Ye Olde College Inn to host N.O. Prep Hall of Fame

Photo by Ron Brocato | CLARION HERALD
Ye Olde College Inn owners John, left, and Johnny Blancher stand before several of the 84 plaques that are displayed on the “Wall of Legends” at the landmark restaurant. The display is part of an ongoing tribute to the legendary high school athletes, coaches and officials who have thrilled local prep sports fans for decades.

    Through my decades of researching the history of high school athletics in New Orleans and Louisiana, I’ve always had a hidden desire to see this city have a vehicle to recognize its great prep athletes, coaches and others who have been instrumental in the evolution of one of our favorite pastimes.
    Heaven knows there wouldn’t be a shortage of male or female athletes and coaches who others describe as “legends” in their fond memories of events gone by.
    Many have gone on to make athletic names for themselves through their achievements in college, and, for a rare few, professionally. But what about the prep greats whose careers ended when they walked across the stage to receive their high school diplomas?
    A high school sports hall of fame would indeed be unique and a monument of sorts to celebrate the history of prep sports in the city and those men and women who wrote that history using their determination to excel for their schools, their families and themselves.
    If such a thing would exist, it should be located at one of the city’s landmark locations, where locals and visitors could enjoy seeing the faces of the greats and reading their stories.
    The Blancher family, owners of Ye Olde College Inn and Rock ‘n Bowl, which are unquestionably two of New Orleans most popular venues for dining and entertainment, wholeheartedly agreed and offered a generous amount of space at Ye Olde College Inn to house the New Orleans Prep Sports Hall of Fame.
Charter class of 84
    Now open to the public for viewing, the “Wall of Legends” contains 84 plaques, which will continue to grow. It features 46 legendary athletes, 30 coaches and eight officials whose faces and stories appear on 9-by-12-inch laminated plaques. And that is just the inaugural class of inductees.
    John and Johnny Blancher, who played baseball at Archbishop Rummel and in college, are both avid sports fans who have a keen sense of New Orleans history.
    “When I was a little boy, the old College Inn was the place where all New Orleans sports people hung out,” John Blancher recalled. “And the Inn sponsored many teams over the years. So there is no more appropriate place to have this hall of fame because this (restaurant) is the history of New Orleans.
    “You had Pelican Stadium on one side and Tulane Stadium on the other, and College Inn was in the middle. It is where everybody who was a sports fan got together.”
    Johnny Blancher, a little more than a decade removed from his playing days for Skip Bertman at LSU, agreed. “The College Inn has become a historic place for New Orleans sports,” he said. “Everybody knows that people in this city don’t talk about where they went to college. So what could be more New Orleans than having the Hall of Fame housed at the College Inn?”
    Selecting current and future inductees required extensive historical research from 1895, when the first recorded schoolboy athletic event took place. The research covered the 117 years, including the beginning and end of the old LIALO for African-American schools, the advent of girls’ sports before and after Title IX, schools that no longer exist and those that still thrive today.
    It continues to be a daunting, but rewarding project as the legends are identified and photographs of them discovered.
    Selecting the inductees is an objectively subjective process. There aren’t many high school fans and observers who can trace their knowledge of local prep sports history past the 1960s. But even though a selections committee has yet to be formed, the Clarion Herald and Ye Olde College Inn welcome public input of prospective inductees to be researched.
    “One thing that is exceptional is that the plaques are not just photos, but reading the many stories and the conversations they bring is exciting,” John Blancher said. “And those seeing themselves honored on the walls will bring their families here. Their memories will live here forever.”
    Ron Brocato can be reached at [email protected].

Walls of Legends inaugural class 
ATHLETES (Listed alphabetically)
    Pete Ascani, Billy Brinkman, Will Clark, Jeff Cummings, Lou Deutschmann, Reggie Dupard, Marshall Faulk, Eddie Fields, Billy Fitzgerald, John Fourcade, Stacey Gaudet (Berry), Pete Gaudin, Danyele Gomez, Suzanne Haydel, Joe Heap, Roy Hoffmann, Byron Honore, Richard Jackson, Garry James, O.J. Key, Isiah King, Tyler Lafauci, Hank Lauricella, Chris Markey, Perry McDonald, Mike Miley, Warren Perkins, John Petitbon, Mitzie Plaeger, Harold Porter, Butler Powell, Eddie Price, Wayne Reese, Nick Revon, Rick Robey, Pat Screen, Bruce Seals, Craig Steltz, Harold Sylvester,  Eddie Toribio, Linda Tuero, Norris Weese, John White, Tommy Wilcox, Barry Wilson and Holly Wilson.
COACHES (Listed alphabetically)
    John Altobello, Johnny Brechtel, G. Gernon Brown, “Mook” Clavier, Bob Conlin, Henry Crosby, J.T. Curtis, Eddie Flint, Joe Galliano, Sam Harnsongkram, Willie Hof, Felix James, John Kalbacher, Brother Melchior Polowy, “Hoss” Memtsas, Frank Misuraca, Rose Misuraca (Scott), Alfred Priestley, Tony Reginelli, Jim Robarts, Perry Roehm, Andy Russo, Larry Schneider, Ken Tarzetti, Skeeter Theard, Ed Tuohy, Linda Trevino, Kevin Trower, Otis Washington and Ted Washington.
OFFICIALS (Listed alphabetically)
    Matt Baer, Tad Gormley, Ken Leithman, Johnny Lynch, Charlie Myers, Philip Pace, Earl Spindel.
ADMINISTRATOR
    Josephite Father Robert Grant.