less since earlier legends like Jake Gibbs, Bailey Howell and Dizzy Dean performed their athletic feats. That's Jurassic Park for kids in the year 2011 unless we feature these sports heroes in a modern, hands-on format youngsters can relate to."
Rick Cleveland, the veteran sports columnist who succeeded Rubenstein, concurs.
"We've got such an incredible sports story to tell in Mississippi," Cleveland says. "Over the course of my sports writing career I covered Walter Payton, Jerry Rice and Brett Favre essentially from high school through the Super Bowl. You're talking about the leading receiver and scorer, the leading passer and the second leading rusher in NFL history, all from rural Mississippi. What other state can come close to that? It's a story we need to tell, tell well and keep telling."
PLAY IN THE PRESENT
Sports events are combinations of sight, sound, and motion. Likewise, the exhibits in the Museum are combinations of sight, sound and motion.
Interactive kiosks dot the Museum. During their self-directed experience, visitors can retrieve archival footage, interviews and achievement data at their own pace with just the touch of a finger. The Museum is designed for visitors to learn by doing, listening and reading.
Funding for the Museum is derived from a partnership of private and public sources. The Mississippi Legislature approved the issuance in bonds to partially fund the design, construction, and exhibit production of the Museum.
Not one cent of tax money has been given to the Museum for its operation since it opened on July 4, 1996. The Museum raises 100% of its operating funds each year.
The 1993 Mississippi Legislature approved the issuance of $1,000.000 in bonds to finance construction of the Museum. The Coca-Cola Bottling Company also committed $1,030,000 to the project.
The 1994 Mississippi Legislature added another $2,500,000 in bonds, bringing the total obligated amount for construction, research, and design to $4,500,000. The MSF continues to raise funds for the project through a variety of fundraising events.
LOOK TO THE FUTURE
Since its opening, existing exhibits have been updated, and new exhibits and galleries have been added. From the sandlot to the Super Bowl, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a living, breathing testament to the competitive spirit - a $4.5 million state-of-the-art facility reflecting… tracing… telling… and re-telling the stories sports legends are made of….
For more on the MS Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, please log on to www.MSFame.com today!
