The Los Angeles Kings have announced that they will retire the number 4 of Rob Blake, marking the sixth time that the organization has retired a number. Blake joins a group that includes Marcel Dionne (#16), Dave Taylor (#18), Luc Robitaille (#20), Rogie Vachon (#30) and Wayne Gretzky (#99). Blake was drafted by Los Angeles in 1988, Blake worked his way up the ranks to become one of the top Defenceman in the National Hockey League. He would have his breakout campaign in the 1997/98 season where he won the Norris Trophy Award as the NHL’s top Defenceman and earned First Team All Star honors. Blake would earn another two Second Team All Star selections as a King before being traded to the Colorado Avalanche, where he would later win his only Stanley Cup Trophy. Blake would return to Los Angeles as a Free Agent in 2006. This year, Rob Blake entered the Hockey Hall of Fame on his second year of eligibility. He also returned to the Kings as the Assistant General Manager last year, which gave him his second Stanley Cup Ring with Los Angeles winning the championship. The ceremony will take place this upcoming season against a home game with the Anaheim Ducks. We will be unveiling a look at each major North American Franchise and their respective retired numbers and Halls of Fame/Rings of Honor soon. Blake’s addition to the Staples Centre rafters is a well earned one, and should slightly improve the rankings once we publish that new section.
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With the whirlwind of cuts stemming from the WWE Network not generating the expected revenue, two wrestlers have quietly announced they are ending their in-ring career. Santino Marella and Tensai, both former Intercontinental Champions have had interesting runs in the biggest wrestling promotion in the World, and we thought it would be fun to look back at the careers of these two men.Born Anthony Carelli in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, the future Santino Marella got his start in the early 2000’s in Ontario based independents and also competed in various forms of mixed martial arts. He would get attention from the WWE, and was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling where he would get a push as a Russian martial arts grappler named Boris Alexiev. Carelli was able to channel the accent, but when he was called up to the main roster, he was asked to revert back to his Italian heritage.Now known as Santino Marella, he debuted on Monday Night Raw when they were in Italy and was a surprise opponent of WWE Intercontinental Champion, Umaga. With the assistance of Bobby Lashley (with whom Umaga was feuding with), Marella became the new Intercontinental Champion. Marella did not get over, but following a loss of the Title and a slow heel turn, he would become a good mid-card heel, who would add comedic elements to his persona to the point where for the past few years that you knew a Santino Marella segment was usually good for a laugh or two. This would become especially important, as the WWE would constantly force feed bad comedy down viewer’s throats, and Marella was had far more comedic hits than misses.As much fun as Santino was, we never really saw the entire scope of his in-ring wrestling ability. Marella’s character did not lend itself to lengthy matches or serious angles, though we do remember specifically at the Elimination Chamber in 2013 when he was Randy Orton’s surprise replacement and lasted until the end, to the delight of the fans.Citing a neck injury, Marella announced that his in-ring career appeared to be over, though this has received little to no mention on WWE programming or even their own website. Should Santino Marella never again appear on WWE TV again, did he do enough to be in the Hall of Fame, and if so (or even if not) what rank should he have on our list when we set out to do our revisions?Marella will definitely be ranked on our list, though we are not sure about Matt Bloom who quietly announced that he was also done wrestling.Bloom first entered the then named World Wrestling Federation as Prince Albert, playing off his numerous body piercings. He would go through numerous name changes and tag team partners in his five year run, though never really escaped the mid-card. His arguable high point was a brief run with Intercontinental Title and going against the Undertaker on a handicap match at Wrestlemania. Following his release from the WWE in 2004, Bloom would go to Japan, and it was there that the handcuffs were released and he did the best work of his career. As “Giant Bernard” he would win multiple tournaments and championships and with his hairy torso replaced with tattoos, he looked more menacing than ever. Still as an American, he looked to return to the United States in 2012 and he resigned with the WWE, this time playing off his past as a wrestler in Japan. Now named Lord Tensai, Bloom was booked as a monster, but the fans recognized him immediately as the former “Albert” despite the eight year gap, was perceived as a mid-card talent despite the huge push he received upon his return. Within eight months, Lord Tensai, became “Sweet T” one half of a tag team with Brodus Clay, another large man whose star had fizzled and the now named “Tons of Funk” were nothing more than a dancing comedy act. Bloom would go through another name change and become Jason Albert, a commentator on NXT.Although his combined tenure was long in the WWE, it is difficult to place him very high on our Notinhalloffame WWE list, if we place him at all.Regardless, we would like to thank both Anthony Carelli and Matt Bloom for their work in the ring.
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The Arena Football League announced their Class of 2014 during their National Conference Championship Game. The relatively new league first began operation in 1987, and inducted their first member to their own Hall of Fame in 1997. Currently, the AFL has fourteen teams and is doing substantially better economically, as we are only five years removed from when they League suspended operations in 2009 for one season to restructure their business model Four players were selected for this year’s class. The arguable headliner of the Class is Damian Harrell, who is the all time Arena League leader in Receptions. Harrell also was named the Arena League Offensive Player of the Year twice (2005 and 2006) and was a five time All Arena Selection, two of which were First Team. Harrell played his College Ball at Florida State. Former Fullback/Linebacker, Andre Bowden, a three time Arena Bowl winner and three time All Arena Selection was chosen. Bowden played Collegiately at Fayetteville State University and is the all time leading rusher for the Tampa Bay Storm. Kyle Moore-Brown also enters the Arena Football Hall of Fame. Moore Brown played Offensive Lineman/Defensive Lineman and has the record for the most career starts in the league history. He was also a two time AFL Champion and a three time AFL All Ironman Selection. Moore-Brown played college for University of Kansas. The final selection is Omarr Smith, who won four Arena Bowl Titles and has since won two more as a coach after he retired from playing. Smith is the all time leader in Tackles in the Arena League. A ceremony will take place next year officially inducting them into the Hall of Fame. We would like to congratulate all four of these men for receiving this honor.
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As many of you know, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inducted their Class of 2014 in Springfield, Massachusetts this weekend. Rather than generate criticism on their process (which we have done often), and the ceremony itself (which we will do in a lengthy piece on the site next weekend), let’s take one final look at those who entered the Hall. The headliner was former commissioner, David Stern. Commissioners of major sports are often criticized, and Stern did receive his fair share of it. Without going into his career in great detail, we will leave you with one undeniable fact: the National Basketball Association had an exponential growth in revenue, exposure and virtually every other metric you can think of. That alone should deflect any criticism of Stern’s entry to the Hall six months after he retired. As far as players are concerned, the arguable top player inducted was Alonzo Mourning, who entered on his first year of eligibility. Mourning was a former two time NBA Defensive Player of the Year who spent the bulk of his career and best seasons with the Miami Heat. He would retire with a 17.1 Points per Game Average and would twice be named a post season All NBA Team. Mourning, an NBA Champion in 2006 with Miami and was number 2 on our previous list for Hall of Fame consideration. Mitch Richmond also entered the Hall of Fame, though his wait took a few years. Richmond was the 1989 NBA Rookie of the year and would make six consecutive All Star Games and over that time span collected three Second Team and two Third Team All NBA Selections. He would win the NBA Championship in his final season in the NBA while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, though it was his Sacramento that he had his best seasons and would have his number retired by the organization. Former Point Guard, Guy Rodgers, who played from 1958 to 1970 entered as a Veterans Committee Selection. Rodgers was an NBA All Star four times and led the league in Assists twice. From Lithuania, the International Committee chose Sadunas Marciulonis, who was one of the first regular European players in the NBA. His entry was largely a part of his near single handed resurrection of the Lithuania Basketball Program after the fall of the Soviet Union. The United States “Dream Team” got the press in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, but it was the Bronze Medal of Lithuania that was the feel good story of the Games. He was also named as FIBA’s 50 greatest players in 1991. The African American Pioneer Committee gave the Hall Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, who was the second black player in the NBA. Formerly of the Harlem Globetrotters, Clifton began play with the New York Knicks in 1950 and would be named to the All Star Team in 1957. As always, Coaching inductees are present in this year’s Hall of Fame Class. Representing the American Basketball Association, Bob “Slick” Leonard enters on the strength of his three Championships with the Indiana Pacers. It is fitting that Leonard entered as seemingly an Indiana Pacer enters every year from the ABA Selection Committee. College Coach, Nolan Richardson entered on a .711 Winning Percentage and the strength of a NCAA Championship in 1994 with the Arizona Razorbacks. Richardson would also appear in three additional Final Fours and was the NCAA Coach of the year, the year he won the title. He had already entered the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. Richardson is joined by Gary Williams, who also won the NCAA Title. His championship came with the Maryland Terrapins in 2002 and like Richardson is also a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame, though he got in this year. The women’s teams of Immaculata College, who in the early 1970’s won three consecutive AIAW Championship’s, a stunning feat for a small Philadelphia College, round out the group. Again, as mentioned we will take a much deeper look at this ceremony in the weeks to come, but for now lets congratulate this class for receiving what for many is the ultimate honor of their career.
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The United States Hockey Hall of Fame has announced their latest crop of inductees for their Minnesota based institution, and former New Jersey Devil and Detroit Red Wing Defenceman, Brian Rafalski will headline it. Born in Dearborn, Michigan, Rafalski was the defensive anchor for the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was named a WCHA First Team All Star in his senior year. Going undrafted in the NHL, Rafalski turned to Europe and found his niche in the Finnish League, most notably playing for HIFK. In his final season there (1998/99) he won the Kultainen Kypara (Translated into Golden Helmet) which is the Finnish equivalent to the Lester B. Pearson Award as the players of the league decide the winner. Rafalski would finally debut in the National Hockey League at the age of 26 with the New Jersey Devils, and quickly the NHL learned that they had missing out on a serviceable player for years. He would help them win the Stanley Cup that season and again was a member of the Devils Cup win in 2003. Rafalski would later hoist the Stanley Cup again as a member of the Detroit Red Wings in 2008. He would tally a career number of 515 NHL points and played once in the NHL All Star Game in 2004. Internationally, Rafalski represented the United States in three Olympic tournaments (2002, 2006 and 2010) winning two Silver Medals and being named the best Defenceman of the 2010 Games. Women’s Ice Hockey Olympian, Karyn Bye Dietz will also be inducted. She was the Alternate Captain on the United States Gold Medal team in Nagano and won the Silver Medal in Salt Lake City. Dietz was also a two time USA Woman’s Hockey Player of the Year (1995 & 1998) and entered the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2011. A pair of Coaches joins the two players in this year’s class. Jeff Sauer began his Coaching career as an assistant at Colorado College (where he also played) and would ascend to the role of Head Coach in 1971, which was a post he would hold for eleven years. He would jump to Wisconsin and take them to two National Championships in 1983 and 1990. Sauer won two Paralympic Gold Medals as the Head Coach of the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team. The final inductee is Lou Vairo who had various stints as the Head Coach for Team U.S.A.. Vairo has also been the Director of Special Projects for the National Team since 1992. We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate this year’s class and encourage all of you to visit the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minnesota.
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It is finally here. After months of searching the bowels of the last sixty years of Pop Culture we have come up with over 500 preliminary nominees for our new Fictitious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As you have seen, we here at Notinhalloffame.com unveiled the Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame, which is currently in the Semi-Finalist stage for the Class of 2014. We are following the same pattern in regards to voting (which we openly admit to being inspired by the Professional Football Hall of Fame process) though on like the Athletic Hall, there are no inaugural inductees. All of you will decide the Class of 2015, which will be the first group chosen for the Fictitious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The preliminary nominees will be available to vote on until January 15, 2015. You can choose 20 fictional rock acts, though you will only be permitted to vote once. After January 15th, the top twenty-five vote getters will become our Semi-Finalists and the process will begin again, with all previous votes being eliminated. Once that occurs, you will be permitted to vote favorite five of the lot and on April 15th, 2015, the top ten will be announced. Those ten fictional music acts will become our Finalists. Once the Finalists are announced, only the top three vote getters will become the Fictitious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2015, which will be announced on August 1, 2015, and will be the first group to enter. Based on the feedback that we have received from all of you, we assume that “pretend” bands like the Blues Brothers and Spinal Tap should be a candidate for early induction but with the vast plethora of acts that qualify inducting that a surprise or two should emerge through the voting process. To take a look at the biographies of all these musical acts, please click here. To go right to the voting page, click here. As always we encourage your votes and your comments and we welcome your participation to our website’s continued evolution.
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We were wondering when this was finally going to happen. Although an official date has not been announced, the Green Bay Packers have announced that Brett Favre will enter their franchise’s Hall of Fame in the summer of 2015, and that his number will be officially retired. On Favre’s website, where the announcement first took place he had the following to say: “I’m pleased to announce that I will be returning to Green Bay, Wisconsin in 2015 for induction into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame and retirement of my jersey. It was a tremendous honor to play 16 years for the Green Bay Packers. Now to have my name placed among others such as Starr, Hornung, Kramer, Taylor, Lambeau, Nitschke, Lombardi, Davis, White and Hutson is a special honor that I share will all my teammates and coached, and that would not have been possible but for the foresight of Ron Wolf, the greatest GM in the history of the NFL. I’m truly looking forward to celebrating and sharing this special moment with all of the great fans of the Green Bay Packers. Go Packers!” Although Favre is the NFL All Time leader in Completions, Yards and Touchdowns, and accumulated most of that in Green Bay, his constant flip-flopping on retirement held the growth of the Packers back and once he did leave Green Bay to play for the New York Jets, it was not on the best of terms. It had been reported in the past that Green Bay officials and Brett himself were worried that he would be booed at by the Packers fans at any ceremony honoring his accomplishments at Lambeau. Despite his less than clean departure from the Tundra, Brett Favre certainly deserves to receive this prestigious honor. Favre is eligible for the Football Hall of Fame in 2016 and should be expected to enter on the first ballot. We would like to congratulate both Favre and the Green Bay Packers on this news.
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We have openly professed our admiration for the election structure of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and have even patterned are Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame (as well as our upcoming Fictitious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) after it. As such, Pro Football Hall of Fame Weekend is a big deal to us and we are going to sit back in revel in the pageantry of the gridiron. Tonight, starting at 7 PM ET, the Class of 2014 will be giving their induction speeches and they will be on hand for the Hall of Fame Game, which kicks off the NFL exhibition season. For many Michael Strahan is the headliner, even though he his entering on his second year. Strahan is a two time Super Bowl Champion with the New York Giants and holds the single season Sack record. He has become mainstream famous with his daytime hosting gig with Kelly Ripa and remains in the NFL spotlight as one of the panelists on Fox’s pre and post game show. To us, the headliner is Derrick Brooks, who we had ranked at number one last year. Brooks was the star of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense that propelled them to a Super Bowl win in 2002. Brooks would make eleven Pro Bowls and was named the Defensive Player of the Year in 2002. Many fans of the Buffalo Bills will likely be on hand as their former star Wide Receiver, Andre Reed got in after being a finalist the seven years previous. He completes the Bills trifecta of offence stars (Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas) from their four straight AFC Championships in Canton. Like Brooks, Walter Jones enters the Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot. The former Offensive Lineman spent his entire career with the Seattle Seahawks and was named to nine Pro Bowls. Aeneas Williams, who was an eight time Pro Bowler, entered Canton on his third ballot. The Cornerback spent the majority of his career with the Cardinals, would lead the NFL in Interceptions in 1994. Two players chosen by the Senior Nominee Selection Committee, Claude Humphrey and Ray Guy join these five stars. Humphrey had 122 (unofficial) Quarterback Sacks and anchored the Atlanta Falcons defense for years. Guy was a Finalist seven times and many credited his previous omission to Canton as further evidence that the game of Football had little to no respect for Special Teams players. Guy redefined the position of Punting and is still an iconic figure for kickers coming up today. We would like to once again extend our congratulations to the Football Hall of Fame Class of 2014 and we will definitely be watching the proceedings this evening.
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We aren’t messing around with revisions any more here at Notinhalloffame.com! Two months ago, the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted five men who were on our list of those to consider for enshrinement, and as you would expect those were all highly ranked individuals, including three in our top five. Dominik Hasek was number one on our list last year, and the Czech Goalie entered on the first year of eligibility to the surprise of nobody. Peter Forsberg (who was number four) and Mike Modano (number five) also entered the Hockey Hall of Fame. Pat Burns, who we had at number nine, finally entered the Hall as a builder. There was much hope that Burns would enter the Hall of Fame three years ago, when he was dying of cancer so that he could live to see the day. A minor surprise in our eyes was the induction of Rob Blake, who we had at number eighteen. This glut of Hockey superstars removed from the top twenty necessitates a major change in the top twenty and at this time we are excited to unveil our new top one hundred for consideration for the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015. With Hasek inducted, the number one slot is open. Like last year, we again turn to Europe and again look at someone entering his first year of eligibility. Nicklas Lidstrom has now entered the number one spot on our Hockey list. The Swedish Defenseman and seven time Norris Trophy Winner should be a lock to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame on his first year of eligibility. Lidstrom also won four Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings and the Olympic Gold Medal with Sweden. Don Cherry, the controversial CBC broadcaster and former Jack Adams Trophy winner for the Coach of the Year in the NHL remains on the number two slot. Cherry, who was named as one of the top ten Canadians on a poll from CBC, remains an iconic figure in Canadian hockey. Chris Pronger, who is making his debut on the Notinhalloffame Hockey List, will own the number three ranking. Pronger, a former Hart Trophy winner and Norris Trophy winner, was also a Stanley Cup winner with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. The number four spot goes to Sergei Federov, who like Pronger and Lidstrom enters his first year of eligibility for the Hockey Hall of Fame. The former superstar from Russia is the highest ranked forward on our list. Fellow Russian, Sergei Makarov returns to our list at number five. Makarov has been in our top five for every year since our list’s inception until last year, and the former Red Army superstar finally goes up on the list as opposed to his perpetual plummeting. The remaining five in the top ten starts with Paul Kariya who dropped from three to six. Despite three players in the top five receiving induction, Kariya dropped three spots as your voting and reevaluation has caused him to fall out of the top five. Remember, our lists were always meant to be fluid and aided by your input. Rounding out the top five is Eric Lindros at seven and Mark Recchi at eight (the two had flip flopped their positions from last year), Theoren Fleury at nine (who moved up from eleven) and Dave Andreychuck at ten, which was the position he was in last year. There are two more new additions, though they are on the tail end of the list. Former New York Islander and Ottawa Senator, Alexei Yashin debuts in the 86 spot. Ten slots below, Brian Rolston makes his first appearance at number 96. As always, you know what we expect of you! Please vote on the new entries and let us know what you think of these players and who should be in the next Hockey Hall of Fame Class.
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The Anaheim Ducks have announced that they will retire their first number in the history of their franchise. Teemu Selanne, who spent fifteen seasons with the team and announced his retirement from the NHL, a month ago, will see his number 8, hung to the rafters in a ceremony on January 11, 2015 next season. That night will see the Anaheim Ducks face the Winnipeg Jets, the first team that the “Finnish Flash” played for in the National Hockey League. As a member of the Anaheim Ducks (and prior to the name change the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) Selanne would generate close to 1,000 (988 specifically) in Southern California and win his lone Maurice Richard Trophy (which was the inaugural) leading the NHL in Goals scored in the 1998/99 season. Selanne would also win the Bill Masterton Trophy in 2006. He would also be a member of the Duck’s first Stanley Cup win in 2007. The superstar from Finland will likely enter the Hockey Hall of Fame once eligible, and in looking up and Anaheim roster, it is next to impossible to imagine any other member of the team’s history receiving this honor. At this time, we here at Notinhalloffame.com would like congratulate both Teemu Selanne and the Anaheim Ducks for this upcoming event. The regular visitors here at Notinhalloffame.com know that we will be looking overall at the major North American sports franchises and how they handle their past stars. This addition will certainly elevate the Ducks in our eventual rankings. We would like to congratulate both Teemu Selanne and the Anaheim Ducks at this time.
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