Myron Meet Myron
Growing up in Stillwater, Oklahoma, my classmate was Ty Roderick. His father was Myron Roderick, who was one of the individuals responsible for the creation of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and the driving force behind it being located in Stillwater.
In February of 1994, I began working for Diamond Sports in Sioux City, Iowa with the Explorers. After the season I was relocated to Boise, Idaho. I continued to handle media and public relations for the Explorers, in what we all know now as working remotely, while adding the Boise Hawks, a minor league baseball team, and the Idaho Sneakers, a World TeamTennis franchise (still two words smooshed into one).
In Boise I met World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame founder Myron Finkbeiner, and attended the annual induction ceremonies, as did Roderick.
Finkbeiner commissioned Michael Destin, a renowned wildlife artist from Eagle, Idaho, to produce portraits for each Humanitarian Hall of Fame inductee.
Impressed with the portraits, Roderick commissioned Destin to create portraits for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame of every American wrestler who had captured Olympic gold. Destin originally created 33 portraits and has since completed 17 more, bringing the total to 50.
When I joined the Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015 I became part of the portrait process. It begins with coordinating with gold medalists on choosing the photograph that Destin, who works in what he calls his Wrestling Hall of Fame style, will use.
Two guys named Myron. Each the founder of a sports hall of fame. Both based in different cities, connected by a wildlife artist and a series of ceremonies in Boise.
The odds on that have to be pretty high.
But the odds that each of them could ask the other, “Do you know Jack?” and they would both say yes?
Those have to be astronomical.
