MIKE CLARK: One tradition goes virtual, another goes on hiatus because of COVID

A while back, John Doherty started calling around to local athletic directors in his role as chairman of the Calumet Region Sportsmanship Dinner. Area high school basketball players attended the Calumet Region Sportsmanship Dinner in Schererville lastFebruary. This year’s dinner will be virtual because of the pandemic.

“The first thing that came out of their mouth was, ‘We’re not sending our team to your dinner,'” said Doherty, who also writes a weekly sports medicine column for The Times. That sentiment forced Doherty and his fellow directors to rethink the dinner in the era of COVID-19.

In normal years, basketball teams from across the Region gather at The Halls of St. George in Schererville to have dinner and listen to a speech from a sports celebrity. The show will go on, but like so many during the pandemic, it will do so virtually. On Feb. 22, teams will go to their own schools to take part in the 67th annual event. They’ll listen to speakers Chuck Swirsky, the radio play-by-play voice of the Bulls, and IHSAA Commissioner Paul Neidig as part of a broadcast produced by Lakeshore Public Media.

The revised format is a hit with ADs, according to Doherty, who is glad this staple of the Region sports calendar won’t have to be canceled. “We’re trying to keep things as normal as possible for these kids in an abnormal year,”
he said.

The program also will feature the announcement of the winner of the $1,000 scholarship that goes with the Leadership & Sportsmanship Award. And, as usual, committee members will head out to local gyms to scout teams for the $2,000 sportsmanship award that goes to one team in each local sectional.

The event has handed out more than $275,000 in scholarships over the years, and its work is needed more than ever as more families hit hard times during the pandemic. Canceling the event wasn’t really an option in Doherty’s mind. “Our thought was, if we let the dinner go for a year, it would be hard to resurrect,” he said.

And there’s a silver lining with the switch to a virtual event. While the size of the hall limits the size of in-person dinners, moving online allows parents and fans to be part of the experience this year.

So the sportsmanship dinner goes on, but another staple of the Region winter sports calendar is on hiatus this year.

The Gary Old Timers Athletic Association decided last fall not to hold its annual banquet in 2021. That means the 75th edition of the event will be next January. “It feels kind of heartbreaking to call it off,” Old Timers president Andy Maletta said. “(But) the whole board agreed it was the right thing.”

The dinner typically draws around a thousand people, and serves as a kind of annual reunion for current and former athletes and coaches from Gary and beyond.

Former MLB manager and Gary native Lloyd McClendon was tentatively set to be the keynote speaker, and, if his schedule permits, may be able to fill the role next year. “He’s looking forward to it,” Maletta said.

So, no doubt, are the folks who have the date circled every year as a chance to hang out with old friends whom they might not see otherwise.”It’s the fellowship of it,” Maletta said.”We found people wanted us to open the doors early. If you take that part out of it, it loses a lot of its luster.”