gold star for USAHOF
Committee Chairman

Committee Chairman

Kirk Buchner, "The Committee Chairman", is the owner and operator of the site.  Kirk can be contacted at [email protected] .
Yes, again we know this process is a long one!

Those who visit us on a regular basis know that we are methodically adding the Top 50 Players for every North American Team (NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB) and after that the intent is to look at how each team honors their former players and executives by way of Rings of Honor, Franchise Halls of Fame and Retired Numbers.

As such, it is news to us that the Miami Heat have retired the #32 of Shaquille O’Neal, making him the third player in team history to earn such an honor.

When Shaq arrived in Miami, he was ushered in an 18 wheeler with “Shaq Diesel” written on the side of it.  For this ceremony he was presented by a miniature replica of that beast of a vehicle, though this time it was driven by his mother.

O’Neal was traded to Miami in 2004 after the Lakers controversially lost the Finals to the Detroit Pistons, a series that on paper that Los Angeles had no business to lose.  The stories of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s inability to get along are now NBA folklore, and one of them had to go.  It was Shaquille who would leave, though he would take his scoring and rebounding skills with him. 

It would be a good fit in Miami as he would now be paired with the young Shooting Guard, Dwyane Wade.  Together, in 2006 they would win the NBA Championship, the first in Miami Heat history.

In the three and a half seasons that Shaquille O’Neal spent in Miami he had a 23.9 PER and averaged 22.6 Points, 10.5 Points and 2.2 Blocks per Game.

O’Neal joins Alonzo Mourning (#33) and Tim Hardaway (#10).

Notably, this is the second NBA team to retire his number as the Los Angeles Lakers did the same last year. 

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Shaquille O’Neal for yet another post career accolade. 





The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is continuing in on the fun in this “Hall of Fame” Season.

The following have been named as Finalists for the Class of 2017.


Mark Aguire.  A three time All Star and two time NBA Champion with the Detroit Pistons.  He is a former #1 Pick out of DePaul.  Ranked #4 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Gesse Ausbie.  A former Harlem Globetrotter for twenty-five years (1961-1985). 

Bill Bertha.  A former Assistant Coach for the Los Angeles Lakers and Executive for the New Orleans Jazz.

Muggsy Bogues.  A former pint sized Point Guard who may have been the smallest on the court but was a popular player and excellent one at that.

Junior Bridgeman.  A two-time MVC Player of the Year and twelve year NBA veteran, predominantly with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Irv Brown, a longtime referee and broadcaster.

Maurice Cheeks.  A Champion with the Philadelphia 76ers and 4 time All Star known for his defensive acumen.  Cheeks also had success as a coach in the NBA.  Ranked #14 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Terry Cummings.  A former NBA Rookie of the Year who was chosen for two post season All-NBA Teams.   Ranked #18 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Lefty Drissell.  A former NCAA Coach with a record of 786 and 394.  He is most known for his 18 seasons as the head coach of Maryland. 

Hugh Evans.  A former NBA Referee from 1972 to 2001.

Bill Fitch.  A long time NBA Coach who won the NBA Title with the Boston Celtics in 1981 and was named the NBA Coach of the Year twice.

Cotton Fitzsimmons.  A two time NBA Coach of the Year who helmed the Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks, Kansas City Kings and the San Antonio Spurs.

Tim Hardaway.  A former Point Guard who went to five All Star Games and was named to five All-NBA Teams.  Ranked #9 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Del Harris.  A former NBA Head Coach who was named Coach of the Year in 1995.  He had the coaching duties of the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Robert Hughes.  A former High School Head Coach who has the most wins in High School Basketball history.

Kevin Johnson.  A former five time post season All-NBA Selection and three time All Star.  Ranked #11 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Marques Johnson.  A former star at UCLA and former five time All Star.  Ranked #26 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Bobby Jones.  A former four time All-Star and NBA Champion with the Philadelphia 76ers.  Ranked #24 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Jerry Jones.  A long time women’s basketball coach.

Gene Keady.  A former college coach mostly known for his twenty-five year run with Purdue.  Keady is a seven time Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Rollie Massimino.  A college coach who won the NCAA Title with Villanova in 1985.

Tracy McGrady.  A former Shooting Guard who went to seven All Star Games and was named to seven post season All-NBA teams.  Ranked #2 on Notinhalloffame.com

Gary McKnight.  Another successful High School Basketball Coach.

Danny Miles.  The Coach of Oregon Tech from 1971 to 2016.  Miles has over 1,000 Wins and three Division II Championships.

Sidney Moncreif.  A former two time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and five time NBA All Star.  Ranked #3 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Dick Motta.  A successful Head Coach who was a former NBA Coach of the Year and NBA Champion with the Washington Bullets.

Swen Nater.  The only player to have led both the ABA and NBA in Rebounds.  Nater is a former ABA Rookie of the Year and two time NCAA Champion with UCLA.

Jake O’Donnell.  A former NBA referee for twenty-eight seasons.

Jim Phelan.  The Head Coach for Mount St. Mary’s from 1954 to 2003.  He took them to a NCAA Division II Title in 1962.

Mark Price.  A four time All Star and four time post season All-NBA Selection.  Ranked #27 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Jere Quinn.  A Head Coach for thirty-eight years at St. Thomas More Prep.

Glenn Robinson.  The current Head Coach at Franklin & Marshall since 1971 and the all-time leader in wins in Division III.

Lee Rose.  A former Head Coach in College (UNC Charlotte, Purdue and South Florida) and an Assistant Coach in the NBA.

Bo Ryan.  A four time NCAA Division III Champion at Wisconsin-Platteville who also took The University of Wisconsin to two Final Fours.

Bob Saulsbury.  A former Head Coach at Wilbur Cross Prep.

Bill Self.  The current Head Coach of the Kansas Jayhawks and NCAA winner in 2008.

Jack Sikma.  A seven time All Star who won the NBA Championship with the Seattle SuperSonics.  Ranked #4 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Steve Smith.  The Head Coach at Oak Hill Academy and four time USA Today Coach of the Year. 

Fred Snowden.  The first African American Head Coach at a major University (Arizona) and a former WAC Coach of the Year.

Harry Statham.  The Head Coach for McKendrie University since 1966.  He has over 1,100 Wins.

Eddie Sutton.  A former NCAA College Coach with over 800 Wins.  Sutton most notably coached for Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State and is a two time NCAA Coach of the Year.

Rudy Tomjanovich.  A two time NBA Championship Coach with the Houston Rockets and nominated as a Coach.  As a player (where he is ranked by us) he is a five time NBA All Star.  Ranked #32 on Notinhalloffame.com

Ben Wallace.  A four time All Star and four time NBA Defensive Player of the Year who also helped the Detroit Pistons win the NBA Title in 2004.  Ranked #7 on Notinhalloffame.com

Chris Webber.  A former star at the University of Michigan who would win the NBA Rookie of the Year and go to five All Star Games and earn five post season All-NBA Teams.  Ranked #1 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Paul Westphal.  A former five time All Star who won a NBA Title with the Boston Celtics.  Ranked #15 on Notinhalloffame.com.  


Note that the Notinhalloffame.com Basketball list only ranks players.

This list will be paired down to a much smaller number of Finalists, which will be announced early next year. 
You knew Curt Schilling couldn’t keep quiet right?

It seems like we have been discussing the potential drop off of Schilling’s votes from last year on a weekly basis as three Baseball Hall of Fame voters have openly stated that they will not be voting for him.  Curt of course was bound to respond and he had this to say to his former employer, ESPN.

He had the following to say:


“The Hall of Fame vote, to people like Dan and Wallace Matthews and Jon Heyman, is power to them.  That’s how it works when you give weak people power.  They want to ‘hold it over me’ or something like that? Please.  An arbitrary process done by some of the most vindictive and spiteful humans I’ve ever known?  One I stopped having control over nine years ago?

I sleep fine. My three World Series rings, trophies and 20-some years of amazing memories are all mine, and always will be.

I hate bullies, and I hate people who make other people feel bad on purpose. Clemens? Bonds? They ruined people’s lives to keep their legacies, which they eventually lost. I’ve never in my life done, nor will do, anything remotely close to something like that.

I know who I am, and this has been an amazing teaching opportunity for my children, and especially my three sons. They know me, so when they read about ‘racism’ and the other bulls— people spew, it affords us a ton of opportunity to talk about how the real world works.


Schilling isn’t wrong in that many baseball writers have taken a lot of moral high ground and there have been occasions where writers have given reasons not to vote for a candidate that have come off as self-righteous. 

Either way, Schilling’s vote are likely to drop and there is a war brewing between him and those who decide his Hall of Fame legacy…which whether he admits it publically or not does matter.
Major update for us!


The third full class of the Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame has been announced and the six new entries encompass the sports of baseball, hockey, golf and boxing.

Joining previous inductees, The Hanson Brothers, Happy Gilmore, Reggie Dunlop Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn, Crash Davis, Roy Hobbs and inaugural inductee, Rocky Balboa are Apollo Creed (Rocky), Charlie Conway (The Mighty Ducks) and Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez (The Sandlot).  The contributor section welcomes Gordon Bombay (The Mighty Ducks) and Chubbs Peterson (Happy Gilmore) and the first veteran’s category inductee chosen this year was Dennis Ryan (Take Me Out to the Ball Game).

This year’s leading vote getter was Apollo Creed.  Portrayed by Carl Weathers in four of the Rocky films, Apollo was the former Heavyweight Champion of the World and would become the closest friend of the man who defeated him for the title, Rocky Balboa.  Creed would die tragically in the ring in an exhibition match gone wrong, though his legacy lives on through his son, and Light Heavyweight contender, Adonis Creed.  It should be noted that Apollo finished fourth two years ago.

Finishing second in the vote is Charlie Conway, the central character from the Mighty Ducks franchise.  Conway was never presented as the star of the team, but he was their undeniable heart and the favorite of many aspiring hockey players.  Conway finished fourth in the voting last year.

The third and final athletic inductee is this year’ lone baseball entry, Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez from The Sandlot.  While it is revealed that Rodriguez would one day become a star player for the Los Angeles Dodgers, we see him as the star of his sandlot team and the one you wished was your best friend when you were a kid.

These fictional athletes were elected over the process of a yearlong online vote, which started with over 300 Preliminary Candidates, was reduced to 50 Semi-Finalists, then reduced to an elite 15 in a Final Round, which produced the first Full Class of the Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame.

These new inductees beat out the following finalists (in order of their vote totals) in the Final Round:

- Tim Riggins (Friday Night Lights)

- Willie “Mays” Hayes (Major League)

- Forrest Gump (Forrest Gump)

- Bobby Boucher (The Waterboy)

- Ricky Bobby (Talladega Nights)

- Alex Moran (Blue Mountain State)

- Dottie Hinson (A League of Their Own)

- Shane Falco (The Replacements)

- Daniel LaRusso (The Karate Kid)

- Al Bundy (Married…With Children)

- Kenny Powers (Eastbound and Down)

- Dean Youngblood (Youngblood)

Like “real” Athletic Halls of Fame, the Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame has a “wing” for contributors; again decided by three stages of online voting. 

Like last year two Fictitious Contributors were voted in as opposed to one from the first year. 
Joining Harry Doyle, Mr. Miyagi and Carl Spackler are Chubbs Peterson (Happy Gilmore) and Gordon Bombay (The Mighty Ducks).

The selection of Chubbs Peterson means that Carl Weathers is a double inductee this year and that the film Happy Gilmore, now has two inductees.  Gordon Bombay’s induction also makes it a double entry class for the Mighty Ducks franchise.

Peterson and Bombay beat out the following finalists (in order of their vote totals) in the Final Round:

- Mickey Goldmill (Rocky)

- Jimmy Dugan (A League of Their Own)

- Lou Brown (Major League)

- Ray Kinsella (Field of Dreams)

- Norman Dale (Hoosiers)

- Jerry Maguire (Jerry Maguire)

- The Gopher (Caddyshack)

- Adrian Balboa (The Mighty Ducks)

Last year, the first Veteran’s Inductee was chosen as Andy “The Champ” Purcell from the original “The Champ” (1931).  This year he is joined by Dennis Ryan, which was played by the “Chairman of the Board”, Frank Sinatre in Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

So, what comes next?

The 2017 Preliminary Vote, which is now up for all of you! 

The Fictitious Athletes Preliminary Vote can be found here.

The Fictitious Contributors Preliminary Vote can be found here.

The Fictitious Veterans Vote can be found here.

Gang, we ask you to support our Hall and cast your vote!