Compiling lists of HBCU Classics, team-by-team, and Homecoming football schedules has fallen to one man over the last 35 years — Eric Moore.
Before there was a world wide web or internet, or at least before anyone knew how to use it, Eric was compiling this information and more, every year. But he didn’t just compile relevant football data.
HBCU Classics and more
Eric compiled schedules for all the major HBCU sports. He put together lists of HBCU coaches, athletic directors, sports Information directors (SIDs), assistant SIDs, volunteer SIDs, broadcasters and likely anyone else one needed to know, contact or get in touch with in HBCU athletics.
If you don’t know Eric Moore then it’s likely you haven’t been on the inside of the black college football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, tennis, golf, bowling, track and field and any other HBCU sports scene in the last few decades. April Emory penned an in depth two-part piece on Eric for HBCU Gameday.com in 2018.
Genesis of the BCSP
When I had the idea in 1994 of starting a publication for black newspapers covering black college sports that became the Black College Sports Page, the first person I called was Ed Hill, my Muslim brother, and the sports information director at Howard University. Before becoming SID at Howard in 1983, Ed, or Khalil as I know him, had been a prolific writer for the Winston-Salem (N. C.) Chronicle, that city’s African-American newspaper and its subsidiary, a trailblazing tabloid entitled the Black College Sports Review.
The first person Ed told me to call was Eric Moore.
At the time, Eric was a professor in the communications department and a former SID at Fayetteville State University and, as I came to know, the executive director of the Black College Sports Information Directors Association (BCSIDA). BC-SIDA, as it is called, is the organization of HBCU SIDs started in the mid-1970s out of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Workshop.
BC-SIDA, home of the HBCU SID OGs
By this time, Eric had rubbed shoulders with and gained the confidence of a legion of HBCU SID pioneers including Jim Alnuti (CIAA), Collie Nicholson (Grambling), Benny Thomas (Southern), Chuck Prophet (Mississippi Valley State), Sam Jefferson (Jackson State), Kindell Stephens (Tennessee State), Bill Hamilton (South Carolina State), Carrol Hudson (Hampton), Joe Booker (Prairie View A&M), Joe McIver (Morgan State), Joe Faust (NC A&T), Chris Fisher (NC Central), Wallace Dooley (UDC), LeCounte Conaway (Virginia State), Alvin Hollins (Florida A&M) and others.
The BCSIDA has been extremely active in promoting diversity and inclusion in the industry. The organization gave an award each year to the top HBCU SID named for Cal Jacox (Norfolk State) and Champ Clark, a noted African-American journalist who gave great coverage to black college sports.
Indispensable info
Eric provided me with a list of every black college SID in the country with their names, addresses, phone and fax numbers. E-mail addresses? Nobody had one then! He also had the HBCU Classics, team-by-team and Homecoming schedules.
He became my partner, not in crime, but as a necessary entity to launch the BCSP. He even traveled from his home in Raleigh (N. C.) to mine in Danville (Va.) each week to help me get it off the ground. Those lists he compiled, every one of them, have been a staple of the BCSP for the last 28 years.
HBCU Classics list, an homage to “The Guru”
So as HBCU Gameday unveils the list of the HBCU Classic games for the 2021 fall football season this week (see list below) as well as the 2021 team-by-team schedules, homecomings and TV games previewed in past weeks, know that the credit goes to Eric Moore and Onnidan.com. He is still doing it despite suffering a serious medical issue in the last couple of months.
Eric’s parents, Dan and Onnie Moore, were both librarians. From them is where he gets the name Onnidan and Onnidan.com for the HBCU-centered company and website he operates. His father Dan was the dean of the school of library science at North Carolina Central University and his mother Onnie was head librarian at the Stanford Warren Library in Durham. I’m sure it is from them that he also gets his attention to research and detail. My BCSP has been housed at Onnidan.com for the last 26 years with Eric as the webmaster.
Onnidan to the rescue
Onnidan provides and Eric pioneered computer-generated stats for HBCU athletics and he has provided the services for countless numbers of institutions, inside and outside the HBCU universe. During the 23-year run for the broadcast team of Charlie Neal and Lem Barney of black college games on Black Entertainment Television (BET), Eric and Onnidan became the go-to company to provide statistical services. He has done the same for the CIAA, MEAC, SWAC and SIAC conferences and their member-institutions over the past three decades.
“At Howard, I had to cover 22 sports and had no assistant,” said Hill, who retired in 2017 after 33 years at Howard. “We contracted Eric to do stats for football and basketball. Sometimes he would get there on Saturday and stay until Monday to cover basketball doubleheaders.”
Additionally, Hill said Moore trained a legion of students that have gone on to find work as professionals in a number of related fields. When any of those students ran into problems with the stat software or computers, Moore was always available to troubleshoot and fix the problem even if he was busy working a game himself.
The consummate professional
“Sometimes we undervalue the professionalism of people and what they do for us,” said Hill. “But not Eric. There are countless numbers of people in this profession that were impacted by the tutelage of Eric Moore.”
For his countless years of service, Eric was inducted into the CIAA Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. It was a well-deserved honor.
We honor you again Eric now with this list of HBCU Classic, Championship and Bowl Games for 2021. Get well, my friend!
LIST OF 2021 HBCU CLASSICS, CHAMPIONSHIP AND BOWL GAMES
SAT., AUG. 28
Classic for Columbus
Central State vs. Kentucky State
in Columbus, OH at Ohio Stadium – 2:00pm ET
Big Cat Classic
Edward Waters vs. Florida Memorial
in Jacksonville, FL at Community Field & Stadium – 4:00pm ET
MEAC/SWAC Challenge
Alcorn State vs. NC Central
in Atlanta, GA Center Parc Stadium – 7:00pm ET
TV Broadcast ESPN
SAT., SEPT. 4
Down East Viking Classic
Elizabeth City State vs. Fayetteville State
in Rocky Mount, NC at Rocky Mount Sports Complex – 4:00pm ET
Labor Day Classic
Alabama State vs. Miles
in Montgomery, AL at ASU Stadium – 5:00pm CT
Louis Crews Classic
Alabama A&M vs. SC State
in Huntsville, AL at Louis Crews Stadium – 6:00pm CT
Labor Day Classic
Texas Southern vs. Prairie View A&M
in Houston, TX at BBVA Stadium – 7:00pm CT
ESPN3
SUN., SEPT. 5
Orange Blossom Classic
Florida A&M vs. Jackson State
in Miami Gardens, FL at Hard Rock Stadium – 3:00pm ET
ESPN2
Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic
Grambling State vs. Tennessee State
in Canton, OH at Tom Benson Hall Of Fame Stadium – 4:00pm ET
ESPN+
Red Tails Classic
Fort Valley State vs. Tuskegee
in Montgomery, AL at Cramton Bowl – 6:00pm CT
ESPNU
SAT., SEPT. 11
Pete Richardson Classic
Southern vs. Miles
in Baton Rouge, LA at A.W. Mumford Stadium – 6:00pm CT
Southern Heritage Classic
Tennessee State vs. Jackson State
in Memphis, TN at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium – 6:00pm CT
ESPN Family
SAT., SEPT. 18
Battle of the Real HU
Hampton vs. Howard
in Washington, DC at Audi Field – 12noon ET
Willard Bailey Classic
Virginia Union vs. Virginia – Lynchburg
in Richmond, VA at Hovey Field – 6:00pm ET
SAT., SEPT. 25
W.C. Gordon Classic
Jackson State vs. Delta State
in Jackson, MS at Miss. Veterans Memorial Stadium
Circle City Classic
Kentucky State vs. Benedict
In Indianapolis, IN at Lucas Oil Field – 3:00pm ET
Gulf Coast Challenge
Alabama A&M vs.Tuskegee
in Mobile, AL at Ladd-Peebles Stadium – 4:00pm CT
State Fair Classic
Grambling State vs.Prairie View A&M
In Dallas, TX at Cotton Bowl – 4:00pm CT
SUN., SEPT. 26
Delta Bayou Classic
Southern vs. Miss Valley State
In Jackson, MS at Miss. Veterans Memorial Stadium – 2:00pm CT
ESPN Family
SAT., OCT. 9
Arlington Football Showdown
Texas Southern vs.Southern
in Arlington, TX at Globe Life Park – 4:00pm CT
Morehouse-Tuskegee Football Classic
Tuskegee vs. Morehouse
In Birmingham, AL at Legion Field – 7:00pm CT
ESPN+
SAT., OCT. 23
Lucille M. Brown Community Youth Bowl
Virginia Union vs. Bowie State
In Richmond, VA at Hovey Field – 1:00pm ET
SAT., OCT. 25
Magic City Classic
Alabama A&M vs. Alabama State
In Birmingham, AL at Legion Field
ESPN Family
SAT., NOV. 6
Commemorative Classic
Johnson C. Smith vs.Livingstone
In Charlotte, NC at Irwin Belk Complex – 1:00pm ET
Raleigh Classic
Saint Augustine’s vs. Shaw
In Raleigh, NC at George Williams Athletic Complex – 1:00pm ET
Military Appreciation Day / Senior Day
Fountain City Classic
Albany State vs. Fort Valley State
In Columbus, GA at A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium – 2:00pm ET
ESPN+
SAT., NOV. 13
SIAC Championship Game
SIAC East Champion vs. SIAC West Champion
At TBD at TBC
ESPN3
AME Football Classic
Allen vs. Edward Waters
In Columbia, SC at Charlie Johnson Stadium – 1:30pm ET
ESPN+
CIAA Championship Game
CIAA North Champion vs.CIAA South Champion
In Salem, VA at Salem Stadium — TBD
Aspire
SAT., NOV. 20
Florida Classic
Bethune-Cookman vs. Florida A&M
In Orlando, FL at Camping World Stadium
ESPN Family
THURS., NOV. 25
Turkey Day Classic
Alabama State vs. Tuskegee
In Montgomery, AL at ASU Stadium – 2:00pm CT
SAT., NOV. 27
Bayou Classic
Southern vs Grambling State
In New Orleans, LA at Caesars Superdome – 4:00pm CT
NBC Sports Network
SAT., DEC. 4
SWAC Championship Game
SWAC West Champion vs.SWAC East Champion
In TBD at TBD
ESPNU
SAT., NOV. 18
Celebration Bowl
MEAC Champion vs. SWAC Champion
In Atlanta, GA at Mercedes-Benz Stadium – 12noon ET
ABC
compiled by Eric Moore of Onnidan.com