Committee Chairman

2015 IIHF HOF Class Announced

Dec 19, 2014

The International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame has announced their latest class and true to its name, the class represents players from around the world.

This year’s class adds seven new members to the Toronto based Hall, though the ceremony will take place next May in Prague during the 2015 World Hockey Championships.

The headliner is Dominik Hasek, who was just inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Hasek played internationally for the Czech Republic and would take them to the Olympic Gold Medal in 1998. This was no misnomer as the “Dominator” allowed only six goals in the entire competition. Hasek would win a Bronze in the 2006 Olympics and won four medals in the Worlds (silver in 1983 and bronze in 1987, 1988 and 1990).

The Czech Republic has a second representative in this year’s class in Robert Reichel, who was also on the 1998 Olympic Gold Medal Team. Recihel scored the winning shootout goal against Canada in the semi-finals and the longtime captain of the Czech team would also take his country to three Gold Medals in the World Championships in 1996, 2000 and 2001.

Canadian Defenceman, Scott Niedermayer who was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013, joins the two Czech stars. Niedermayer was a two time Olympic champion (2002 & 2010), won Gold at the 2004 World Cup, 2004 World Hockey Championships and the 1991 World Junior Hockey Championships.

Fran Rider was also inducted. She was one of the founders of the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association in 1975 and in 1987 helped organize the 1987 Women’s World Hockey Championship and again in 1990. Without her, Women’s International Hockey would not be as far along as it is today.

A second female was inducted, as Swedish player Maria Rooth was also chosen. Rooth currently is the leading Non-American scorer in Women’s Olympic hockey and was the leader of the biggest upset in women’s hockey when the Swedish team defeated the Americans in 2006. She has an Olympic Silver (2006) and Bronze Medal (2002).

Lucio Topatigh was inducted. Topatigh played his entire professional career in the Italian league and was a long time veteran of the Italian National team.

Monique Scheier-Schneider from Luxembourg will also be inducted. She has served on the IIHF council since 2008 and has been involved in European Hockey since 1992.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the new class for the International Ice Hockey Federation.

2015 RRHOF Class Announced

Dec 16, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Well gang, this is our Christmas Day, but the presents that we got from Cleveland have us scratching our collective heads.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have announced the Class of 2015, and we have to admit that based on the nominees we saw this playing out completely different.

The group getting most of the press of the Class, is Green Day, who were entering their first year of eligibility. The punk revival band have been very successful commercially, though have been somewhat polarizing in terms of whether they were influential or not. Saying that, they have performed often in previous induction ceremonies and most people expected Billie Joe and company to get in.

Joan Jett & Thee Blackhearts have also been chosen. There has been a lot of support championing Jett for the Hall, and this could be as close to the Hall as her original (and in our minds far more influential) group the Runaways will get. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has often for the past few years claimed they were looking to induct more women into the Hall, and Jett was as kick ass as it came in terms of female rockers. This selection should not receive any backlash from anyone.

Lou Reed enters the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a second time, this time for his solo work. Reed was nominated before as a solo act but unlike with the Velvet Underground it took a little longer than his first try to get in. Reed was still considered very influential on his own, and this is a nice touch to honor the man who passed away two years ago.

Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble also enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. SRV was a Blues Rock superstar in the 1980’s, and though he did not exactly break new ground, his music was a gateway for many Hard Rock fans to discover other genres that they had previously ignored. Stevie Ray Vaughn died in a plane crash in 1990.

A pleasant surprise was the induction of Bill Withers, who had multiple hits in the 1970’s crossing over from Jazz, R&B, Soul and Disco. This was the first time that Withers had been nominated though he had been eligible for nearly twenty years. Frankly, it is his performance we are looking forward to the most at the ceremony next year.

The sixth and final performer inductee was one that we honestly did not think we would ever see. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band crossed racial lines in the 1960’ and while an excellent band with a solid Blues-Rock sound, with all due respect to the band, had they never gotten in, it would not have a generated much of a reaction from anyone.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame also inducted two more musical acts, though in different categories.

The “5” Royales, a group that predates Elvis, brought Gospel, Blues and Jazz to their vocal harmonies and was chosen to be inducted as an Early Influence. Historically speaking, along with the Dominoes and Johnny Ace, this was a great choice and one that has been a perceived snub by Rock and Roll historians for decades.

In our mind the most bizarre induction is Ringo Starr, who was given this year’s Award for Musical Excellence, which was previously the Sideman Category. The change as explained by Joel Peserman, the President of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation allows them “flexibility to recognize people who might not ordinarily get recognized.”

Somehow being a former Beatle doesn’t seem like someone who could fall through the cracks and this selection feels a little crowbarred. Well, he’ll “get by with a little help from (his) friends.”

These selections of course mean that multiple finalists were not chosen.

This includes Kraftwerk, the synth-pop pioneers from Germany who were ranked #2 on our 2015 list. The Smiths, War, Nine Inch Nails, N.W.A., The Spinners, The Marvelettes and Chic (who have been nominated nine times) did not get in.

With the exception of Green Day, none of the bands chosen had any real commercial success in the last 15 years, or really anything critical of note. Considering that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has made rumblings in recent years of shortening the eligibility from 25 to 20 years, this Class doesn’t reflect any belief that as with the exception of Green Day, all other acts had a substantial wait to get inducted.

We have been open here at Notinhalloffame.com when we are pleased with a Hall of Fame Class, but we can’t say that we are pleased with this group as a whole.

The debate as to should be in Cleveland will likely intensify immediately, and we are eagerly awaiting your thoughts.

We will also be unveiling our 2016 Rock List by late January and we will be soliciting your opinions on the new entries soon.

RIP: Fuzzy Thurston

Dec 16, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

It was announced yesterday that former Green Bay Packer and member of the team’s Hall of Fame, Fuzzy Thurston, passed away at the age of 80.

Thurston first joined the Packers in 1959 after a brief stint in Baltimore. He would play under the legendary Vince Lombardi and was part of the legendary “Packer Sweep” and the great Offensive Line. He was named a First Team All Pro in 1961 and would help the Packers win five NFL Championships. In 1975, he was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Fuzzy Thurston at this time.

Dick Enberg to the Baseball HOF

Dec 11, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Today the Baseball Hall of Fame has announced that Dick Enberg won the Ford C. Frick Award, which automatically gains entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Enberg was known for his signature “Oh my” call and his multi faceted ability calling baseball, football, tennis and horse racing. He would first become a fixture in baseball in 1968 as the radio and television voice of the California Angels, and would gain national attention a decade later doing the play by play of the NBC Game of the Week from 1978 to 1982, and would later do the in studio duties from 1983 to 1989.

He would later return to baseball in 2010 where he would become the San Diego Padres play-by-play announcer, a position he still holds today at the age of 80.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Dick Enberg on receiving this accolade, and “Oh My” we’ll see him in Cooperstown.