And then there were four.

The NFL Divisional Playoffs are over and oddsmakers are re-evaluating the chances of the teams that remain.  The hottest team going into the playoffs, the Baltimore Ravens were upset by the Tennessee Titans, and new favorites have emerged.

The San Francisco 49ers soundly defeated the Minnesota Vikings 27-10, where their rushing game and defense was strong.  The number one seed in the NFC have been the most balanced team through the season, and they are chasing their fourth Super Bowl.  As good as they have been in 2019, this is a team that went 4-12 in 2018and are full of players who have never been this far in the playoffs before.  49ers Quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, is only two wins away from leading his team to a Super Bowl win, which would fulfill the promise that has been pegged for him three years ago.

The Niners will host the Green Bay Packers, who defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in Lambeau.  Packers QB, Aaron Rodgers has a Super Bowl ring already, but despite the high profile and #2 seed of this team, they have not been considered a favorite to win it all. Rodgers and company bring more post-season experience than San Francisco does, and despite 13 regular season wins, they have to feel a little disrespected.  Defeating Seattle is that signature win that they needed, and they have a lot more to prove.

With the elimination of Baltimore, the Kansas City Chiefs are now the top remaining seed in the AFC.  The Chiefs made history with their comeback against the Houston Texans, and they have the 2018 MVP, Patrick Mahomes who is ready to ascend to the top of the Quarterback food chain.  Mahomes, along with Tyreke Hill and Travis Kelce are the triumvirate of the most explosive offense in the NFL, but their defense is suspect, meaning that every game is a shootout.  This is not always a recipe for a title, but it is for excitement.  If you want your heartbeat to race, this is the team you want to see in the Super Bowl!

Nobody (including us) had the Tennessee Titans making the AFC Championship Game.  The #6 seed first went to New England, and beat the defending Super Bowl Champions, and then went to Baltimore and knocked off the top seed Ravens.  Tennessee wasn’t lucky, they were better than both of those teams, and as they have nothing to lose, the Titans are the most dangerous team of the four. Their Quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, may not be a big name, but he is the hottest QB of the last two months, and with a blistering secondary, the Titans are the pick of the moment.

Regardless of who advances this weekend, we will be watching, and we are ready to place our bets.  

This is a dark day in Rock and Roll.  It was announced today that Rush Drummer, Neil Peart passed away three days ago after a long battle with brain cancer.  He was 67 years old.

Peart was considered by musicians and critics alike as one of the most technically proficient drummer that rock music had ever seen. Along with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, the Canadian Progressive Rock trio of Rush first recorded in 1974, and they received immediate airplay in Canada.  Unlike many Canadian bands in the 1970s, their popularity went well beyond their border.  In addition to his drumming expertise, he was an exceptional lyricist, a fact not well known considering that Lee was the band’s lead singer.

The group would go on to produce 19 studio albums and 11 live albums, and sold out arenas around the world.  Rush was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

Peart last played in 2015, where depending on the source he was either taking a break or retiring from performing.

We here at Notinhalloffame off our condolences to the friends, fans and family of Neil Peart at this time.

We apologize for the delay, as many of other projects have taken precedence in the last month, but we are proud to announce our Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame Class of 2020.

Based entirely on all of your on-line votes, this is the 6^thfull class.

After a one-year vote, through a Preliminary and Semi-Finalist vote, two of the foes of Rocky Balboa are entering the Hall.  Clubber Lang (Rocky III) and Ivan Drago (Rocky IV) join Balboa and fellow Rocky series regular, Apollo Creed.  These two are joined by the pool shark, Fast Eddie Felson, from The Hustler and the Color of Money

They join Daniel LaRusso (The Karate Kid), Dottie Hinson (A League of Their Own), Paul “Wrecking” Crewe (The Longest Yard), Bobby Boucher (The Waterboy), Forrest Gump (Forrest Gump), Willie “Mays” Hayes (Major League), Apollo Creed (Rocky), Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez, Charlie Conway (The Mighty Ducks), The Hanson Brothers (Slap Shot), Reggie Dunlop (Slap Shot), Happy Gilmore (Happy Gilmore), Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn (Major League), Crash Davis (Bull Durham), Roy Hobbs (The Natural) and Rocky Balboa, the inaugural inductee.

Rocky is represented again in the contributor section, as his wife, Adrian Balboa finally makes the Hall.  She is joined by Coach Ernie Pantusso, former Red Sox Coach and bartender from Cheers. Our first animated character is also inducted, as Sport Goofy enters via the Veteran’s category.

Clubber Lang (Mr. T) finally advances into the Hall, after multiple appearances as a Finalist.  After the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Rocky Balboa, had multiple title defenses, he ran into a buzzsaw in Lang, who was the meanest competitor he ever faced.  Land destroyed Balboa to win the Title, but in the highly anticipated rematch, Balboa secured the assistance of his former nemesis, Apollo Creed.  Lang was knocked out in the rematch, and never was champion again.

Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) was an undefeated amateur from the Soviet Union who had a perfect 100-0 record, with all wins by knockout.  He agreed to an exhibition match against Apollo Creed, where he decimated the former champion so badly, that he caused him to die in the ring.  Creed was avenged by the Heavyweight Champion, Rocky Balboa, who travelled to the U.S.S.R. and defeated Drago in a long punishing bout.  Drago went into hiding in Ukraine, and reemerged with his son, Viktor, mentoring him to a World Heavyweight Title match against Apollo’s son, Adonis.

“Fast” Eddie Felson (Paul Newman).  Felson was a small-time pool hustler who challenged the legendary Minnesota Fats. He lost badly in his first attempt, but after a turn of tragic events would soundly defeat the legend. Twenty-five years later, he would stake a young Vincent Lauria.  Newman has previously been inducted as Reggie Dunlop (Slap Shot)

Adrian Balboa (Talia Shire) has always been a Finalist, but on the sixth ballot, she finally makes the Contributor Wing of the Hall.  Equal inspiration and equal wet blanket, she is loved deeply by her husband, Rocky.

Coach Ernie Pantusso (Nicholas Colassanto) was a former coach with the Boston Red Sox, and mentor to former relief pitcher, Sam Malone.  When Malone purchased a bar named Cheers, Pantusso joined him as a bartender. Offering sage and often dim-witted advice with a kind heart, Coach was a beloved part of the Cheers gang.  He died in 1985.

Sport Goofy becomes the first animated entrant into the Hall.  The anthropomorphic dog has been demonstrating exemplarily sportsmanship for decades in every sport imaginable.

Voting has now begun on the 2020 Class and the Preliminary Nominees are now up.

You can find them here.

When you can, please support our site and cast your vote for the Class of 2020!

As always, we here at Notinhalloffame.com thank you for your support.

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 huge news that the Detroit Tigers will be retiring the number 1 of former Second Baseman, Lou Whitaker.

Playing at Second Base, Whitaker played his entire career with the Tigers.  The five-time All-Star won the 1978 Rookie of the Year Award, where he also won three Gold Gloves and four Silver Sluggers.  He was an integral part of Detroit’s last World Series Championship in 1984.  He would overall accumulate 2,369 Hits with 244 Home Runs and 1,084 Runs Batted In.

The official retirement will take place on August 29, during Detroit’s home game against the Boston Red Sox.

Whitaker becomes the 10^thplayer to have his number retired.  He joins Charlie Gehringer (#2), Alan Trammell (#3), Hank Greenberg (#5), Al Kaline (#6), Sparky Anderson (#11), Hal Newhouser (#16), Willie Horton (#23), Jackie Robinson (#42) and Jack Morris (#47).

Along with Anderson, Trammell & Morris, he is the fourth member of the 1984 World Series winning team to have his number retired.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Lou Whitaker for earning this prestigious honor, and thank the Detroit Tigers for honoring their former star.