Orange County Sports Hall of Fame : Celebrities Honored at Banquet

Jerry Wilcox, former Ram public relations director, has been through a lot in recent years--the loss of both kidneys, the removal of a hip and months in a hospital--but Monday night at the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame Banquet, a black-tie affair in the Emerald Hotel of Anaheim, it was evident that he has retained his sense of humor.

“I’ll make this short,” he said, after receiving the Woody Ditch Memorial Award, given in memory to the former Chapman College sports information director who died of leukemia.

“I know a lot of you guys have to get those suits back at midnight,” Wilcox said.

Wilcox received a standing ovation as he used two canes to make his way to the podium.

“I’d like to thank you all, but most of all I’d like to thank the people on the street who smiled at me since I’ve gotten out of the hospital.

“And I don’t want to forget the guy at my gas station who pumps my gas even when I drive up to the self-service pump.”

Former Ram defensive end Jack Youngblood, basketball pioneer Ann Meyers, four-time Olympic gold medalist Pat McCormick and Harry (Cap) Sheue, a longtime coach at Huntington Beach High Schoool, were the 1987 inductees into the Hall of Fame. Orange County Register columnist John Hall, Broadway performer John Raitt and businessman Paul Salata also were honored.

“When you talk about tough guys, well, let’s just say ‘John Robinson,’ the Rams coach and master of ceremonies, would love to have 45 guys like Jerry Wilcox,” Youngblood said before making his acceptance speech.”

Later, Robinson said that the Rams had “postponed” going to the Super Bowl until Wilcox had recovered.

“I can’t think of a better sight than to see you holding that trophy in the locker room a year from now,” Robinson said.

Former UCLA and NBA star David Meyers, also a member of the Hall of Fame, introduced his sister. They are the only family members who have both been inducted to the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame.

“I used to be embarrassed having Ann tag along with me to the playground,” he said. “She followed me everywhere. First, she followed me to Sonora (high school) then UCLA, then she had the audacity to follow me into the NBA.

“Well now I’d be proud to have her on my team any time.”

McCormick, who won two diving gold medals in the 1952 and 1956 Olympics, said she was grateful that the Hall of Fame committee took the time to “dust me off and make me feel like a superstar again.”

Sheue, 91, paid a tribute to the other pioneers of high school sports in Orange County and then said: “I’m not sure if I’m worthy of this but I’m sure going to accept it.”