In a tweet, he said that “in ’75 I refused to be the 1^stblack player to go into” the hall as he “felt others before me should have that honor.”  He referenced Chuck Cooper in that tweet, who was chosen earlier this year.  Cooper was the first African-American to play in the NBA in 1950.

Russell mentioned that he received the ring in a private ceremony, which was attended by his wife and close friends, which included Alonzo Mourning and Bill Walton.  

Walton was an 11-time NBA Champion with the Boston Celtics, a two-time NCAA Champion with the University of San Francisco and an Olympic Gold Medalist with the United States.  He was a five-time MVP, eleven-time All-NBA selection and twelve-time All-Star.

Suddenly, the Basketball Hall of Fame seems so much more relevant.  

It is another big day for us at Notinhalloffame.com!

Following the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s announcement of their Finalists, our Fictitious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is announcing its Finalists for the 2019 Class. This will be the fifth full class.

Like in previous years, the opening round began with over 500 Fictional Musicians which was reduced to 40 Fictional Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Semi-Finalists.  The top 15 vote getters advanced to the Final Round.

The 15 Fictitious Rock and Roll Hall Finalists are:

Archies, The (Archie). In the real world, the Archies went number one with “Sugar Sugar”.  The Archie universe continues with comics and the show, Riverdale. This is their third straight year as a Finalist.

Banana Splits, The(The Banana Splits).  From the minds of Sid and Marty Kroft, the Banana Splits lasted just over 30 episodes but the baby boom generation clearly remembers them well.  This is the second time that they have been Finalists.

Bleeding Gums Murphy(The Simpsons). This is the only Finalist for The Simpsons, who have produced one every year since we began this process.

Eddie and the Cruisers(Eddie and the Cruisers).  The bar band from New Jersey is a Finalist for a second time.  

Figrin D’An and the Modal Nodes(Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope).  The band from the Mos Eisley Cantina makes their first appearance as a Finalist. From what we know, they only know two songs.

Jackie Rogers Jr.(SCTV). This is a surprise Finalist, as Rogers Jr. has never been a Semi-Finalist before this year.  Could be have our first albino singer in the Hall?

Jem and the Holograms(Jem and the Holograms).  This truly, truly, truly outrageous band from the 80s who were beacons of good.  This is their second time as Finalists.

Jesse and the Rippers(Full House). This is another major surprise as this San Francisco bar band had never made it to the Semi-Finals before this year.

Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith(8 Mile). For the first time, B-Rabbit makes the Finals and we could have our first rapper in the Fictitious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Otis Day & The Knights(Animal House). This is the third time that Otis Day has made the Finals, and we think if they get in, they will party at the Dexter Lake Club.

Randy Watson(Coming to America).  We last saw Watson at the Queens, New York, Black Awareness event.  Perhaps we will see more of him in the impending sequel. This is the first time that he has become a Finalist.

Rutles, The(The Rutles). The Rutles have been Finalists before, and this remains one of the best musical spoofs in history.

School of Rock, The(The School of Rock).  Jack Black is already in for Tenacious D, and he could easily be a two-time inductee this year.  This is second straight year for the School of Rock as a Finalist.

Soggy Bottom Boys, The(O Brother, Where Art Thou?).  The Soggy Bottom Boys are Finalists for the second time and in terms of “fictional age” this is the only group that pre-dates the rock and roll era.

Stillwater (Almost Famous).  This rock band from the 1970s is a Finalists for the third time.

The Finalists will be announced on December 30, 2019.

Voting can be found here: http://www.notinhalloffame.com/ficitious-rock-and-roll-voting/2019-round-3

We thank you for your support of this project and look for more like this from us at Notinhalloffame.com!

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 and executive.  Eventually, this will extend to major American Universities. As such, it is news to us that the Purdue University Athletic Hall of Fame have announced the seven-member Class of 2020.

The Class of 2020 comprises:

Ariel (Turner) Gebhardt (Women’s Volleyball):  Gebhardt would be a four-letterwoman from 2009 to 2012, and she is second all-time in school history in kills (1,906).  As a Senior, she was named the Academic All-American of the Year for Volleyball.  She is also a former Big Ten Player of the Year.

Shaun Guice (Men’s Track & Field):  Lettering every year from 2000 to 2004, Guice was a seven-time All-American in the High Jump.  He would finish in both the 2001 and 2003 NCAA Indoor Championship at that event.

Robbie Hummel (Men’s Basketball):  Hummel played for the Boilermakers from 2008 to 2012, and is the only player in school history to have 1,500 Points, 800 Rebounds and 250 Assists.  He would be named a Second Team All-American in 2010 and a First Team Big Ten Selection in 2008, 2010 & 2012.  Hummel also was the named the 2009 Big Ten Tournament MVP.

Chuck Kyle (Football):  Kyle was a Consensus First Team All-American at Defensive Middle Guard in 1968.  The three-time First Team Big Ten Player would go on to play in the Canadian Football League.  

Casey Matthews (Women’s Diving):  Matthews made school history when she won the 2013 3-Meter Title, making her the first female to win an individual title.  She was also the 2014 Big Ten Champion on the 1-Meter.

Bruce Parkinson (Men’s Basketball):  Parkinson played for the Boilermakers from 1973 to 1977, and he would score 1,224 Points.  He would help them win the 1974 NIT Tournament.

Shereka Wright (Women’s Basketball):  Wright would play for Purdue from 2001 to 2004 and helped them win the Big Ten regular season in 2001 and 2002, and the Big Ten Tournament in 2003 and 2004.  She was a three-time All-American and she scored 2,251 Points and 793 Rebounds.

The group will be officially introduced during their Men’s Basketball Game on February 22 against Michigan.  This is the 20^thClass, and it brings the number of enshrines to 167.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the impending Purdue University Athletic Hall of Fame members for earning this honor.

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 and executive.  As such, it is news to us that Dallas Stars have announced that they will be retiring the number #56 of Sergei Zubov next season.

This announcement follows Zubov’s Hockey Hall of Fame selection this summer.  

The Defenseman would join the Stars after being traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins before the 1996-97 Season, and he would stay there until he left the NHL after the 2007-08 campaign.  With Dallas, Zubov would go to three All-Star Games, and would be chosen as a Second Team All-Star in 2005-06.  The Russian blueliner would finish in the top ten in Assists three times and he would lead the NHL in Defensive Point Shares in 2000-01.  He was a vital member of Dallas’ Stanley Cup win in 1999.

As a Star, he would play in 839 Games with 549 Points and a Plus/Minus of +109.

This makes Zubov the second former Dallas Star player to have his number retired.  He joins Neal Broten (#7), Bill Goldsworthy (#8), Mike Modano (#9), Bill Masterton (#19) and Jere Lehtinen (#26).

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Sergei Zubov for earning this honor.