DATE: Saturday, November 15, 1997           TAG: 9711150401

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Tom Robinson 

                                            LENGTH:   65 lines

HONORING THE FAMOUS IS BUT ONE GOAL OF NEW HALL

There are a couple of things the founders of the Hampton Roads African American Sports Hall of Fame, which inducted its first class Friday night, want you to know.

One is that, despite its apparently exclusionary name, the organization is not focused solely on honoring African Americans.

``That's just the name, it's not what we're all about,'' said Curtis Cole Jr., one of the hall's directors. ``We do say that our strong emphasis is highlighting the accomplishments of African Americans, but that's not our exclusive goal.''

``Anybody can join, and our nominees can come from any ethnic background. Some people have gotten the wrong connotation.''

Then why not change the name?

``There has been some lively discussion about that,'' Cole said. ``There's a lot of sentiment each way.''

The other thing to understand, Cole said, is that the hall is non-profit and exists in part to help make a difference in the lives of young people, of any race.

At Friday night's induction ceremony - which featured Julius Erving, Roger Brown, Bobby Dandridge, Dick Price, Steve Riddick and George Crawley - the hall would award four scholarships to local high school students, not all of whom were African American.

``As we grow, we're going to be doing a lot of youth programs,'' Cole said. ``Like mentorship, and trying to give kids a full variety of experiences - educational, spiritual and athletic.''

That's one reason the majority of Friday's all-male inductees - No Anne Donovan? No Vivian Greene? No Yogi Hightower? - are so high-profile, as opposed to the worthy, lesser-known people whose memory Cole says the hall wants to perpetuate.

Youth programs cost money. So even though the inclusion of Erving is a particular stretch because his area ties are so thin, bringing him in guaranteed a sellout. At $50 per seat.

There has to be a mix of inductees, Cole said. ``Who's going to contribute to a hall of fame that's got people that nobody's heard of?''

Something else is going to take money, too. Establishing the hall's new home.

It was announced Friday that the city of Norfolk will turn over an unoccupied portion of Harbor Park, approximately 15,000 square feet that sits beneath the ballpark's restaurant, to the hall of fame. Probably rent-free.

Building it out, though, is the hall's responsibility.

The hall's promise of community involvement with children, said Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim, ``is one of the reasons we want to foster this project.

``If minority youth ever needed role models, right now is as critical a time as ever. I'm glad that these athletes have come together to fill this role.''

Lest we forget, there is another hall of fame in town, the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in Portsmouth, which is officially recognized by the state and receives state financial support.

But its president, Bob Moorman, an African American, says he understands the desire of the local hall's founders to organize.

It doesn't hurt the state hall, Moorman said. ``And it might help it if it brings somebody to light who's been overlooked,'' he said.

One example already is Riddick. Virginia hall director Eddie Webb wants you to know there is a main reason why Riddick, the former track Olympian from Norfolk State, is not in the state hall.

No one's ever nominated him.

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