Dick McGuire Joins Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame

New York, NY – September 18, 2003 – Five all-time greats in the fields of sports and entertainment were honored by Madison Square Garden this afternoon, as they were officially inducted into The Garden’s Walk of Fame. Knicks Hall-of-Famer Dick McGuire, Rangers Hall-of-Famer Harry Howell, Broadcasting Hall-of-Famer Bob Wolff, Basketball Hall-of-Famer Carol Blazejowski, and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon joined the prestigious membership that includes Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Willis Reed, Wilt Chamberlain, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Elton John, the Rolling Stones, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Jesse Owens, and Billie Jean King. MSG Network’s Al Trautwig hosted the ceremony.

The Garden Walk of Fame salutes more than a century of athletes, entertainers, announcers, and coaches who are recognized for extraordinary individual achievement and memorable performances at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” Each member is honored with a plaque designating his or her respective performance category (broadcasting, boxing, basketball, hockey, track and field, tennis, skating, music, circus). The plaques line the walkway leading to the arena.

McGuire, has been a part of the New York Knickerbockers for parts of seven decades: as a player, coach, chief scout, and currently as director of scouting services. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1993, and a year earlier, his number 15 was retired by the New York Knicks. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star, and led the Knicks to three straight finals in 1951, 1952 and 1953. McGuire played eight seasons with the Knicks, and he ranks third on the Knicks all-time assist list.

Howell still holds two Rangers team records – 17 seasons with the team, and 1,160 games played. He was the team’s captain in 1955-56 and 1956-57, becoming the team’s youngest captain at 22 years old. Howell won a Norris Trophy as a national premier defenseman, was a First Team All-Star selection and appeared in six All-Star games throughout his 21-year NHL career. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1979 and currently serves as a scout for the team.

One of the greatest women’s basketball players of all-time, Blazejowski earned a trip to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994, an honor she shares with only 13 other women. Her 52 points for Montclair State against Queens College on March 6, 1977 at The Garden still stands as the men's and women's collegiate scoring record in this building. She has served as the Liberty's senior vice president and general manager since the team’s inception in 1997 and under her leadership, the team has reached the WNBA Finals four times in seven seasons. She is also a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (1999).

Bob Wolff is a true pioneer in the field of television sports broadcasting. Wolff began his career in 1939 while a freshman at Duke University, and started broadcasting games from Madison Square Garden in 1954. He called the play-by-play for the first MSG Network telecast on October 15, 1969 (Rangers vs. Stars). He is the longest running sportscaster in history; he has been on the air for 63 years and has the distinction of handling play-by-play duties for the championships of all four major league sports – the World Series, the Stanley Cup Finals, the NBA Championships and the National Football League Championships.

Vince McMahon, Chairman of the Board of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE), is a third generation promoter in the family that has been promoting boxing and wrestling events at The Garden for more than 80 years. McMahon purchased the Capitol Wrestling Corporation from his father in 1982, hosted the first WrestleMania at The Garden in 1985, started utilizing the technologies of pay-per-view and closed circuit television, and was on his way to making WWE into the global phenomenon it is today.