Fallon Fox Being Inducted In National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall Of Fame!

So proud of my sis Fallon Fox, who was named to the 2014 class of inductees for the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame!

The National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame was the brainchild of Bill Gubrud and several other founders to celebrate the sporting achievements of LGBT people. 

The Chicago-based National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame is housed at the Center on Halsted and unveiled its inaugural class last year.  It has garnered letters of supports from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, MLB commissioner Bud Selig and NBA commissioner Adam Silver. 

In addition to Fox, the other 14 inductees in the Hall's Class of 2014 are my Houston homegirl and WNBA baller Brittney Griner, retired NBA player John Amaechi, retired MLB player Billy Bean, 2012 Olympic diving medalist Tom Daley, Executive Director of You Can Play and retired NFL player Wade Davis, endurance swimmer Diana Nyad, retired rugby player Gareth Thomas, retired NFL player Esera Tuaolo, triathlete and founder of transathlete.com Chris Mosier, Nike, and the Stand Up Foundation.

The persons in the 2014 Class being inducted posthumously are San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, NFL player Jerry Smith and rugby player Mark Bingham, who was one of the heroes of Flight 93.

The induction ceremony will take place Friday, July 11 with a VIP reception at 5:30 PM CDT, a general reception at 6:30 PM with the induction ceremony starting at 7:30 PM.

Price of admission includes hosted bar and hors d'oeuvres. Tickets are $30.

Congratulations Fallon!  Here's hoping we have more of our trans sporting heroes and sheroes inducted in the Hall's Class of 2015. 
 

National Gay And Lesbian Sports Hall Of Fame Announces Its First Class

The National Gay And Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago announced its inaugural nomination class of inductees, and it not only includes some people I'm acquainted with, but some girls like us.

The Hall of Fame is housed at the Center on Halsted and was created by its executive director Bill Gubrud and several other individuals to celebrate the sporting achievements of LGBT people.

The initial class includes tennis player and girls like us Renee Richards and sportswriter Christina Kahrl, ESPN and CNN columnist LZ Granderson, MLB baseball player Glenn Burke, two time 1984 and 1988 Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis, tennis legends Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova, the first out boxer Orlando Cruz, Gay Games founder Dr. Tom Waddell, former pro lacrosse player Andrew Goldstein, out NBA player Jason Collins, Jerry Pritikin, and straight English Rugby league player Ben Cohen.

Congrats to Christina and LZ on this well deserved honor.  The Hall of Fame is taking nominations until July 1 for additional people that will be voted on by the board and announced during their induction ceremony.  

I'd like to see Kye Allums, Keelin Godsey, Michelle Dumaresq, Kristin Worley and Fallon Fox also get nominations and have a chance of making this inaugural class.    . 

The induction ceremony will take place in Chicago on August 3 and I hope that these folks also make it 

What Took Y'all So Long? UH Coach Guy V. Lewis Elected To Basketball Hall of Fame

On the 30th anniversary of a certain NCAA title game that makes me sick to my stomach to watch, the news that the voters pulled their heads out of their kiesters and finally elected legendary UH coach Guy V. Lewis to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame was welcome news for every Cougar fan and alum to hear on this day. 

It's past damned time it happened. 

During his 30 year career he led the UH men's b-ball squad to 592 wins and 27 consecutive winning seasons.   The Cougars went to 14 NCAA tournaments and advanced to the Final Four five times (1967, 1968, 1982, 1983, 1984) and played in back to back NCAA championship games in 1983 and 1984.

Guy V. Lewis (along with Don Haskins at UTEP) were responsible for integrating collegiate basketball in the South when he signed Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney as the first of many African-American players in UH history.

Lewis was the architect of the "Game of the Century" between Number 1 ranked UCLA and Number 2 UH at the Astrodome in 1968. The game was played in front of 52,693 fans and was the first-ever nationally televised college basketball game.  UH won it 71-69 to snap the Bruins' 47-game winning streak. 



And oh yeah, there was Phi Slama Jama.  I was at UH at the time and got to spend more than a few nights at Hofheinz Pavilion watching that high-flying fast breaking slam dunking basketball juggernaut and the game that epitomized that era was the 1983 NCAA semifinal between UH and Louisville.      

Three of Lewis' players, Elvin Hayes, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon would go on to be selected among the 50 greatest players in NBA history.   Hayes (1990), Drexler (2004) and Olajuwon (2008) would go on to be elected to the Hall of Fame themselves.

Guy Lewis is responsible for the games you see every week, them being played in domed stadiums, integrating basketball in the South and coaching three Hall of Fame players over his career.   That alone should have gotten him elected to the Hall a long time ago.  He was a great coach on top of it even though he never won an NCAA title and one was cruelly snatched away from him by fate. .  

The official announcement will be made tomorrow before the NCAA title game and the induction ceremony will happen in Springfield, MA on September 8.

Now where's my Phi Slama Jama button?    Congrats Guy V. 

NY Ballroom Hall Of Fame Awards

For those of you who were introduced to the Ballroom community via the Paris Is Burning and How Do I Look movies, bet you didn't know that since 1994 the New York City Ballroom community has honored its legendary performers and icons and Ballroom houses by inducting them into the Ballroom Hall of Fame.

The awards happen at a NYC induction Ballroom Awards Ball and here are the winners since 1994.

The Ballroom Hall of Fame

1994: Stewart Ebony, Paris Dupree, Pepper Labeija
1995: Danielle Revlon, Avis Pendavis, Octavia St. Laurent,
1996: RR Chanel, David Ultima, Kevin Omni,
1997: Moldavia Labeija, Marcel Christian, La Duchess Wong
1998: Richard Ebony, Michael Princess, Junior Labeija
1999: Carmen Xtravaganza, Ronnie Moschino, Pepa Oran Montana,
2000: Porscha Labeija, Patrick Ebony, Eric Christian Bazaar
2001: John Moschino, Tracey Africa, Gerald Labeija
2002: Ricky Revlon, Jose Xtravaganza, Kenny Ebony, Ira Aphrodite
2003: Ross Infiniti, Tanay Pendavis, Dre Ebony, Whitney Mugler
2004:Tony Revlon, Chris Labeija, Fuquan Essence, Bernie Jourdan
2005: Andre Mizrahi, Tony Milan, Raquel Blahnik, Hector Xtravaganza
2006: Onjenee Milan, Sinia Ebony, Ashley Icon
2007: Aylssa LaPerla, Stephanie Milan, Christina Tsunami, Mahogany Prodigy, Alvernian Prestige
2008  Terry Chanel, Roy Ebony, Melsun Milan, Shawn Ebony, James Icon
2009  Eric Milan, Al Allure, Lisa Garnett Revlon, Chuckie Montona, Derrick Ebony, Patricia Fields
2010  Larry Ebony, Kevin Milan, Michael Dupree, Julian Garcon, Cabbage Ebony, Tiny Infinity, Terry Revlon, Terri Revlon, Kevin Ki-Ki Khan, Theresa Mizrahi and Elana Jourdan and the Original Butch Queen Face Erskine Christian

The 2011 Inductees are:

Raquel Balenciaga, Jahad Ebony, Jose “Stiffy” Revlon, Derrick Xtravaganza, Jamal Milan, Brian Ultra Omni, Hicabe Milan, Muhammad Ultra Omni, Otis Mugler

Since 2004 the Legendary Ballroom Houses are also inducted into a House Hall of Fame.

The House Hall of Fame

2004: The House of Ebony
2005: The House of Chanel
2006: The House of Xtravaganza
2007: The House of Revlon
2008: The House of Milan
2009: The House of Allure and the House of Mugler
2010: The House of Omni, the House of Infinity and the House of Khan

The 2011 Ballroom House Hall of Fame inductee is the House of Escada


The 19th Annual awards ball will be presented by Jack and Andre Mizrahi starting at 8 PM ET until 5 AM ET on March 31 at The Lab in Brooklyn, NY.   The address is 1428 Fulton St. with the doors opening at 9 PM ET

My congratulations to the 2011 Ballroom Hall of Fame inductees as you continue to make history and keep the ballroom legacy alive.