Up next on this list, we have Gene Watson. He was raised in Paris, Texas but relocated to Houston in 1963. Gene was spending his time in Houston working in an auto body shop while playing local clubs at night. After recording a couple independent albums, someone at Capitol Records happened to pick up a copy and Gene was eventually signed to the label. He never was a huge star nor one to be showered with awards, but Gene stayed in back and slowly built a collection of hits for over a decade and was a solid radio performer for the country music genre. When it comes time for the Hall Of Fame to do their voting on new inductees, Gene is not ever going to be a name that stands out as an obvious one to vote for. But with a large group of fans (who have petitions going to get him in) and him continuing to tour around to keep the legacy of country music alive, he might just end up getting his name on a plaque in the Hall Of Fame one of these days.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, it is news to us that the New York Rangers have announced that they will be retiring the number 30 of Henrik Lundqvist.

Lundqvist played his entire 15-year career with the Rangers, beginning in 2005-06.  He won the Vezina Trophy in 2012, and he finished in the top six in Vezina balloting nine other times.  Twice leading the NHL in Goalie Point Shares, Lundqvist was a First Team All-Star in 2012, a Second Team All-Star in 2013, and participated in five All-Star Games.  He is the all-time franchise leader in Wins (459), and is sixth all-time in that statistic.  Lundqvist had a lifetime GAA of 2.43, with 64 Shutouts.

The ceremony will take place on January 28, 2022, prior to New York’s home game against Minnesota.

Lundqvist becomes the 11^th player to have his number retired by the Rangers.  He joins Ed Giacomin (#1), Brian Leetch (#2), Harry Howell (#3), Rod Gilbert (#7), Andy Bathgate (#9), Adam Graves (#9), Mark Messier (#11), Vic Hadfield (#11), Jean Ratelle (#19) and Mike Richter (#35).

Lundqvist is eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2023.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the Henrik Lundqvist for earning this prestigious honor.

Known by the nickname “King Of Bluegrass”, the way Jimmy Martin got into the music business was like out of a movie. He was inspired by the music he heard in church, and a local hillbilly (living in the hills of his hometown Sneedville) taught him how to play guitar. Hearing there was an opening in Bill Monroe’s band (the originator of bluegrass), Jimmy hopped a bus to Nashville and snuck backstage of the Grand Ole Opry. One of the band members heard Jimmy playing, and brought him forward to audition. Bill hired him, and later that year made him lead singer of the band. In 1955, he split off to form his own band. This new band was focused on being commercially successful and audience friendly, using tight trio harmonies and a snare drum to keep the back-beat. This certainly helped, as Jimmy’s band was able to get some hit songs in the 1960’s. Plus they released some instrumental tracks featuring guitar runs that would come to be extremely influential in the bluegrass and country fields in the future. He would also become one of the classic artists appearing on Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s legendary “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” album. Issues with drinking would keep him out of some Nashville institutions, but will that prevent the ‘King Of Bluegrass’ from entering the Hall Of Fame someday?

Mary Frances Penick (or as she would later be known, Skeeter Davis) had life troubles, but would go to become one of the early solo female crossover artists and an influence on legends like Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton. In high school she met a great friend named Betty Jack Davis, and they performed at talent shows together. Despite being unrelated, Mary would take Betty Jack’s last name to become Skeeter Davis, and they toured as the duo the Davis Sisters. After signing a recording contract, they quickly got a number one hit. Unfortunately, soon after that Betty Jack was killed in a car accident. With her own injuries and emotional stress, Skeeter took some years off. Beginning in 1957, she went solo and ended up with a nice stretch of hits throughout the 1960’s. Her song “The End Of The World” even ended up becoming the only song in history to hit the top ten of the country, pop, R&B and easy listening charts. Her chart success faded into the 70’s, but her influence on all of the country females to come cannot be denied.