Somebody told me in passing the other day that Johnny Orr was going to get a sports bar for donors made in Hilton Coliseum. To be honest, I thought that was kind of a crap tribute, not much more meaningful than the banner hanging in the rafters. A lot of people were wanting to put his name on the floor, so I thought it was a disappointment.
But then I did some poking online, and I saw that the tribute also includes a statue, made by the same company that did the Jordan statue outside the United Center, in the Hilton concourse area as well.
Honestly, I think it is pretty neat all in all. Yeah, his name won't be on the court for the TV cameras to pick up, but everybody that goes to Hilton will know the name Johnny Orr, from now on. People need to remember: incoming freshmen were born in 1992. They aren't going to know Johnny Orr, unless they are a basketball buff.
Plus, I saw a quote saying that Orr cried when he heard the news. If the man is happy with the tribute, we should all be just as happy for him.
I care much less about randoms watching ISU on TV knowing who Johnny Orr was and what he meant to ISU, than I do ISU fans knowing. If there is somebody out there and they claim to be an ISU basketball fan, but don't know Johnny Orr, that's an epic fail, especially after this gets in there.
It sounds like all of this will be ready for conference play in January, and it was not affected by the flooding. I cannot wait!
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