The Final Four is this weekend and what better way to celebrate that then by having the College Basketball Hall of Fame announce their Class of 2019.  This group consists of six former players and three former coaches.

They are:

Shane Battier:  Battier played at Duke where he would take the Blue Devils to the Final Four in 1999 and 2001.  In the latter appearance Duke would win the NCAA Championship and he was the consensus MVP as well as being the Final Four Most Outstanding Player.  Battier would later win two NBA Championships with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013.

Calbert Cheaney:  Cheaney played for the University of Indiana from 1989 to 1993 where he would take on the role as the team leader for the Hoosiers.  As a Senior, Cheaney would be named a First Team All-American, Big Ten Player of the Year and the National College Player of the Year.  He is the all time leader in school and Big Ten history.

Ernie DiGregorio:  DiGregorio played college ball at Providence where he would lead the Friars to a Final Four in 1970.  He would after be named the NBA Rookie of the Year.

Terry Dischinger:  Dischinger played three years at Purdue and as a Junior and Senior was a First Team All-American.  He averaged 28 Points per Game as a Boilermaker and he would go on to be a the NBA Rookie of the Year and a three time NBA All Star.

Homer Drew:  Drew had an overall coaching record of 640-428 that spanned from 1976 to 2011, and he achieved most of his fame helming Valparaiso from 1988 to 2011 (with the exception of the 2002/03 season).  He took the Crusaders to eight Mid-Con tournament wins and was named the Mid-Con Coach of the Year four times.

Larry Johnson:  Johnson was the NJCAA Player of the Year at Odessa and he would transfer to UNLV where he would help the Runnin’ Rebels win the 1990 NCAA Championship.  They would go undefeated the next season only to be upset by Duke in the Final Four but Johnson was the Naismith College Player of the Year in 1991.  He was the Big West Player of the Year in both of his years at UNLV.

Todd Lichti:  Lichti played at Stanford for four years where he was a Consensus Second Team All-American as a Senior (1989).  Lichti was also a four time First Team All Pac 10 player and after he left the school he was their all-time leading scorer.

Rick Majerus:  Majerus was the five time WAC Coach of the Year and he took Utah to the Final Four in 1998.  His coaching record was 517-215 while helming Marquette, Ball State, Utah and Saint Louis.

Lute Olson: Olson coached from 1973 to 2008 compiling a 781-280 record with Long Beach State, Iowa and Arizona.  He took the Hawkeyes to the Final Four in 1980 but it was with the Wildcats where he had his greatest success taking them to four Final Fours and the NCAA Championship in 1997.  Olson was already inducted in 2006 with 179 other people but the College Basketball Hall of Fame is now taking a more traditional approach with those from that class, hence his second induction.

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame will be announcing their class this weekend.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the members of the Class of 2019.

As been suspected for nearly a month, the WWE Hall of Fame rounds out its Hall of Fame class with the announcement that Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake will be inducted this week.

Known as Ed Leslie on his personal identification, Beefcake got his start as Eddie Boulder the kayfabe brother of Terry Boulder (Hulk Hogan) and he would wrestler on the lower card of multiple promotion as that name and later Dizzy Hogan.  When Hogan was signed by the World Wrestling Federation in late 1983 and quickly became their Heavyweight Champion he was able to exert some influence and get his good friend (Leslie) a spot in the rising wrestling promotion.  

Now named Brutus Beefcake, his gimmick was a self-absorbed Chippendale like character and he would take on Johnny Valiant as his manager.  He would wrestle against David Sammartino in the inaugural Wrestlemania and a few months later with Greg “The Hammer” Valentine he would become one half of the WWF World Tag Team Champions when they defeated Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham. The reign lasted until Wrestlemania II where the lost to the British Bulldogs and they spent the rest of the year chasing them to regain their belts, though they would be unsuccessful.

Beefcake would turn face at Wrestlemania III when Valentine, Valiant and their cornerman Dino Bravo left him in the ring following their win over the Rougeau Brothers.  He would help “Rowdy” Roddy Piper defeat “Adorable” Adrian Adonis and cut the latter’s hair as revenge for Adonis erroneously cutting Beefcake’s hair in a televised six man tag team match.

This would lauch one of the more improbably high card babyface acts in the history of the World Wrestling Federation as Beefcake began cutting the hair of his opponents after he would beat them and the fans alike responded.  He would feud with his old partner and then with the Honky Tonk Man for the Intercontinental Title.  He was scheduled to face Honky at the first Summer Slam in 1988 but he was taken out by “Outlaw” Ron Bass who he then feuded with and defeated in a hair vs hair match on a Saturday Night’s Main Event.  

Following Wrestlemania V, he would feud with Randy “Macho Man” Savage and in his highest profile match he teamed with Hogan in the main event at Summer Slam 89 and defeated Savage and Zeus.  He would pin Mr. Perfect at Wrestlemania VI and was scheduled to face him for the Intercontinental Title at Summer Slam 1990 but a parasailing that shattered his face took him out of action and he would not wrestle again for three years until he wrested Ted DiBiase on Monday Night War.  DiBiase and his WWF World Tag Team Championship partner, Irwin R. Schyster tried to reinjure his face and put him out of action but would be rescued by a returning Hulk Hogan.  This led to Beefcake’s last high profile match in the WWF where he and Hogan challenged (and lost by disqualification) to DiBiase and Schyster.

Leslie would join Hulk Hogan in WCW where he would take on a multitude of personas as he was not allowed to be known as Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake there due to the WWE’s copyright on the name.  Over a four year period he would appear as Brother Bruti, The Butcher, The Zodiac, The Booty Man and The Disciple which would see mixed success but many televised appearances. 

Ed Leslie may not have been the best wrestler by any stretch of the imagination but in the late 1980’s and in 1990 he was one of the top babyfaces in a high money period in the WWF.  That shouldn’t go unnoticed and his induction reflects this.  We had him ranked #71on our last ranking of those to consider for the WWE Hall of Fame.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Brutus Beefcake on earning this honor.  

Can anyone beat Golden State for the NBA Championship?

As we creep towards the NBA post season the same question exists that we had when it began: Can anyone beat the Golden State Warriors?

With any sport upsets happen (just ask Leicester City in 2016) so of course it can be done but there are only a handful of realistic possibilities:

Last year the Houston Rockets took the Warriors to seven games in the Western Conference Finals and were up three games to two before going down to defeat. Probable MVP James Harden has never been better and is averaging over 36 Points per Game, which is up by more than five from what led the NBA last year.  The Rockets don’t have a starting five that is as talented as Golden State but the best player on the court won’t be a Warrior and in Basketball that gives you a puncher’s chance.

While Houston is the team that most people think has the best chance in the west to upend Golden State, it is the Denver Nuggets that could win home court in the conference and unless you’re in the state of Colorado, you are not expecting Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and company to upend the Warriors even if they are the top seed.  Is this not perfect locker room material for a team that had such an accomplished regular season?

Of course if Charles Barkley is right it is the Portland Trail Blazers that will be the Achilles Heel for the defending NBA Champions.

Should Golden State do what is expected of them and win the West there are two teams in the Eastern Conference that could pose trouble for them.  

The Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors have been battling it out for dominance in the conference with the Bucks poised to lock up the pole position.  Like a possible series with the Rockets, the Bucks don’t have a more potent five than Golden State, but they do have the best player on the court with Giannis Antetokounmpo. Most betting sites in NJ, which is the only state you can bet in USA, place Harden on the second position in favor of winning the MVP title, if Harden does not win the MVP it would be the “Greek Freak” who at present has the highest PER this season (30.5) and is the most complete player in the NBA.

If the Bucks can’t win the East, it will likely be due to the Toronto Raptors who went all in this year in trading for Kawhi Leonard and hoping that he will resign in Jurassic Park following taking the Raps to their first NBA Finals.

With all due respect to either the Bucks or Raptors they will have to advance to the final round with less wear and tear than Golden State to have a realistic shot to win.

Of course, that is why we play the game!

The career of arguably the best Punter ever has officially come to an end as Shane Lechler officially retired today.

Lechler played collegiately at Texas A&M where he would become one of the few Punters to be drafted as he selected in the 5^thRound in 2000 by the Oakland Raiders, a team that through having Ray Guy in the 1970’s knew the value of having an elite Punter.  As a rookie, Lechler would be named a First Team All Pro and finished second in Yards/Punt. This type of performance would be consistent of what Lechler would do as a Raider.  In his 13 seasons in Oakland he would be named a First Team All Pro six times, including a three year stretch from 2008 to 2010.  Seven times he was in the Pro Bowl, which also consisted of a streak of five straight years from 2007 to 2011.  Stat wise he was a four time leader in Punting Yards and five time league leader in Yards per Punt.  He would play his final five seasons in the NFL with the Houston Texans.

At this time, Lechler retires with the most Yards per Punt (47.6) and accrued the second most Punts all-time (1,411).

As Lechler did not play last season, he is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023. While Lechler is recognized as having been elite as his position, his spot on the gridiron was as a Punter, a disrespected trade in Canton.  Ray Guy was considered to be revolutionary at the position and he had to wait until he was a Senior Candidate before he got in.  

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Shane Lechler the best in his post playing career.