“This is going to be a fight.”
Those were my words to Rashaan Davis, Colorado High School Activities Association assistant commissioner, and CHSAA Hall of Fame Selection Committee chairman Bob Marken on Sept. 7. Longtime Manitou Springs football coach George Rykovich was going to take his rightful place among the great names in Colorado high school athletics history.
I was ready for this fight. Somehow, someway, I have found myself on two important hall of fame selection committees. This year marks the start of my second term on the CHSAA committee.
I also serve on the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame selection committee with legendary Colorado media names like Vic Lombardi, Ron Zappolo, Terry Frei and Drew Goodman (in my opinion, one of those things is not like the others).
The point is, I get to hear arguments multiple times a year on candidates who are deemed worthy of selection into either hall of fame.
The Colorado Sports Hall of Fame is a beast of a task. The CHSAA Hall of Fame is more my speed.
I consider my first term a failure. I brought Rykovich’s name to the attention of the committee in my first year. He got a few votes, but never really made the cut. A few more in Year 2 and about the same in Year 3. Then I was gone.
Last spring, Davis called to ask me to come back. I had recently accepted my new job as the editor-in-chief of Colorado Preps, so he appreciated by credentials. I accepted because I had unfinished business from my first term.
Let’s fight.
In my time working for CHSAA, I had developed a deep understanding of what educational athletics are about. When it comes to coaches, I have a much better understanding than I did while in high school.
It’s not all about wins and losses, although those help. The best coaches — hall of fame- worthy coaches — are those who serve their schools every bit as much as they serve the teams they coach. The best coaches push athletes to be better than they ever thought they could be, even if those athletes aren’t playing that particular coach’s sport.
This is everything that Rykovich was about. A colleague who graduated from Manitou about the time the Mustangs won their two state titles told me that Rykovich was an advocate for kids participating in band, choir or drama during his 1971-2006 tenure.
If Rykovich doesn’t fit the profile of an educational athletics hall of famer, no one does.
Marken, a former athletics director and coach at Buena Vista, told me during our deliberations that, because he also served on the Colorado High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame committee, it was tough to distinguish between Ryko and others who had been brought before our committee.
I couldn’t give him an answer on everyone else. But Ryko is our guy. Ryko is our coach. And that’s why I was ready to fight.
I knew I’d won my fight when the man on my right, Dick Katte (the all-time winningest basketball coach in state history) looked at me and simply said, “George is a good one.”
There are countless deserving candidates who would be qualified to join the class of 2022. But Ryko was deserving too. He was instrumental for athletics in our district and community and he deserves recognition and our thanks.
So thank you, coach. Welcome to the Hall.
CELEBRATE THE COACH
Former players and alumni are invited to congratulate coach Rykovich at halftime of the La Junta game on Friday, Oct. 21. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Richardson Field.