Among Ogle County high schools, Forreston and Oregon are joining Byron and Rochelle in the sports hall-of-fame business. Both schools are looking for nominations in first-ever induction classes.
At Oregon, former athletes, coaches, teams, administrators, faculty and friends are eligible. Criteria include regional, state and national recognition. Others factor to be considered are significant contributions to the community and exceptional accomplishments.
Unofficially, it is a combined Mt. Morris/Oregon Hall-of-Fame, as achievements both places are under consideration. Additionally, the committee vetting nominations will include reps from each town.
Credit to Oregon for setting this up in an all-encompassing manner.
Forreston’s HOF will be based upon dedication, extracurricular, personal achievement, service and teamwork. Only the Forreston community can nominate individuals, teams or friends of Forreston, with a committee reviewing and making selections.
That was the easy part. The hard part will be deciding which candidates are most worthy of making the cut as hall-of-famers, especially when you need to go back in time to, say, 1916 when Sherman Landers of Oregon was making headlines as a track & field star.
There is a balancing act between what was achieved in decades past versus those of today. Is there sage judgment in defining the differences?
Another difficulty will be reaching a delicate balance between Mt. Morris and Oregon in which nominees are most deserving. Will there be some give and take or will community pride influence decision-making?
I didn’t see anything about Leaf River, which closed in 1989 and absorbed into Forreston, being part of the equation.
Will some sports, such as those glory-driven like football and basketball, be weighted higher than bowling, field hockey or golf?
It’s easy to go back and review records or game results and assume certain individuals and teams are most deserving. However, what about other individuals and teams that don’t have gaudy results, but have overcome adversity or tougher competition to actually achieve more.
For example, when covering wrestling, I knew kids that never won an individual state title, but were better than others that had won them in different weight classes because of bracketing. The same is true with many a sports team.
It’s more of a chore to look past the raw data, but to give everyone a fair shake, intangibles are a part of the equation.
What about football, which did not have a state tournament until 1974? When it comes to the state playoffs, it’s easy to define success at a place like Forreston. However, would those teams be given priority over pre-1974 squads that didn’t have a chance to do more than win a conference title?
Will girls sports, which had been in the background for so many years, receive the same consideration as the boys or would there be biases?
What about candidates that have had “character” issues since graduating. Are they downgraded because of that?
The IHSA sanctions both athletics and activities. Activities are things like cheer and music, which often support athletic programs. Would individual and teams from these activities be eligible?
Do you want your hall of fame to honor the best of the best, like the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame does with its stringent voting or use it as a celebration where nearly everyone gets in, like the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association HOF, which had 135 inductees for 2024. The year before, it had about same number.
Here’s an entirely different thought on hall of fames as a whole, be it professional, college or high-school:
Are they an ego-filling proposition?
If the purpose of life is to live in humility, don’t hall of fames contradict that notion?
What about everyday people that aren’t superstars in their field, but live life better than those more talented? Where is their reward?
Call me a “wet blanket” on the subject, but a little devil advocacy once in a while is healthy for the debate.
That being said, I look forward to hearing about all the nominations and who makes the first class of hall of fame for both Forreston and Oregon/Mt. Morris.
Andy Colbert is a longtime Ogle County resident with years of experience covering sports and more for multiple area publications.
