The Star Tribune awakened the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame honors in 2018 and quickly inducted Sid Hartman as its third media person, joining outdoors writer/trapshooter Jimmy Robinson in 1972 and sportswriter/announcer Halsey Hall in 1989.
The third group since Sid's lone entry will be inducted Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Mall of America rotunda. This is officially the Class of 2021 and it will consist of eight women: seven outstanding athletes with a deep Minnesota connection and Chris Voelz, the University of Minnesota women's athletic director from 1988 to 2002.
The 72 plaques for the pre-Sid honorees — awarded in varied classes from 1958 to 2006 — were displayed at the Metrodome. We blew that Dome up, and what will be 93 plaques after Wednesday's ceremony have not as yet found their walls of honor.
When that happens, we can only hope that when visitors encounter Sid's plaque, their eyes will not have to travel far to see the one honoring Voelz.
Sid's gone now, at age 100½ years in 2020, so he can't complain about such placement. Plus, it would bring a smile for all of us who were inside that maze of disagreements between The Man and The Director.
"According to Sid, women's sports were going to ruin football at the university," Voelz said. "He made it sound like I was the one dropping passes in the end zone … or that I would've hired [Tim] Brewster."
This was part of a phone interview with Voelz last week that went for 53 minutes. It was outstanding even before it started, with this return text to the interview request from Voelz:
"Sorry, I'm only doing interviews with recovering sexists … oh, right, it appears you might qualify."