In front of a rapt audience at the Tennessee Theatre, Mel Greenberg tonight accepted his Eastman Award and was officially inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
To listen to Mel's acceptance speech -- which won raves for its humor, improvisation (see the Geno Auriemma reference) and, yes, brevity -- as well as the introduction by University of Texas women's athletic director Chris Plonsky, click here.
After you click on the link below, you'll see some more pictures from the evening.
We'll start with Mel's descent down the lobby's grand staircase, for which he was escorted by Atlantic 10 commissioner Linda Bruno:
You all may know that the A-10 is headquartered in Philadelphia, and to further the local interest theme, here's Mel with Drexel University sports information director Mike Tuberosa and Temple University (Mel's alma mater) SID Larry Dougherty.
Going back to the escort theme, here's Mel after his name was called, heading for the stage with nieces Allison Swartz (left -- she's obscured but taking Mel's arm, and you can see her hair) and Neena Swartz (right).
And finally, we have this picture of the full Inquirer contingent taken after we got back to the hotel. From left to right: sports columnist Claire Smith, Mel, sports editor Jim Jenks, sports department administrator (like Mel, I don't have a better title offhand) Maureen Meehan, and her husband, Bryan Meehan.
Mel, Erin and Acacia have an early-morning flight back to Philadelphia, so I suspect it'll be a litle while before you next hear from any of them. I'm not leaving town until the afternoon, so I'll probably post something else before I leave. I should note that it's been a real pleasure to be a part of this celebration with Mel, and to work (and shop, and generally hang out) with Erin and Acacia all weekend.
I wrote a while back on the old blog that us bloggers don't get to actually see each other in person all that often, so this trip provided a nice opportunity to get to know each other beyond the usual emails and instant messages.
Finally, I have to give some props to the Georgia fans in the theatre tonight for their exuberant cheers for Lady Bulldogs coach and fellow 2007 Hall of Fame inductee Andy Landers. The woofing was a nice touch, although I had to explain it to Erin -- and the fact that it sounds quite different when performed by 92,000 people on a football Saturday at Sanford Stadium. I also had to explain that the music she was hearing wasn't really the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Anyway, that's enough from me for the night. Until later.
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