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.  Eventually, we plan to do that for the major colleges in the NCAA.  As such, it is news to us that the University of Florida has announced the nine members of their Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2020.

The new members are:

Andrew DeClercq, Men’s Basketball  (1991-95).  DeClerq was a member of the Florida’s 1994 Final Four Team, and he was selected to the First Team All-SEC squad the following year.  He started 128 Games for the Gators, which is still a school record. DeClercq later played a decade in the NBA with runs in Golden State, Boston, Cleveland and Orlando.

Billy Donovan, Men’s Basketball Coach (1996-15).  Donovan led the Gators to back-to-back National Championships in 2006 and 2007, and was in the Final Four in two other years.  Donovan is a six-time SEC Champion and three-time SEC Coach of the Year.

Shaune Fraser, Men’s Swinning and Diving (2006-10).  Fraser was a three-time NCAA Champion (200-yard Butterfly in 2009 & 2010 & 200-yard Freestyle in 2009).  Fraser was a seven-time individual SEC Champion and had 27 All-American honors, a school record.  Fraser was also a two-time Olympian, representing the Cayman Islands (2004 & 2008).  

Brandon James, Football  (2006-09).  James was a two-time National Championship Game winner with the Gators, and he was named the 2008 Special Teams Player of the Year.  James is the only player in SEC history to have 4,000 combined Return Yards.

Miriam Kevkhishvili, Women’s Track & Field (2007-10). Kevkhishvili won five individual NCAA records (Indoor Shot Put 2008-10 & Outdoor Shot Put 2009-10) and helped Florida win the 2009 SECE Outdoor Championships and 2010 SEC Indoor Championships.

Hamid Mirzadeh, Men’s Tennis (2001-05).  Mirzadeh was a five-time All-American and helped the Gators win two SEC Titles (2003 & 2005).  

Brandon Spikes, Football (2006-09). Spikes helped Florida win two BCS Championships, and he was a two-time All-American.  The Linebacker was a Finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award (2009), Lombardi Award (2008), and Butkus Award (2008 & 2009).  Spikes would play professionally for seven seasons with the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills.

Genna Spofforth, Women’s Swimming and Diving (2006-10). Spofforth led the Gators to an SEC Championship in 2009 and a National Championship in 2010.  She is a seven-time individual NCAA Champion (100-yard Backstroke 2008-10, 200-yard Backstroke 2007-09 & 200-yard Freestyle Relay 2010) and earned 25 All-American honors.  Spofforth represented Great Britain in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

Tim Tebow, Football (2006-09). Tebow is the third former Gator to be honored this year who was part of two National Championship Teams.  The Quarterback was the first sophomore to win the Heisman, and he was a Finalist for it two other times.  Tebow also won the Maxwell Award twice, and is also a two-time SEC Offensive Player of the Year.  Tebow threw for 9,286 Yards and 88 Touchdowns and rushed for 2,947 Yards and 57 Touchdowns.

The date and location of the ceremony, has yet to be determined.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to the impending members of the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  We have a new one to unveil today, that of the Seattle Mariners. 

Entering the American League as an expansion team in 1977, the Seattle Mariners have had a lot of great players, but despite that, they are the only team to have never appeared in the World Series.  

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2019 Season.

The complete list can be found here, but as always we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Ken Griffey Jr.

2. Edgar Martinez

3. Ichiro Suzuki 

4. Felix Hernandez

5. Randy Johnson

We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.  

Look for our All-Time Top 50 Tampa Bay Rays coming next!

As always we thank you for your support.

We have another significant retirement in the world of the National Football League, although many people outside of the New England fan base might understand why this is the case.

James Develin, the New England Patriots’ Fullback has announced his retirement through a post on his Instagram.  He had this to say:

“Due to unforeseen complications with the injury that ended my season last year, I have decided it is both in my and my family's best interest to retire from the game of football.  I've always maintained a belief that in the sport, the team is MUCH more important than myself as an individual ... and that belief still rings true, as I have to prioritize my team at home before anything else."

The injury that Develin was referring to was in his neck, and it held him to only two games in 2019.

Develin was undrafted in Brown in 2010 and after two years on the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad, he was signed by the New England Patriots in 2012.  He was not used as an offensive weapon, but as a blocker for them.  Develin would help the Patriots win three Super Bowls, and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2017.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish James Develin the best in his post-playing career.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  We have a new one to unveil today, that of the Oakland Athletics. 

The Athletics were a charter member of the American League in 1901 when they were located in Philadelphia. While they played on the East Coast, they were owned and ran by Connie Mack, who had his share of success and failures.  When they were good, they boasted Hall of Fame players like Lefty Grove, Chief Bender and Jimmie Foxx, and they won five World Series Championships (1910, 1911, 1913, 1929 & 1930) in their first half of existence.

While they had five more World Series Titles then their National League rivals, the Phillies, they struggled financially, and they relocated to Kansas City.  They were there for 13 unremarkable years, and they then went all the way to West, to Oakland.  

With players like Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers and Catfish Hunter, they rattled off three consecutive World Series wins (1972-74).  Ownership let their stars go, but by the late 80s, they were back with Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Dennis Eckersley and Dave Stewart, and they won three American League Pennants (1988-90), winning the one in the middle.  

At present, Oakland follows a Moneyball strategy, and though that tenth World Series has been elusive, they have shown competitiveness despite a low payroll.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2018-19 Season.

The complete list can be found here, but as always we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Lefty Grove

2. Rickey Henderson

3. Jimmie Foxx

4. Eddie Plank

5. Al Simmons

We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.  

Look for our All-Time Top 50 Seattle Mariners coming next!

As always we thank you for your support.