Unlike most such entities, the Lookout Mountain Sports Hall of Fame doesn’t elect a new class every year. It waits for one large enough and deserving enough to come along, then stages the ceremony in the ageless Lookout Mountain School gym, where most of the inductees had their first P.E. classes, participated in their first kickball game or swished their first basketball shot.
Given that the school in its current form was built in 1929 and still houses but 175 students, it’s a pretty warm and fuzzy event, one wrapped in both wistfulness and wisdom, and every now and again, a wisecrack or two.
And so it was that when it came time for two of this year’s eight inductees to introduce each other Sunday afternoon, great friends and old tennis rivals Pem Guerry and Jack Webb – opponents during their days at Baylor and McCallie, respectively – couldn’t resist a wee bit of fun.
In noting how Webb had helped lead the Blue Tornado to the 1975 Rotary tournament team title, Guerry reminded him of the rival Red Raiders, “half our team had been suspended that weekend for drinking.”
Sort of returning the favor, Webb recalled how iconic McCallie tennis coach Yo Strang never failed to pray for both teams before any match began.