TIONNA JENNINGS…AKA PITTSBURGH BASKETBALL ROYALTY WITH SMOKIN’ JIM FRAZIER (PHOTOS BY KENNETH W. OGILVIE)
by Bill Neal, For New Pittsburgh Courier
To be honest with you, it was actually clear from the outset this one was going to be something special…Somehow different from the others…Not better, but different. And it proved to be!
First, however, it is important that I do an audible here and set up from the beginning how the 7th Annual 2021 Pittsburgh City League High School All-Sports Hall of Fame inductions (held on Dec. 3, 2021) got “kicked” into gear. I want to be clear, this is not faint praise, but without the help and support of Mr. Frank Fuhrer III and the Frank Fuhrer Wholesale Co., Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald, Senator Jay Costa and Steelers Hall of Fame and Super Bowl MVP & legend Franco Harris and his “Super Bakery,” the show would not have gone on. Not just their names but the contributors that came with it allowed us to knock it out of the park.
How was it different, you ask? That simply tells me you weren’t there, no offense taken. It was Heinz Field, people, with the continued glitz and glamour of the holiday season in the midst of the mystic of the home of the greatest football team the world has ever known. (Oh please, you know Brady and Belichick and their henchmen stole 3 of their 7, just ask Troy Polamalu. But I digress…)
It wasn’t until my lifelong friend and former Penn Hills, Juniata University and Seattle Seahawks football star planted the seed in my head to induct Robert “Cochise” Watkins that things really began to take shape.
KENNY “JUICE” BRYANT…HE WAS THE HIGH SCHOOL HEISMAN!
Having been a City League legend from age 10, it wasn’t however at a City League School. So we opened a new category for the induction process. Induct those City League legends that for whatever reason gained the power and the glory at high schools outside the City League. Thus, Karen Hall, Ashley Battle, “Fast” Eddie Drummond and “Cochise” made history, becoming the first-ever in that newly established category.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER RICKY “BLACK MAGIC” COLEMAN (PHOTOS BY KENNETH W. OGILVIE)
Neither time nor space at this time will allow for all the names of the 60+ inductees, but in the established categories of ‘’Legends of the Game,” “Coaching Legends,” “High School Future Stars,” “Community Leaders” and “Our Fallen Heroes,” the best of the best in the history of the nationally recognized “Pittsburgh City League” came from all over the nation—27 different states as a matter of fact came home to be recognized in what has become one of the top Hall of Fame ceremonies around.
I would be remiss in not calling out some of the other stars that shined supernova that December night. Beginning with keynote speaker, the G.O.A.T., Ricky Coleman, Slippery Rock and Steelers star Chuck Sanders, the great and magnificent Robb Butler, Joe Tyson, Kenny “Juice” Bryant, Kathy Terri, Mike Ragin, Coach Louis Berry, Darelle Porter, Shawnice “Pepper” Wilson, Ace Pippins and Tionda Jennings just to name a few.
LEGENDS OF THE GAME. HUBIE “THE RABBIT” BRYANT AND DAVID “QUICKDRAW” STROTHERS. They were all part of the City League Hall of Fame Inductions, Dec. 3, 2021.
All things considered, the COVID, cold weather, the cost and those who didn’t care… to care (Oh, trust me, you know and they know precisely who they are!)… The 7th consecutive sold-out event lit up the North Shore with representatives from all of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and Western Pa.
In total, the likes of former Steelers and Penn Hills legend Hubie Bryant and 11 other former NFL players, six former NBA players, three former Olympians and countless high school, college and professional champions set the stage for “Hall of Fame 8.”
We, of course, want to offer special thanks to UPMC, Highmark, Councilman Anthony Coghill, attorneys William Goodrich, Jack Goodrich, Shawn Flaherty and Alexis Cobb, Dom Gambino, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Heinz Field staff (who were terrific, by the way), photographers Ken and Judy Ogilvie and Dayna Delgado, the fantastic Wilson Group, the enormous and unbelievable support of the Central Catholic football team that came from near and far to support “Robert “Cochise” Watkins, Salem’s Market and Grill, Congressman Mike Doyle, Pittsburgh Board of Education, the historic New Pittsburgh Courier, Committee President “Smokin’” Jim Frazier, Dr. Charlene Coleman, Bugumba Lowery, Kevin McDaniels, Sharon McIntosh, Lamar Lee, Red Lee, the legendary Otis, and, of course, the City League Hall of Fame.
The jump ball has been tossed and there’s a new show in town. We will not be ignored, we will not go away and we will not be forgotten!!! Set your calendar, my sports friend, for Saturday, Dec. 4, 2022. Hoo-Rah!!
(Special note: Achieving Greatness Inc., the sponsor of the City League Hall of Fame, wants to thank the fantastic residents of Pittsburgh for their ongoing support. Please be advised we are in constant need of volunteers for the committee. And we welcome the names of any potential Hall of Fame Inductees. Feel free to call the Achieving Greatness office at 412-628-4856. We want everyone in…that should be in!)
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