BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Sports Writers Association, in conjunction with the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, will debut a one-hour special on the 2003 Induction Weekend Celebration in Natchitoches, this Wednesday, July 23, at 7 p.m.
The program will air on Cox Sports Television affiliates throughout the state and the Gulf Coast.
This will be the most extensive television coverage of a Hall of Fame weekend, including highlights of the induction banquet which featured former New Orleans Saints Coach Jim Mora, Dallas Cowboys tight end Billy Joe Dupree, McNeese State and Detroit Pistons NBA star Joe Dumars, major league baseball’s all-time save leader in Castor’s Lee Smith, former LSU and San Francisco 49er All-Pro Jim Cason, major league super scout-administrator and former LSU All-American Mel Didier and longtime Hanson Memorial high school football coach Dick McCloskey.
The program is hosted by Cox Sports Television’s Lyn Rollins, along with LSWA Secretary-Treasurer Kent Lowe, who also produced the program. The executive producer of Cox Sports Television is Jeff Brenner.
“We are very excited about this first-ever telecast of a Hall of Fame induction weekend,” said Doug Ireland, Executive Director of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. “We are very appreciative to Cox Sports Television for the air time and the positive response to the LSWA’s efforts to expand the knowledge of the Hall of Fame through this show. The future of the Hall of Fame in Natchitoches continues to look stronger and stronger and this program will showcase not only the city and its people, but the prestige of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame as well.”
Besides the induction banquet, the show highlights the future plans for the Hall of Fame in Natchitoches and follows the Hall of Famers as they play golf in Alexandria, read to young children at the Natchitoches Parish Library and assist at the McDonald’s Kids Clinic along with the coaching staff of Northwestern State University.
The show will run six times over the next month – Wednesday, July 23, 7 p.m. CDT; Friday, July 25, 10 p.m. CDT; Thursday, July 31, 1 p.m. CDT; August 5, 4 p.m. CDT; August 9, 4 p.m. CDT; and, August 20, 9 p.m. CDT.