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The Notinhalloffame Baseball list has been revised: 21-30 Not in Hall of Fame News

Last January, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced the Class of 2026,…

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Demolition named to the WWE Hall of Fame Not in Hall of Fame News

We have been waiting years for this one. Today, the Undertaker broke…

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The Notinhalloffame Baseball list has been revised: 11-20 Not in Hall of Fame News

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The Notinhalloffame Baseball list has been revised: 1-10 Not in Hall of Fame News

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The Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project: 1991 Final VOTE Not in Hall of Fame News

1991 Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project Class. Here we are! …

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MLB Wildcard Preview: Upsets, Predictions & Playoff Chaos! The Buck Stops Here

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Top 30 NFL Hall of Fame Hopefuls: Kirk Buchner’s Ultimate Countdown The Buck Stops Here

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The Buck Stops Here -- S6E13 -- Hall of Fame Draft: Legends, Longshots & Living Props The Buck Stops Here

Kirk Buchner and Evan Nolan return with a vengeance in this jam-packed…

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Why the Pro Football Hall of Fame Is Broken | Kirk Buchner & Paul Lawrence Tell All The Buck Stops Here

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The Role Of Teamwork And Strategy In Professional Football From the Desk of the Chairman

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MLB 2026: Ranking the Most Important Signings of the Offseason From the Desk of the Chairman

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MLB Wildcard Preview: Upsets, Predictions & Playoff Chaos! The Buck Stops Here

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Top 30 NFL Hall of Fame Hopefuls: Kirk Buchner’s Ultimate Countdown The Buck Stops Here

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S1E 21 | Week 2 Gut Reactions, Hall of Fame Takes, and the Tush Push Controversy Not In: All In

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Hall of Fame Highs & Lows: August's Elevator Ride The Sports Elevator

This month on The Elevator Show, Kirk Buchner and Chris…

100 Active Potential Football Hall of Famers

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Committee Chairman

Committee Chairman

Kirk Buchner, "The Committee Chairman", is the owner and operator of the site.  Kirk can be contacted at [email protected] .

Frederik Andersen played in his native Denmark, playing well enough to earn a seventh-round pick by the Anaheim Ducks in 2010.  Three years later, Andersen made his NHL debut with a 23 Game rookie year.

24. Ruslan Salei

From Minsk, Ruslan Salei was taken Ninth Overall in the 1996 Draft, and he would play there until 2006 when he signed with the Florida Panthers.

23. Josh Manson

The son of former hockey pugilist Dave Manson, Josh Manson may not be as tough as his father, but he was a decent player in his own right.

Hall of Famer Brian McBride made baseball-mad Ohio fall in love with soccer

The criteria for getting into the National Soccer Hall of Fame means that it will stay an incredibly exclusive club, reserved for only the most distinguished pros from the United States. If you haven't represented the US more than 20 times or played at least five seasons in a United States first division professional league, and then been a postseason league all-star at least once, then don’t bother waiting for a letter in the post. It ain’t coming. 

But perhaps there is an exception to be made. And that exception is the player to capture the hearts and minds of a baseball-mad (or mad for any sport other than soccer) state. As it happens, and luckily for the NSHOF Board of Directors, Brian McBride would go on to have one of the most accomplished careers any player from the USA has had, so there wasn’t any need for a special category - we're just spitballing with that exception, just in case. Indeed, Brian McBride was the first-ever pick in the MLS draft in 1996 and it would be 18 years later that he would be inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. 

The Columbus Crew had 160 other players to choose from but they made McBride the first pick of the 1996 draft and, in the process, set the striker on his way to becoming one of the all-time greats in the MLS. Following the draft, McBride spent eight years in Ohio and made a name for himself in a state that is obsessed with baseball, which it must be said, is no small feat. 
 
For anyone unfamiliar with the state's connection to baseball, there are two teams that compete in the MLB from Ohio and, before McBride arrived in the Buckeye State, there was very little space in the hearts of Ohioans for any other sporting interests. The Cincinnati Reds had, after all, won the World Series three times in twenty years before McBride's draft pick in 1996 and the Cleveland Indians were runners up in 1995 and 1997. These days it's the Indians who are the Ohio favorites to win another World Series as their MLB odds on bet365 see them at +900 to win the state’s first World Series since 1990. But the point stands: even if it's been a while since any team in Ohio took home a World Series, back in the mid-90s, they were the teams to beat and their news took up all the sports pages.
 
Needless to say, McBride didn’t have a captive audience on his hands when he arrived but, over the eight years, his 72 goals in 177 appearances slowly brought Ohioans to the soccer table. 
 
The center-forward was so prolific in the MLS for the Columbus Crew that he earned himself a transfer to the English Premier League, the world’s most competitive soccer league. After a short spell at Everton, McBride joined Fulham and the cult status he enjoyed in Ohio soon spread to southwest London, with the forward becoming a legend at Craven Cottage. 

The American would eventually leave Europe and head back to the states in 2008 after he joined the Chicago Fire but it was his influence in Ohio that makes him the fabled player that he is today.