It is that time again here at Notinhalloffame.com where we take a look at the Football Hall of Fame, and have done our revisions for the New Year. Although, there are only four new entries making our list of 100, there is a change on the top of the rankings.
As much as we here at Notinhalloffame are major fans of the snubbed Offensive Lineman for the Green Bay Packers, Jerry Kramer, we have supplanted him as the number one selection for our list. In his place, is a first year candidate, Derrick Brooks, who we feel has all the credentials needed to take that slot, and will likely be a first ballot Hall of Fame entry.
Brooks was the defensive star for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2000’s, where the Right Linebacker made five First Team All Pro squads and was selected to eleven Pro Bowls. His best year was 2002, where he won the Defensive Player of the Year honors and the first Super Bowl for Tampa. As Warren Sapp, was selected in his first year, it is only logical to assume the same for Brooks.
The top five also has a new entrant in former Indianapolis Colts Wide Receiver, Marvin Harrison, who is in the top ten in virtually every major career receiving category. It is also expected that he will be a first ballot entry, and he enters the list at number 3.
Offensive Lineman, Walter Jones debuts at number 14 and could be a future entrant to Canton, though we do not suspect that will occur in his first year. The controversial Rodney Harrison is the final debut for this year, entering at number 87.
We don’t have to tell you what to do! They are up and ready for your comments and votes, and remember they do affect future rankings!
Our work on the existing Hockey Hall of Fame Classes continue. We have now made our way to the year of 1974, which well…..isn’t much of a Class. The underwhelming Class of 1974 was:
Anatoli Tasarov
Art Coulter
Billy Burch
Carl Voss
Charles Hay
Dickie Moore
Tommy Dunderdale
Tommy Ivan
Gang you know the drill. Check it out, and cast your votes and let us know whether you think they deserved their Hall of Fame induction. Look for upcoming classes soon!
Ritchie Havens, passed away today at the age of 72 due to a heart attack. Havens is best known for his outstanding opening set at the Woodstock festival in 1969. He blended Soul and Folk and played the acoustic guitar with a fervent style, atypical of other Folk singers. Havens was atypical of other Folk acts, as he was an African American in what was predominantly a Caucasian genre.
Although Havens would have many acclaimed albums, it was that Woodstock performance that he will always be remembered for. In what could have been just an answer to a trivia question, Haven’s performance was instead immortalized on the Woodstock film, and is considered by many to be the most remembered scene.
We offer our condolences to the family and friends of Ritchie Havens at this time.
Amidst our excitement of the beginning of the NBA Playoffs, we almost forgot (Okay, we did for a bit), the retirement of Rasheed Wallace, who is retiring for the second time after a comeback this season with the New York Knicks. The Knicks will be entering the playoffs as the second seed in the East, but injuries have taken Wallace out of the game, and he has chosen to retire instead of join New York as they go after an NBA Championship.
This brings us to our favourite question: Hall of Fame or Not?
For the record we actually thought Rasheed Wallace was a little underrated. He received the bulk of his attention for his negative attitude and ability to draw technical fouls (he has the most all time), but he was a very good two way player, who could score and rebound at a consistent rate. However, there are certain traits that we think a bona fide Basketball Hall of Fame candidate, and Wallace comes up short in our eyes.
Although the Power Forward was selected to four All Star Game appearances, he was never selected to an All NBA Team, nor was he selected to the Defensive Team. It was debatable whether he was ever the best player on his own team (likely for Portland, but a case could be made against it) and though he is an NBA Champion with the 2004 Detroit Pistons, it was not exactly his team, and it is more accepted that the Lakers imploded more than Detroit won the title.
Rasheed Wallace’s overall statistics were good, but other than two finishes in Field Goal Percentage, he never finished in the top five in any major statistic in a season, and was rarely in the top ten. He also does not have an outstanding college career that the Hall cannot overlook (ie: Ralph Sampson)
We believe that Wallace will be in our top 100, but Springfield bound? We don’t think so.