Dan Rydell said:
Hey, Kindred, what is the McKenzie Cup?
Tell us all about it. News, details, sidelines, all of that. Everything.
Wouldya please?
My privilege....
The McKenzie Cup will be presented every year to a young journalist who represents the values Van brought to the game. It's Buddy Martin's idea, created to be awarded at the Poynter Sports Journalism Summit. Buddy spoke about Van, his friend of 40 years. I spoke, so did Vince Doria and John Cherwa. Van's widow, Sandy, was there in the front row.
Before announcing the first winner, Buddy had me read a small piece written in tribute to Van. We didn't say whose words they were, but they were a thank-you to Van. At one point, the note said Van had seen "something in me that I didn't see in myself." They were Jemele Hill's words, and that was the first time she knew she'd won the award. She had tears in her eyes.
The award is a big, beautiful cup, maybe two feet tall, in the shape of an hourglass, dark blue with gold engraving. It could be a vase for three dozen long-stemmed roses. I think Buddy's idea all along was to fill it with beer because that's what Van would have thought was its best and highest use. And that's what we did that night.
We poured enough beer in it that we could lift it and drink from it at dinner on the pier and later at a bar by the bay. Because the thing is so big, eacj drinker's face practically disappeared into it, and beer sloshed onto your chin. Van'd have loved that part for sure.
Jemele was last seen walking out of the bar, smiling, the cup cradled in her arms.
