BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Board of Directors of the State of Alabama Sports Hall of Fame is proud to announce that Rubin Grant will be recognized as the 2021 Mel Allen Media Award recipient at the 53rd Annual Induction Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, May 8, 2021.
The Mel Allen Media Award was created to honor media members in the State of Alabama who have made a lifetime contribution to sports through their work as a media member. The award is named after the 1974 ASHOF Inductee Mel Allen, of Birmingham, who was known as the “Voice of the New York Yankees” for two decades.
Rubin E. Grant was born August 3, 1957 in Montgomery, AL. His roots are planted deeply in Alabama sports, dating to his days as a student at Carver High School in Montgomery. While attending school at the University of Alabama, he was the sports editor for the Crimson White, covering the Crimson Tide under Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. After graduating in 1979, Grant spent 25 years covering sports for the Birmingham Post-Herald. At the Post-Herald, he served as prep editor, reporting on local high school football stars like Bo Jackson, Cornelius Bennett, and Carnell “Cadillac” Williams. In 1981, Grant won the Herby Kirby Award, the Alabama Sports Writer’s Association’s highest award. For his 25 years of covering the Barons he was inducted into the Birmingham Barons Hall of Fame. In 2002, Grant won first place in the Alabama Associated Press Managing Editors Competition for his columns on high school sports. Since 2004, he has worked as a freelance journalist and he co-authored the book Tales from Alabama Prep Football in 2006.
Grant joins a distinguished list of others who have been honored by the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame as Mel Allen Media Award recipients. They are: John Pruett (2014), George Smith (2014), Tom Roberts (2015), Ron Ingram (2017), Cecil Hurt (2019), and Paul Finebaum (2020).
The 53rd Induction Banquet and Ceremony will be held in the Birmingham Ballroom, at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel, on Saturday, May 8, 2021. For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Museum at (205) 323-6665.
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