How to qualify for my Literary Contributors Hall of Fame. Don't complain like me. | Adams

Halls of fame are a bigger deal in sports than anywhere else. Maybe, there’s also a hall of fame for plumbers and accountants, but I haven’t noticed.

Sports honor players, coaches, administrators – even media-types. In fact, they honor just about everyone but literary contributors.

I’ve decided to change that. I’m establishing a hall of fame for volunteer wordsmiths who have contributed so much to this column.

How do you qualify for my Literary Contributors Hall of Fame? You need to be creative, thought-provoking, entertaining, highly opinionated and persistent. You also can’t complain when your literary efforts – no matter how well crafted they might be – aren’t published.

Literary contributors will become eligible for induction into my hall of fame just 15 years after their last email is published.

Jim writes: Don’t know if you follow tennis much, but the resemblance between Carlos Alcaraz and Santiago Vescovi is striking. They look like they could be brothers.

My response: Until Wimbledon, I didn't know Carlos Alcaraz from Carlos Alvarez or John Carlos.

Check that. I’m dating myself with those names. Let’s try again.

I didn't know Carlos Alcaraz from Carlos Hyde or Bettina Carlos.

Terry writes: Great article on keeping Lindsey Nelson’s name on the baseball stadium. I couldn’t agree more. This should not even be a consideration. If they want a name change on campus, start with Phillip Fulmer Way.

The “way” he went about acquiring the HC position, then eventually running the program to mediocrity is well documented. Al Wilson Way sounds much better and appropriate.

My response: Are you saying the man who hired Jeremy Pruitt shouldn’t have his name on a street? Come on, Terry. That’s out of line.

Britney writes: Wow, why am I not surprised that Fulmer was a mockery of an AD? From the day of his hiring, I knew this. We all should have. I hope the "Fulmer lovers" now see him for the pseudo-AD he was now.

My response: Anyone who isn't wearing blinders has figured it out by now. Kudos to you for recognizing it right away.

Shemp writes: John it was coincidental that on the day I read the story about Lindsey Nelson and the Tennessee stadium I was reading Ernie Pyle's stories about the war in Europe. And then that night I read where he interviewed a captain from Knoxville named Lindsey Nelson.

My response: I forgot about that. Lindsey mentioned it to me once. Unfortunately, my memory isn’t as good as his.

He told me some Mets stories during one conversation. That evening, I was looking at his book and noticed how the stories he had just told me were verbatim to what he wrote in the book, as though he had been reading from it.

Steve writes: It would be interesting and worth a news story, if all news of a transfer portal player included the amount of NIL he or she would receive.

My response: You are just as apt to get a report on a student-athlete’s most recent doctor’s visit. But you bring up an interesting point.

NIL deals are pretty much hush-hush. But there’s nothing hush-hush on social media. I’ve talked to NIL insiders and coaches who say how exaggerated NIL money often is.

Craig writes: Just a question about an issue. Do you think UT is spreading NIL money too thin across all sports so White can benefit from the sports trophy instead of concentrating into football, then baseball and basketball.

ADAMS: Readers are unanimous. Don't change name of Lindsey Nelson Stadium for any price tag

My response: Even in the NIL era, it’s possible to be good in multiple sports. LSU is a great example of that. It has won national championships in women’s basketball and baseball this year. Neither championship would have been possible without the addition of star transfers.

And they did that without shortchanging a football program that is ascending under their second-year coach Brian Kelly, whose quarterback, Jayden Daniels, is a transfer.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How to qualify for my Literary Contributors Hall of Fame. Don't complain.