When you are the younger brother of J.J. Watt, a large shadow is cast over you.  T.J. Watt has done a great job escaping it.

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 get to that of the Division I schools, and conferences.  As such, it is news to us that the University of Iowa has announced ten new members to their Athletic Hall of Fame.

The ten new members are:

Roy Marble Jr., Men’s Basketball 1986-89.  Marble scored 2,116 career Points, and held the school record until this past season.  He was a three-time All-Big Ten Selection, and a former Big Ten Freshman of the Year.  He would play briefly for Atlanta in the NBA.

Ed Podolak, Football 1966-68.  Podolak rushed for 937 Yards and eight Touchdowns in 1968 and was named the team MVP that year.  He would later play nine ears in the NFL for Kansas City where he was a member of the Super Bowl IV winning team.  Podolak returned to Iowa Football as an analyst for their radio broadcasts.

Frank “Kinney” Holbrook, Football & Track & Field 1895-97.  Holbrook was the first African-American athlete in school history, and he lettered in both Football and Track.  He had 12 Touchdowns in 1896, and helped the Hawkeyes win a share of the Western Interstate University Football Association Championship.

Dan Bachman, Men’s Gymnastics 1982-86.  Bachman was a seven-time Big-Ten Champion and three-time All-American.  He would lead Iowa to a Big Ten Championship in 1986.

Kari Hamel, Women’s Volleyball 1985-89.  Hamel took Iowa to their first ever NCAA Championships in 1989.  She was a two-time First Team All-Big Ten Selection and was named to the 1980s All-Decade Team in the Big Ten.

Kristi Hanks, Softball 1999-2002.  Hanks was a three-time Big Ten Selection, two-time Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and took the Hawkeyes to a College World Series appearance in 2001.

Diane Nukuri, Track & Field 2006-08. Nukuri won the 2007 Big Ten Cross Country Title and would be a three-time All-American.  She set eight school records, and would compete in three Olympic Games for Burundi.

Fred Mims, Administrator.  Mims was the Athletic Administrator for 38 Years.

The class will be inducted on September 3, 2021, the day before the Hawkeyes open their Football Season against Indiana.

We would like to congratulate the newest members of the University of Iowa Athletic Hall of Fame.

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 our pre-2021 revision of our top 50 Cincinnati Bengals 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 NFL. 

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

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

After looking at the 2020 Season, we realized that there are no new entries, nor were there any jumps by any current Bengal.

Nevertheless, we thought it prudent to mention that this list is now up to date.

As always, we present our top five immediately.

1. Anthony Munoz

2. Ken Anderson

3. Geno Atkins

4. Ken Riley

5. Boomer Esiason

You can find the entire list here.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

Casinos are places in which we should only be focused on our entertainment by the table or slot machine. To keep it that way we need to choose a good casino, because only if the place is proper, we can relax and enjoy our time without worrying about anything else. So, what are the features of a good in-site casino?

Professional croupiers and customer service employees

Finishing a dealing course is not a big deal, but it takes professionals to master all the moves and strategies of dealing. They know how to calculate the odds, figure out what cards will be drawn next and make sure that the game flows smoothly. Professional dealers help us feel comfortable, we trust that they count our payouts properly and there is no one in the room trying to cheat us. 

Casino employees also need to know how to keep casinos clean, they take care of glass and make sure that everything looks good and smells nice. They are taught to be elegant, nice and always with a smile on their faces. It is hard work since not every customer is calm and nice, especially when some of them are drunk. 

Interior design that suits you

Casinos differ from each other, some are small and cozy to play in while others are huge with hundreds of tables. Some have luxurious rooms with the mirrors on the walls or crystal chandeliers hanging above your head while others are rather dark and full with cigarette smoke. More modern casinos might be packed with neon lights and made in galaxy style. The most important thing that you need to be careful about when choosing a casino is how comfortable you feel in it.  If a basement-like small casino is not your cup of tea, find one that is more spacious and brighter inside.

Balance between quality and price

Casinos can be on every level of luxury you can imagine, but it comes with a price. Everything is good when the price is well-balanced taking quality of service into consideration, because then it is you who decides which casino you can afford to go into. The problem might be when the casino only seems to be luxurious and the price is high, but in fact the level of service is poor and you are unsatisfied.

Number of people

Whether you are entering a new place or entering it again, there is always that feeling of anxiety and nervousness. What if I win? What will happen then? Or what if I lose all my money? If you do not like that kind of stress, go into the casino when there are less people in it. On the other hand if you enjoy this buzz of crowd inside, choose a busy one during some fine night. 

If you see a casino that is constantly empty, that is a red flag for you. 

Violent gamblers are out

This feature is important since some gamblers can become hostile towards others while losing or getting drunk. You need to be sure that they are going to be moved out of the establishment by security to keep you safe while gambling. This should also involve kicking out even richer gamblers while they are getting too aggressive towards their competitors or dealers. 

Chips are well-secured

There are not many casinos in which you can play with real money anymore. That is why chips were invented. Chips are credits which can be exchanged in the casino for cash. When gambling with chips, you can lose as much as you want and still come out without losing your money. 

The best casinos have chips which cannot be copied and any attempt to do so is immediately noticed and the person responsible for this will not get away with it. Also, there should be a system that does not allow stealing of chips by people pretending to leave but in fact stay close enough in the casino.

Clean and tidy

Environment is also an important aspect of a good casino. Clean gaming floor isn't a characteristic of every casino out there. During gambling people spill drinks, smoke cigarettes and that is how the whole room might get sticky. A good casino is always clean and tidy including bathrooms that might be another part of the casino hard to keep clean during gaming nights. Drunk gamblers and massive numbers of people coming to casinos every night may create quite a mess and working janitors have hard times keeping it clean.

For a good casino, the gaming floor has to be tidy all the time and that is easy to check in person before you drop your money there.

Been opened for long time

When a casino is open several years it means that the business model behind it works and owners know what they're doing. You need to be cautious with freshly opened establishments since they have to earn your trust first and it is not easy.

Have a good marketing team that provides fresh promotions, daily bonus offers and news from the world of casino gambling

This will keep you intrigued, interested and coming back more often. Promotions are a way to make new customers and maintain loyalty programs for existing ones.