Committee Chairman

Marshawn Lynch claims media might keep him out of the HOF

Dec 09, 2014

Marshawn Lynch recently talked to NFL Gameday about his legacy and his belief that he might not enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame because of the media, and the relationship that he has with them:

“You know who votes for that, they don’t seem to see eye to eye with me – which is cool. And if I’m not, (expletive), I’ll still live.”

While it may be a little early to talk about the Pro Football Hall of Fame in regards to Lynch he is on a path that should put him in the conversation. With four Pro Bowls (and a likely fifth this year) and a First Team All Pro selection already in his resume he already has some serious credentials.

Statistically speaking he has over 8,000 Rushing Yards and is closing on 2,000 Receiving Yards. Last season he led the NFL in Rushing Touchdowns and is leading in that category currently. These are good numbers, and he adds to that, a Super Bowl Ring with the Seahawks last year and a touchdown in the big dance.

Realistically, Marshawn Lynch still has some stat padding to do as in this era, 10,000 Rushing Yards just doesn’t cut it, though four more above seasons should put him in the chase.

As for the media keeping him out, unlike other Halls of Fame there have not been as many perceived snubs as others. If Lynch earns a place in the Football Hall of Fame, and like we said, we think he is on the right path for it, hopefully his suspicions are not correct.

Golden Era Ballot pitches a shutout

Dec 09, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

In what should be a surprise to nobody who has paid attention to Veteran’s Committees of any kind over the past few decades from the Baseball Hall of Fame, they have elected none of the twelve nominees to Cooperstown.

The Golden Era Committee, which replaced the Veteran’s Committee, convenes every three years focusing on players from the 1947 to 1972 era.

Dick Allen and Tony Oliva each received 11 of the available 16 votes cast; one short of the 12 needed for election. Although this is a bitter pill to swallow for the family of Allen, he was not on the ballot three years ago and for him to come one vote shy of induction gives hope that it could come soon. Allen was the 1972 American League MVP, and considered one of the most feared hitters of his day, but never received more than 20% of the ballot on his fifteen years on the writer’s ballot.

Tony Oliva’s 11 votes are 3 up from his total three years ago. Oliva spent his entire career with the Minnesota Twins and won three Batting Titles and led the A.L. in hits five times. During Oliva’s fifteen years on the writer’s ballot he peaked at 47.3%.

Jim Kaat finished third in this year’s vote with 10 votes, the same amount he had on the last Golden Era Vote. Kaat is regarded as the greatest fielding Pitcher in baseball history and while on the writer’s ballot peaked as high as 29.6%.

Maury Wills finished with 9 votes, which again should be viewed as a small victory as he was not on the ballot on the inaugural Golden Era Ballot. On Wills’ fifteen years on the ballot his highest mark was 40.6% and he was the 1962 National League MVP and a six time Stolen Base Champion.

Minnie Minoso finished with 8 votes, down from one from the 9 he received on the last vote. Minoso’s highest vote tally with the writers was 21.1 %.

Ken Boyer, Luis Tiant, Bob Howsam, Gil Hodges and Billy Pierce only received 3 votes are less.

This has to be to a major blow for the supporters of Gil Hodges, who witnessed the support for the popular Brooklyn Dodger plummet from 9 votes to 3. Hodges holds the dubious distinction of accumulating the most votes by the writers without getting elected. On the last Golden Era Ballot, Boyer and Tiant also had three votes last time.

It should be noted that this is a different 16 man committee from the 2011 group that met. Only Hall of Famer Al Kaline and media member Dick Kaegel were part of both groups.

The Golden Era Committee will convene again in three years. Next year the Pre Integration era (1871 to 1946) will be looked at by a special committee, followed by the Expansion Era (1973 to present). This will continue to rotate.

It is unlikely that the 2015 Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony will see nobody inducted as Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz are entering their first ballot, and all are strong candidates to be chosen on January 6th, when the baseball writer’s ballot is announced.

Riddick Bowe headlines Int'l Boxing HOF Class

Dec 06, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

The International Boxing Hall of Fame has announced their latest class and it is a trio of former world champions who have had a place on the world stage and will be placed on the world stage this summer.

This class includes, three former World Champions in the form of former Heavyweight Champion, Riddick Bowe, former Lightweight Champion, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini and former Featherweight Champion “Prince” Naseem Hamed, which by all accounts should be considered a stellar class for this Hall of Fame.

Riddick Bowe was a former two time heavyweight champion of the world, first winning the WBA, WBC and IBF titles from Evander Holyfield in November of 1992, dealing him his first career loss. He would have successful title defenses against Michael Dokes in the fabled Madison Square Garden and Jesse Ferguson in RFK Stadium in Washington, but his tenure as Heavyweight Champion was not without controversy.

The WBC had named British star Lennox Lewis as the number one contender, but the two could not come up with a financial division of the purse that seemed fair and Bowe relinquished the title (ceremonial throwing the title in the garbage) rather than fight the Englishman.

Holyfield would reclaim the title in Las Vegas winning a majority decision over Bowe, though the fight was more known for the appearance of the “Fan Man” who dropped in to the open air stadium via a fan type apparatus.

Bowe would later reclaim a portion of the Heavyweight Championship, knocking out Herbie Hyde in the 6th round and would later defend the belt against Jorge Luis Gonzalez, though it was a rematch with Holyfield that he craved.

Surrendering the WBO Title, Bowe would win the rubber match with Holyfield but would later engage into a series controversial fights with Andrew Golota, both of which ended in disqualification victories for Bows when the Polish heavyweight repeatedly threw low blows.

Overall, Bowe retired with a very impressive record of 43 and 1 and though he has not received the respect due over his career, this is an honored well earned.

Former WBA Lightweight Champion, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, joins Bowe. The popular Italian-American rose up the Lightweight winning the NABF title and would challenge Alexis Arguello for the WBC Lightweight Champion, but would suffer defeat in the 14th round.

Mancini would rebound winning his next two fights and would again challenge for the World Title, this time the WBA version of the Lightweight Championship where he defeated Arturo Frias in the first round by Knockout.

Mancini would make four successful title defenses, though tragedy would befall one of those matches where he defeated Duk Koo Kim, whom he defeated in the fourteenth round and the fallen challenger would die fur days later due to the beating he took in the ring. Mancini would later lose his championship to Livingstone Bramble in 1984, and would lose a rematch shortly after. He retired with a record of 29 and 5 with 23 Knockouts.

The third inductee is “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the flashy British pugilist known for his over the top ring entrances. Hamed could back it up and he won the WBO Featherweight Title in 1995 over Steve Robinson and would go on a tear winning the IBF Featherweight Title in 1997 over Tom Johnson and the Lineal Featherweight against Wilfredo Vazquez.

Hamed would only lose once in his career, which was to Mexican star Marco Antonio Barrera, where he lost the lineal Featherweight title. He would retire with a record of 36 and 1 with 31 Knockouts.

Two former Japanese World Champions join this group. Former WBA Light Flyweight Champion, Yoko Gushiken (24-1, 23 KO) and the first ever WBA Flyweight Champion, Masao Ohba (35-2-1, 16 KO) are part of this class as is former American Middleweight, Ken Overlin, (113-18-9, 23 KO) who was a top star in his weight class in the 1940’s.

Manager, Rafael Mendoza, referee, Steve Smoger, broadcaster, Jim Lampley and publicist John F.X. Condon round out the class.

This class will be inducted on June 14th at Canastota, New York, which will be the 26th annual ceremony.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate this year’s Boxing Hall of Fame Class.

Daniel Alfredsson Retires

Dec 05, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

A major retirement took place in the world of professional hockey as Daniel Alfredsson has officially retired from the game.

Alfredsson was not a highly regarded player from the nation of Sweden and was only drafted in the sixth round by the Ottawa Senators in 1994. It was not long before General Managers across the National Hockey League realized that they had made a mistake in passing on the feisty Scandanavian as he would win the coveted Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 1996.

The Swedish star would emerge as the top producer for the Ottawa Senators and after years of struggles would lead them to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007 where he was the leading scorer in the Playoffs.

Alfredsson would spend the bulk of his professional career with the Ottawa Senators and over his career would score 1,108 Points over his career with a 0.94 Points per Game Average. In terms of his trophy case, Alfredsson would earn Second Team NHL Honors in 2006 and the King Clancy Award in 2012.

As we take a brief look at the career of the Swedish star, we openly ask is this the resume of a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, and upon first look he isn’t that far off.

Regardless, we here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to thank Daniel Alfredsson for the memories and his wonderful career.