Much like we have done with the Hockey and Baseball sections, we have now turned our attention to the world of Basketball. We kick it off with a list of six players who will be eligible for 2014 for the Basketball Hall of Fame. As always, we want your opinions on this group and whether they should ever receive a call for the Hall.

They are:

Alonzo Mourning
Anfernee Hardaway
Chris Webber
Eddie Jones
Sam Cassell
Shareef Abdur-Rahim

Remember, the Basketball Hall recognizes not just what a player does in the professional ranks; the collegiate and international accomplishments factor in too. Gang, you know what to do! Check it out and give us your thoughts.

A survey conducted by the Associated Press of Baseball Writers who have a Hall of Fame vote (and were willing to participate) show Barry Bonds at 45 percent, Roger Clemens at 43 percent and Sammy Sosa at 18 percent. Whether this is what their final tallies is yet to be determined, but the venom of which those who were quoted had against the PED era players has to be noted.

Washington Examiner columnist, Thom Loverro does not begrudge the statistical landmarks of the aforementioned three but stated that “three of the six criteria for election to Cooperstown are sportsmanship, integrity and character and that Bonds, Sosa and Clemens fail on all three counts”. Troy Renck of the Denver Post stated that he would “feel very uncomfortable voting for anyone that is a known cheater”. MLB.com’s Hal Bodley said his passion for the game could never allow known cheaters to the Hall.

Allow me to get on my soap box here…..

I am sick to death of these writers talking about the game’s integrity when most of them had their heads up their ass during the PED era and voted for these same players to win Cy Youngs and MVPs when it was clear that inflated numbers were not just a product of a juiced ball. (Look up how many articles were written during that time painting that and expansion for the reason of inflated numbers) I will say again that Major League Baseball collectively looked the other way ignoring what would be a problem for the sake of selling tickets after the debacle of the 1994 strike. For that matter so did the fans, and so did many of these same writers.

Once the inflated head (literally) of Barry Bonds shattered records and turned into a playstation batter, did many start to care. Was it because he was an unlikable black man who had zero media savvy (nor wanted to)? Maybe. History shows that his accomplishments were the turning point of public opinion, and not Brady Anderson and his douchbaggery sideburns and his unlikely 50 home runs that happened a few years earlier. (Many articles praising Anderson for packing extra muscle and retooling his swing exist too).

Here is what else I know. Baseball players have ALWAYS searched for an edge. Be it the spitball (which got Gaylord Perry inducted, and the title of his autobiography was “Me and the Spitter”), corked bats or greenies, the subtleties of cheating have been part of the game. It doesn’t make it right, but how is one level of cheating better than the other? Oh….because Congress did not spend millions trying to figure out if Perry really did use the Spitball.

Ok…that wasn’t fair, as Steroids are only legal with a prescription, of which I don’t recall any ballplayer having one. Still, Baseball did not ban anabolic steroids until 2002 and it was not until 2005, that the caught use of it resulted in suspension. So, if Baseball had no set policy against it (realistically until 2005), than is it right to punish those who did not break a rule in their sport? Apparently to many of these writers it is.

Off the soapbox now.

So what does this mean? Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa (who frankly may not be statistically relevant anyway) are not likely to get in. That and every year at this time we are going to have this same conversation.

The Football Hall of Fame in Canton has announced their 27 semi-finalists for the 2013 Class. This group, which was pared down from the 127 preliminary nominees announced months ago includes six players who are in their first year of eligibility. The complete list in alphabetical order is as follows:

Larry Allen, Guard: (1^st Year)

Morten Andersen, Kicker: (1^st Year)

Steve Atwater, Safety

Tim Brown, Wide Receiver

Don Coryell, Coach

Roger Craig, Running Back

Terrell Davis, Running Back

Edward DeBartolo Jr., Owner

Kevin Greene, Linebacker

Charles Haley, Defensive End

Joe Jacoby, Offensive Tackle

Albert Lewis, Cornerback

John Lynch, Free Safety: (1^st Year)

Karl Mecklenburg, Linebacker

Art Modell, Owner

Jonathan Ogden, Offensive Tackle: (1^st Year)

Bill Parcells, Coach

Andre Reed, Wide Receiver

Warren Sapp, Defensive Tackle: (1^st Year)

Will Shields, Guard

Michael Strahan, Defensive End: (1^st Year)

Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner

Steve Tasker, Special Teams

Aeneas Williams, Cornerback

George Young, Contributor

This list will be reduced to 15 in a month’s time. The current list of Semi-Finalists contains no real surprises. The six first time nominees were expected, and all of the past stars who have been close are back. The Football Hall of Fame may be number two in the eyes of major Sports Halls behind Cooperstown, but the efficiency in which they operate and their lack of controversy is reducing that chasm.

The world of professional wrestling has again lost another star. Buddy “Jack” Roberts passed away today at the age of 67. The cause has not yet been released, but he had a severe bout of throat cancer years ago, which may have played a factor in his declining health.

Born Dale Hey, he first made his mark in the ring as the fictitious brother of the legendary star, Johnny Valentine. Despite being a very good in ring worker, Hey would spend the bulk of his twenty plus years in the ring as a tag team star. After changing his name to “Buddy Roberts” he would team with Jerry Brown to form the “Hollywood Blondes” where he would win regional titles all over the United States.

It was at the start of the 1980’s however that Roberts would become a part of one of the most dynamic and influential teams yet. Actually a triumvirate, Roberts joined Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy to form the Fabulous Freebrids; a hard drinking, Southern Rock influenced squad that took the World Class area by storm and made that territory with their feud with the Von Erichs.

This threesome had it all. Even at a young age, Hayes had few equals on the microphone and could fill arenas with his words. Gordy looked like he escaped from Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory, and Roberts brought the veteran presence and workrate. We have championed this group for the WWE Hall of Fame since we started our site, and they have them currently ranked at the #16 slot on our Notinhalloffame list. With the passing of Terry Gordy years ago, any induction would only have Hayes (unless they induct Jimmy Garvin with the group) as the lone acceptor.

We offer our condolences to the friends and family of Buddy Roberts at this time.