I had the opportunity to be a part of three special events during the past week. It was an honor to be involved with all of them.
On Sunday, April. 29, I was the keynote speaker at the McCluer North High boys basketball banquet. It was a wonderful event which celebrated the 2012 Missouri Class 5 state champions. (Back-to-Back state champions).
It is always fun to celebrate the accomplishments of young people, but this event carried even more meaning to me because I am an alum of McCluer North (Class of ’82).
Many thanks to event organizers Allen and Teresa Bluett as well as McCluer North head coach Randy Reed, his wife Frances and the rest of the North Star family for inviting to share in this special ceremony for these fine young men.
And for those keeping score, that’s three state and four Final Fours in a six-year period for the McCluer North Stars. Harumph!!!
The following Wednesday, I attended the inaugural St. Louis Public Schools Scholar-Athlete Luncheon at the Missouri Athletic Club. This event honored more than 300 high school athletes from the SLPS who have achieved a grade-point averaged of 3.25 or better.
This was a fantastic gathering of talented young people, who shared lunch and fellowship with a group of adult role models (including yours truly) to make this a truly special event. Former St. Louis Cardinal Ricky Horton and St. Louis Ram Aaneas Williams gave very inspiring speeches to the young people.
I would like to thank Travis Brown of the SLPS for the invitation to this wonderful ceremony. This event should be a staple in the community for years to come.
Finally, I had the opportunity to serve as the public address announcer for the opening home game for the St. Louis Surge of the Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League.
The Surge is a semi-pro women’s team that features many former prep stars from the St. Louis metro area. Such players as Rita Adams (East St. Louis), Jordann Plummer (Cardinal Ritter) and Kari Koch (Elsberry) have come back to play for the Surge after outstanding college careers.
Nearly 800 people turned out at the University of Missouri-St. Louis’ Mark Twain Building to watch the ladies put on a show in a 67-51 victory over the Illinois Shooting Stars. Not only was the crowd big, but it was loud and enthusiastic, which made for a great atmosphere.
It was also great to see so many area youth girls basketball teams in the house to take in the action. After the game, the little girls had a chance to meet the Surge players in an autograph session that took nearly an hour. The youngsters could not get enough of the Surge players.
Congratulations to team owner Khalia Collier and her staff for putting on a great show for the fans. Collier has put together a talented staff of young people and they have worked tirelessly to assemble a quality team, attract sponsors and build a fan base.
The Surge will return to action for another home game on Saturday, June 2 at UMSL. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. If you enjoyed the first game, come on back and bring a friend. Lots of them.
To cap off a great two-week period of activities, I will be the Master of Ceremonies at the Larry Hughes Athletic Awards Luncheon, which will be held on Saturday at the St. Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation. At this event, we will be honoring some of the top high school athletes in the St. Louis metro area. It is always one of my favorite events.
