Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

I am constantly reminded that Arkansas is the Natural State. Spending time outdoors at places like Petit Jean and the Buffalo River is perfect proof that this slogan is well justified for our small state. Friday night  I learned that you could be reminded of the extreme value of our resources from an indoor venue.

I attended the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame Banquet with more than 1,000 other people on the floor of Verizon Arena. It was easy to want to attend because the 1994 Razorback national championship basketball team was being inducted, and my wife and I attended every home game as students in Fayetteville that memorable year.

However, the other inductees were just as great as reminders of how sports can be a unifying factor for the people of Arkansas.

We have no NFL, NBA or major league baseball team. We do not have a sports arena that is anywhere close to the opulence that is Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, owned by our own sports Hall of Famer Jerry Jones, the Rose City native.

What we do have is even greater: A high school football coach that helped young boys grow into men when he easily could have gone elsewhere for greater pay in Newport's Bill Keedy. A racetrack announcers whose dedication and work ethic will never be repeated in Terry Wallace, who retired this year after four decades at Oaklawn Park.

I could go on and on with each and every inductee from Friday night, but I will finish by mentioning U.S. Reed. I recall being a young boy at a church retreat back in March 1981. I snuck away from the group and watched — through a crack in the door of a mobile home that was the camp's offices where counselors watched TV — the Razorbacks play Louisville in the second-round of the NCAA Midwest Regional. When U.S. Reed hit the half-court shot to win the game over the defending national champs, my excitement gave away my position and the fact that I had escaped the camp functions; but, instead of being punished, I celebrated the victory with the camp employees before being sent back to the masses.

The Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame is a treasure trove of similar memories and is a state resource that should never be squandered. This Hall of Fame and its museum on the ground floor of Verizon Arena are just as important as natural resources as any rock, stream, or woodland area, and the Hall reminds you that our most important resource in Arkansas is its people.

John Hout is deputy prosecuting attorney for Pulaski County and a regular reader of ArkansasSports360.com.