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 are going to look at the major colleges for how to they honor their former athletes.  As such it is huge news that Houston Astros have announced their Rutgers University has announced their latest Hall of Fame Class.

The Class of 2020 consists of five former student-athletes.

Eric LeGrand (Football):  LeGrand’s football career at Rutgers began in 2008, but ended tragically in 2010.  A collision during a game against Army led to a spinal cord injury resulting in paralysis from the neck down.  Rather than be depressed, LeGrand exemplified tremendous courage and works a motivational speaker and fundraiser.  Le LeGrand’s number 52 is the only jersey retired in the program’s history.

Essence Carson (Women’s Basketball):  Carson was a star on the 2007 NCAA Championship Team and she would score 1,262 Points with 707 Rebounds.  A three-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year, Carson would later win a WNBA Championship with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016, and she currently plays for the Washington Mystics.

Alexis Gunzelman (Women’s Gymnastics):  Gunzelman was a walk-on who participated in 51 meets and is the only female gymnast to have qualified to compete in the Nationals in the all-around.

Jonelle Filigno-Hopkins (Women’s Soccer):  From Canada, Filigno-Hopkins scored 33 Goals with 16 of them being game-winners for Rutgers, while taking them four NCAA Tournaments. Internationally, she represented Canada in two Olympics and two World Cups.

James Ford (Men’s Lacrosse):  Playing for the Scarlet Knights from 1976 to 1980, Ford was the first African-American Captain in program history.  He scored 70 Goals and is the all-time school leader in Assists (131).

Due to the pandemic, there is no current timetable as to when and where the induction ceremony will take place.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest members of the Rutgers Athletic Hall of Fame

Our apologies, as we should have discussed this earlier.

Dominican Shortstop, Jose Reyes, has announced his official retirement from baseball.  Although, he last played in the Majors in 2018, he has not yet retired publicly.

Playing most of his career with the New York Mets, Reyes would be named to four All-Star Games, was a Silver Slugger (2006), and won the Batting Title in 2011.  Reyes would exhibit blistering speed, which he showcased by leading the NL in Tripled four times and Stolen Bases three times.  In terms of thievery on the base paths, he was in the top ten six other times. 

In addition to the Mets, Reyes played for Miami, Toronto, and Colorado, and fittingly he finished his career in the Big Apple. Reyes would collect just over 2,000 Hits in his career with 517 Stolen Bases.

Reyes is eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024, and when our section of the 2024 Baseball futures are up, he will be featured.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com wish Jose Reyes the best in his post-playing career.

It was announced today that British wrestling legend, Mark “Rollerball” Rocco, passed away at the age of 69.  

Born Mark Hussey in 1951, Rocco is believed to have made his pro wrestling debut in 1970, and he competed mostly in the United Kingdom through the decade.  Rocco, who was a lighter-weight competitor in Britain, was contacted by New Japan Pro Wrestling to wrestle for them.  

Rocco was packaged as “Black Tiger”, a character designed to feud with the original Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama), and he would win the WWF Junior Heavyweight Title.  He returned back to England, performing mostly for All-Star Wrestling.

Rocco was a precursor to much of the high-flying style that is part of pro wrestling today.  In our latest list of those to consider for the WWE Hall of Fame, Rocco was ranked at #355.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends, fans and family of Mark Rocco.

If you ask any basketball fan who their favourite player is then chances are that 9 out of 10 times the name you'd hear is Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan is undoubtedly one of the greatest in the world of basketball. He was responsible for the sudden growth in popularity of the NBA back in the 1980s. His incredibly flamboyant style of playing and his high jumps found him titles like Air Jordan and His Airness, names that have stuck to this day. Between him and Scottie Pippen, they turned around the fortunes of the Chicago Bulls making the team one of the greatest of that era.

The Chicago Bulls won six championship titles with Michael Jordan which pretty much made him one of the most bettable sportsmen of the time. Sports betting back in those days was very different from what it is now. These days, one can go online and even bet on virtual sports like this article describes.  If Michael Jordan were playing today, he would most definitely be one of the most bankable players. His sheer talent and skill is also the reason why he was so popular. In fact here are a few reasons for his popularity and his dependability.

He can act

Sure, Michael Jordan can play basketball but can he act? Yes, he can! Michael Jordan made his debut in Hollywood in a most bizarre movie called Space Jam where he acted opposite not human beings but cartoon characters. His co-stars were the iconic Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny from Looney Tunes. The story is about a bunch of aliens coming down to earth to enslave these characters as well as steal some basketball talent from the guys at NBA. Michael Jordan manages to come to the rescue as he always does. 

He can play even with the flu

Most people would be in bed, sipping hot soup and resting when they get the flu but not Michael Jordan. He gets up and plays basketball. The match between Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz featuring a flu-ridden Michael Jordan is one for the history books because he leads the team to a crazy 90-88 win before finally collapsing in a heap. 

The Last Shot

Michael Jordan's last match was in 1998 before retirement. The Chicago Bulls were playing against Utah Jazz. Michael Jordan dribbled his way through Bryon Russell and then gently pushed him and stole an opportunity to win a point. This won him his final title and the match has gone down in history as one of the greatest ever. No wonder then that the shoes he wore during that match fetched thousands of dollars at a recent auction. 

These are just some of the high points of MJ's career that made him one of the most dependable sportsmen ever. It was so difficult to keep him out of the game that he even returned to the court at the age of 40 and managed to score 43 points against New Jersey Nets.