PHOENIX RISING JULY P.A.D. TRAVELOG – DESTINATION: POETRY (HALLS OF FAME)

Pro Football Hall of Fame

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League (NFL). The hall opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter enshrinees.^[3] As of 2014, there are a total of 287 members of the Hall of Fame.^[4]

Cooperstown

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, and operated by private interests. It serves as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, displays baseball-related artifacts and exhibits, and honors those who have excelled in playing, managing, and serving the sport. The Hall’s motto is “Preserving History, Honoring Excellence, Connecting Generations.”

The word Cooperstown is often used as shorthand (or a metonym) for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as the sport’s most complete library, in addition to promoting and preserving the history of basketball. Dedicated to Canadian-American doctor and inventor of the sport James Naismith, it was opened in, and inducted its first class in 1959.

Hockey Hall of Fame
and Museum

The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup. Originally founded in Kingston, Ontario, the Hockey Hall of Fame was first established in 1943 under the leadership of James T. Sutherland. In 1993, the Hall was relocated to a former Bank of Montreal building in Downtown Toronto, where it is now located.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is unique among North American major league sports halls of fame in that officials have generally been excluded from the Hall; only one, 1966 inductee Hugh “Shorty” Ray, has been enshrined. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Hockey Hall of Fame have each inducted game officials as members. In part to rectify the lack of officials and other off-field contributors, the Hall of Fame added a “Contributors” committee beginning with the class of 2015, which will nominate officials, general managers, owners and other positions that have historically been overlooked by the committee at large.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way, influenced the music industry. It is part of the city’s redeveloped North Coast Harbor.

A few summers back, we took our two daughters on a road trip to visit the the Halls of Fame (with the exception of the Naismith Museum). They were enthralled by the Rock Museum, and both are avid Hockey fans; they also got a “kick” out of the football hall.

Any player/contributor/artist can add to your poetic pursuits. Any discipline will also qualify. Is there a “Hall of Fame” you’ve visited? Tell us about it. Let your wonderful poems celebrate greatness today!