Committee Chairman

Shane Battier to wrap up his career

Jun 06, 2014

With the knowledge that Miami Heat player, Shane Battier will be calling it a career and joining ESPN after the NBA Finals, we thought it might be worth a look at his career to see what chance he might have for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

You might be thinking that his professional career doesn’t measure up, and though he did make a Second Team All NBA Defensive selection and two NBA Titles (and perhaps a third), he has a Points per Game Career Average under 10, and a Career PER under 15. Battier may be a respected teammate and a major locker room asset, but those are not numbers that can earn you a trip to Springfield.

Still, this Hall of Fame is not just about professional accomplishments and what a player does in College counts here. Shane Battier was a major star at Duke, where he led the Blue Devils to the NCAA Championship in 2001, and took them to the Final Four two years earlier. He won every major NCAA Player of the Year Award in 2001, including the Final Four MVP and was a three time Defensive Player of the Year in College.

That type of performance still may not earn him a trip to the Basketball Hall of Fame (though it should make him a lock for the College Hall), but is it enough to make our top one hundred? We will await your input on that one.

Gene Simmons sounds off again about the RRHOF

May 30, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Are we ever going to stop writing about KISS and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Seriously, it seems we have much more to write about since they have been inducted than during the entire period they were snubbed.

After being “interviewed” by TMZ, Gene Simmons, again reiterated his previous statements that Rap and Disco do not belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which though is not a sentiment shared by us at Notinhalloffame.com, is one that can be found easily across the web. What we found most interesting is that the large tonged bass player had to say about Nirvana’s induction, which coincidentally was inducted this year along with KISS.

“For me having two or three records is not enough…I respect Kurt Cobain…I love the songwriting and fire of Nirvana. Personally I would have waited fifteen to twenty years. You know who’s bigger than Nirvana? Foo Fighters. Because they’ve had a bigger impact on new bands…Why? Because they see a new an arena full of people singing “You’re my Hero””

Simmons was asked if he thought that Dave Grohl had a bigger impact on music than Kurt Cobain, to which he replied that based on longevity and the impact on the current generation that he did.

As much as we love Grohl and will certainly be ranking them very high once eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but for Simmons to deny the impact of Nirvana as a band only shows that the “Demon” was not paying attention to the musical landscape in the early 1990’s.

We are curious to hear what Simmons, and Paul Stanley will say next. We all know they will speak out again!

RIP: Matthew Saad Muhammad

May 27, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

The world of boxing lost one if its most exciting combatants as former World Light Heavyweight Champion, Matthew Saad Muhammad died today at the age of 59 in Philadelphia of ALS.

Muhammad rose through the ranks and in 1979 he defeated Marvin Johnson for the WBC Light Heavyweight Championship with an 8^th round Knockout. He would make eight successful title defences including the Ring Magazine Fight of the Year in a fourteen round TKO win over Yaqui Lopez. He held the World Title until Dwight Muhammad Qawi defeated him in December of 1981 and realistically his time at the top had come to the end.

He would continue to box for the rest of the decade though he would trade losses with wins finishing up with a career record of 49-16-3 with 35 Knockouts. Muhammad would actually try his hand at Mixed Martial Arts at the first ever UWFI show in Japan, though he was defeated within a minute.

Like many other former boxers, his career after the ring did not go well. By 2010, he was homeless and broke, and became another tragic tale. We would rather remember him for his past glory and as the International Boxing Hall of Fame member of the Class of 1998. We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Matthew Saad Muhammad.

College Football HOF names 2014 Class

May 24, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Although we do not foresee in the near future devoting a section of our website to those who are not in the College Football Hall of Fame, we here at Notinhalloffame.com have major respect for that particular Hall, and of course College Football as a whole.

Today the College Football Hall of Fame has announced the entire Class of 2014, and we thought it would be worthwhile to take a deeper look at the entire group.

Dre Bly: North Carolina   Cornerback, 1996-98

Bly is a two time consensus All American and led the nation is Interceptions in his freshman season with 11. In his sophomore campaign, Bly was a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Award, which is awarded annually the nation’s top Defensive Player.

Tony Boselli: USC   Offensive Tackle, 1991-94

Boselli was a three time First Team All American and the USC star won the Morris Trophy in 1994, which is given annually to the top Lineman (one for Offense, and one for Defence) in the then named Pac12 Conference.

Dave Butz: Purdue   Defensive Lineman, 1970-72

Butz was a finalist in 1972 for the Vince Lombardi Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top Linebacker or Defensive Lineman.

Shane Conlan: Penn State   Linebacker, 1983-86

Conlan was a two time All American and was the defensive star of the Penn State 1986 National Championship Team. Conlan won the Defensive MVP of the 1987 Fiesta Bowl, which won the Nittany Lions the title. That year, he was also a Finalist for the Dick Butkus Award, which is given to the nation’s top Linebacker.

Joe Hamilton: Georgia Tech   Quarterback, 1996-99

Hamilton set multiple Quarterback records in the Atlantic Coast Conference and won the Davey O’Brien Award as the Nation’s top QB in 1999. He was also a Finalist for the Heisman Trophy that year.

John Huard: Maine   Linebacker, 1964-66

Huard was born in the state of Maine, and starred for the Black Bears in the mid 60’s.

Darrin Nelson: USC   Running Back, 1977-78 & 1980-81

Nelson starred at USC rushing for 4,442 Yards and receiving another 2,559 Yards and had 40 Touchdowns in his four year career.

Willie Roaf: Louisiana Tech   Offensive Tackle, 1990-92

Roaf was a consensus All American in 1992, which was also the season he was a Finalist for the Outland Trophy recognizing the nation’s top Offensive Linemen.

John Sciarra: UCLA   Quarterback, 1972-75

Sciarra led UCLA to an upset victory at the 1976 Rose Bowl over Ohio State. He was also selected to the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.

Sterling Sharpe: South Carolina   Wide Receiver, 1983 & 1985-87

The Gamecocks retired Sharpe’s number, while he was still playing there and set multiple South Carolina receiving records. Sharpe had 169 catches while playing there.

Leonard Smith: McNeese State   Cornerback/Safety, 1979-82

Smith was an All-Southland Conference selection and was one of the more highly regarded defensive stars of his day.

Derrick Thomas: Alabama   Linebacker, 1985-88

Thomas set the FBS Sack record at Alabama and the Consensus All-American won the Dick Butkus Award in 1988. Thomas would also finish 10^th in Heisman Trophy voting that season.

LaDanian Tomlinson: TCU   Running Back, 1997-2000

The lightly recruited Tomlinson would set the FBS rushing record with 406 Yards in a game, and TCU’s turn around is mostly attributed to Tomlinson. He was a unanimous All American in 2000 and won the Doak Walker Award, which is given annually to the nation’s best Running Back. “L.T.” was also a Heisman Finalist that season.

Wesley Walls: Mississippi   Defensive End, Linebacker & Tight End, 1985-88

Walls was a very versatile player who converted from Defense to Offence in his tenure at Ole’ Miss. It was as a Tight End that Walls would earn All American honors.

Mike Bellotti, who was best known for coaching the Oregon Ducks from 1995 to 2008 has also been chosen as has Jerry Moore who coached Appalachian State to three Championships.

The College Football Hall of Fame will be completing their move from South Bend, IN to Atlanta, GA in the fall of this year.