The Football Hall of Fame in Canton has announced their 27 semi-finalists for the 2013 Class. This group, which was pared down from the 127 preliminary nominees announced months ago includes six players who are in their first year of eligibility. The complete list in alphabetical order is as follows:

Larry Allen, Guard: (1^st Year)

Morten Andersen, Kicker: (1^st Year)

Steve Atwater, Safety

Tim Brown, Wide Receiver

Don Coryell, Coach

Roger Craig, Running Back

Terrell Davis, Running Back

Edward DeBartolo Jr., Owner

Kevin Greene, Linebacker

Charles Haley, Defensive End

Joe Jacoby, Offensive Tackle

Albert Lewis, Cornerback

John Lynch, Free Safety: (1^st Year)

Karl Mecklenburg, Linebacker

Art Modell, Owner

Jonathan Ogden, Offensive Tackle: (1^st Year)

Bill Parcells, Coach

Andre Reed, Wide Receiver

Warren Sapp, Defensive Tackle: (1^st Year)

Will Shields, Guard

Michael Strahan, Defensive End: (1^st Year)

Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner

Steve Tasker, Special Teams

Aeneas Williams, Cornerback

George Young, Contributor

This list will be reduced to 15 in a month’s time. The current list of Semi-Finalists contains no real surprises. The six first time nominees were expected, and all of the past stars who have been close are back. The Football Hall of Fame may be number two in the eyes of major Sports Halls behind Cooperstown, but the efficiency in which they operate and their lack of controversy is reducing that chasm.

The world of professional wrestling has again lost another star. Buddy “Jack” Roberts passed away today at the age of 67. The cause has not yet been released, but he had a severe bout of throat cancer years ago, which may have played a factor in his declining health.

Born Dale Hey, he first made his mark in the ring as the fictitious brother of the legendary star, Johnny Valentine. Despite being a very good in ring worker, Hey would spend the bulk of his twenty plus years in the ring as a tag team star. After changing his name to “Buddy Roberts” he would team with Jerry Brown to form the “Hollywood Blondes” where he would win regional titles all over the United States.

It was at the start of the 1980’s however that Roberts would become a part of one of the most dynamic and influential teams yet. Actually a triumvirate, Roberts joined Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy to form the Fabulous Freebrids; a hard drinking, Southern Rock influenced squad that took the World Class area by storm and made that territory with their feud with the Von Erichs.

This threesome had it all. Even at a young age, Hayes had few equals on the microphone and could fill arenas with his words. Gordy looked like he escaped from Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory, and Roberts brought the veteran presence and workrate. We have championed this group for the WWE Hall of Fame since we started our site, and they have them currently ranked at the #16 slot on our Notinhalloffame list. With the passing of Terry Gordy years ago, any induction would only have Hayes (unless they induct Jimmy Garvin with the group) as the lone acceptor.

We offer our condolences to the friends and family of Buddy Roberts at this time.

The Baseball Hall of Fame Ballots are out, and expect every sports talk radio station and talking head to discuss the PED era and the Hall of Fame. Sure, it has been discussed before as Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro have been on the ballot receiving low vote tallies that would have inconceivable a decade ago, but despite the high profile they had, three bigger stars have emerged on the Hall of Fame ballot. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa have now entered the list and EVERYBODY has an opinion. Of course they are not alone as they join other first ballot entries and returning stars like Jeff Bagwell, Edgar Martinez, Fred McGriff, Lee Smith, Don Mattingly, Alan Trammell, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Tim Raines and Larry Walker.

Below is the complete list of those on this year’s ballot in alphabetical order and the amount of years they have been on:

1^st:   Sandy Alomar Jr

3^rd:   Jeff Bagwell

1^st:   Craig Biggio

1^st:   Barry Bonds

1^st:   Jeff Cirillo

1^st:   Royce Clayton

1^st:   Roger Clemens

1^st:   Jeff Conine

1^st:   Steve Finley

1^st:   Julio Franco

1^st:   Shawn Green

1^st:   Roberto Hernandez

1^st:   Ryan Klesko

1^st:   Kenny Lofton

4^th:   Edgar Martinez

13^th: Don Mattingly

4^th:   Fred McGriff

7^th:   Mark McGwire

1^st:   Jose Mesa

14^th: Jack Morris

15^th: Dale Murphy

3^rd:   Rafael Palmeiro

1^st:   Mike Piazza

6^th:   Tim Raines

1^st:   Reggie Sanders

1^st:   Curt Schilling

1^st:   Aaron Sele

11^th: Lee Smith

1^st:   Sammy Sosa

1^st:   Mike Stanton

12^th: Alan Trammell

3^rd:   Larry Walker

1^st:   Todd Walker

1^st: David Wells

1^st:   Rondell White

2^nd: Bernie Williams

1^st:   Woody Williams

No lies….for us this is the most fascination Baseball Hall of Fame Vote since the first one!

In two weeks, we will tell you who we would vote for, any thoughts until then?

As you have noticed over the last two weeks, we have unveiled a list of potential Hockey Hall of Fame possibilities that are eligible in 2014 & 2015. As the Hall only requires three years once retired to become eligible, we thought we would add a section of players who are “To be Determined”

What we mean is a collection of players who are older and still playing professional hockey either in North America or Europe. Once they have finished their careers, we will slot them into their respective year of eligibility.

This group includes:

Alexei Yashin
Brian Rolston
Chris Pronger
Dan Boyle
Daniel Alfredsson
Ed Jovanovski
Evgeni Nabokov
Jaromir Jagr
Jason Arnott
Jose Theodore
Kimmo Timonen
Lubomir Visnovsky
Martin Brodeur
Martin St. Louis
Marty Turco
Milan Hejduk
Miroslav Satan
Nikolai Khabibulin
Patrik Elias
Ray Whitney
Roman Hamrlik
Ryan Smith
Sergei Gonchar
Shane Doan
Teemu Selanne
Tim Thomas
Todd Bertuzzi
Tomas Vokoun
Ziggy Palffy

You know the drill! Check them out and cast a vote, and give your opinions!