2018 Enshrinement Ceremony Presented by November 7, 2018 National Naval Aviation Museum | Pensacola, Florida Barry Smith Message from President On behalf of our 254 members, Executive Director Wayne Hogan, our Board of Directors, and our sponsors and volunteers from across the state, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the 57th annual Florida Sports Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremonies presented by Andrews Institute of Sports Orthopaedics and Medicine. Tonight’s eclectic class includes a member of the pro football Hall of Fame, a young woman who many consider to be the best female basketball player our state has ever produced, a legendary sports broadcaster, a member of baseball’s exclusive 500 Home Run Club, a golfer who has won both a US Open and a US Amateur, a track star who once claimed the title “World’s Fastest Man” and a boxer who not only won a world championship but did so in multiple weight classes. With almost half of this class having grown up in this area, we are both honored and pleased to bring this event to Pensacola and northwest Florida for the first time. The athletic talent this area has produced has been impressive in both quality and quantity. Frankly, the presence of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in this region has been long overdue. This is a condition that we are diligently working to rectify, as evidenced by last month’s Fishing for Fame Tournament in nearby Destin, Tuesday’s Golf Tournament at Pensacola Country Club and tonight’s Enshrinement event. The fishing tournament will become an annual event, while we hope to make northwest Florida part of our enshrinement rotation in the years to come. I also want to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful partners who have been so engaged and helpful in making our series of enshrinement events a success. In particular, our presenting sponsor – Andrews Institute – played a major role in making tonight possible, but many other companies contributed to the effort. Please take a moment to review the full list of partners listed in this commemorative publication. Also, I want to offer a big tip of the cap to our FSHOF Board Member “Flash” Gordon Sprague and his local organizing committee who left no stone unturned here in the region as they promoted and championed this week’s events on our behalf. The committee, consisting of Keith Hoskins (also a Board Member), Shirley Cronley, Rodney Rich, Eric Nickelsen, Ray Palmer and Bill Hamilton, has our utmost gratitude. Thank you again for your attendance and support of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. Your support of tonight’s enshrinement ceremony, our celebrity golf outing, and our many other events held throughout the year, allows the Florida Sports Hall of Fame to support many worthy organizations who share our goal to promote the health and well being of Florida’s youth. Finally, if your travels ever find you in Central Florida, I want to cordially invite you to visit the Florida Sports Hall of Fame Museum and Preview Center located in Davenport, at the Intersection of I-4 and US 27. Please enjoy your evening. Tonight’s Order of Events Welcome Wayne Hogan, Executive Director, Florida Sports Hall of Fame Introduction of Presenting Partner and Masters of Ceremony Wayne Hogan Hall of Fame History and Mission Dan Shugart, WEAR Sports Bill Vilona, Pensacola News Journal Invocation Pete Shinnick, Head Football Coach, University of West Florida Color Guard Naval Air Technical Training Center Performing Unit National Anthem Petty Officer First Class Angela Adair Dinner is served Introduction of Florida Sports Hall of Fame members, sports celebrities and dignitaries Recognition of Sponsors and Partners Barry Smith, President Florida Sports Hall of Fame Introduction of Florida Sports Hall of Fame Members and Sports Celebrities Barry Smith Fame for Fitness Award Presentation Southern Youth Sports Association Pensacola Lifetime Achievement Award Mickey Andrews, Florida State University Enshrinement of the 2018 Class Pete Pihos Justin Gatlin Mick Hubert Roy Jones Jr. Gary Sheffield Jerry Pate Michelle Snow Special Recognition, Pensacola Organizing Committee 2019 Enshrinement and Special Events Closing Remarks Dan Shugart, Bill Vilona Acknowledgements: In addition to the sponsors listed in this program, the Florida Sports Hall of Fame would like to acknowledge and thank the following individuals, companies and organizations for their efforts in making tonight possible: Alabama Sports Information, BLAB-TV, Classic City Catering, Mr. Jeff Conine, Mr. Mickey Dearstone, Mr. Gene Deckerhoff, First Tee of Northwest Florida, Florida Sports Information, Florida State Sports Information, Mr. Eli Gold, Mr. Tom Hammonds, Highpointe Hotels, Mr. Ron Jaworski, Mr. Paul Kennedy, Mr. Jim Lampley, Media Services, Miami Marlins, National Naval Aviation Museum, Ms. Melissa Pihos, Orlando Productions, Pensacola Country Club, Pensacola News Journal, Mr. David Steele, Tennessee Sports Information, TKO, United States Navy, United States Naval Air Station -Pensacola, and WEAR-TV. Our Masters of Ceremony Dan Shugart’s broadcasting career began in 1980 when fresh off of an extended stay in college, he moved from Los Angeles to Pensacola. Dan took a part-time news reporting job at WBSR-Radio in Pensacola. That fall, he was the play-by-play announcer for the Pensacola Wings semi-pro football team, which led to his hiring at WEAR in March, 1981. He worked as a weekend sports anchor and general assignment news reporter until he was promoted to sports director in December, 1982. Dan’s interest in sports comes from his dad, an All-America basketball player at the Naval Academy. Like most Navy kids, Dan moved a lot as a child, living in Maryland, California (several tours), Rhode Island, Hawaii and Virginia. After graduating from high school in San Diego, he arrived at UCLA in time to witness the final two years of the great John Wooden basketball dynasty. His frenetic youth (10 homes in 17 years) carried over to his academic career, where he careened from a Political Science Major to Psychology, Philosophy, and finally DAN SHUGART settling into History after developing a deep interest in the subject (and after the dean of students suggested it was time his career moved on). Defying all academic odds, he WEAR Sports Director graduated from UCLA in 1979 with a degree in History. Reading historical nonfiction (mostly on Classic Rome) remains his primary leisure activity away from sports. He received the Southern League’s Media Award in 2015, has twice earned the AP’s award for the top story in Florida, and was cited by Special Olympics as Florida’s broadcaster of the year for his work with that organization; he has coached youth basketball and he joined his father with his election to the Pensacola Sports Association Hall of Fame in 2006. Born in Pittsburgh, Bill Vilona’s first birthday was two days after Pittsburgh Pirates’ Bill Mazeroski’s walk off home run on October 13, 1960, in Game 7 of the World Series to beat the New York Yankees. Although he doesn’t remember the moment, it spurred a life-long love of Pittsburgh Sports. Bill attended the University of Tennessee (they were only slightly better in football then) and graduated four years later in 1981 with a journalism degree. He started working immediately as sports writer for Bristol Herald-Courier that summer. He worked six years in Bristol, covering everything from high school sports in east Tennessee and southwest Virginia, to NASCAR and NHRA drag racing, to East Tennessee State athletics. He was on the charter plane covering ETSU basketball on December 17, 1984, when it crashed in Jasper, AL. Miraculously, no one was seriously hurt after an amazing job by the pilot to get the turbo prop plane on the ground. Everyone escaped before it eventually went up in flames. Bill was hired by the Pensacola News Journal in January 1987. A year later, in the fall of 1988, he began covering Florida State athletics for Gannett News Service. Vilona BILL VILONA covered all 14 years of FSU’s dynasty era under Bobby Bowden and was fortunate to cover the Masters, the U.S. Open, the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, the World Cup Pensacola News Journal Soccer in Orlando, a Final Four, a Super Bowl, and a variety of other events unrelated to FSU football, basketball and baseball. Since returning full time to Pensacola, Bill has been a senior writer and columnist – covering a little bit of everything in the Pensacola sports scene. He is a member of the Pensacola Sports Association Hall of Fame as well as the UWF Athletic Hall of Fame. Making a Difference Florida Sports Hall of Fame Charities The Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc. (DBA The Florida Sports Hall of Fame) is a recognized 501(c)3 charitable organization whose mission is to contribute to initiatives related to the health, wellness and fitness of Florida’s youth. To that end, the Florida Sports Hall of Fame leverages its notable celebrity membership to assist financially, and through the investment of time, energy and other resources, to support a variety of causes affecting our youth. This year, the Florida Sports Hall of Fame will join hands with the Southern Youth Sports Association to assist that organization in the incredible work they do with the underserved youth of Pensacola. This is in addition to the continuing contributions and relationships the Florida Sports Hall of Fame has with Shriner’s Hospitals for Children, the Florida Sheriff’s Youth Ranches, and Volunteer Florida, an organization that provides hurricane relief to Florida communities