Committee Chairman

The 1983 Hockey HOF Class is up

Jul 19, 2013

Our work on the existing Hockey Hall of Fame Classes continue. We have now made our way to the year of 1983 (which for the record is easily among our favourite Classes). The Class of 1983 contains:

Bobby Hull

Harry Sinden

Ken Dryden

Stan Mikita

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!

The 2013 Hockey HOF Class is selected.

Jul 09, 2013

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

     Today the Hockey Hall of Fame has announced their Class of 2013, with three players, a builder and a female player.

          In our eyes, the star of the star of this year’s class is our #2 Selection on the NIHOF list, Chris Chelios. The three time Norris Trophy winner and three time Stanley Cup Champion enters the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. The American Defenceman also led his country to World Cup Gold in 1996.

          Our #5 Selection and current NHL Head of Hockey Discipline, Brendan Shanahan was also selected. This was his second year of eligibility, and was one of the most complete players of his time. Frankly, we thought he was going to get in last year.

The neutral zone trap is represented well by Scott Niedermayer who also enters in his first year of eligibility. Niedermayer was the consummate winner, as he is the only hockey player to win the Stanley Cup, Memorial Cup, Olympics, World Cup, World Junior and IIHF World. The Defenceman is also a Norris Trophy winner and Conn Smythe Award winner. We had him ranked at #6.

The group is rounded out by Fred Shero, who twice coached the famed “Broad Street Bullies” in Philadelphia to two Stanley Cups. Female hockey player, Geraldine Heaney was also selected, making her the third woman to enter the Hall.

Next year three large notables become eligible in Dominik Hasek, Peter Forsberg and Mike Modano; all of which have first year Eligibility resumes. This will make it more difficult for perceived snubs like Eric Lindros, Theoron Fleury and Dave Andreychuk to get in next year.

We congratulate this Class, and we will have the 2014 list up on our site by August 1, 2013.

UFC HOF. Why Nobody Cares

Jul 07, 2013

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

It wasn’t much of a build-up was it? The UFC may have come a long way in the last ten years, but its Hall of Fame is in the dark ages.

Six weeks ago, Dana White announced that Stephen Bonnar and Forrest Griffin would be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame at their event on July 6, 2013. That day has arrived, and they are now officially part of the Hall of Fame, but has this really mattered as much as it should? That answer is easy: No.

Let’s forget about the fact that there is no physical Hall of Fame. There are a lot of high profile HOF’s that don’t have a structure yet. We won’t even say that an issue is the relative young age of the sport. The first few inductees of Royce Gracie, Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock were legendary figures when they were inducted, and it is not that anyone can make a claim that enough time has not passed that they should be on this institution. This shows that the UFC Hall of Fame has the right to exist alone. However without a structure on how to get in, how can anyone start to really care?

Think of the Baseball Hall of Fame for a minute. No matter what criticism you can come up with in regards to the Cooperstown based Hall, you know exactly when a player is eligible, how long he will remain on the ballot, how many votes he got, and when the process will take place. The Football, Hockey and Basketball Halls of Fame, at least has many of those transparencies in place. The UFC Hall of Fame gives us none of these.

The first two inductees were Shamrock and Gracie in November of 2003. Some years there are inductees, some there are not. Not only is there not an assigned time after retirement when one becomes Hall of Fame eligible, we have had fighters compete on the weekend of their induction, basically putting in an active contestant into a Hall of Fame. There is no committee deciding who gets in; basically whoever UFC owner, Dana White wants to induct. For that matter, we never know when he will induct someone next, as there is no pattern to it.

This past weekend, White was on the defensive as to why Bonnar was inducted despite having what was an up and down career. If there was a process that was clear (or even Basketball Hall of Fame clear) as to the induction process of the UFC Hall of Fame, this criticism probably would not have happened. Either way, it is UFC HOF weekend, and nobody cares, and despite what you may think Dana, that is your fault.

Tim Raines in the Canadian Baseball HOF

Jun 30, 2013

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

          The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame has added five members to its institution in their Class of 2013, and much like previous years, the high profile members are former members of the Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos.

          The headlining entrant is Tim Raines, who spent his best years with the Montreal Expos. While playing in Montreal, Raines would become a seven Time All-Star, batting .301 with a WAR of 48.8. The fleet footed Raines would also lead the National League twice in Runs and four times in Stolen Bases. In regards to Cooperstown, Raines has been on the ballot for six years, eclipsing the 50% mark for the first time last year, indicating that he may have a decent chance to have enshrinement in both countries.

          Raines is joined by George Bell, the Dominican born outfielder who had powerful seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1980’s. Bell was the 1987 American League MVP, and was a top five finisher two other times. Bell may not have had a Hall of Fame career by Cooperstown standards (he only received 1.2% in his lone year of eligibility) but by the basis of what he accomplished as a Blue Jay, he deserves his spot in the Canadian Hall.

          The third entrant is Canadian born, Rob Ducey, who played for both Toronto and Montreal in a journeyman 13 year career. Ducey was born in Toronto, and was very popular because of that during his stint with Blue Jays in the late 80’s and early 90’s.

          The fourth is already scheduled to enter Cooperstown this summer. Tom Cheek, who was the long time radio broadcaster for the Jays will also be entering the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Cheek passed away in 2005, and was the radio announcer for the first 4,306 games of the Toronto Blue Jays.

          The Class of 2013 is rounded out by Nat Bailey, who owned the Vancouver Mounties, and was a big supporter of Baseball in Western Canada. To qualify for the Baseball Hall of Fame, the player in question must be Canadian born, or have done something significant in their career in Canada.

          We congratulate all five men for their Hall of Fame inductions.