Just as they did with Baseball, Football, Rock + Roll and Hockey, Mike Schopp and the Bulldog held a 'Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame' Rejection Committee this Spring. A number of local greats were shown the door. It's a light-harded way to rank the best of the best and give some airtime to a Sports Icon who might not be talked about much anymore.

The day after we kicked out Art Serotte, I received this email from a listener. I thought it was worth posting here so people could learn a bit more about Art Serotte. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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Greg:

 As an avid listener to WGR’s sports programming, I was driving my two sons (ages 12 and 10) to their AAU basketball game yesterday afternoon and we heard Shopp and the Bulldog reject Coach Art Serotte (rhymes with “Karate” as in “Sir-rot-tea). My boys asked “Dad, why are they dissing Uncle Buzzy? They obviously never met him; they can’t even pronounce our name. Turn off the station!” Well, I didn’t turn off the station, and explained to my boys that its entertainment, so don’t take it too seriously. They both commented: “Dad, you need to email them and tell them to put his name back on the list!”

 I admit to being bias, since Art (nicknamed “Buzzy” for the way he used to buzz down opposing players during his high school football playing days games) is my cousin and a good friend. But it is important to understand the significant influence he had on hundreds of young, if not thousands, relatively underprivileged men during his career.

 My wife and I had the privilege of attending his induction into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. I vividly recall sitting at a table of 14 other men (my wife being the only woman at the table), who had flown in from all over the country to attend “Coaches” induction. These ex-players all played during Grover’s 28-game winning streak in the early 1970s. They of course, recanted numerous “war” stories about their playing days, which both my wife and I found fascinating. There was one story which was typical “Uncle Buzzy” (as I have called him since my childhood days). As I recall one of the players said:

 “We were destroying our arch rival, and led by something like 40 points at half time. In the locker room, we were fairly jubilant, and Coach comes in yelling and screaming, and picks up a chair and breaks it against a locker; reaming us out like we were playing like a bunch of sissies. We just could not figure it out what was he upset about. Then, he yells: ‘the next time I see the defense let that [other team’s] offense cross mid-field, I am benching everyone!’” Needless to say, the Coach had established an extraordinary high level of achievement for his players.

 But what really hit me was the fact that every single person at that table flew in from all over country, from California to New York and states in-between, to be there for Coach. They were doctors, lawyers, business owners, managers and executives. They were all successful, they all graduated from college, and some from graduate school.

And they all felt that their success in the “real world” was influenced in large part by Coach Serotte. The consensus was: The coach was a great leader, certainly on the sidelines, but he was an educator first and foremost. Most of us were from poor, uneducated families, but he made sure we put our education first. He always stressed the importance of education, and banished us to the sidelines or back to the classroom if we didn’t meet his standards of learning, which was not just a C! He instilled in us a sense of commitment, to our family, to the classroom, to our teammates and to the field. He made us realize that we may not be the best at what we do, but we should always strive to achieve the best of our own abilities.

 The Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame web site states:

 Our honorees live, have lived and worked in Western New York. They are men and women who have contributed to the welfare of sports in Greater Buffalo by performance, time, effort and/or financial support whether that sport be amateur or professional.

 Without question, Coach Serotte has contributed to the “welfare of sports in Greater Buffalo…” More importantly, Coach Serotte has contributed to the welfare of many people’s lives throughout Buffalo whose positive influence has stretched across the United States.

 While Schopp and the Bulldog have, in the spirit of entertainment, establish their own criteria for “removal” from the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, if significant contributions to the welfare of people outside of the playing field were one of them, Coach Serotte would remain in the Hall.

 Sincerely, 

Michael I. Serotte

As a Post Script, we did not put Art Serotte back in the Hall of Fame because we didn't receive the email within 10 minutes of his elimination. Sorry.