In a recent piece on ESPN, Tom Flores had a few things to say about the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  As you can deduce, it was not exactly positive.

Like the rest of us, Flores knew that it did not look good when three weeks before the Super Bowl, Hall of Fame President, David Baker, appeared on the AFC Divisional Game pre-show to present Bill Cowher his gold jacket.  At that point, there was only one spot left, as the Blue Ribbon Committee had only two spots out of ten to give in the Coaches pool.  It was a bit of a surprise, as Flores and Don Coryell were both Finalists last year, when the Coaches were placed in the same pool as the players.  

Baker would be busy that weekend. The following day at the half-time show, he showed up to present Fox’s Jimmy Johnson his gold jacket.  While this made for great television, and it was phenomenal to watch play out, it was evident at time that Flores was not getting in. In that ESPN piece by Paul Gutierrez, that was when Flores knew too.  

In a defence on Baker, the Pro Football Hall of Fame has no obligation to tell people ahead of time if they are getting in or not ahead of time, but it is a really shitty way to find out, especially when you were told, as Flores was by Baker, that he was “almost a shoo-in” for the Blue Ribbon Committee panel of 2020.  Maybe, that is why he said “almost”.

Baker and the Hall took a lot of criticism, and it is easy to see why.  Neither Cowher or Johnson were Finalists last year, and Flores was. Coryell, for that matter had reached the Final Round on five previous occasions.  Standard thought would have thought that Coryell and Flores were on the pecking order over Johnson and Cowher, and in terms of their actual accomplishments, they should be.  

So, what happened?

Is it as simple as Baker and the Hall looking for televised feel-good moments?  Again, it looked great on tv, but it made you wonder if Flores was working as an analyst on a station that broadcast the playoffs, would he be in right now? 

In the piece, Flores said:

“It happened. What can I do about it?  I don’t have a choice.  My fans are still my fans.  They’re still going to make a lot of noise.  A lot of people are really pissed off about this whole thing.  A lot of people are pissed off for other guys that didn’t make it, either.  I can’t say I’m exclusive in that respect.”

Everything he said was right. The Raiders fan base is among the loudest in Pro Football, and they were vocal about his omission.  The Broncos fan base were livid over the snub of Randy Gradisha

Will Flores get in next year? We are assuming that they will revert the Coaches back to the players pool, and Flores will have an excellent chance to enter the Hall in 2021, but this is a dance we have seen before.  He turns 83 next month, and while he is in good health, he may not be alive to see his induction.

As always, we will be watching when Baker comes a knocking.

How Will LSU & Clemson Cope as Top Picks Go Pro? 

After an intriguing battle at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans,LSU overcame a strong challenge from Clemsonto win the collegiate National Championship, 42-25.

With five or more of those players expected to be snapped up in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, we take a look at the two best prospects and how their current teams might fare without them.

Joe Burrow likely first pick

LSU’s Joe Burrow is the first name on the list for good reason. The quarterback’s performance on January 14, confirmed his status as likely first pick overall in April’s draft. He recorded the most passing touchdowns in a season (passing Hawaii's Colt Brennan) and finished the season with 402 of 527 (76.3%) for 5,671 yards. He recorded 60 passing touchdowns, six interceptions and five rushing touchdowns.

Hailed by many as the best ever college quarterback, the 23-year-old could be the first name called in April with mock drafts projecting a move to the Cincinnati Bengals. Myles Brennan has been tasked with replacing the Heisman Trophy winner once the season is over. The highly-rated New Orleans native suddenly finds himself with big shoes to fill but his trajectory has set him up well and he has also bulked up over the last seasons and looks in good physical shape.

Simmons a sure-fire top-10 pick

Clemson is resigned to losing linebacker (amongst other positions) Isaiah Simmons. The 21-year-old posted some impressive stats (102 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, eight sacks, three interceptions, eight broken up passes and a forced fumble) and has been linked with the Giants in the mock drafts. He is expected to be a top-10 pick and could even make the top-three.

Clemson early favorite for coming season

Losing such a versatile defender is never easy and Clemson will have their work cut out selecting a suitable replacement. At first glance, their defense will be notably weaker as players like Simmons don’t come along too often but Clemson has a history of finding a way to compete. We will have to wait to see who they recruit to fill the 21-year-old's shoes.

Thanks to their recent consistency, having appeared in four of the last five finals, Clemson remains the early favorite in the American football betting oddsto win next year’s championship. Also, in the running are Ohio State, Alabama and 2020 winners LSU.

Heisman Trophy contenders

Burrow and all but one of the Heisman Trophy finalistswill be leaving college this season.  The exception is Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, who has been announced as favorite to claim the award at the end of the 2020 campaign. He finished third in the 2019 voting behind winner Burrow and runner-up, Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts. The Buckeyes reached the playoff semifinals where they lost 29-23 to Clemson. 

Also in contention is Trevor Lawrence, who lost the first game of his college career in the Championship final against LSU. Lawrence had previously led Clemson to a national title and will be keen to bounce back stronger before heading the NFL Draft in 2021 where he has been tipped to be No. 1 overall pick. If he can lead the Tigers to a third-straight National Championship game he could also finish the campaign as a Heisman Trophy winner.

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.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present the first revision of our top 50 Oklahoma City Thunder of all-time.

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

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the NBA.

3. Playoff accomplishments.

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

Please note that this is the first update since 2016, and it does not reflect the current season.  Please also note that the history of the Thunder includes that of the Seattle SuperSonics.

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, which has altered the rankings considerably.

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. Russell Westbrook

2. Gary Payton

3. Kevin Durant

4. Shawn Kemp

5. Jack Sikma

We have used a different algorithm from our initial list, and this has resulted in a few changes that are reflected on the entire list, and even in the top five.

Current Houston Rocket, Russell Westbrook, takes over at #1 from #3 three years ago. The last two seasons he had with OKC, put him over Durant and Payton.  Gary Payton dropped from #1 to #2 due to Westbrook’s ascension to the top. Kevin Durant, who almost made it to number, fell from #2 to #3.  With the new algorithm in use, Shawn Kemp and Jack Sikma reversed their rank at #4 and #5 respectively.

There were other significant changes.  We dropped the ball by not ranking Serge Ibaka.  That was a major oversight, and the Congolese Center enters at #11.  Steven Adams, who has been their Center for the last few seasons, debuts at #17.

As always, we thank you for your support.

The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame has announced the seven new members of their Class of 2020, which will add seven new members; four former players and three contributors.

The new members are:

Debbie Brock:  As a coach, Brock led Delta State to three AIAW Championships in the 1970s.

Carol Callan:  Callan has been the U.S. Women’s National Team Director since 1996, and the nation has won six straight Gold Medals at the Olympics.

Tamika Catchings:  An NCAA Champion with Tennessee in 1998, she would play her entire WNBA career with the Indiana Fever where she would be the League MVP in 2011 and she took her team to the WNBA Title the season after.  Catchings was also a 10-time All-Star, 7-time First Team All-WNBA Selection, 5-time Defensive Player of the Year, 7-times Steals Champion, and was the 2002 Rookie of the Year.  Internationally, she was on four Olympic Gold Medal Teams for the United States.

Swin Cash:  Cash won two NCAA Titles at UConn (2000 & 2002), and was the Tournament MOP in the latter.  She would later win three WNBA Titles (two with the Detroit Shock and one with the Seattle Storm) and would be a four-time WNBA All-Star.

Sue Donohoe:  Donohoe served as the Vice President of Division I Women’s Basketball from 2003 to 2012 and was the Director of the NCAA Tournament from 1999 to 2002.

Lauren Jackson:  From Australia, Lauren Jackson represented her country and captured three Silver Medals and one Bronze, while also winning the 2006 World Championship. On the WNBA level, she played her entire career with the Seattle Storm and won two WNBA Titles and was a three-time MVP.  She also won one Defensive Player of the Year Award, one Rebounding Title and was seven-time All-Star.

Carol Stiff:  Stiff is ESPN’s Vice President of Programming and Acquisitions, and she had a focus on the WNBA and NCAA.

The ceremony will take place on June 13 in Knoxville, Tennessee, which houses the Hall.  This will be their 22^ndClass.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest members of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.