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I attended the Bradley Hall of Fame luncheon this afternoon (Fri 2/11) at the Michel Student Center Ballroom.
Nice to see a number of other posters there, along with the entire BU athletic department staff, and the University President.
If anyone is interested, here is a summary of the event:
I was expecting modest crowd since the attendance at some other events this year has been down a little, but it was exactly the opposite. The people who manage the even said it was the largest crowd for a luncheon event they have had in a number of years. The tables were packed in closer than I have ever seen before at an event in the Student Centrer Ballroom, and every seat was filled. Attendance was around 560 for the luncheon.
Unlike game-day luncheons, this HOF luncheon did not feature the basketball coach, but the team was represented by Taylor Brown and Sam Maniscalco, while the rest of the team was in practice.
Sam spoke for a short time and said his recovery is coming along well. He is 5 1/2 weeks post surgery on his left ankle, and has a couple more weeks to go until he can remove the boot he wears. Then he will be able to begin strengthening workouts and eventually begin playing basketball again. He is very optimistic about a full recovery.
Taylor also spoke for a few minutes and noted that his 90-day "rest period" was up on February 9. He is doing fine and feels 100% normal. However, because of classes and team activities, he said the the medical re-testing has not yet been scheduled yet, and may not take place until after the season. He also seems very optimistic about returning to basketball soon. TB also spoke briefly about nearing completion of his video project "90 days", and said he would like to host a screening for Bradley fans either at the Carver arena where he could show it on the HD video board, or somewhere else where the fans could watch it.
The meal was great. The BU student center staff did a fantastic job.
The HOF induction came next. Dave Snell did a tremendous job as emcee, as always. He introduced the 3 Hall of Fame inductees for this year.
Paul Herzog- Paul graduated in 1974 with a degree in speech/communications. He is in his 35th season as the PA announcer for the Bradley Braves basketball team. Paul has volunteered countless thousands of hours of his time for Bradley, and has announced 507 games at the Fieldhouse, and every game since Bradley moved into Carver Arena.
Paul also volunteers his time for the IHSA, and has announced every game played in every division, boys and girls, since the IHSA games moved to the Civic Center in 1996, and he does work for the IHSA in other sports as well. Paul has also donated much of his time to serving as a Braves Club Director, and as president of the local and national BU Alumni organizations.
Paul gave an emotional acceptance speech, and told a number of hilarious stories from his days as PA announcer.
Mary Ellen Hill-Schupbach- Mary Ellen Hill is the most decorated female athlete in Bradley's history. She competed on the BU women's cross-country and track teams from 1996-2000. She is a 10-time individual MVC champion, and a 2-time track All American. She set 4 MVC records during her career, as well as numerous BU records. She was also named the 2000 Illinois NCAA Woman of the Year. Mary Ellen, who still looks like a teenager who could run cross country today, gave a nice acceptance speech. What a tremendous credit to Bradley she and the other inductees are.
Dewey Kalmer- Most Bradley fans know Dewey. He served as the head baseball coach at Bradley from 1980-2000. Most of those years he handled the full coaching duties, and recruiting duties alone, and did not even have an assistant. He is one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history. He has 842 wins in his Bradley career, and 1,032 wins in his 40-year coaching career (including his 11 years at Quincy University). Dewey has had over 60 players sign pro baseball contracts, and 7 of them made it to the major leagues. One of them, Kirby Puckett, is in the baseball Hall of Fame. Dewey is loved by all his former players, many of whom were in the audience today at the luncheon. Dewey now is retired and lives in Florida, but still avidly follows Bradley sports. He gave a great and often funny acceptance speech. I never knew Dewey was such a comedian!
These 3 will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame with a ceremony at halftime of Saturday night's game.
Nice to see a number of other posters there, along with the entire BU athletic department staff, and the University President.
If anyone is interested, here is a summary of the event:
I was expecting modest crowd since the attendance at some other events this year has been down a little, but it was exactly the opposite. The people who manage the even said it was the largest crowd for a luncheon event they have had in a number of years. The tables were packed in closer than I have ever seen before at an event in the Student Centrer Ballroom, and every seat was filled. Attendance was around 560 for the luncheon.
Unlike game-day luncheons, this HOF luncheon did not feature the basketball coach, but the team was represented by Taylor Brown and Sam Maniscalco, while the rest of the team was in practice.
Sam spoke for a short time and said his recovery is coming along well. He is 5 1/2 weeks post surgery on his left ankle, and has a couple more weeks to go until he can remove the boot he wears. Then he will be able to begin strengthening workouts and eventually begin playing basketball again. He is very optimistic about a full recovery.
Taylor also spoke for a few minutes and noted that his 90-day "rest period" was up on February 9. He is doing fine and feels 100% normal. However, because of classes and team activities, he said the the medical re-testing has not yet been scheduled yet, and may not take place until after the season. He also seems very optimistic about returning to basketball soon. TB also spoke briefly about nearing completion of his video project "90 days", and said he would like to host a screening for Bradley fans either at the Carver arena where he could show it on the HD video board, or somewhere else where the fans could watch it.
The meal was great. The BU student center staff did a fantastic job.
The HOF induction came next. Dave Snell did a tremendous job as emcee, as always. He introduced the 3 Hall of Fame inductees for this year.
Paul Herzog- Paul graduated in 1974 with a degree in speech/communications. He is in his 35th season as the PA announcer for the Bradley Braves basketball team. Paul has volunteered countless thousands of hours of his time for Bradley, and has announced 507 games at the Fieldhouse, and every game since Bradley moved into Carver Arena.
Paul also volunteers his time for the IHSA, and has announced every game played in every division, boys and girls, since the IHSA games moved to the Civic Center in 1996, and he does work for the IHSA in other sports as well. Paul has also donated much of his time to serving as a Braves Club Director, and as president of the local and national BU Alumni organizations.
Paul gave an emotional acceptance speech, and told a number of hilarious stories from his days as PA announcer.
Mary Ellen Hill-Schupbach- Mary Ellen Hill is the most decorated female athlete in Bradley's history. She competed on the BU women's cross-country and track teams from 1996-2000. She is a 10-time individual MVC champion, and a 2-time track All American. She set 4 MVC records during her career, as well as numerous BU records. She was also named the 2000 Illinois NCAA Woman of the Year. Mary Ellen, who still looks like a teenager who could run cross country today, gave a nice acceptance speech. What a tremendous credit to Bradley she and the other inductees are.
Dewey Kalmer- Most Bradley fans know Dewey. He served as the head baseball coach at Bradley from 1980-2000. Most of those years he handled the full coaching duties, and recruiting duties alone, and did not even have an assistant. He is one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history. He has 842 wins in his Bradley career, and 1,032 wins in his 40-year coaching career (including his 11 years at Quincy University). Dewey has had over 60 players sign pro baseball contracts, and 7 of them made it to the major leagues. One of them, Kirby Puckett, is in the baseball Hall of Fame. Dewey is loved by all his former players, many of whom were in the audience today at the luncheon. Dewey now is retired and lives in Florida, but still avidly follows Bradley sports. He gave a great and often funny acceptance speech. I never knew Dewey was such a comedian!
These 3 will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame with a ceremony at halftime of Saturday night's game.
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