Shuffling into the hall of fame

BRADENTON — They’ve taken different paths in learning shuffleboard.

John Brown’s uncle introduced him to the game years ago, while Jim Bailey found it later in life.

This summer, both will be inducted into the USA National Shuffleboard Association Hall of Fame.

Two players are usually inducted each year, but one from east of the Mississippi River and one from west of it.

But Brown and Bailey were tied in the voting, so both will get the honor this year.

“I felt very honored to receive this,” said Brown, who lives in Bradenton and writes a bi-weekly shuffleboard column for The Herald between October and April. “I thought it was especially nice that Jim and I went in together, because we thought one of us would beat the other in the election.”

Bailey learned the game through a friend, Trailer Estates shuffler Danny Sullivan, under a laid-back atmosphere. He didn’t even know the rules when he first started, but that quickly changed, and he has morphed into a well-rounded professional with five national titles.

Before the national tournament victories, Bailey won an event at the Gulf Coast games that Sullivan persuaded him to compete in. After that win, Bailey was hooked for life.

“You want to get excited?” Bailey asked rhetorically. “You can’t take a drug that gives you a high like that.”

Bailey spends the summer months up north before coming to Palmetto, so each year he has to knock a little rust off before getting into a groove on the courts during the October-to-April season.

While Bailey splits his time between the Sunshine State and his summer home up north, Brown plays year-round in Florida. He’s been hooked ever since learning the game years ago.

“My Uncle Hansel would show me how to do it and go, ‘Now boy, don’t you forget that,’ ” said Brown, who also has five national titles.

Brown even involved shuffleboard as a sort of litmus test for his wife, Dolores — they played the game on their third date.

“He’s the one who taught me how to play, and he said I had to learn to play, so I did,” said Dolores, who has been married to John for 53 years.

Brown is always teaching the game. He explained to an inquiring passerby at Trailer Estates the difference between relaxing games, and what he called “smash-mouth, in your face, knock ’em off shuffleboard, which we play in our big tournaments.”

Brown’s philosophy is to give back to the sport he learned as a 10-year-old.

“I care about it, and I am a promoter of shuffleboard,” said Brown, who has played the game on every continent except Africa and Antarctica.

This isn’t the first time the duo has earned Hall of Fame honors.

Both have been elected — in different years — to the Florida Shuffleboard Association’s Hall of Fame.

They both earned world championship gold medals as U.S. representatives at International Shuffleboard Association tournaments, but again, in different years.

But they team up as doubles partners on occasion — and they’ll take another step together as Hall of Famers this summer.