February 4, 2026 • 17 mins
Legendary broadcaster Jim Gray sits down with Monse Bolaños from Radio Row at Super Bowl LX and he shares the details of his passion project, The Hall of Excellence, dedicated to preserving and celebrating iconic artifacts from the world of sports and so much more.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Live from Media Row Radio Row here with sports casting legend.
Can I say that, of course? Jim Gray, Fox Sports Radio.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm great? How are you? Monty?
Speaker 1 (00:12):
I am doing well. It's Wednesday, so it's like getting
hectic right for the week.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
But it's hectic out there.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
It's hectic out there. At least we're in the back
kind of here hitting so we're not gonna be bothered
too much. And we are going to talk about the
super Bowl, but not yet. I actually want to talk
to you about this Hall of Excellence that you have
teamed up with the one and only Tom Brady to
put together in Las Vegas for fans to go and experience.
How did you come up with this?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Well, we're in the Fountain Blue Hotel on the second
level in the Hall of Excellence, and Tom and I
have been thinking about this. It goes back about nine
years and Tom and I have been together on the
radio doing a radio show, first on Westwood One and
then we moved over to series XM.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Let's Go is our radio show and podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
And so Tom bro one of his numerous records and
I just asked him one day, I said, Tom, what
do you do with all of these balls and jerseys
and helmets and so forth. He says, I got some
of them in my home and some of them are
in storage in a warehouse. And he was aware of
all the items that I had over the years from
all of the greats that I had covered, from Muhammad
Ali to Eric Dickerson to Kobe to Jordan and so
(01:19):
on and so forth, and I said, you know, we
ought to open a museum, and we ought to let
all these people see this, because you got great stuff.
I got great stuff, and we ought to just put
this all together and get some of the other great
athletes to Lonus for display. And so it took eight
years to build it, and now we have three hundred
and fifty of the greatest sports artifacts in the history
of sports and entertainment. Everything from Jackie Robinson's bat that
(01:42):
broke the color barrier, Stupey Brute's bat that he called
his shot on when he pointed out to the field,
to great items from Michael Phelps to a trophy room
that has every trophy competed for in life. From Oprah
Winfrey's Medal of Freedom and her first and Emmy to
Clint Eastwood's oscar for We're given to Tom Brady and
(02:05):
Bill Belichick's Lombardi when they beat the Rams. To Tom,
seven rings, to you name it, it is in this It's
in the Hall of Excellence, and we're very proud of it.
Aaron Judge, current guys, old guys, Will Chamberlain the only
artifact from his hundred point game, Lebron James first Jersey.
So come to the Fountain Blue Hotel and see the
(02:27):
Hall of Excellence.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
There's something for everyone.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
We have Siman Biles out in the front and sho
Hey Otani from the World Series, but Simone Biles. It's
so amazing how many people stop in the hallway because
you see that before you enter the museum and they wonder,
how can somebody do what she did? And literally I
would not be able to fit my thigh into herly guitar.
And she came by the museum when we were so
(02:49):
proud to display it and so proud to see her.
So it is something for everybody, and really I hope
that everybody will come by and take a look.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
It sounds incredible because you would I think it would
be just sports, but it's not.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
It covers a lot.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Elvis Presley, if you say something to somebody in Las Vegas,
and if you just walked on the strip right now,
they're twenty five people who are dressed up as Elvis
taking pictures by the sign in front of hotels. We
have his first suit that he ever wore on the
night that he became a resident in Las Vegas at
the International Hotel.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
How did you get your hands on that?
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Well, the people at Graceland and the people who from
ABG who are in charge, have given us this loan
to display and they've just been great. And so we
encourage everybody to go to Graceland and see Elvis. But
if you can't make it there, stop stop by the
Hall of Excellence and you can come and see it.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
And it's in pristine condition.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
And you look at it today and it's more stylish
today than it was back when he did it.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
You said, over three hundred and fifty items, Yes, ma'am.
Are we trying to put new things in? Are you
like shifting things in and out constantly? Are there some
that are staples that are not going anywhere?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
The staples.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
The staples are the stuff that Tom and I have,
which is about sixty percent of the museum and the
others are loan for display from great athletes, private collectors.
Other Halls of Fame, other halls of fame have been
great to us. The basketball, the Nate Smith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame has been great to us, as has
been the USGA and the World Golf Hall of Fame.
(04:24):
The Tennis Hall of Fame has been great. Pro Football
Hall of Fame. Jim Porter has given us just some
terrific items to be able to display all on loan.
Everybody takes back what's theirs when they want it, and
so all of those folks have just been just been
super spectacular to us and we appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
The WBC.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
UFC, which is headquartered in Las Vegas, so those folks
have given us the first championship belt and the first
the w w E belt, the championship belt.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Look at this, my man, hey to what's going on.
It's good to see you. He could be in the
Hall of actually he could be in the Hall of Excellence.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
But so we have the Rocks Belt and John Senna
their first championship felt from the wrestling.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
That's incredible. Anyway, there's something for everybody.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Serena Williams, people who've changed the world Billy Jean Kinghammad
Ali's last robe.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
The way you're talking about this, you have a smile
on your face. Is there one particular item, not your items,
but a particular item that has been lawn to you
that really you like?
Speaker 3 (05:34):
The favorite items that I have from my collection, which
was just all by happenstance, was Muhammad Ali drew a
picture for me.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
He drew a picture for you.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Well, he'd liked to paint, and so he drew a
picture that's on display. And we also have Leroy Neiman's
first painting of Cassius Clay from nineteen sixty four, the
Great Leroy Neiman. So we have one from Ali and
one from Neiemen, and then we also have a bat.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
To interview Muhammad.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Ali in the late eighties, and we went to his
home in Louisville, and when we were there, the people
from Louisville slugger obviously he's from Louisville, and they make
the bats, came over and gave him a Muhammad Ali bat.
So Muhammad Ali gave me that bat and he signed
it Cassius Clay from the home where he grew up,
(06:23):
and he didn't sign his name Cassius Clay, you know.
But so that's something that's just, you know, very rare,
very special. When you see Tom Brady's seven Super Bowl rings,
when you walk in there and you see that achievement,
you also get to see his Orange Bowl ring and
his life story told from his letter jacket. We have
the card has been given to us by the Pro
(06:44):
Football Hall of Fame to.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Display one ninety nine.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
That's one of the most photographed things that we have
because that's a historical document. It's a three by five
draft card, and so a lot of people love that.
We have Jackie Robinson's ring from his first World Series
and from when he first appeared at ebbotts Field, as well.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
As his bat.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
So there's history. We want to do the following. We
want to inspire, educate and entertain and we want all
of the fans to be able to see at the
Fountain Blue, come in and see what it is that's
been earned in front of the public by all of
these great athletes. And when you see and when you
walk through there and you see Tom Weiskoff's Claret jug
(07:25):
and then you see the current winner. Do this in
June or July, you know, it's like you're touching or
at least being able to photograph and get close to it.
When you see Billy Jean Kings Wimbledon dish, when you
see Charles Woodson's Heisman Trophy. I mean, if you're a
sports fan, or if you love achievement and excellence, you're
(07:45):
going to walk through this place. Joe Lewis, we have
the great Joe Louis, the Brown Bomber, World War Two hero,
great heavyweight champion. We have his first shoes and the
bell that was used when he fought for his first
championship as a great World War Two hero. So their
history and it's all the way up to current. We're
at current. We got Freddy Freeman's baseball coming in our
(08:05):
dinner off, our director got us Freddy Freeman's baseball coming
in from the only Grand Slam ever hid in World
Series history walk off.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
So no joke, this sounds better than reading it, Like
you really have painted a picture as to what this is,
and you've inspired me to want to go check it
out because all of these items, like you know they're there,
but seeing them for the first time is a different experience.
And that's it.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Right now, you're just painted the picture from me, and
we got the Olympics coming.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
We got Nathan chen the first squad we got from
his from his great gold medal performance from four years ago.
And we also have the skates for Mark hid and
the only man to win five gold medals in speed skating,
Michael Phelps, who won eight gold medals. We have his
podium jacket when he got all of those eight gold medals.
We have the very most, the most famous shoes. We
have two of the most famous pairs of shoes at
(08:55):
all of sports. Tom Brady's twenty eight to three comeback
shoes from the Super Bowl and they beat the Atlanta
Falcons in Michael Johnson's shoes the old shoe, one shoe,
only one gold shoe, the other ones with his coach.
We got the other gold shoe when he won the
two hundred and the four hundred in ninety six, sitting
right next to the torch that lit Muhammad Ali's torch
to you know, when he stood up there with Parkinson's
(09:19):
and inspired the world. So we have that as well.
So the Olympics are coming. So we have great Olympic stuff.
Al Alison Felix, the most decorated track and field. We
have her last suit when she won her eleventh gold
medal and Katie Ldecki when she broke the record in
the last Olympics so beautifully in Paris. Someone Biles we mentioned.
(09:40):
But there's something I mean if you're an Olympic fan.
Walked through the Hall of Excellence Fountain Blue, and I
gotta thank I gotta thank our great partner, Jeffrey Sofer
at the Fountain Blue Hotel. He just did an incredible
job building this out for Tom. He saw the vision,
he understood what it can do to inspire the guests
in the hotel, people, the calm youth groups. We had
(10:01):
the Summerland Little League team, the only Little League team
ever from Nevada to win the national championship. They went
on and played the World Championship and they lost last Summer,
but we have their banner hanging because they're the United
States champions for Little League. And you see these kids
come over and we had Reggie Jackson put a medal
around their neck, each of those kids. And then they
go and see Reggie's mit where he had the three
(10:23):
home runs in that great game when he became mister
October back in the seventies, and so Reggie Jackson, mister
October and you see these kids and these kids' parents
and they just lights up their faces. And so that's
what we want to do. We want the next generation
to come through. We want you to be able to
relive the great moments that you saw, that you were
able to see on television or maybe be in person.
(10:45):
And you know, now you can get right next to
all of the items that they were able to achieve
this in And we also have some Jerry West.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
There's another thing that inspires me. Jerry West.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
We have his gold medal from nineteen sixty in his
jersey from what was considered the greatest team in Olympic history,
the greatest amateur team, Kim and Oscar Robertson and so forth.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
And then it's right next to the Dream.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Team with Charles Barkley's jersey and coach k his opening
ceremonies uniform and his whistle and the ball that was
used in the final game and so forth. In the ring,
the championship ring, we got the Dream Team ring.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Fox Sports Radio here with Jim Gray talking about the
Hall of Excellence in Las Vegas. I don't know what
else is left for this hole.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
It sounds like I've.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Only what if I mentioned fifty things, we got another
three hundred that you can welcome.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
See from all aspects.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Again, I thought it was gonna be heavy sports, but
it's a little bit of everything, which is amazing. I'm inspired.
But before I let you go, I have to ask
you about the Super Bowl. That's why we're here. That's
why we're here. Who do you have coming out on Sunday?
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Well, if I knew that, I probably would have just
stayed in Vegas and gone down into that casino. So
my crystal ball isn't certain enough to get into my pocket.
But I would say this Seattle's better team, yes, and
they've played better competition, and they've played you very very well.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I mean when you.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Consider that they played six times the forty nine ers
in the Rams, two during the regular season and then
in the postseason each and I don't know that anybody's
played any teams like that because everybody considered the Rams best.
Obviously the forty nine ers were depleted and beaten up
by the time, but they're well coached teams, so I
(12:34):
mean they've had the preparation. And then if you look
at the way that New England has done this. They've
won one more game because they had to play one
more game, so they each only have three losses. So
it's been a phenomenal season for the Patriots and nobody
expected this out of Mike Vrabel.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
And Drake May.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
He's in the competition obviously for MVP. I personally hope
that it's Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford does the show with
me every Monday night on Serious XM Let's Go, our
radio show and podcast. It has Tom Brady and Max
Crosby and Peter King and Bill Belichick. So I'm personally
four Matthew. But to say that Drake May has had
(13:11):
a great season is not an understatement. And you know,
anytime you get to this game, anything can happen. Nobody thought.
Nobody thought that all those years ago the Patriots would
come in here and beat the Rams, not in here,
but into the Super Bowl. Nobody thought all those years
ago that the Giants would beat the undefeated Patriots. So
anything can happen in this game. But if they played,
(13:33):
we had Tom Brady on Let's Go the other night
with us and he said if they played ten times,
he thought the Seahawks would win six just so I'm
going to go with him because he seems to know
it a lot better than I do. So I'll pick
the Patriots. I'll pick the Seahawks.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Yeah, I think it's a safe bet. But like you said,
anything can happen. And Mike Rabel on the other side,
I think can definitely control the situation more than we think.
Mike Rabel knows what he's doing.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Do you know a man named Bud Greenspan.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
Bud Greenspan was a great Olympic historian and documentary and
he did all the great Olympic films. Jesse Owens returns
to Berlin, The Wilma Rudolph Story, the First African, the
Last African Runner. Anyway, he did all of these long
before there was you know, videotape and so forth. And
Bud he used to go on the Johnny Carson Show,
and he used to go on the Tonight Show, and
every show that he went on, he would pick the
(14:23):
other side, so he would be fifty to fifty, so
the only the people would remember is the team that
he wants. So everybody thought he was a genius. So
I'm going to go across the road here and pick
the Patriots.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
That's a smart one. I don't know why that came
to my mind.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
A way to do it, that's a smart way to
do it. You brought up Bill belichick thoughts on the
Hall of Fame.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
I'm sickened by it. I think it's disgraceful. I'm saddened
by it because I believe in the institution and I
love the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and I hate
what these voters have done. It just bothers me. I
don't really care to know about the process and the reasons.
If you don't think that at first glance that is
(15:06):
a yes, and that gets your ex then I don't
think you should have a vote.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
And I don't want to care about your reasons.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
And I understand the difficulty that has been made by
putting people into categories where they probably shouldn't have to be,
and by mixing and matching and so on and so forth. Look,
they've had forty years to put Ken Anderson in the
Hall of Fame, and it's unfortunate that his name now
has to get mixed into this or else he Greenwood
or whoever else is being considered.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
But if you don't think that what he has done
isn't at the top of the list something wrong.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
It's the most no brainer to me.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
It is I agree with you. I agree to me.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
It is because then what happens with Tom Brady right,
another no brainer.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Well, if we're going to go down this idiocy, at
some point, they're going to just have to stop this.
They are just But here's what I'm gonna says we
as we wrap this up, yep, come celebrate Bill Belichi
in the Hall of Excellence.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
We have his most Warren Hoodie amazing.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
We have the play sheet from the first Super Bowl win,
the tuck rule play sheet, and we have his Lombardi
Trophy which will be on display at the Fountain Blue
if you come watch the Big Game, the Super Bowl
over at the Fountain Blue from when they beat the
Rams thirteen to three in their last Super Bowl together
Tom and Bill. So he celebrated in the Hall of Excellence.
He will be in the Hall of Fame. He will
(16:24):
be in the Hall of Fame. It's just unfortunate that
he has to wait, because that's what's wrong. But you
can come celebrate him all year long at the Hall
of Excellence. And he came to our grand opening, and
it was wonderful to see him.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Amazing. Well, Jim Gray, you're excellent, So thank you for
sitting here and chatting with me and telling me about
the Hall of Excellence and all the amazing things. I'm
definitely gonna make a trip to Vegas. Not that I
needed another excuse.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Well, you're coming. We'll love you. Will you bring your
guests and we'll walk you through and you'll love it.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Seriously, bring whoever you want me and Howard will take
care of it. And guess what if you don't leave happy?
We have had one complaint. They complain about everything, you know,
everybody complains about everything.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
I don't care. Where the parking, the cheeseburger's too well done?
Where's housekeeping? You know? I don't know. Not at the
Fountain Blue, they don't complain.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
I'm just talking about Everything's Macy's complaint department in life, okay,
it's an open window.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Never at the Fountain Blue, everybody's happy.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Make all your dreams come true with the Fountain Blue.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Thank you, Hall of Excellence. Appreciate you having me on
Live from Media Row Radio Row here with sports casting legend.
Can I say that, of course? Jim Gray, Fox Sports Radio.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm great? How are you? Monty?
Speaker 1 (00:12):
I am doing well. It's Wednesday, so it's like getting
hectic right for the week.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
But it's hectic out there.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
It's hectic out there. At least we're in the back
kind of here hitting so we're not gonna be bothered
too much. And we are going to talk about the
super Bowl, but not yet. I actually want to talk
to you about this Hall of Excellence that you have
teamed up with the one and only Tom Brady to
put together in Las Vegas for fans to go and experience.
How did you come up with this?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Well, we're in the Fountain Blue Hotel on the second
level in the Hall of Excellence, and Tom and I
have been thinking about this. It goes back about nine
years and Tom and I have been together on the
radio doing a radio show, first on Westwood One and
then we moved over to series XM.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Let's Go is our radio show and podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
And so Tom bro one of his numerous records and
I just asked him one day, I said, Tom, what
do you do with all of these balls and jerseys
and helmets and so forth. He says, I got some
of them in my home and some of them are
in storage in a warehouse. And he was aware of
all the items that I had over the years from
all of the greats that I had covered, from Muhammad
Ali to Eric Dickerson to Kobe to Jordan and so
(01:19):
on and so forth, and I said, you know, we
ought to open a museum, and we ought to let
all these people see this, because you got great stuff.
I got great stuff, and we ought to just put
this all together and get some of the other great
athletes to Lonus for display. And so it took eight
years to build it, and now we have three hundred
and fifty of the greatest sports artifacts in the history
of sports and entertainment. Everything from Jackie Robinson's bat that
(01:42):
broke the color barrier, Stupey Brute's bat that he called
his shot on when he pointed out to the field,
to great items from Michael Phelps to a trophy room
that has every trophy competed for in life. From Oprah
Winfrey's Medal of Freedom and her first and Emmy to
Clint Eastwood's oscar for We're given to Tom Brady and
(02:05):
Bill Belichick's Lombardi when they beat the Rams. To Tom,
seven rings, to you name it, it is in this It's
in the Hall of Excellence, and we're very proud of it.
Aaron Judge, current guys, old guys, Will Chamberlain the only
artifact from his hundred point game, Lebron James first Jersey.
So come to the Fountain Blue Hotel and see the
(02:27):
Hall of Excellence.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
There's something for everyone.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
We have Siman Biles out in the front and sho
Hey Otani from the World Series, but Simone Biles. It's
so amazing how many people stop in the hallway because
you see that before you enter the museum and they wonder,
how can somebody do what she did? And literally I
would not be able to fit my thigh into herly guitar.
And she came by the museum when we were so
(02:49):
proud to display it and so proud to see her.
So it is something for everybody, and really I hope
that everybody will come by and take a look.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
It sounds incredible because you would I think it would
be just sports, but it's not.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
It covers a lot.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Elvis Presley, if you say something to somebody in Las Vegas,
and if you just walked on the strip right now,
they're twenty five people who are dressed up as Elvis
taking pictures by the sign in front of hotels. We
have his first suit that he ever wore on the
night that he became a resident in Las Vegas at
the International Hotel.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
How did you get your hands on that?
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Well, the people at Graceland and the people who from
ABG who are in charge, have given us this loan
to display and they've just been great. And so we
encourage everybody to go to Graceland and see Elvis. But
if you can't make it there, stop stop by the
Hall of Excellence and you can come and see it.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
And it's in pristine condition.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
And you look at it today and it's more stylish
today than it was back when he did it.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
You said, over three hundred and fifty items, Yes, ma'am.
Are we trying to put new things in? Are you
like shifting things in and out constantly? Are there some
that are staples that are not going anywhere?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
The staples.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
The staples are the stuff that Tom and I have,
which is about sixty percent of the museum and the
others are loan for display from great athletes, private collectors.
Other Halls of Fame, other halls of fame have been
great to us. The basketball, the Nate Smith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame has been great to us, as has
been the USGA and the World Golf Hall of Fame.
(04:24):
The Tennis Hall of Fame has been great. Pro Football
Hall of Fame. Jim Porter has given us just some
terrific items to be able to display all on loan.
Everybody takes back what's theirs when they want it, and
so all of those folks have just been just been
super spectacular to us and we appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
The WBC.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
UFC, which is headquartered in Las Vegas, so those folks
have given us the first championship belt and the first
the w w E belt, the championship belt.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Look at this, my man, hey to what's going on.
It's good to see you. He could be in the
Hall of actually he could be in the Hall of Excellence.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
But so we have the Rocks Belt and John Senna
their first championship felt from the wrestling.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
That's incredible. Anyway, there's something for everybody.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Serena Williams, people who've changed the world Billy Jean Kinghammad
Ali's last robe.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
The way you're talking about this, you have a smile
on your face. Is there one particular item, not your items,
but a particular item that has been lawn to you
that really you like?
Speaker 3 (05:34):
The favorite items that I have from my collection, which
was just all by happenstance, was Muhammad Ali drew a
picture for me.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
He drew a picture for you.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Well, he'd liked to paint, and so he drew a
picture that's on display. And we also have Leroy Neiman's
first painting of Cassius Clay from nineteen sixty four, the
Great Leroy Neiman. So we have one from Ali and
one from Neiemen, and then we also have a bat.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
To interview Muhammad.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Ali in the late eighties, and we went to his
home in Louisville, and when we were there, the people
from Louisville slugger obviously he's from Louisville, and they make
the bats, came over and gave him a Muhammad Ali bat.
So Muhammad Ali gave me that bat and he signed
it Cassius Clay from the home where he grew up,
(06:23):
and he didn't sign his name Cassius Clay, you know.
But so that's something that's just, you know, very rare,
very special. When you see Tom Brady's seven Super Bowl rings,
when you walk in there and you see that achievement,
you also get to see his Orange Bowl ring and
his life story told from his letter jacket. We have
the card has been given to us by the Pro
(06:44):
Football Hall of Fame to.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Display one ninety nine.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
That's one of the most photographed things that we have
because that's a historical document. It's a three by five
draft card, and so a lot of people love that.
We have Jackie Robinson's ring from his first World Series
and from when he first appeared at ebbotts Field, as well.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
As his bat.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
So there's history. We want to do the following. We
want to inspire, educate and entertain and we want all
of the fans to be able to see at the
Fountain Blue, come in and see what it is that's
been earned in front of the public by all of
these great athletes. And when you see and when you
walk through there and you see Tom Weiskoff's Claret jug
(07:25):
and then you see the current winner. Do this in
June or July, you know, it's like you're touching or
at least being able to photograph and get close to it.
When you see Billy Jean Kings Wimbledon dish, when you
see Charles Woodson's Heisman Trophy. I mean, if you're a
sports fan, or if you love achievement and excellence, you're
(07:45):
going to walk through this place. Joe Lewis, we have
the great Joe Louis, the Brown Bomber, World War Two hero,
great heavyweight champion. We have his first shoes and the
bell that was used when he fought for his first
championship as a great World War Two hero. So their
history and it's all the way up to current. We're
at current. We got Freddy Freeman's baseball coming in our
(08:05):
dinner off, our director got us Freddy Freeman's baseball coming
in from the only Grand Slam ever hid in World
Series history walk off.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
So no joke, this sounds better than reading it, Like
you really have painted a picture as to what this is,
and you've inspired me to want to go check it
out because all of these items, like you know they're there,
but seeing them for the first time is a different experience.
And that's it.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Right now, you're just painted the picture from me, and
we got the Olympics coming.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
We got Nathan chen the first squad we got from
his from his great gold medal performance from four years ago.
And we also have the skates for Mark hid and
the only man to win five gold medals in speed skating,
Michael Phelps, who won eight gold medals. We have his
podium jacket when he got all of those eight gold medals.
We have the very most, the most famous shoes. We
have two of the most famous pairs of shoes at
(08:55):
all of sports. Tom Brady's twenty eight to three comeback
shoes from the Super Bowl and they beat the Atlanta
Falcons in Michael Johnson's shoes the old shoe, one shoe,
only one gold shoe, the other ones with his coach.
We got the other gold shoe when he won the
two hundred and the four hundred in ninety six, sitting
right next to the torch that lit Muhammad Ali's torch
to you know, when he stood up there with Parkinson's
(09:19):
and inspired the world. So we have that as well.
So the Olympics are coming. So we have great Olympic stuff.
Al Alison Felix, the most decorated track and field. We
have her last suit when she won her eleventh gold
medal and Katie Ldecki when she broke the record in
the last Olympics so beautifully in Paris. Someone Biles we mentioned.
(09:40):
But there's something I mean if you're an Olympic fan.
Walked through the Hall of Excellence Fountain Blue, and I
gotta thank I gotta thank our great partner, Jeffrey Sofer
at the Fountain Blue Hotel. He just did an incredible
job building this out for Tom. He saw the vision,
he understood what it can do to inspire the guests
in the hotel, people, the calm youth groups. We had
(10:01):
the Summerland Little League team, the only Little League team
ever from Nevada to win the national championship. They went
on and played the World Championship and they lost last Summer,
but we have their banner hanging because they're the United
States champions for Little League. And you see these kids
come over and we had Reggie Jackson put a medal
around their neck, each of those kids. And then they
go and see Reggie's mit where he had the three
(10:23):
home runs in that great game when he became mister
October back in the seventies, and so Reggie Jackson, mister
October and you see these kids and these kids' parents
and they just lights up their faces. And so that's
what we want to do. We want the next generation
to come through. We want you to be able to
relive the great moments that you saw, that you were
able to see on television or maybe be in person.
(10:45):
And you know, now you can get right next to
all of the items that they were able to achieve
this in And we also have some Jerry West.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
There's another thing that inspires me. Jerry West.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
We have his gold medal from nineteen sixty in his
jersey from what was considered the greatest team in Olympic history,
the greatest amateur team, Kim and Oscar Robertson and so forth.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
And then it's right next to the Dream.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Team with Charles Barkley's jersey and coach k his opening
ceremonies uniform and his whistle and the ball that was
used in the final game and so forth. In the ring,
the championship ring, we got the Dream Team ring.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Fox Sports Radio here with Jim Gray talking about the
Hall of Excellence in Las Vegas. I don't know what
else is left for this hole.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
It sounds like I've.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Only what if I mentioned fifty things, we got another
three hundred that you can welcome.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
See from all aspects.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Again, I thought it was gonna be heavy sports, but
it's a little bit of everything, which is amazing. I'm inspired.
But before I let you go, I have to ask
you about the Super Bowl. That's why we're here. That's
why we're here. Who do you have coming out on Sunday?
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Well, if I knew that, I probably would have just
stayed in Vegas and gone down into that casino. So
my crystal ball isn't certain enough to get into my pocket.
But I would say this Seattle's better team, yes, and
they've played better competition, and they've played you very very well.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I mean when you.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Consider that they played six times the forty nine ers
in the Rams, two during the regular season and then
in the postseason each and I don't know that anybody's
played any teams like that because everybody considered the Rams best.
Obviously the forty nine ers were depleted and beaten up
by the time, but they're well coached teams, so I
(12:34):
mean they've had the preparation. And then if you look
at the way that New England has done this. They've
won one more game because they had to play one
more game, so they each only have three losses. So
it's been a phenomenal season for the Patriots and nobody
expected this out of Mike Vrabel.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
And Drake May.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
He's in the competition obviously for MVP. I personally hope
that it's Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford does the show with
me every Monday night on Serious XM Let's Go, our
radio show and podcast. It has Tom Brady and Max
Crosby and Peter King and Bill Belichick. So I'm personally
four Matthew. But to say that Drake May has had
(13:11):
a great season is not an understatement. And you know,
anytime you get to this game, anything can happen. Nobody thought.
Nobody thought that all those years ago the Patriots would
come in here and beat the Rams, not in here,
but into the Super Bowl. Nobody thought all those years
ago that the Giants would beat the undefeated Patriots. So
anything can happen in this game. But if they played,
(13:33):
we had Tom Brady on Let's Go the other night
with us and he said if they played ten times,
he thought the Seahawks would win six just so I'm
going to go with him because he seems to know
it a lot better than I do. So I'll pick
the Patriots. I'll pick the Seahawks.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Yeah, I think it's a safe bet. But like you said,
anything can happen. And Mike Rabel on the other side,
I think can definitely control the situation more than we think.
Mike Rabel knows what he's doing.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Do you know a man named Bud Greenspan.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
Bud Greenspan was a great Olympic historian and documentary and
he did all the great Olympic films. Jesse Owens returns
to Berlin, The Wilma Rudolph Story, the First African, the
Last African Runner. Anyway, he did all of these long
before there was you know, videotape and so forth. And
Bud he used to go on the Johnny Carson Show,
and he used to go on the Tonight Show, and
every show that he went on, he would pick the
(14:23):
other side, so he would be fifty to fifty, so
the only the people would remember is the team that
he wants. So everybody thought he was a genius. So
I'm going to go across the road here and pick
the Patriots.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
That's a smart one. I don't know why that came
to my mind.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
A way to do it, that's a smart way to
do it. You brought up Bill belichick thoughts on the
Hall of Fame.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
I'm sickened by it. I think it's disgraceful. I'm saddened
by it because I believe in the institution and I
love the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and I hate
what these voters have done. It just bothers me. I
don't really care to know about the process and the reasons.
If you don't think that at first glance that is
(15:06):
a yes, and that gets your ex then I don't
think you should have a vote.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
And I don't want to care about your reasons.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
And I understand the difficulty that has been made by
putting people into categories where they probably shouldn't have to be,
and by mixing and matching and so on and so forth. Look,
they've had forty years to put Ken Anderson in the
Hall of Fame, and it's unfortunate that his name now
has to get mixed into this or else he Greenwood
or whoever else is being considered.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
But if you don't think that what he has done
isn't at the top of the list something wrong.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
It's the most no brainer to me.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
It is I agree with you. I agree to me.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
It is because then what happens with Tom Brady right,
another no brainer.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Well, if we're going to go down this idiocy, at
some point, they're going to just have to stop this.
They are just But here's what I'm gonna says we
as we wrap this up, yep, come celebrate Bill Belichi
in the Hall of Excellence.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
We have his most Warren Hoodie amazing.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
We have the play sheet from the first Super Bowl win,
the tuck rule play sheet, and we have his Lombardi
Trophy which will be on display at the Fountain Blue
if you come watch the Big Game, the Super Bowl
over at the Fountain Blue from when they beat the
Rams thirteen to three in their last Super Bowl together
Tom and Bill. So he celebrated in the Hall of Excellence.
He will be in the Hall of Fame. He will
(16:24):
be in the Hall of Fame. It's just unfortunate that
he has to wait, because that's what's wrong. But you
can come celebrate him all year long at the Hall
of Excellence. And he came to our grand opening, and
it was wonderful to see him.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Amazing. Well, Jim Gray, you're excellent, So thank you for
sitting here and chatting with me and telling me about
the Hall of Excellence and all the amazing things. I'm
definitely gonna make a trip to Vegas. Not that I
needed another excuse.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Well, you're coming. We'll love you. Will you bring your
guests and we'll walk you through and you'll love it.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Seriously, bring whoever you want me and Howard will take
care of it. And guess what if you don't leave happy?
We have had one complaint. They complain about everything, you know,
everybody complains about everything.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
I don't care. Where the parking, the cheeseburger's too well done?
Where's housekeeping? You know? I don't know. Not at the
Fountain Blue, they don't complain.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
I'm just talking about Everything's Macy's complaint department in life, okay,
it's an open window.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Never at the Fountain Blue, everybody's happy.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Make all your dreams come true with the Fountain Blue.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Thank you, Hall of Excellence. Appreciate you having me on
Fox Sports Radio News
Host
Jonas Knox
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