College Football Hall of Fame, CNN or Coca-Cola?
Published: 9/24/2009 3:09 PM
Last Modified: 9/24/2009 3:09 PM
Saw last night where the College Football Hall of Fame is moving its home office, facilities and base of operations from South Bend, Ind., to Atlanta.
The good folks at the hall apparently have an enormous financial incentive from a group of investors from Atlanta.
That's fine. I don't have a real problem with it. I always wanted to, but never did make it to South Bend to visit the hall. I'm sure the Atlanta group will accord the hall all the respect and dignity and — most important of all — publicity it deserves.
But it just feels wrong.
A hall of fame, no matter the sport, just seems a quaint, old-fashioned notion. In that vein, it should be located in a quaint, old-fashioned town.
Cooperstown, N.Y. Canton, Ohio. Springfield, Mass.
Those spots may be a little hard to get to, but think about it. They should be. They're destinations.
Let's say a baseball fan spends a week on vacation in New York City with his family. Man, that 4-hour drive upstate to Cooperstown might just fit perfect on the slow day. Or a football fan happens to be traveling through Cleveland on business. He maps out a half day's down time with a 40-minute drive down the road to Canton.
No distractions. No attractions. Just you and your hall of fame.
Located in a super megalopolis, a hall of fame can get lost.
I've been to Atlanta a dozen times (and through it two dozen more), and as a lifelong sports fan and college football fan, I would definitely make time to visit the College Football Hall of Fame among the CNN Center, the Centennial Olympic Park, World of Coca-Cola, the Georgia Dome, the Georgia Aquarium the future Center for Civil and Human Rights . . . um, now where was I going? And how long do I have to be there?
Here's the best example. While covering Sam Bradford's excellent Heisman adventure last December in New York, I made time to visit the Museum of Sport in lower Manhattan. This is a truly unique and memorable museum experience for a sports fan. Some of the stuff they have drops your jaw. They've got the country's foremost Heisman display, and a ton of other wonderful exhibits.
But I really felt hurried during my two visits. I mean, I was in the Big Apple. On Wall Street. Just blocks away from the ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. Half a block from the subway station back to midtown, Times Square and a dozen or so other fantastic museums. As much as I loved being inside the Museum of Sport, as wistful as I got staring at some of the exhibits, I almost couldn't wait to get out because there were so many other sights for me to see.
Sports fans touring a hall of fame want to take their time and let their imagination fly, not start thinking about what else there is to do.
Wish I'd made it to South Bend.
— John E. Hoover
Written by
John E. Hoover
Sports Columnist
