Dave Bing, an NBA legend and newly-elected mayor of Detroit, will be the emcee for the inaugural induction ceremony for the Grambling Legends Sports Hall of Fame.
That’s right. Dave Bing.
Just so you and I on are the same page, Bing is a Washington D.C. native, played college ball at Syracuse, played professionally for the Detroit Pistons, Washington Bullets and the Boston Celtics, and makes his home in Detroit, where he has replaced Buffoon of the Decade and FAMU alumnus Kwame Kilpatrick as the city’s top administrator.
So…why is he the emcee for the a Grambling event?
Don’t get me wrong, Bing is a great person to run any kind of event. He has business savvy, deep communities ties in the cities in which he played and worked. Maybe some of these same ties are present in Louisiana, but they don’t seem easily apparent.
And for such a prestigious and important event as a Hall of Fame ceremony for Grambling sports legends, I would assume that a person with intimate ties to Grambling would have been tapped the job of running the show. If not a Grambling man or woman, than perhaps someone with ties to the SWAC, or black college sports in general.
It’s possible that the HOF committee tried to get this kind of person, but Dave Bing seems a pretty busy person to have be a last-resort to host the induction ceremony. But, maybe I’m just being picky.
Or maybe Kwame Kilpatrick was unavailable.
hacknsackman 12:01 pm on June 24, 2009 Permalink
First, I would like to thank you for the post. I am the Director of Marketing for the Grambling Legends Sports Hall of Fame.
I guess I just wanted to answer the question you posed “why Dave Bing?” (as our MC).
The thing about this event is not just to recognize the legends that came out of Grambling on a local (or even national) level, but to get them and their accomplishments recognized on a more global one. Mayor Bing is a former NBA player and is in the NBA Hall of Fame and, as a fellow sportsman, and player, he seemed like a logical choice for the MC position in terms of increasing our visibility. He is a great guy and I should also mention not necessarily a “last minute” choice for the MC job.
What we are really about is increasing visibility of the event on a global level, that is why it is being broadcast live on the internet. As an organization, Youth United for Prosperity (the sponsor of the event) is also deeply involved in working with young people which is also another aspect of the event. Building awareness among young people about the accomplishments of the past gives them something to strive for in the future.
The event is really shaping up nicely and I invite all of your readers and listeners to check out our web site at http://www.gramblingsportshof.com and http://www.gramblingtigerstv.com
Thanks again and I hope you all enjoy the ceremony!
PS – Kwame wasn’t on the list