The son of an amateur sports car racer turned the lessons he learned on the inner workings of a car while growing up in Medina, OH into a smashingly successful career as one of the nation’s leading race car drivers. Drove his way into super start status by winning three CART championships in 1985, 1987 and 1992, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 and two Driver-of-the Year awards, before retiring from competitive driving after 17 years in 1998. At that time he ranked first in CART standings in career starts, 2nd in career earnings, 3rd in laps led, 4th in career wins (24) and 5th in pole positions (18). In all he had earned 88 podium finishes, 119 top-five finishes and 177 top-ten finishes in 265 starts. A regular participant in the Cleveland Grand Prix at Burke Lakefront Airport, he won the 1983 race, finished second three time and third twice. While still racing, he founded Team Rahal, which he owns with arcing enthusiast partner and TV host David Letterman, and was the winningest team in CART racing in 2001 with six wins and seven poles. From December, 2000 to August 2001, he also spent nine months as CEO and Team Principle at Jaguar Formula One Racing. Now living in New Albany, OH, he has been very active in charitable activities, literally raising millions of dollars for children’s charities.
Ghaffari, Matt
Matt Ghaffari
Induction Year : 2003
Sport: Wrestling
A solid, but hardly sensational wrestling career at Cleveland State University—a 56-11-2 record, a school record 14 pins as a senior bulwark of the nations ninth-ranked team when he qualified for NCAA Division I Nationals but he won just one match before bowing out—gave virtually no hint that the Vikings were nurturing an Olympic silver medalist in their midst. However, turning to Greco-Roman style wrestling after his graduation in 1984, proved the catalyst to the 1996 Olympics Silver Medal at 286 pounds and a notable national acclaim which followed, abetted no doubt by his imposing physical appearance. The medal was no fluke. Rather it was the special highlight of a post-collegiate career which saw him become the only wrestler in U.S. history to win a combined four World and Olympic medals. Add to that seven U.S. national championships, an American record nine Pan-American titles, and four World Cup championships, and 13 Grand Prix and four Canada Cup championships. Also earning a spot on the 1992 Olympic Team and as an alternate to the 2000 team, he was the U.S. Olympic Committee Greco-Roman Athlete of the Year for 1996 and 1998 and fifth in the voting for the U.S. Olympic Committee Sportsman of the Year in 1999. now the Director of National Facilitated Services at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, he makes his home in Avon Lake.
Bova, Phil
Phil Bova
Induction Year : 2003
Sport: Basketball
A three-sport at Cleveland West High, where he captained the baseball, basketball and football teams, he appeared on track to a professional baseball career after earning All-Ohio diamond honors at West in 1964 and subsequently playing for two years in the Cleveland Indians farm system. Instead, his future in sports took a sharp right turn which transformed him into one of—perhaps the—most successful college basketball referees ever to come out of the Greater Cleveland area. Donning, his first striped shirt at the age of 28 in 1974, he began a career as a Big 10 official in 1976 which has spanned 26 years and led to officiating assignments in 20 consecutive NCAA Men’s National Basketball Tournaments, including an appearance in the Final Four and numerous “Elite Eight” and “Sweet 16” match-ups. He has also called National Invitation Tournament games for two decades, including the 1993 championship at Madison Square Garden, and a tournament championship games for virtually every major collegiate conference. President of Big Ten Officials Association for eight terms and director of two nationally acclaimed camps, one for baseball, his “real job” is as coordinator of the Occupational Work Experience program at Buckeye High School in Medina County, where he has won honors as Educator of the Year and Employee of the Year. He currently makes his home in Westlake.
Theiling, Jim
Jim Theiling
Induction Year : 2002
Sport: Football
A native Clevelander who starred in football, basketball and track at Cleveland West High from 1945 to 1948, he stayed on to give his hometown reason to continue cheering his feats at Case Tech. and continue to cheer it did as he literally fashioned a Hall of Fame career for the Rough Riders from 1948 to 1952. Relatively slight, even in those days, for a halfback at 170 pounds, his speed and elusiveness enabled him to post some impressive numbers on the gridiron—none more so than on Thanksgiving Day in 1950 when he broke away on touchdown runs of 56 and 97 yards to give Case a 20-7 victory over archest of rivals Western Reserve. It was an effort that went a long way toward earning him the 1950 Les Bale Award as the team’s “Most Outstanding Player.” That was followed by the Cleveland Touchdown Club’s 1951 award as the Most Outstanding Local Collegiate Football Player, and a berth on the 1951 All-Big Four Offensive First Team. While honors piled up for his football skills, he quietly fashioned records in track as well, leading the team in points scored in 1950, 1951 and 1952 and setting a school record of 24.0 sec in the 220-yard low hurdles. Theiling, who now makes his home in Willoughby, was elected to the Case Western Reserve Athletic Hall of Fame in 1976.
Deceased 2020
Rahal, Bobby
Bobby Rahal
Induction Year : 2002
Sport: Auto Racing
The son of an amateur sports car racer turned the lessons he learned on the inner workings of a car while growing up in Medina, OH into a smashingly successful career as one of the nation’s leading race car drivers. Drove his way into super start status by winning three CART championships in 1985, 1987 and 1992, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 and two Driver-of-the Year awards, before retiring from competitive driving after 17 years in 1998. At that time he ranked first in CART standings in career starts, 2nd in career earnings, 3rd in laps led, 4th in career wins (24) and 5th in pole positions (18). In all he had earned 88 podium finishes, 119 top-five finishes and 177 top-ten finishes in 265 starts. A regular participant in the Cleveland Grand Prix at Burke Lakefront Airport, he won the 1983 race, finished second three time and third twice. While still racing, he founded Team Rahal, which he owns with arcing enthusiast partner and TV host David Letterman, and was the winningest team in CART racing in 2001 with six wins and seven poles. From December, 2000 to August 2001, he also spent nine months as CEO and Team Principle at Jaguar Formula One Racing. Now living in New Albany, OH, he has been very active in charitable activities, literally raising millions of dollars for children’s charities.
McFadden, Ken “Mouse”
Ken "Mouse" McFadden
Induction Year : 2002
Sport: Basketball
A legend before his time, he came to Cleveland to enroll at Cleveland State University with a storied reputation as a New York basketball wonder who had bypassed his high school team to make a name in AAU and playground circles. Nothing he did in a Viking uniform diminished his stature. As a freshman in 1985-86, h, and he quickly became an integral part of the best team in school history, one which built a 27-3 mark to win its first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament, then captured they city’s hearts by upsetting Indiana and St. Joseph’s to advance to the Sweet 16 before suffering a heart-breaking 71-70 loss to David Robinson-led Navy. When his college career ended three seasons later, he was the holder of CSU’s career records for points scored (2,256), assists (463), and free throws attempted and made (761-597) and was second in six other career categories. He had also established single season marks in five categories, been named the Vikings’ Most Valuable Player in three seasons and earned all-conference honors for each of his four years and All-American designated three times. He was voted into the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility after a five-year stint in the professional ranks when he returned to CSU to complete work for his degree. He now serves as the “Mouse” McFadden to make his job easier. He makes his home in Euclid.
McCormack, Mark H.
Mark McCormack
Induction Year : 2002
Sport: Golf
Founder, Chairmen and CEO of the Cleveland-based sports and entertainment conglomerate International Management Group (IMG), he is recognized worldwide as the pioneering force behind the development of the sports marketing industry, an industry which revolutionized sports by establishing athletic representation as a distinct business. A native of Chicago he was a standout golfer at the College of William and Mary, qualifying for the U.S. Open and several U.S. and British amateur championships. Following college and a stint in the service, he accepted a position with a prestigious Cleveland law firm where he decided to combine his legal and business skills with his love of golf to go into the athletic representation business in 1960. a handshake deal with a young golfer he had met in college named Arnold Palmer launched his enterprise. Soon after, he signed an unknown South African golfer named Gary Player and a newly turned professional named Jack Nicklaus, and IMG was off to a very healthy beginning. Today, operating with 83 offices in 32 countries, its multifaceted businesses cover magnitude of enterprises in broadcasting, the classical music world, recreational facilities development and corporate consulting. The world’s largest athletic representation firm, it still numbers Palmer amongst its clients along with the likes of Tiger Woods, Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzsky, Monica Seles, Wimbledon, the British Open and the Nobel Foundation.
Deceased 2003
McBride, Ken
Ken McBride
Induction Year : 2002
Sport: Baseball
One of Cleveland West High’s finest athletes, he led the Cowboys to the 1952 City High School Baseball Championship Game, only to lose the title clash in an 11-inning duel at Municipal Stadium. However, better days on the Stadium mound were ahead. The most memorable of those appearances came exactly a wearing a Los Angeles uniform as the staring pitcher for the American League in the 1963 Major League All-Star Game. That was his fourth and final appearance as an All-Star, all for the Angels with whom he set a team mark in 1962 with 10 consecutive victories and also compiled a string of 27 consecutive scoreless innings as a staring pitcher. His major league career, begun with the Chicago White Sox AL Championship team in 1959, ended with a shoulder injury prior to the 1964 campaign After several seasons as a minor league coach and manager he joined the Milwaukee Brewers as pitching coach in 1975, but retired in 1976 to take on his current position as president and chief operating officer of a Cleveland-based construction business.
Jackson, Robert E.
Robert Jackson
Induction Year : 2002
Sport: Football
He walked into his first Cleveland Browns camp in 1975 as a non-drafted free agent from Duke University where he had undergone five position shifts before the Blue Devils anointed him an offensive tackle in his junior year. It didn’t take the Browns nearly that long to decide the one-time North Carolina high school quarterback sensation was a guard, and by the eighth game of his rookie season he had settled in as a starter. That was the beginning of an 11-year run as a key player on some of the strongest offensive lines in Browns history. During those 11 seasons he missed only two games, was named Browns’ Man of the Year in 1981 and was selected to co-captain the 1985 team with future Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsom. He retired after the 1985 season to enter the insurance business, subsequently forming a partnership with Browns teammate (and now fellow Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame member) Doug Dieken to create a highly successful insurance agency in suburban Westlake. He makes his home in Bay Village, where has managed to fit a volunteer high school coaching job into a busy schedule of community and charitable activities.
Chones, Jim
Jim Chones
Induction Year : 2002
Sport: Basketball
Five seasons in a Cleveland Cavaliers uniform were all the 6-11 Racine, WI native needed to establish himself as one of the finest players in team history. The verdict was first delivered in 1991 when fans voted him the starting center on the “Classic Cavs Team” covering the club’s first 20 years, and re-enforced a decade later when he was named to the 12-man All-Time Cavs Team. An All-American for a 25-4 Marquette University quintet in 1971-72, when he averaged 20.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, and a member of the 1971 U.S. Pan-American Games team, he turned pro in 1973. After two seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA), he joined the Cavs for the 1974-75 season. His finest year came in 75-76—the memorable “Miracle of Richfield Year”—when he averaged a career high 15.8 ppg, but he scored in double figures in each of his five Cavs seasons, while his 3,790 rebounds rank third on the team’s all-time leaders list. He ended his playing career with two seasons in Los Angeles, where he was a member of the Lakers’ 1979-80 championship squad and two years with European teams, then returned to Cleveland and worked for 11 years as a Cavaliers television analyst. He now resides in Orange Village and is marketing director for a construction company.
Bando, Sal
Sal Bando
Induction Year : 2002
Sport: Baseball
Cleveland-born and raised, he parlayed a solid athletic career at Warrensville Heights High and a series of strong summer performances for highly respected sandlot teams into a baseball scholarship at perennial baseball power Arizona State. When he was named the MVP of the 1965 College World Series, won by ASU, the door was opened to one of the finest major league careers ever enjoyed by a Greater Cleveland native. Drafted by the Kansas City Athletics prior to their move to Oakland, he enjoyed 11 seasons as the A’s third basemen, playing a major role in the team’s three consecutive World Championships in 1972-73-74, playing on four American League All-Star teams and compiling career statistics which still rank him in the A’s top three in six categories. He went on to play five seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, retiring at the end of the team’s pennant-winning season in 1981. Subsequently he became a special assistant to the Brewers general manager, was promoted to general manager in October, 1991, and held down that position for eight seasons. He remains active in Milwaukee community affairs and makes his home in Mequon, WI.
Deceased 2023