When the phone call came, back in March, Dick Houden thought it was a joke. He has kids who are not above pulling pranks. When Houden realized it truly was Barry Alvarez, and that he was calling to tell Houden he had been selected for the University of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame, Houden couldn?t help it. He wept. Houden was a sprinter who specialized in short distances, but he?d come a very long way. Friday evening, Houden will be one of six former UW athletes inducted into the hall, with Alvarez himself ? the winningest football coach in school history ? making a total of seven in the 2010 class.
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