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Willie Anthony, the immediate past president of the Wrongers was my latest pigeon. But the Philly native was a lot smarter than that. He wasn't divulging a thing. Although I still might not give up my quest to pry it out of one of those brothers, I am proud of their ability to keep the winner of this most prestigious award a well-kept secret until it is announced at the Wrongers annual All Sports Jamboree weekend. Vice President Bob Green caught me trying to peak behind the sealed metal nameplate on the trophy at one banquet and (playfully) threatened to have me escorted from the ballroom. This year, the Wrongers will unveil their 2005 Gaither recipient January 29 at the posh Renaissance Hotel near Jackson-Hartsfield Airport. This is the 71st Jamboree for the Wrongers who spend the entire weekend honoring the nation's best and brightest high school, college and professional athletes across the board. While some clubs focus on one sport, the Jamboree cites athletes from a plethora of them. They also honor non-athletic trailblazers. This year, for instance, DeKalb County's first African-American district attorney Gwen Keyes will receive the club's Pioneer Award. Dr Zelma Hill Jenkins,the two term mayor of Shugualak Mississippi (who happens to be the mother of Wronger President Franklin Hill ) will receive the Al Thompson award (Thompson was a long time Wronger President). The club will also install former Atlanta Falcon runner Gerald Riggs, quarterback Steve Bartkowski and sprinter Gwen Torrence into it's Hall of Fame. Atlanta Falcon owner Arthur Blank and Falcon players Algee Crumpler and Michael Vick, provided the team isn't in the Super Bowl, will also be applauded. Jamie Dukes, a former Falcon turned radio talk show host has been named Sports Personality of the Year, and three members of the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech football teams will be honored. The club has also named Albany State University their mythical national black college football champ and for that, they will receive the WA Scott-Coca Cola Memorial Trophy (Scott founded the Atlanta Daily World in 1928 and his sports editor, Ric Roberts created the club in 1934). The final presentation of the evening is the ole' Gaither. The club generally chooses their top honoree from the MVPs of the four historically black football playing conferences. That would then make the following gridders finalists for the Gaither hardware: Derrick Wimbush and Walter Curry from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, North Carolina Central's Adrian Warren and Fayetteville State's Charles Roberts of the CIAA, Morgan State's Bradshaw Littlejohn and Hampton's Justin Durant of the Mideastern Athletic Conference, Southern's Thomas Ricks and Alabama State's Ronald "Rock" Dillon of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. From those men will come the next Gaither winner to join shoulder to shoulder with Richard Dent, Jerry Rice, John Grant, Lewis Tillman, Rashan Mathis and others who have taken the hardware home. Tickets to the full weekend of activities, which include a Friday night kickoff party, Saturday morning breakfast for local high school football honorees and the lavish evening awards banquet are avaiable for a fee. For information, call 404-216-9672.... WORTH NOTING: Albany State's 12-1 record (10-0 regular season ) is earning head coach Mike White plenty of applause. The Sheridan Broadcasting Network has named him their Coach of the Year and declared the Rams their mythical national black champ. Both Derrick Wimbush, who was second runner up for this year's Harlon Hill Trophy for the best NCAA Division II gridder and all world linebacker Walter Curry are on the SBN All American team along with Albany gridders Edward Harper and Rodney Magwood and Tuskegee's Jordan Brumbaugh We lost a member of the SIAC Hall of Fame a fortnight ago. Donald L Hollowell became one of America's greatest civil rights lawyers, counting Martin Luther King Junior, UGA first-black students Charlayne Hunter ( Gault) and Hamilton Holmes as his clients and Vernon Jordan and Howard Moore ( who helped free Angela Davis) as his law partners. But Hollowell was also a crackerjack QB for Lane College in the late 30s, playing under the legendary head coach Edward J "Ox" Clemmons who proceeded Hollowell to Atlanta in 1949 when he came south to coach at Morris Brown College. Morehouse College is still shopping for a new head football coach as is Clark-Atlanta University. Got an item or comment? |
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