Committee Chairman

Shaquille O'Neal's #34 retired by the Lakers

Apr 03, 2013

For us, it is always news when a player’s jersey is retired. The player in question is usually a Hall of Famer, or one who had significant impact on a franchise, so when it happens we always take notice; especially when it happens in a team as storied as the Los Angeles Lakers.

Tonight in L.A., the charismatic Shaquille O’Neal will have his number 34 retired by the Lakers organization where he was a member of three NBA championship teams. Shaq’s best years were in Los Angeles, though the powerful center is equally remembered for the feud he had with fellow superstar, Kobe Bryant. It culminated with Shaq moving to Miami, as the two could not co-exist.

O’Neil joins elite company and becomes the 9^th man to have his jersey retired by the Lakers. That group is Wilt Chamberlain (13), Elgin Baylor (22), Gail Goodrich (25), Magic Johnson (32), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (33), James Worthy (42), Jerry West (44) and Jamaal Wilkes (52).

Eventually (though admittedly a couple of years away) we hope to look at every franchise of the big four North American sports with their greatest All time players. A player like Shaq would likely be on the list of multiple teams.

Additional Appearances for the Rock & Roll HOF Ceremony

Mar 27, 2013

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

As the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony slowly approaches, announcements have been made regarding the event. Four of the inductees (Heart, Rush, Randy Newman and Public Enemy) will be performing at the Los Angeles held ceremony on April 18^th. In addition, special guest stars will also be lending their talents to what should be a star studded attraction.

Paying homage to their Seattle roots, Heart will be joined on stage by Mike McCready of Pearl Jam and Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains. They will be inducted by Chris Cornell who is best known as the lead singer of Soundgarden. Spike Lee and Harry Belafonte will be on hand as they will help pay tribute to Public Enemy. In honour of the late Donna Summer, Jennifer Hudson and Christina Aguilera will perform.

In regards to our favourite Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Rush, Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters will be presenting them. John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr., will be performing on behalf of Albert King, who like Summer will also be inducted posthumously.

Other notable guests will be Carole King who will perform for Lou Adler, Jackson Browne and John Fogerty who will be performing with Randy Newman, Don Henley who will induct Newman and comedy duo, Cheech and Chong will present Lou Adler his award.

The induction ceremony will be shown on HBO on May 18^th at 9:00 PM.

The 1970 Hockey HOF Class is up

Mar 22, 2013

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Our work on the existing Hockey Hall of Fame Classes continue. We have now made our way to the year of 1970. This group was a solid bunch, though like the previous class, yielded no household names. The Class of 1970 is:

Babe Dye

Bill Gadsby

Robert Ledel

Tom Johnson

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!

Alex Kovalev Retires....Again

Mar 22, 2013

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

We have another retirement to announce in the world of sports, and with this we present what we consider to be a bubble candidate for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Alexei (Alex) Kovalev made a brief return to the National Hockey League with five points in fourteen games with the Florida Panthers. Kovalev’s comeback extends his HOF clock to the year of 2016, which will be the first year that he will be considered eligible.

Kovalev made history as the first Russian born player to be selected in the first round of the NHL draft. Barring another comeback, he will finish his career with 1,029 points which as of this writing places him 70^th overall. Throughout his career, he has showcased solid seasons in New York, Pittsburgh and Montreal and was a three time All Star Game participant. Kovalev was selected to the Second Team All Star squad late in his career with the Habs in the 2007-08 season, and was a Stanley Cup winner in 1994 with the Rangers.

Although he did hit that 1,000 point mark, he never got the century mark in a season and he only had one campaign where he finished in the top ten in scoring (a fourth place finish in 2000-01). The problem is that the Hockey Hall of Fame does have players who have a similar track record, though many of those have more rings than the talented Russian. We don’t think he is a Hall of Fame player, but is certainly worthy of a top 100 rank in 2016. Now, where do we put him?