West, Byrd a double dose of excellence

When each came to the realization he'd never play for the New York Yankees, he turned to Plan B - sports writing.

Byrd: "I never thought about doing anything else.''

West: "It didn't take long to figure out as much fun as sports were, it (writing) was the only way to be around it.''

For nearly 30 years their careers overlapped, competing for rival newspapers on the same turf.

East Tennessee readers were the beneficiaries. From the Knoxville Journal (Byrd) and the News Sentinel (West), they enjoyed a daily-double dose of quality sports journalism.

Tonight, Byrd and West join 14 others in the inaugural class of the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame.

Many of the inductees are familiar names to Knoxville sports fans: Tom Siler and Gary Lundy of the News Sentinel; Russ Bebb from the Journal; Haywood Harris and Gus Manning from the University of Tennessee sports information department.

The induction dinner is at Cumberland University in Lebanon. Plaques honoring the Hall of Fame will hang in various press boxes throughout the state.

"It's absolutely the best job you could have,'' said West of sports writing. "If you drew one up you couldn't do much better.''

Byrd grew up in South Knoxville, West on the north end of the county.

Both served as editors of the student newspaper at UT before moving downtown.

"I did everything I could,'' said Byrd, "to get in the way of people who might think about making me a sportswriter.''

In 1947, somebody did. From that point until the Journal ceased publication in 1991, Byrd was a staple of the sports page.

His first UT beat was basketball.

"Because nobody else wanted to do it,'' he recalled with a laugh.

Of all the graceful stories and columns authored by Byrd, perhaps none drew a bigger reaction than the "What are Rutgers?" column of 1979.

It was actually only a segment of Byrd's Saturday-morning free-thought association column that included predictions for the day's big football games.

This particular one was clever then and still clever today. That Rutgers upset the Vols 13-7 on homecoming day etched the column in infamy.

"I really did those things to make fun of me and anybody else who thought he was some kind of pundit,'' said Byrd.

West transitioned from UT to the News Sentinel full-time in 1955. His mentor was fellow inductee Siler.

"Tom did everything you could do for me in the profession,'' said West. "He introduced me to famous people and news sources that lasted me through the years.''

In an era before the immediacy and saturation of talk radio and the Internet, West thrived on cultivating sources and breaking stories.

It was a different media climate, to say the least.

"I had access to so many things I doubt would be open now,'' West said. "I sat in film rooms Sundays with the (UT) assistant coaches. It was understood it was a classroom environment.

"And I had the run of the dorm. Many times I sat in (Steve) Kiner's room and talked with a half dozen players at once. You can't do that any more.''

West left the News Sentinel in 1985 and spent a dozen years in Washington with Scripps Howard News Service.

Since retirement, he and wife Sarah divide their year between Norris Lake and a home in Mexico. He still authors books and a column in the Halls Shopper News, among other enterprises.

Still a South Knoxvillian, Byrd and wife Jo keep up with UT sports as well as the fortunes of the Belmont University basketball team, coached by their son Rick.

"To tell you the truth,'' Ben said, "I really haven't enjoyed retirement as much as I hoped.

"I guess when you've been in the arena for 45 years, it seems a little empty at times.''

Byrd and West didn't just go in the arena. They took their readers with them.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276.