I walked into the former bank building a bit apprehensive. After all, hasn’t this place been sitting here with the sign out front for about a decade? Hasn’t this structure sat there virtually unnoticed because it had never opened?

Well, I may have walked in a bit cynical but Iwalked out downright giddy. Could you blame me, sports fans?

There were the exhibits, the panels of large photos, the 1950 television showing highlights of the Yankee Clipper Joe DiMaggio, kicking up dirt, the “Press Box,” where I could put on headphones and actually call Larry Bird’s steal to save a game against the Pistons, the plaques of my heroes Jim Murray, Will Grimsley and Mel Allen, one of the first typewriters ever used by Dave Anderson, Ted Husing’s first CBS microphone ...

There was even a National Sportscaster and Sportswriter gift shop, for cryin’ out loud.

It was like walking into Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. It was like walking into some sort of fantasy world. There were sports represented throughout the Hall with 12 buttons at each station. Push one and get a great moment from that sport.

Want to hear the play-by-play of Babe Ruth’s called shot? How about the Ice Bowl of 1967 between Dallas and Green Bay? Who wouldn’t want to see Hank Aaron’s 715th homer off Al Downing. The great Daytona races? Push the buttons.

Duke-Kentucky of 1992. Tiger Woods hitting golf balls as a little tyke on the Mike Douglas Show. There’s even a panel with the greatest moments from the history of — are you ready for this? — greyhound racing.

I didn’t want to leave — and I almost didn’t. My sneak peek lasted over two hours.

“I think they’ll be very proud and very surprised,” said Hampton, a self-proclaimed sports nut, whose wife, “still raises her eyebrows at me” when a game is on.

No one will be more proud than Hampton himself. The Hall is his dream — a dream that he started from scratch.

One of the first things he wanted to know after becoming the director 12 years ago was simple enough: “Where is the Hall of Fame?”

“It’s the office desk in the Chamber of Commerce building,” he was told.

And it was. A desk drawer that stored folders.

Hampton was not the type to accept that. He wanted the real thing.

At first, he thought about building a place at his alma mater, Catawba College. Then he rode past the N.C. Federal Savings and Loan, which had gone bankrupt. After some prodding, his bid was accepted.

So why hasn’t it opened until now? Money. Rather, a lack of it. Oh, there was some $200,000 worth of stuff stored in boxes, closets and back rooms. But until Coke supplied the funds for refurbishing, it was simply a building with a curious sign out front. It was common for someone to say, “Hey, there’s a Hall of Fame. Let’s go in.” It was common for the reply to be, “There’s nothing in there. It’s not open.”

Thanks to the help of the Salisbury-Rowan Merchants Association, who will house the upstairs, it soon will be.

Word got out about the opening and it seems everyone wants to help. Hampton’s bartering and bantering has made it a showpiece that should draw people from around the United States. Now, there’s a half-million bucks worth of goodies in there awaiting its visitors.

“It’s wonderful,” Hampton said, bubbling with excitement. “I called Will Grimsley at his home in Long Island and he cried when I told him.”

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There’s two questions Hampton is asked about the NSSA.

1). Why is the Hall of Fame in Salisbury, N.C.?

“Why is the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio?” Hampton always replies.

2). Why have a Hall of Fame for sportswriters and sportscasters and not athletes?

“Sports has not only made heroes in the sporting business but now, sportswriters and sportscasters are becoming celebrities too,” he says. “Bob Costas and Al Michaels are making in the $1-2 million range. And some of the sportswriters are making just as much as the sportscasters. Rick Reilly (this year’s national sportswriting winner) is one of them. Frank Deford is another.

“They used to kid about how sportswriters would go anywhere for a good meal. It’s not like that anymore.”

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While the Hall is for the nation’s best sportswriters and sportscasters this weekend, it’s going to be for everyone in the near future. Hampton would like to open it up Wednesday and by the fall, open the doors seven days a week.

“Our first goal is to get all fourth graders to visit,” Hampton said, “and then, they can bring their parents in to see what they saw. Make it a school project.

“A dream of mine is to tie it in with the Transportation Museum where one ticket can take you to the Hall of Fame and the historic depot. Bus tours are always looking for places to stop.”

Coke has talked about putting billboards on I-85, along with NSSA exit signs.

“We’re going to have to build this thing,” Hampton said. “We’re expecting 60-75,000 visitors a year. That’s over a thousand a week.”

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There was only one visitor in the Hall last Wednesday: me. But along with Hampton, we showed enough enthusiasm for thousands.

The best part of the Hall is that Hampton can update, update, update.

“I want highlights of the NFL playoff game from last year when Tennessee beat Buffalo on the last play,” Hampton said. “Istill think that was a forward pass.”

I also detected a definite Tar Heel flavor as I weaved my way through the Hall.

There’s a reason. Hampton is pro-North Carolina.

“Igo back to the Charlie Choo-Choo Justice days,” he notes.

Maybe that’s why Duke and N.C. State fans may gag when they visit the college basketball exhibit, where huge photos of Sam Perkins and Antawn Jamison are displayed skying over opponents. And of course, there’s Michael Jordan’s mug going airborne on the NBA panel. There are even some huge photos of UNC football players

““Do you know the grief I’m gonna get?” chuckled Hampton.

Grief? Those ABCers (Anybody but Carolina) will forget their allegiances as their tour continues. It’s too much fun to worry about rivalries.

And for those of you who might still be a bit apprehensive after reading this? Well, go on in. You’ll be just like I was. You’ll come out downright giddy.

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