Rodger Shabel is all the things one would expect a Cullman County Sports Hall of Fame inductee to be.

Honored, thrilled, humbled and pleased — among other sentiments.

However, as Shabel and 10 others prepare to be ushered in as the hall’s 16th class on April 25 at the Cullman Civic Center, one emotion can’t help but trump all for the 1969 Good Hope graduate.

Nostalgia.

“Basically, you start reminiscing and having those flashbacks to back in the day,” he said. “It’s very melancholy. The late ’60s were a wonderful time to be in high school for me. The kids who competed did it for love of the game. We didn’t have travel ball and other stuff like that. It was just a different world back then.”

Shabel lettered in baseball and basketball during his junior and senior years with the Raiders. He enjoyed basketball more but was “a far better baseball player.” It showed when he led the county in hitting his final season with a batting average above .500.

His most treasured memory, however, came on the basketball court, where he was team captain and averaged 10 points and eight boards per game.

It was the first year for Shabel and coach Bill Lay at Good Hope in 1968, when the Red and White played a consolation game in a Thanksgiving tournament.

In a back-and-forth contest, Shabel made a couple of long baskets to seal the win for his team.

His heroics earned him a mention in the newspaper.

“Mr. Bill Shelton was there, and he wrote it up,” Shabel said. “He said, ‘With time winding down, Shabel hits a 20-footer. Then, with 20 or 30 seconds left to play, Shabel looked high above the crowd, turned loose another 20-footer and drained nothing but net.’ That sort of made my chest stick out a little bit (laughs).”

His boosted ego didn’t last long, though, as coach Lay made a point to tell Shabel he “only got about 4 inches off the ground,” putting a damper on the junior’s shining moment during the team’s next practice.

“He sort of burst my bubble,” Shabel said jovially. “But he was a wonderful man.”

Shabel went on to other feats — playing in the Lions’ East-West baseball game, lettering for Florence State (now UNA) in baseball, playing independent baseball for Good Hope and taking part in slow pitch softball for the Southern Feed/Days Inn squad in Cullman for many years.

That particular softball team won more than 400 bouts and earned seven straight city championships while Shabel was on the roster.

“It got to be a super big thing, I’ll tell you that,” Shabel said. “Couple of 100 people every summer. We just had a group of guys who enjoyed playing, and it was just such a wonderful time. To be honest, we were kind of unbeatable with all of the talent we had on that team. It hurts to move a lot more than it did back then, too.”

Shabel coached youth sports for many years and is a member of the American Red Bone Coon Hound Association, National Red Bone Coon Hunter Association and American Quarter Horse Assocation.

The longtime sports figure has no doubt developed many important friendships and relationships over the years. When April 25 rolls around, he said he can’t wait to make the drive to the Civic Center and enjoy a long-awaited night.

That … and the free food.

“We’ll have those orange rolls, too,” Shabel said.