Between Dickies Arena and a load of greats, a Fort Worth Sports Hall of Fame makes sense

Without an affiliation to a major league sports franchise, placing a sports Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas doesn’t necessarily fit.

Between the opening of Dickies Arena, and the reality that so many prominent figures in sports are either from Fort Worth, lived in Fort Worth, or played in Fort Worth, there is a fit.

From Johnny Rutherford in motorsports, golf’s Ben Hogan, Sammy Baugh in football, Angela Stanford in women’s golf, the city features Hall of Famers and prominent figures in virtually all sports.

(There is also no feasible way to have a Fort Worth Sports Hall of Fame without including the rodeo, so Bodacious the bull has a spot.)

Much in the way Houston has its Houston Sports Hall of Fame, the same can, and should, be done for Fort Worth

Houston’s Sports Hall proclaims, “The Houston Sports Hall of Fame honors legendary sports figures from or associated with the Houston area that have made a significant impact in their sport.”

Change the names and what exists in H-Town should exist in Cowtown.

The ideal location for such a destination is Dickies Arena. It’s perfect.

The building is one of the best in the United States, and there are potential spots to be creative and add a project like a FW Sports HOF.

If such an add-on cannot be added on to Dickies Arena, there is enough vacant square footage around the Will Rogers Memorial Center complex to do this project.

Host an annual induction ceremony once a year; I will gladly reduce my speaking fee of $1.5 million to $1.45 million to handle that part of the evening.

Put up a few modest display cases from the enshrinee’s career, and you have something worth touring.

The Houston Sports Hall of Fame features a Walk of Fame, and 3,500 square feet of interior space. That’s about all that is necessary.

Now, about the money (don’t look at me).

Don’t expect much from the city. Unlike Houston, which has a Harris Country Sports Authority to help with the Houston Sports Hall of Fame, the Fort Worth Sports Commission isn’t nearly as big, or influential, as the one in Houston.

Such a project would require the backing of multiple corporate sponsors, or an initial big push from a benefactor or two. Last name rhymes with Mass.

Qualifications for a potential inductee would follow the criteria used by the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, in Waco.

That Hall follows these guidelines, “Any athlete, coach or administrator, male or female, living or deceased, is eligible for induction into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Nominees will be selected who have brought lasting fame and honor to Texas sports.”

Take out “Texas” and replace it with “Fort Worth,” and your criteria is set.

For figures such as Hogan, Rutherford, Hughes, and others there is no debate. They lived in Fort Worth for decades, and are in every Hall of Fame but Rock and Roll.

Because Fort Worth and Arlington are in Tarrant County, adding candidates who played in Arlington, i.e. Texas Rangers, pushes it. The same for the neighboring communities west of Fort Worth, most notably Stephenville, where some great rodeo riders lived.

Several Hall of Fame rodeo riders lived not necessarily in Fort Worth, but neighboring communities because that’s where the land is. Nearly all of them competed at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.

This can’t be a Dallas thing.

Former Granbury girls basketball coach Leta Andrews, who should already be in the Basketball Hall of Fame, didn’t technically live in Fort Worth.

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova is a curious case. She is one of the greatest players in the history of her sport, and she lived in Fort Worth from 1984 to 1988, prime years of her career.

Would such candidates qualify for such a Hall of Fame?

If you follow the Texas Sports Hall of Fame criteria, yes to both.

The city has the space, and the performers, to justify a Fort Worth Sports Hall of Fame.

There is more than enough here to do this.

Now, Fort Worth should start the process of building it.