Committee Chairman

The Basketball HOF to change induction procedures?

Mar 20, 2014

We are only a few weeks away from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announcement to complete their Class of 2014, and it looks like there will be might be changes coming to the process in 2016.

Currently, the Basketball Hall has five categories where one individual will bypass the voting process and receive automatic induction. They are the Contributors, ABA, Early African American Pioneer, International and Veterans. This was instituted in 2010, with the intention of finding those who may have “slipped through the cracks”. This process helped induct Artis Gilmore, Mel Daniels and Roger Brown; who may not have not been selected, had not been amended.

This is not to say that this changes is set in stone; at this point it is mostly based on speculation based on recent comments of Jerry Colangelo, who is the current Chairman of the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts:

“Let’s put it this way. This year, for the first time, we brought that up, to say, ‘You know, when we did this, we said it’s not forever.’ The concept was we felt people had slipped through the cracks. This was a catch-up kind of a thing, so we’re not locked in. We need now to review it each year, to say maybe we’ve taken care of what needed to be taken care of in this category or that category. But it’s just too early to say what we’re going to do.”

Colangelo indicated that if this were to take place; that it would not be next year.

This news did not receive much attention, which is an indicator of how little press the Basketball Hall of Fame receives. Much of this is due to the lack of knowledge in the general public as to what makes someone eligible for the Hall, and the watering down by putting an equal focus on collegiate accomplishments.

The potential changes do not mean that those people could not get inducted, as the proposal would place those people back to the previous platform where they would go through two ballots, but it would make the road to the Hall of Fame much more difficult.

We eagerly await to see what the Hall of Fame committee decides to do, though we know we are among the few who will be paying attention!

Mr. T to the WWE HOF

Mar 19, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

This was a long time coming. When the WWE announced that they planned to have a “Celebrity Wing” for their Hall of Fame, one of the name’s that we felt had to be entered was Mr. T., a participant in the inaugural Wrestlemania Main Event. It has been announced that Mr. T, will finally enter the WWE Hall of Fame, and be inducted the night before Wrestlemania XXX in New Orleans.

Born Lawrence Tero, Mr. T became a mainstream celebrity as “Clubber Lang”, the badass opponent of Rocky Balboa, who won and lost the Heavyweight Boxing Championship from the “Italian Stallion”. America couldn’t get enough of him, as his unique haircut, dripping with gold chain look and confrontational way of speaking made him an instant icon. He would be cast as “B.A. Barracus” on the action television series, The A-Team, and there was nowhere in the world, where people would see a photograph of Mr. T, and not want to instantly recognize him.

Mr. T struck up a friendship with Hulk Hogan, who also appeared in Rocky III, and the they worked an angle where he ran into to help Hogan and Cyndi Lauper, who was in his corner when he defended the World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship against “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, which was broadcast on MTV.

The fracas set the stage for Vince McMahon’s “Wrestlemania” which featured Hogan and Mr. T against Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff; which was not only a sell-out at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, but a cash extravaganza on Closed Circuit Television. Wrestlemania, in large part to the participation of Mr. T., launched the WWF into a national entity and has not looked back since.

Mr. T., would appear in a ten round boxing match against Piper in the New York portion Main Event of Wrestlemania II, and would have a brief run after Wrestlemania III, as a “Special Enforcer” referee.

We would like to congratulate Mr. T., for this long overdue honor.

Gene Simmons trashes RRHOF again

Mar 15, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

We almost missed this one. Gene Simmons of KISS has been very vocal about his distain for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; before and after he got in, but there was an excerpt from his recent interview with Radio.com that we thought was worth mentioning, where he slammed some of the Rap and Hip Hop entrants to the Hall.

“A long time ago it was diluted. It’s really back room politics, like Boss Tweed. A few people decide what’s in and what’s not. And the masses just scratch their heads. You’ve got Grandmaster Flash in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Run-D.M.C. in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? You’re killing me! That doesn’t mean those aren’t good artists. But they don’t play guitar. They sample and they talk.”

But if you asked Donna [Summer], ‘What kind of artist are you?’ do you think she would say ‘rock?’ If you asked Madonna, ‘What kind of artist are you?’ do you think she would say, ‘Oh, rock!’ So what they hell are they doing in the Hall of Fame? They can run their organization any way they’d like, but it ain’t rock! It just isn’t! If you don’t play guitar and you don’t write your own songs, you don’t belong there.”

Hmmm. We here at Notinhalloffame.com have been vocal advocate of KISS entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and are in complete agreement with them about how they have been snubbed due to not being critical darlings, however we could not disagree more about how the Rock Hall should include multiple genres as the Rock spectrum itself is far from specific.

Frankly, it is an archaic way of thinking, and the Rock Hall has inducted many (namely Elvis Presley) who did not write their own material, and we did not know that a guitar was the only rock and roll instrument. We doubt that this is a view that even in his contemporaries shares; as Aerosmith helped put Run DMC in the mainstream (and salvaged their own career) with their collaboration on “Walk This Way”. Hell, how many bands today would answer they are a “Rock Band”? We would bet, not very many.

Gene, we love you, but get your head out of your ass on this one.

Ice Cube talks about N.W.A.'s RRHOF Snub

Mar 15, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

In a recent article with the Associated Press, Ice Cube, who was in the influential Hip Hop Group, N.W.A., he was asked about his group’s failure to enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first two year’s of eligibility.

"It sucks. But it's understandable. We really only had one album together. They had two albums as a group. I'm sure that groups that have been together longer can make a better argument. This just lets you know how much we need a Hip-Hop Hall of Fame of our own."

Realistically, this is not exactly a snub yet. Unlike other perceived snubs, N.W.A. was nominated in their first two years of eligibility, certainly indicating that they are on Cleveland’s radar. In their year of eligibility, Public Enemy was also a nominee, and as we have seen the Nominating Committee to mix genres with their inductees. We were a little surprised after their second consecutive nomination for them not to be included, but if they fail to get in next year, we will call it a certifiable snub. Incidentally, N.W.A. has been ranked in our top twenty since they became eligible.

As for a Hip Hop Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has certainly been progressive regarding that genre, much to the dismay of traditional Rock fans. Ice Cube won’t have to wait long for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, should that be something he covets.