Garth Brooks, Barry Sanders, Robin Ventura joining OSU Alumni Hall of Fame today
Garth Brooks chats with fellow OSU alum Boone Pickens recently at OSU. (Photo by Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman)
The Oklahoma State University Alumni Association today will be induct into the OSU Alumni Hall of Fame three of the most celebrated and famous names in OSU history.
Garth Brooks, Barry Sanders and Robin Ventura will be added to the hall of fame during halftime of the OSU-Missouri football game, which kicks off at 8:15 p.m.
In addition, they will serve as grand marshals of the Sea of Orange Homecoming parade at 2 p.m. in downtown Stillwater. The OSU Band will perform special music to honor the three OSU greats.
A press conference also is scheduled for today, and Brooks is sure to get plenty of questions about his announcement Thursday that he is coming out of retirement and embarking on a new venture as a Las Vegas headliner.
Here is more information on the 2009 honorees, who are all superstars in their respective career fields:
Garth Brooks, who was born in Tulsa, raised in Yukon and lives in Owasso, graduated from OSU in 1984 and is now certified by the Recording Industry Association of America as the No. 1-selling solo artist in U.S. history. Brooks has sold in excess of 128 million albums and has received every accolade the recording industry can bestow on an artist. His body of work – including the groundbreaking “No Fences,” “Ropin’ The Wind,” “The Hits” and “Double Live” – propelled country music as a genre to the front pages of newspapers and magazine covers worldwide.
Brooks is currently in retirement, but when called upon by events greater than his own self-interest, he returns to the stage. The latest of these was when the president himself requested that he be a part of President Obama’s Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. He performed as a crowd of more than 300,000 attended the historic event and did the “wave” to Brooks’ performance of “Shout” while the president sang along. Brooks also performed for President Obama’s first late-night TV appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”
When the governor of California asked for Garth’s help, he responded by performing five concerts in two days, selling out all five shows (83,000 tickets) in less than an hour and generating more than $6 million for victims and firefighters of California wildfires in a single weekend. Portions of the live concerts were shown as a TV special titled, “Garth Brooks: Live in L.A.,” in which viewers donated to the organization Fire Intervention Relief Effort (FIRE).
Barry Sanders waves to the crowd at a 2007 OSU football game. (Photo by Matt Strasen/The Oklahoman Archives)
Barry Sanders of Detroit, Mich., is one of the most electrifying running backs in the history of college and professional football. In 1988, Sanders had the greatest individual season in the history of college football on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy. He rushed for 2,628 yards, scored 39 touchdowns, rushed for more than 300 yards in four games, and established 34 NCAA records in 11 regular season games.
After his record junior season at OSU, he joined the Detroit Lions and became one of the most thrilling players in the history of the NFL. The Wichita, Kan., native rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his 10 NFL seasons, making him the first running back to do so. In 1997, he became just the third person to gain more than 2,000 yards in a season. He finished his NFL career rushing for 15,269 yards and 99 touchdowns.
A first- or second-team All-Pro all 10 of his NFL seasons, Sanders became the first NFL running back to record five 1,500-yard rushing seasons, in addition to being the only back to do so in four consecutive seasons (1994-1997). He is a member of both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame.
Robin Ventura (Associated Press photo)
Robin Ventura of Santa Maria, Calif., was one of college baseball’s greatest players and an All-Star major-league third baseman. Ventura had a remarkable three-year run at OSU from 1986-88. Baseball America named him Player of the Decade, the starting third baseman on its all-time team, and he was third in its Player of the Century poll. He was elected into the inaugural class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
He was named All-America all three years at OSU and was Player of the Year his sophomore year in 1987. He still holds college baseball’s hitting-streak record at 58 games and had a .428 career batting average. He holds seven OSU batting records, including the highest single season average at .469.
Ventura was drafted by the Chicago White Sox following his junior year and spent 16 seasons with the White Sox, New York Mets and New York Yankees. He was a Gold Glove winner and All Star. In 1995, Ventura became the eighth player in major-league history to hit two grand slam home runs in one game.
-BAM
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