Last week, I told you in detail about 2011 El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame nomineePhil Prieto. Let me tell you about another nominee this week. I was startled to learn that Hyundai Sun Bowl executive director Bernie Olivas has been nominated. I was startled because I thought he had been inducted long ago. Somehow, however, his name hadn’t come up for nomination until last year. My goodness. If anyone deserves induction it’s this man. He has been a football coach, a baseball coach, a basketball coach, a teacher, official scorekeeper for the El Paso Diablos for 30 years and a tremendous asset to the Sun Bowl.
He started out with the Sun Bowl as a member of the team host committee in 1983 then became, in order, a member of the football selection committee, the board
of directors, president of the Sun Carnival Association and, since 2001, executive director of the Sun Bowl.
Whew. I get tired just writing about his qualifications. UNDER HIS watch, the Sun Bowl has grown to 25 yearly events, secured different sponsors, continued national television, re-started the Sun Bowl Basketball Tournament, saw team payments soar from $1 million to $2 million and, finally, gloriously, got Notre Dame to play in the Sun Bowl.
Bernie was outstanding even as a youngster. He earned 11 varsity letters at Cathedral High School in different sports and was 1971 Scholar-Athlete of the
Year. He earned a football scholarship to UTEP where he majored in physical education and biology. IF BERNIE is inducted this year, he’ll be joining two of his present Sun Bowl associates, TV coordinator Jimmy Rogers Jr. who was inducted in 1989 and game selection chairman John Folmer who was inducted in 2004.
He will also be joining his brother, former outstanding New Mexico State quarterback Sal Olivas, who was inducted in 2000. Truly, Bernie Olivas is one of El Paso’s greatest treasures.
NOMINATIONS FOR induction into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame, sponsored by Price’s, closed last Monday.
I had already told you about those nominated earlier. Besides Olivas and Prieto they were international basketball player Rafael Palomar, supporter Richard
KINT-TV sports anchor Luis Zuniga.
TEN MORE nominations were added last Monday. They are, in order of nomination, world renown runner Diane Proud, former Franklin High football coach Tony
Grijalva, Cathedral High swimming coach Jack White, champion runner Norman Pittenger, professional motor sports racer Frank Pedregon Sr., multi-sports star
Pete Solis Jr., coach/administrator Russ Vandenburg, baseball player/coach Marc Bombard, former NFL assistant coach Matt Simon and Riverside High football coach Pete Melendez.
THAT’S A TOTAL of 18 nominations. Of those, seven will be inducted: three in the athletes category, two in the coaches/administrators category, one in the
media/supporters category and one in the posthumous category. Voting by the board of directors will be held March 21. The induction banquet
will be held April 27 at UTEP. You’ll be reading more about these outstanding folks here before then. Have a favorite you’d like to see inducted? Start praying.
WOULD YOU like to know more about the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame, like how itstarted, who has been inducted, when meetings are held, etc.?
Thanks to former two-time president Ron Leiman, the Hall now has an elaborate website. Leiman worked endless hours on developing the site. Besides setting it up he downloaded former programs and stories going all the way back to the Hall’s inception in 1955. Try it. You’ll love it. It’s at elpasoathletichalloffame.com.