The Poker Hall of Fame has announced the 10 Finalists for their Class of 2017.

They are:

David Chiu:  Born in China, David Chiu was the first ever winner of the Tournament of Champions.  Chiu is also a five time Bracelet winner on the WSOP and finished in the money 60 times.

Mori Eskandini: Eskandini is former 16 time money finisher and the WSOP but is more known for being the producer of Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Thor Hansen:  From Norway, Hansen is a two time Bracelet winner on the WSOP.

Ted Forrest: AKA “Professor Backwards” is a six time WSOP Bracelet winner and a one time Champion on the World Poker Tour.

Phil Ivey: “The Tiger Woods of Poker” is the youngest Finalist at age 40.  He is a ten time WSOP Bracelet winner.

Mike Matusow: Matusow is a four time WSOP Bracelet recipient.

Max Pescatori: From Milan, Italy, Pescatori is a four time WSOP Bracelet winner.  “The Italian Pirate” has finished in the money on the World Poker Tour 7 times.

Matt Savage: A fine poker player in his own right but mostly known for helping founding the Tournament Directors Association, which standardized poker tournaments internationally. 

Huck Seed: The 1996 WSOP Champion is also a four time Bracelet winner.

David Ulliott: The late Englishman is a one time WSOP Bracelet winner and one time World Poker Tour Champion.  “Devilfish” allegedly had ties to the Hull underworld.

To qualify for the Hall, a player has to be at least 40 years of age and have “played poker against acknowledged top competition” and “for high stakes”.

At present there are 52 members of the Poker Hall of Fame and two of these ten Finalists will bring the total to 54.

The Poker Hall of Fame was established in 1979.

Damn we love social media.

How can we not?  It brings us a continuous source of news!

Today, former Running Back Fred Taylor lamented on Twitter about his exclusion from the upcoming induction of the 2017 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2017.

On Twitter, he had the following to say:

“I earned respect on the field.  Numbers better than majority of RBs in history.  Still don’t understand why the writers don’t respect it.”

“Not just backs that have come and gone in NFL HISTORY…but better than majority of the backs in the HOF…” 

“Don’t tell me anything about eras. AFC had top defenses in my division alone (Ravens, Steelers, Titans) to name a few.  That’s twice a year”

“I was once asked a rhetorical question like ‘do you want to be nominated’ ummm, I bust my ass for 13 years! Figure it out lol”

Taylor does make some valid points.  At present, Taylor is ranked 17th overall in Rushing Yards with 11,695, which is a number that does exceed many Hall of Fame Backs, including Terrell Davis who was chosen for this year.  Notable too, is that Taylor was exceptionally durable, an ever increasing rarity in the National Football League. 

There are however some significant notes on the other side of the ledger. 

Taylor was a Pro Bowler once and only made an All Pro Team (2nd in 2007) once.  This indicates (and is true) that Taylor was never really considered an elite Running Back in any year and was essentially regarded as a very good one.  While he did finish in the top ten in Rushing Yards six times, his highest rank was 6th.

The longtime Jacksonville Jaguar has never been a Semi-Finalist for Hall of Fame consideration.  Neither has Tiki Barber or Shaun Alexander, who is a former MVP.

The bar just to make it to the cut of Semi-Finalists is hard enough let alone advancing to Canton.

While we considered Fred Taylor on our Notinhalloffame.com Football list, he did not make our cut, though we are looking to expand it soon. 

We have been putting this one of for a while but we have to ask the question now that the Miami Heat has officially waived Chris Bosh, do we put him on our 2021 Futures or do we wait to see if he officially retires?

Bosh thanked the fans of Miami in an open letter on his website but did not indicate whether he intends to retire from professional basketball or not.  The former alumni of Georgia Tech was forced off of the court due to blood clots at the 2014-15 All Star break and it would happen again the year after.  Bosh was not medically cleared to play last season.

Should Bosh never return to the NBA he ends a career with two NBA Championships and eleven All Star Game appearances.  The odds are strong that he will be entering the Basketball Hall of Fame, though if this is the end, is he a first ballot entry?

Bosh would become eligible in 2021, the same year as Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, which already was the most loaded class in the last twenty years.  Throw Bosh in there and we may have four first ballot entries with well over ten titles between them.

So, do we wait to put CB4 on our 2021 Futures list or do we assume that his playing career is over? 

We need a week to think about this one, but we would love to hear your thoughts. 

We here at Notinhalloffame.com thought it would be fun to take a look at the major awards in North American team sports and see how it translates into Hall of Fame potential.

Needless to say, different awards in different sports yield hall of fame potential.  In basketball, the team sport with the least amount of players on a roster, the dividend for greatness much higher.  In baseball, it is not as much as a great individual season does not have the same impact.

We are now taking a look at the Gold Glove Award, given annually to the best defensive player in MLB in each respective position.