A phenomena of the final decades of the 20th century was the proliferation of sports halls of fame. What once was the domain of professional sports leagues now could be found as part of ethnic organizations, religious groups, states, cities, towns, counties, colleges and universities. All of it is well intended, even if cronyism often rules over merit. But no one's hurt and a lot of people are made happy.

When the WPIAL announced it would inaugurate its own Hall of Fame this year, it figured to be somewhat different. Here was a chance for one of the biggest and best high school athletic leagues in the country to show the world the glory of its times.

Is there a high school league in the country with the proud heritage of the WPIAL? Judging from the first-year inductees, announced last week, we'll never know.

This is not about the 14 people who were named as members of the first class. All have outstanding resumes and are Hall of Fame worthy. Many in the group are even first-class worthy.

This is about the people who were not included in the first class of inductees. This is about world-famous athletes whose roots are in the WPIAL and who were stunningly bypassed. But most of all this is about the shoddy manner in which the WPIAL undertook what should be a sacred obligation.

When the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted its first class at Cooperstown, N.Y. in 1936, the five inductees were Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson. At the time, Ruth, Cobb and Wagner were undisputedly the greatest players in baseball history. Mathewson and Johnson, two of the greatest pitchers.

Baseball did it right. The WPIAL did it wrong. Here's a partial list of who were not included in the WPIAL's first Hall of Fame class:

The man who beyond dispute was the greatest coach in WPIAL history.

The only WPIAL athlete to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The man who arguably is the greatest athlete in the history of the WPIAL, a standout professional in two sports.

The eight WPIAL athletes to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The only WPIAL athlete to win an Olympics gold medal in track.

The three WPIAL athletes to win the Heisman Trophy, the most treasured individual award in American sports.

The many, many, many wondrous black athletes who have graced the athletic fields and courts of the WPIAL.

It's hard to determine which is the greatest travesty, but let's talk first about Ed McCluskey, a true legend of the WPIAL. McCluskey, a legitimate basketball genius, won seven PIAA and 11 WPIAL titles. How he was ignored borders on criminal.

The WPIAL will use as an excuse that many schools failed to nominate its own. Hogwash! That's a convenient excuse for cronyism. The WPIAL should be well aware of bureaucratic incompetence. If it were going to make it mandatory that a school nominate its own, that should have been further down the road when schools were more aware of the process.

The first class should have included the very best, not the best nominated.

The mind staggers at the collective thought processes that could have conceived a Hall of Fame inaugural class that did not include Tony Dorsett (Hopewell High). He was a WPIAL great, a college great (at Pitt, no less) and an NFL great. With all respect to Mario Lemieux and Roberto Clemente, Dorsett is the most exciting athlete to perform for a Pittsburgh team. He had you on the edge of your seat every time he touched the football. Too bad he couldn't edge his way into the consciousness of the WPIAL Hall of Fame selection committee.

Dorsett was one of the three WPIAL players to win the Heisman Trophy. The other two, Johnny Lujack (Connellsville) and Leon Hart (Turtle Creek, now Woodland Hills), are from yesteryear and their first-year exclusion is understandable.

Stan Musial of Donora High (now Ringgold) is merely one of the greatest baseball players ever. He was a seven-time batting champion and a three-time Most Valuable Player in the National League. Although not best known as a power hitter, his 475 home runs were as many as Willie Stargell had.

The case could be made, and its being made here, that Dick Groat (Swissvale, now Woodland Hills) is the greatest athlete ever to come out of the WPIAL. Groat was a basketball and baseball All-American at Duke, a National League batting champion and MVP and a very good NBA player until forced to give up that career for baseball.

Dorsett is one of eight WPIAL athletes in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As great as he was, you could make the argument he wasn't the greatest of the eight from the WPIAL, which include Dan Marino (Central Catholic), Joe Montana (Ringgold), Mike Ditka (Aliquippa), Joe Namath (Beaver Falls), Joe Schmidt (Brentwood), George Blanda (Youngwood, now Hempfield) and Bill George (Waynesburg).

Among the thousands of great black athletes ignored was John Woodruff (Connellsville), who won the 800 meters in the 1936 Olympics.

No one should take the absence of a black athlete from the first class as racism. That is not the case. Rather like the entire process it was a case of incredible short-sightedness that was borderline stupidity.