Award recognizes Wally Hall's life of writing

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette sports editor Wally Hall is shown in his Little Rock office on Feb. 24, 2017.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette sports editor Wally Hall is shown in his Little Rock office on Feb. 24, 2017.

Wally Hall is in his 40th consecutive year writing about sports as a columnist for the Arkansas Democrat and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

"Whenever anything big happens in sports in Arkansas, everybody waits to see what Wally says. I can't say that for any other state in the nation," said Ron Higgins, who has covered the SEC for several newspapers and is now editor of Tiger Rag, a magazine and website that focuses on LSU sports. "In Arkansas, when you say, 'Wally,' people don't ask, 'Wally who?' They know it's Wally Hall."

Hall, who was born in Searcy and grew up in Little Rock, has covered all sports since becoming a columnist in 1979, but college football has been a focal point.

A member of the Football Writers Association of America for 33 years, including its president in 2003, Hall is being recognized by the organization with its highest honor.

Hall will receive the Bert McGrane Award at the FWAA Awards Breakfast on Jan. 13 in New Orleans before the College Football Playoff Championship Game is played in the Superdome.

"This is our lifetime achievement award," said Steve Richardson, director of the FWAA. "It's the Football Writers Hall of Fame."

The McGrane Award is presented in recognition of contributions to the FWAA and college football. The winners are displayed in the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

McGrane was a sportswriter and editor at the Des Moines Register for 45 years and served as the FWAA's director from the early 1940s until 1973.

"Wally is an iconic figure in college football writers' circles for his longevity and the fact he's been so passionate about all college sports for so many years," Richardson said. "Recognizing him with the McGrane Award is really a no-brainer.

"He's been very supportive of the Football Writers Association. He's fought for his newspaper and for writers everywhere as far as coverage and access."

The McGrane Award has been presented annually since 1974 and is a who's who of sportswriters, with past winners including Paul Zimmerman, Furman Bisher, Blackie Sherrod, Edwin Pope, Tony Barnhart and Ivan Maisel.

"Looking at the list of past winners of this award puts me in awe," Hall said. "I do share one thing in common with everyone who has won this award -- a passion for college football."

Hall is the third Arkansan to win the McGrane Award along with Orville Henry and Charlie Fiss.

Henry, who wrote for the Arkansas Gazette and later the Democrat and Democrat-Gazette and Donrey Media Group, won in 2002. Fiss, a Springdale native and longtime vice president of communications for the Cotton Bowl, was the award's recipient in 2017.

"Wally has done it all in his career as a reporter, columnist and editor," Fiss said. "He has developed an extraordinary following in Arkansas by earning the trust and loyalty of his readers.

"People want to know what Wally is thinking when it comes to the world of sports, and particularly the news of the day about the Razorbacks. I'm one of those readers. His column is like a magnet for me because it's the first thing I turn to when picking up the newspaper or going online."

Herb Vincent, the SEC's associate commissioner of communications, is a North Little Rock native and graduate of Little Rock Catholic High School.

"I grew up reading Wally," he said. "Even after I left Little Rock, my dad knew that I liked to read him so much that he'd clip out his columns and send them to me in the days before the internet. Then even after the internet, he kept mailing them to me. It became a tradition where I'd get a package in the mail every week with Wally's columns.

"My dad would write comments with the columns -- and sometimes he didn't agree with Wally. But he always read Wally, just like I have and so many other people have all these years. Reading Wally always helped me keep up with what was going on back home."

Vincent said Hall's reputation and influence have extended well beyond Arkansas.

"Wally is really a legend in the sportswriting industry," Vincent said. "People across the country know Wally.

"Wally's always had a great perspective on Arkansas sports through the good and the bad, through the winning and losing. He's consistently been a sportswriter's sportswriter."

Sports on 12/04/2019

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