Fame

Let's declare a national moratorium for 100 years or so on the creation of halls of fame. In case you haven't noticed, the flame of fame is burning brightly - indeed, blindingly - across the land, and halls of fame are being opened at the rate of one per month. It's a veritable hailstorm of name- dropping. Just last month, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame held its inaugural ceremony in, of all places, the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. After inducting Elvis and Fats and Chuck, everybody joined in singing "Roll Over, Beethoven," and he probably did. But Ludwig will never be asked to join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, nor the Songwriters Hall of Fame (New York)

I was insulted by Mark Randall's article on the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame ("Is rock-and-roll ready for a hall?" Op-ed Page, March 11). First he calls rock-and-roll trash and bad music, and then he claims that our generation spent the first half of our lives in adolescence. All this from a man who can only think of Fabian? Perhaps Mr. Randall is living the second half of his life under a rock. He was right about the trash situation, and his article helped to make it worse.

The Marple Newtown School District is planning a Hall of Fame to honor distinguished graduates of Marple Newtown High School, said Naomi Zaslow, school district director of information. "Lots of different kinds of people will be included. Whatever milieu they find themselves in, if they are contributing, we'd like to recognize them," Zaslow said. The names of those elected to the Hall of Fame will be engraved on a plaque to be displayed in the high school. Honorees will also be recognized at a special assembly next fall.

They've got all their marbles in Wildwood. The national Hall of Fame for marbles will be dedicated tonight in Wildwood, the site of annual marbles tournaments for the past 34 years. "There's a list of the national champions, photographs, trophies and tournament shirts," said Robert Scully of the Wildwood Historical Society. "One thing that surprised me was the handmade clay marbles from the late 1800s. Today, they're made of glass and manufactured by the millions. " The Marbles Hall of Fame will occupy a room in the George F. Boyer Museum at Spencer Avenue and Holly Beach station.

Seven years after the premiere of the movie, and four years after NBC's cancellation of the series, Fame continues to make good the promise of its theme song: "I'm gonna live forever. . . . I'm gonna learn how to fly. " Fame (Saturdays at 6 p.m. on Channel 29), now in its sixth season of production for television, is alive and well - very well - and living in syndication. People who haven't seen it since its NBC days have missed a lot. Janet Jackson, for example, was a series regular two years ago, and its latest cast is its strongest yet. Creatively, Fame is now a better program than ever before.

Between four and seven enshrinees will be announced Feb. 4, the day before the Super Bowl. Bill Parcells, coach Tim Brown, wide receiver Cris Carter, wide receiver Andre Reed, wide receiver Jerome Bettis, running back Curtis Martin, running back Will Shields, offensive lineman Aeneas Williams, defensive back ...

Joe Ostroski, one of Philadelphia's most famous bowlers, may soon realize a dream of long standing - a berth in the American Bowling Congress National Hall of Fame. "There's a possibility I could be placed in the veterans' category," said Ostroski, a venerable pin toppler who was prominent in the match-game era. "I've been near induction, but as for now, the votes, especially in the East, are hard to come by. It seems the West and Midwest dominate the hall. " But Ostroski's hopes are rising.

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a hobby-dealer gathering at the new NHL Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. I was impressed with the facility, the scope of the collection and the enthusiasm with which this sports mecca is being greeted by visitors. Housed in a refurbished bank building, the Hockey Hall of Fame is located right off the lake front in the banking district of the city. Hall president David Taylor said the decision to locate the facility in the city has paid big dividends since it opened in early June of this year.

It happened this way: Don Lee Van Winkle, Don Ferris and Mickey Brook were rehearsing "under the grate" at J & R Parking on Sansom Street in Center City. This was in the late 1960s, when their band, the Great American Dream, spent eight to 12 hours a day honing its musical talents down there. Guitarist and songwriter Van Winkle was toying with a country melody one day when band members Nick Jameson and Nicky Indelicato came into the underground studio with lyrics they'd worked out as they rode into town.

Her blouse open to reveal a skimpy bra, Megan Fox strikes a dangerously hot pose on the cover of Esquire. Yet inside the talk is of God. And glossolalia. "It feels like a lot of energy coming through the top of your head," Fox, 26, says of her experiences speaking in tongues. It began when she was 8. "Your whole body is filled with this electric current," she says. "Words are coming out of your mouth, and you can't control it. The idea is that it's a language that only God understands.

The three quarry holes at Merion Golf Club showed their bite all week during the U.S. Open, but nothing stood out on the weekend like the monstrous 18th hole. Playing at 511 yards in Sunday's final round, No. 18 did not yield a birdie after Phil Mickelson's putt in the twilight on Friday evening. Only 31 of the 73 players parred the hole on Sunday, and it was Justin Rose's par that gave him a needed cushion as he went into the clubhouse to watch Phil Mickelson finish. Needing birdie to tie Rose and force a playoff, Mickelson drove into the rough, came up about 30 yards short with his second shot, and saw his pitch miss the cup by about four inches as it sped to the back of the green.

Chattanooga coach Jim Foster said he appreciated how Saturday's induction ceremonies in Knoxville, Tenn., for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame brought together players and coaches from each of the schools where he had worked. "In no way did I ever think I'd have the opportunity to bring a lot of people from those circles together at one time where they can sort of meld together and spend time together," the former St. Joseph's coach said. "That opportunity's tonight. I couldn't be happier to be in Tennessee.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Texas A&M coach Gary Blair and Chattanooga coach Jim Foster already have plenty in common. Both have military backgrounds, Blair in the Marines and Foster in the Army. Both have won at three different schools. Each began his head coaching career outside the six major conferences. Now they're about to share one more bond. Both are entering the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday as part of an induction class that also includes former Mississippi player Peggie Gillom-Granderson, former Connecticut guard Jennifer Rizzotti, former Texas player Annette Smith-Knight and former Rutgers star Sue Wicks.

LOS ANGELES - Renowned orthopedic surgeon Lewis Yocum, 65, who extended the careers of many big-leaguers by repairing injuries that once would have ended their playing days, has died. Dr. Yocum had been the team orthopedist of the Los Angeles Angels for 36 years. Team spokesman Tim Mead said Tuesday that Dr. Yocum died Saturday in Manhattan Beach, Calif. A protege of Frank Jobe, who pioneered the elbow ligament replacement surgery popularly known as Tommy John surgery in 1974, Dr. Yocum worked on the Nationals' Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman, the Twins' Francisco Liriano, the Mets Billy Wagner, and the Rangers' C.J. Wilson, among others.

FREE-SPIRITED romantic that she was, Julia Papazian Law had big plans to recreate a magical scene from her favorite movie, "Moonstruck. " Law was excited about attending a performance next January of Puccini's "La Boheme," the opera featured in a memorable scene in the film, at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. She especially wanted to see it with her new love, her boss, high-profile defense lawyer A. Charles Peruto Jr. "She wanted to recreate the scene. We were going to dress up, have champagne.

WHEN WAYNE Hardin was a sophomore halfback/quarterback at Pacific in 1946 he played for Amos Alonzo Stagg, who went into the College Football Hall of Fame as both a player and coach in the charter class of 1951. Now, the man who became the winningest football coach in Temple history will soon join him. "How many people ever get to say that?" the 86-years-young Hardin asked yesterday from Florida, where he spends his time with his wife Jane when they're not at home in Oreland.

HEISMAN TROPHY winners Danny Wuerffel of Florida and Ron Dayne of Wisconsin, along with two-time national champion Tommie Frazier of Nebraska, were selected yesterday for the College Football Hall of Fame. They are part of a class of 12 players and two coaches chosen by the National Football Foundation. The rest of the players to be inducted in December are: Miami Heisman winner Vinny Testaverde, whose selection was announced Monday; Ted Brown of North Carolina State; Tedy Bruschi of Arizona; Jerry Gray of Texas; Steve Meilinger of Kentucky; Orlando Pace of Ohio State; Rod Shoate of Oklahoma; Percy Snow of Michigan State; and Don Trull of Baylor.

Former Masters winner Fred Couples and Ryder Cup stalwart Colin Montgomerie shared the stage in St. Augustine, Fla., on Monday night when both were inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, along with three others in the Class of 2013. Also inducted: former U.S. Open champion and broadcaster Ken Venturi , former European Tour director Ken Schofield and two-time British Open champion and architect Willie Park Jr. SOCCER: New York Red Bulls forward Thierry Henry ($4.35 million)

FORMER SIXERS coach Larry Brown will be among nine inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame on May 20. The inductees are: * Brown, the only head coach to lead teams to NBA and NCAA championships. He also won Olympic gold medals as a player and coach. He currently is the head coach at SMU. * Ellen Barkann was a competitive figure skater. In 2012, she created a nonprofit, The Barkann Family Healing Hearts Foundation, whose mission is to provide grants and financial assistance to area families who are overcome by family crisis, long-term illness or sudden loss of life.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Michael Moran's fox-hunting steeplechase champion McDynamo can now add the Hall of Fame to his five Breeders' Cup championships and three Eclipse awards.   On Friday, he was elected to the National Museum of Racing's highest honor, joining three-time Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Calvin Borel and horses Housebuster, Invasor, Lure and Tuscalee.   McDynamo, who has been retired at Moran's Applestone Farm in Unionville, Chester County, won 17 of 34 career starts and retired as the leading career earner among steeplechase horses with $1,310,104.