Hall, who passed away on Nov. 26 at the age of 61, was the coach at Vocational for years, and he was one of the guys who kept the flame burning for wrestling in the Public League when it was barely flickering ...

Coaching a non-revenue sport in the Public League is not for the faint of heart ... it's not unusual to face obstacles like an indifferent administration, inadequate facilities and kids who have to be taught the very basics ... throw in the low pay, and it's enough to discourage even the most idealistic coaches ...

But some soldier on despite the drawbacks, breathing life into programs that otherwise might wither away and giving kids a reason to keep their grades up and stay engaged in school ...

Hall was one of those guys ... I didn't know him all that well, but you didn't need to be his best friend in order to see how much effort he poured into his program ... in a time when a lot of city teams rarely ventured to the suburbs and pretty much shut down over the holidays, Hall's Cavaliers were a fixture at Homewood-Flossmoor's Christmas tournament ...

He was a big, burly guy with a voice that commanded attention when he was barking out instructions during a match ... but he was also a tireless promoter of the sport who was generous with his own money and his time, not just with his own wrestlers, but with other city teams as well ...

Public League wrestling is a lot better today than it was for a long time ... it has to be, now that the city's guaranteed state tourney berths are a fading memory and the route to Assembly Hall passes through the suburbs... kids with age-group experience are becoming more commonplace and the best of them are competitive with anyone in the state ...

The Public League renaissance is something that had to make Hall smile ... his work to promote the sport and simply keep it alive helped bring us to this point ... it would be a classy move if the Public League could somehow acknowledge his contribution, perhaps with a tribute at the city finals in a few months ... it's a small enough gesture for all the blood, sweat and tears he expended over the years ...