PHOTO - 3 (COLOR)The College Football Hall of Fame (along with Notre Dame, of course) is the pride of South Bend. (COLOR)(COURTESY OF THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME)CAPTION: Visitors can relive famous games at the GameDay Stadium exhibit in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. (COLOR)(COURTESY OF THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME)CAPTION: The Spalding Shootout, the Hall of Fame's most popular exhibit, offers participatory fun for visitors of all ages. (COLOR)(COURTESY OF BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME)
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February is a yawn when it comes to sports.If you're not a hockey, basketball, swimming or gymnastics fan, there's not much to cheer about this time of year.
But you don't have to sit at home and sulk. Bridge the gap until your favorite team swings back into action by visiting a hall of fame or sports museum.
Here are some of them:
Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio: Showplace of America's most popular sport.
Included in the modern, five-building complex are exhibition rotunda displays that record the 1960s, '70s and '80s to mark the end of the first century of pro football; the GameDay Stadium, a turntable theater that presents pro football in Cinemascope, and a Pro Football Research Center.
The showpieces of the structure are the Twin Enshrinement Halls, where the niches of the greats who have been bestowed pro football's highest honor are located. Each niche contains a bronze bust of the honoree, a brightly-lighted mural and a capsule biography.
Memorabilia of the modern era is featured in a large display case in the new Pro Football Adventure Room, while choice Super Bowl mementos are exhibited below the large photo mural of Super Bowl XXVII played in the Rose Bowl.
Call (330) 456-8207.
BASEBALL
National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y.: The three-story red brick structure on Main Street stands as the repository of the game's treasures and as a symbol of the highest individual honor bestowed on an athlete.
Entering the Fetzer-Yawkey building, the popular evolution of equipment - bats, baseballs, gloves and catcher's paraphernalia - connects the past with the present. The first catcher's mask, resembling a bird cage, fingerless gloves from the 1880s and the first batting helmet worn by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1953 attract special attention.
The Records Room celebrates baseball's feats and milestones, utilizing touch screen technology. Interactive videos allow visitors to become familiar with each Hall of Famer.
On the second floor of the Fetzer-Yawkey wing one finds the Baseball Today area with its special appeal to the young fans who may identify more with today's stars. Another popular attraction there is 'This Week in Baseball.'
The theater exit provides access to the Hall of Fame's timeline, a chronological history of the game.
On the third floor, devotees of ballpark architecture can view the actual grandstand seats, dugout benches, cornerstones and turnstiles which provide the flavor of the first generation of stadia - from New York's Polo Grounds to Brooklyn's Ebbets Field.
Baseball's All-Star Game, which originated in 1933, is the subject of a major exhibit and Bobby Thomson's historic home run bat from the 1951 playoffs leads the visitor into the World Series Room for another collection of post-season memorabilia.
Peter J. McGovern Little League Baseball Museum, Williamsport, Pa: A hands-on showcase that tells the story of Little League Baseball from its beginning in 1939 as the idea of one man to its development into the largest and most reputable youth sports organization in the world with more than 21/2 million youths involved in more than 80 countries.
The museum is full of pictures, displays, films and exhibits about the players, equipment, history, rules and all-around fun of Little League, as well as information on issues facing our youth today.
Visitors can watch the growth of Little League throughout the world on a fiber optics map and see famous Little League graduates who have led positive lives and gone on to succeed in the Major Leagues or other professions.
They also can actually 'play ball' in the batting and pitching areas and watch themselves on instant replay and take in videotaped highlights of the most exciting moments of the Little League World Series.
The newest addition to the museum is the Hall of Excellence, where former Little Leaguers like Tom Seaver are inducted annually for being positive role models for today's youth around the world.
Call (717) 326-3607.
BASKETBALL
Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, New Castle: Indiana and basketball have had a long-standing love affair.
No state has produced more great players and coaches and no state has more devoted fans.
The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame shows how that tradition came to be and captures the excitement of 'March Madness' year-round.
The Hall of Fame puts visitors in the middle of the game.
They can test their trivia skills against a computer; step into the locker room for a pep talk from Coach John Wooden; go one-on-one with Oscar Robertson, or win the championship game by hitting a last-second shot.
Hundreds of game films and thousands of photographs and artifacts tell the story of Indiana's basketball tradition.
Meet the heroes of the game, from the days of peach baskets and laced balls through this year's champions.
Referees, writers and fans, as well as players and coaches; boys' basketball and girls' basketball; the college and pro careers of former Indiana stars - every story has a place in the museum.
Call (765) 529-1891.
Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, Mass.: Where the legends come alive in the city where the game was invented.
The three-level museum, dedicated to the game's inventor, James Naismith, recognizes basketball at every level - men, women, professional, collegiate, high school, international and wheelchair.
The hall preserves basketball's glorious past and promotes its exciting future.
It's more than a museum, however.
Through interactive displays, participatory exhibits and innovative uses of design, the Basketball Hall of Fame brings the history and the legends of basketball to life.
Whether it's testing your jumping skills against Michael Jordan, facing the legendary Oscar Robertson, or shooting hoops with a real-life Hall of Famer like Boston Celtics star John Havlicek, the museum showcases basketball with all the excitement the public has come to expect.
Everyone likes to be a hotshot and, at the hall, visitors can be just that by attempting to shoot baskets at any of the 14 hoops of various sizes and heights in The Spalding Shootout.
Or, they can compete against Hall of Famer Bill Walton in a Virtual Reality game, or showcase their basketball skills in the Wilson Imagymnation Theater.
Call (413) 781-6500.
BOXING
International Boxing Hall of Fame Museum, Canastota, N.Y.: A knockout experience for the whole family.
On view are showcases filled with the colorful robes of boxing greats and gloves, hand wraps and fist casts from dozens of champions, including one from the massive hand of Primo Carnera.
Several videos add live action to the museum and the Wall of Fame features plaques of all the inductees.
Other attractions include ticket displays, poster displays and life-size statues of famous fighters.
Call (315) 697-7095.
FOOTBALL
College Football Hall of Fame, South Bend: From the stands to the playing field, from the locker room to the broadcast booth, the College Football Hall of Fame puts visitors in the thick of the action.
All the excitement of a football Saturday comes to life in the Stadium Theater. Through the innovative use of film, sound and life-cast figures, visitors are surrounded by the sights and sounds of a college game.
Take on the legends of the game as you test your football skills through a series of interactive, fun-filled challenges and activities in the Training Room, Practice Field and Strategy Clinic.
The Great Moments Kiosk features legendary moments in college football. During the season, be sure to check out the 'upset of the week.'
All the greats of the game are immortalized in the context of their college days in the Hall of Champions. Highlights from each decade of the game are featured, in addition to historic photographs and artifacts.
Get a behind-the-scenes look at how coaches train, motivate and inspire college football heroes in the Locker Room. Half of the room represents a modern locker room while the other depicts one from a bygone era.
Call 235-9999.
SOCCER
National Soccer Hall of Fame and National Soccer Museum, Oneonta, N.Y.: If you get a kick out of soccer, drop by the National Soccer Hall of Fame and National Soccer Museum.
Established in 1979, the National Soccer Hall of Fame is committed to preserving the history and sport of soccer in the United States and houses an extensive archive of memorabilia associated with the sport.
The hall came to life in 1950 when a group of former professional and amateur players from the Philadelphia 'Oldtimers' Association took it upon themselves to recognize the achievements of soccer in America.
In the 47 years since the 'Oldtimers' first got together, 216 members have been elected to the Hall of Fame for their outstanding contributions to American soccer, both on and off the field.
The Hall of Fame opened the National Soccer Museum in 1987.
The museum manages the nation's soccer archive which, with more than 80,000 items, comprises one of the largest collections of soccer artifacts and records in the world.
Some of the larger and rarer pieces under the National Soccer Museum's care are: the complete North American Soccer League Collection; the World Cup USA 1994 archive; a rare soccer photography collection from New York Depression-era photographer John Albok; materials from the U.S. national teams in World Cup competitions; artifacts from the American Soccer League of the 1920s-'50s and the world's oldest soccer ball, made in the U.S.
The museum presents visitors with a stimulating visual and participatory experience of soccer's past and present. The exhibition hall displays trophies, graphics and artifacts and presents films from an extensive archival collection screened in the museum video theater.
