Evidently there was going to be a dinner to honor the 11 inductees for 2005 with the presentation of special awards, and the Hall of Fame selection committee, he said, wanted me to be there.

"What an honor!" I gasped. "You want me there? I'm ... I'm stunned. I feel so humble."

The phone seemed to go silent for a very long time before I finally heard Butch mutter, "Huh?"

"Well, who would have ever imagined that a guy who barely gained 150 yards his senior year, whose team only won one game, whose team lost to rival Campbell 25-0 on Thanksgiving Day—a guy like that could be selected to his high school Hall of Fame," I gushed. "What can I say ... "

"Uh, wait a minute," Cattolico interrupted. "I wasn't calling to tell you that you made the Hall of Fame, I was calling ... "

"Oh, sure, I understand," I interrupted right back. "It's supposed to be a surprise. Well, I must admit I am surprised, and I'll be sure to act surprised when I give my acceptance speech on Saturday night."

"No, you don't understand," he said, more forcefully this time to be sure to get my attention. "You're not being inducted into the Hall of Fame. We want you there to write a story about the ceremony and the 11 athletes who are getting inducted."
Now it was my turn for silence. "Huh?" I muttered.

"That's right, the dinner's Saturday night at Villa Ragusa in Campbell, and we want you to be there," Cattolico said. "And, oh," he added, "tickets are $90."

You mean I'm not getting inducted? There will be no award? No acceptance speech? And it's going to cost me 90 bucks?

You know, it's a pretty sorry commentary when a guy who gains 150 yards his senior season on a team that wins one very important game isn't even considered when his high school decides to recognize its finest athletes of the past 80 years.

No, instead they decide to go with guys like five-sport sensation Hal Sonntag and four-sport star Pete Denevi of the 1940s, basketball great Camden Wall of the 1950s and football and wrestling legend Ed Howell of the 1960s, superstars Mike Couchee (football and baseball) and Bill Steiner (swimming and water polo) of the 1970s, sports greats Kent Cooper and Lezlie Jensen Huston of the 1980s and all-everything Mike Fisher and Shelby Edwards of the 1990s. Even the late John Baggerly Sr. will earn special recognition honors.

But me? Snubbed again.

It was bad enough the first year. Oh, I must admit when I first heard about the Hall of Fame I thought it was a pretty good idea—to honor the athletes who have done many great things at the high school for nearly a century. Then I discovered that the inductees included Hugh Campbell, Bill Fairband and Holden Smith—all because of some little detail about them all going on to play professional football.

Did I mention my 150 yards?

Anyway, I still thought it was a pretty cool idea—so cool, in fact, that I thought Saratoga High School should get something similar going while memories of its early beginnings in the 1960s are still fresh.

But I was passed over that first year, and now I've been snubbed again this year.

Oh, well. I guess I'll be there on Saturday night to help honor the inductees of 2005 and welcome them into the Hall of Fame. They were all great athletes, and they're all very deserving.

And as for me? Well, sooner or later they've got to run out of Most Valuable Players, all-leaguers and school record-setters and start looking for reserve running backs to join the coveted Hall. And when they do, I'll have my speech all ready.

Want to talk? Give me a call at 408.354.3110, or write to dsparrer@svcn.com.