San Jose celebrated another set of sports heroes Thursday night at SAP Center, inducting the 30th class into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame. More than 550 people attended to cheer on the eclectic group of trailblazers, stars and out-and-out icons.
This year’s Hall of Fame honorees were San Jose Earthquakes star Landon Donovan; USA Rugby’s “Captain America,” Todd Clever; women’s wrestling pioneer Afsoon Roshanzamir Johnston; longtime Oak Grove High football coach Eddie Buller and retired San Jose Giants General Manager Mark Wilson, who will go down in history as the man who invented the “beer batter” promotion.
The evening’s other honorees were the high school athletes of the year, baseball player Quinten Marsh of Valley Christian High and basketball and track star Nicole Steiner of Los Gatos High; the amateur athletes of the year, San Jose State football standout Nick Nash and SJSU track and field athlete Emilia Sjostrand; and Michael Aguilar, who was honored as the Special Olympian of the Year — and received the night’s first standing ovation.
San Jose Sports Authority Executive Director John Poch told me that one of the things he loves about the Hall of Fame event is that it turns into a who’s who of San Jose sports, especially thanks to the previous 131 honorees like Dave Righetti, Anne Cribbs, Sam Piraro and Raymond Townsend who attended Thursday.
But it also has a real family reunion vibe, or really, several reunions going on at the same time, which is very on brand for San Jose. The honorees all were surrounded by family members, friends, teammates and mentors. Clever even hosted three of his former teachers from Santa Teresa High School, taking the opportunity to apologize to them for not being such a great student. From where I was sitting, they looked pretty proud.
It’s not always true of every class, but for this one, San Jose played an instrumental part in their lives. It was at Independence High School where Johnston stood up to the challenge of joining the boys wrestling team. It’s where Clever fell in love with rugby while playing for the College Park club, where Buller coached future NFL players like Tim Ryan while amassing a 214-29-3 record and winning five CCS titles and where Wilson used wacky promotions and churros to keep fans coming to see future San Francisco Giants stars.
And it was the city that welcomed with open arms the homesick teenager Donovan, who had been playing in Germany.
“I arrived in San Jose as a young boy, and I left as a man,” Donovan said. “I really fell in love with the game again after I’d fallen out of love with it a little bit in Germany. I’m really grateful for my teammates, my coaches, all of you who helped me and this beautiful, beautiful city.”
Donovan grew up in the San Bernardino County city of Ontario and fondly remembers being allowed to fly home after Saturday games to spend a couple days with his mom and sister. He says he didn’t realize how green California could be until he came to San Jose.
“It’s so nice to be back here,” he said. “I flew up this morning and was just feeling nostalgic, like I used to fly up when I was a 19-year-old kid.”
And now, like his fellow inductees, he’ll have a bronze plaque at SAP Center to visit the next time he’s feeling nostalgic.
HONORABLE SALUTES: Tuesday is Veterans Day, and that means the return of the big ceremony and parade in downtown San Jose. This is the 107th annual celebration of the holiday in S.J., going back to the year after World War I ended, and — unlike last year — the weather is expected to be clear and warm.
I’ll help welcome people at the opening ceremony at 11 a.m. in front of Plaza de Cesar Chavez, and you can listen for me and Lissa Kreisler announcing the parade entries after it kicks off from SAP Center at noon. This year’s grand marshal is U.S. Marines combat veteran A.J. Pasciuti, who grew up in Sunnyvale and was deployed three times in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Of course, that’s not the only event in Santa Clara County. Cupertino will have its 18th annual celebration at its veterans memorial, which was the first in the nation to honor Afghanistan war veterans. The 11 a.m. ceremony at 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., across from De Anza College, will include remarks by retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Rob Ostenberg and Santa Clara County Sheriff Bob Jonsen, along with music by the West Bay Community Band and the Kennedy Middle School choir.
BIG CHECK, BIGGER IMPACT: There were a lot of smiling faces Thursday at the Alviso Youth Center as San Jose semiconductor firm ASML presented a $900,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley. The gift is an extension of the $1.4 million grant the company made two years ago to promote STEM education for elementary school kids.
Steve Wymer, Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley’s CEO, said while there was an oversize check and lots of balloons at the event Thursday, ASML’s aim is more about outcomes than public relations. The company, he said, follows up and expects the nonprofit to hit metrics. “It’s the right way to do things because ASML holds us to account,” he said.
Verona Nunez, ASML’s community engagement program manager, was a Boys & Girls Clubs kid when she was growing up in San Jose and said the company collaborates with partners like the Boys & Girls Clubs to create lasting impact.
“At ASML, we challenge ourselves to think bigger about equity and education,” she said. “And we care deeply about the future of our youth, not just by writing a check, but by showing up in clubhouses, as mentors and volunteers.”
READING ROOM: NBC News correspondent Vicky Nguyen, who spent 12 years at NBC Bay Area, will bring her memoir, “Boat Baby,” to the San Jose Public Library Foundation’s Signature Author Event on Nov. 15 at Blanco Urban venue in downtown San Jose. And who better to lead a conversation with Nguyen than Santa Clara County Supervisor Betty Duong, whose parents also fled Vietnam after the war and settled in San Jose. The event, which runs from 1 to 3 p.m., are available at sjplf.org/AuthorEvent2025.
While we’re on the topic of writing, the last Flash Fiction Forum of the year is taking place at 7 p.m. on Nov. 12 at Works/San Jose gallery at 38 S. Second St. If you haven’t been, the quarterly event features local writers reading their works aloud to an audience (both in-person and online). You can find out more about the group at flashfictionforum.com.