Hustle Belt Hall of Fame Nominations: Eastern Michigan Eagles

They say the summer time is a slow time for the sports world. Slow? Maybe. But it’s also a good time to do some things that perhaps we (and ultimately, you) don’t have time for through the hustle and bustle of the sports calendar year. So in that accord, we’re happy to be undertaking a bit of a project this summer where the best and brightest of the Mid-American Conference gets recognized forever in the hallowed halls of Hustle Belt, the web’s premier home for MACtion and all things MACtion-related, in the newly crafted Hustle Belt Hall of Fame.

Here’s how the Hall of Fame works:

1. Some info and the schedule for the Hall of Fame can be found here.
2. Nominations are solicited from the community via a post just like this one for each of our MAC programs.
3. After all MAC programs’ nominations, no more than 10 nominees are put forward for each school and a poll is created.
4. The top two vote getters in each school’s poll is inducted into the Hustle Hall of Fame. Simple.

Next up is the Eastern Michigan Eagles!

It was a difficult start to the year for EMU. There were conversations about the viability of football. There were the usual questions about attendance. There were the constant reminders of the cost of competitiveness for a major program. There were staff departures. There was quite a bit going on. But there was also some tremendous highs with the resurgence of the football program and the carving of a path all their own despite being in the shadow of the neighbors in Ann Arbor and East Lansing. It can’t be understated how difficult a row it is to hoe at EMU, which is why our Hall of Fame nominees should be truly celebrated for their commitment to their school, sport, and their results. Resident Belt EMU expert Ken tallied up his list to start ours. Our initial nominees are:

• Grant Long, basketball
• Derrick Dial, basketball
• Earl Boykins, basketball
• Glenn Bryant, basketball
• Gary Patton, football
• Ron Adams, football
• Charlie Batch, football
• Ron Rice, football
• TJ Lang, football
• Jim Harkema, football
• Bob Welch, baseball

Of course, the nominations above are the best we could do, but we are far from the expert that you likely are. So, we’re asking fans like you to tell us who we may have missed (or who shouldn’t be in there) in the comment section below. Do your best, and don’t worry... it’s only for an immortal award.

Comment section, Eagles fans. Come fan with us!