Yesterday the daily newspaper here in Memphis ran an item in its sports section announcing the 2013 induction class for the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
Several years ago it occurred to me that my friend Mike Herbert of Rogers, Arkansas, had not been inducted into the ASHOF, so I composed a letter to the Hall's powers that were, hoping to convince them that Mike is every bit as outstanding as the men and women already inducted and therefore should be considered for induction himself.
I never got any sort of response to my query, and eventually I got busy with other things. Whether any influential person ever laid eyes on my letter, I have no idea; all I know is that now, in 2013, Mike still has not been inducted into the Hall.
So I am giving it another go. This morning I sent an e-mail to Mr. Ray Tucker, the ASHOF executive director. This effort alone will probably not do the trick, and in the coming days I hope to track down contact info for members of the ASHOF board, and perhaps bestow some paper snail-mail upon them.
If anybody reading this would like to join in this effort, please do. I welcome any advice on how I can get the ear of the actual decision-makers in this process.
The rest of this post consists of the e-mail I sent to Mr. Tucker.
To the board of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame:
I
wish to congratulate the eight new inductees in the Class of 2013, and I
commend your selection committee for choosing such an exemplary group.
These eight men and women represent a standard of achievement that all
Arkansans can be proud of.
It is my privilege to be acquainted
with another outstanding Arkansan and I urge you to consider him for
future induction into the Hall.
Mike Herbert of Rogers is one of
the greatest athletes ever to compete for the United States in the sport
of flatwater sprint kayaking. He made his first Olympic team in 1988
and became the first American ever to make the final of the 500-meter
single kayak event. In that final, he fell just inches shy of winning
the bronze medal. You can watch the television footage of that final
race in Seoul, South Korea, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95iuP4jnonM&feature=relmfu
During
the next two years Mike won three world championships medals, a rare
feat for U.S. paddlers in this European-dominated sport. Then, in 1991,
Mike won the 1000 meters at the Pan American Games in Havana, making
such an impression on Fidel Castro that the Cuban dictator saluted the
U.S. flag during the medal ceremony:
http://articles.latimes.com/1991-08-05/sports/sp-183_1_gold-medal
In 1992, Sports Illustrated ran this feature of Mike in its Olympic preview issue prior to the Games in Barcelona:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1004021/index.htm
The following is a summary of Mike Herbert's athletic career:
Michael Adam Herbert
Sport: Flatwater sprint kayak
Born September 30, 1960, Belleville, Illinois
Residence since early teens: Rogers, Arkansas
Current address: 8865 Galleon Drive, Rogers, AR 72756; k1herbert@msn.com
Mike Herbert began racing canoes as a teenager with his father, Bob.
The two quickly became the tandem to beat on the circuit in northern
Arkansas, where marathon canoe racing is popular on rivers like the
Arkansas, the Black, the Buffalo, the Current, the Eleven Point, the
Mulberry, and the White.
After watching the 1984 Olympic kayak
races on TV, Herbert switched over to kayak and set the goal of becoming
an Olympian himself. He found himself on the water in Seoul for the
1988 Games, in which he missed winning the bronze in the 500-meter
single kayak event by mere hundredths of a second.
The next
several years were remarkably successful, as Herbert won a bronze medal
at the 1989 world championships, two silver medals at the 1990 world
championships, and a gold medal at the 1991 Pan American Games.
Precious few Americans have won world championships medals in this
European-dominated sport, and Herbert's three medals from the worlds
make him the second-most decorated U.S. flatwater kayaker ever, behind
the legendary Olympic champion Greg Barton.
Though his
international career is behind him, Mike Herbert continues to be active
in the sport, attending the national championships of marathon canoeing
most years and renewing his friendly rivalry with Greg Barton each year
at the Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak Race at Memphis.
Mike
Herbert's achievements on the international level and his continuing
enthusiasm for his sport on the regional and national levels present an
overwhelming case for his induction into the Arkansas Sports Hall of
Fame.
Olympic results
1988 Olympics, Seoul, South Korea: 4th, single kayak 500 meters
1992 Olympics, Barcelona, Spain: 9th, 4-man kayak 1000 meters
1996 Olympics, Atlanta, USA: 8th (semifinal), single kayak 500 meters
World Championships results
1989 World Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria: Bronze Medal, single kayak 500 meters
1990 World Championships, Poznan, Poland: Silver Medal, single kayak 500 meters
1990 World Championships, Poznan, Poland: Silver Medal, double kayak 500 meters
Other international results
1987 Pan American Games, Indianapolis, USA: Gold Medal, double kayak 500 meters
1987 Pan American Games, Indianapolis, USA: Gold Medal, 4-man kayak 1000 meters
1991 Pan American Games, Havana, Cuba: Gold Medal, single kayak 1000 meters
About flatwater sprint kayaking:
The format of this sport is similar to that of swimming: racers are
placed in lanes on a lake or other calm body of water, and propel their
boats forward as fast as possible. At the Olympics, world championships, and most
other international events, paddlers compete over distances of 200
meters, 500 meters, and 1000 meters.
The national governing body for canoe and kayak racing is USA Canoe-Kayak: www.usack.org.
The international governing body is the International Canoe Federation: www.canoeicf.org.
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