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Today I was hearing an argument for an NFL player from the 1980s to be elected to the Hall of Fame. The argument becomes a slippery slope stance of, "Well, they can't let EVERYONE in the Hall of Fame." For quite some time, I just thought of all the HOF as a subjective waste of time.
Then I thought, what if all these Halls of Fame could involve fans to kick somebody out. We all know there are a few who sneak in who are worse than people we really like. So to make all HOFs more interesting, who would you vote out of a Hall of Fame in a ceremony that strips them of their dignity?
Here's who I came up with:
Pro Football Hall of Fame: Remove Bob Griese. He is 75th all time in passing yards in NFL history and 54th all time in passing touchdowns. Eight or nine of his contemporaries had better numbers. He was a game manager for a great coach in Don Shula, that's it.
Basketball Hall of Fame: Remove Bill Bradley. Okay, he was a white guy from Princeton and he ended up a successful politician. He also was statistically the third or fourth best player on his team almost his entire career. He went to one All Star game. But of course, he was a former Knick. Strip this man of his awards.
Baseball Hall of Fame: Remove Harold Baines. So annoying when that one was announced, right? He went to a handful of All Star games for a mediocre team. He played DH half of his career. Watching the American League every summer in his prime, at no point did I ever think, "Wow, I'm watching a legend of the game." I usually thought, "Well, he's a useful hitter considering he is stuck in Chicago."
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Remove Laura Nyro. There are so many ways this one can go, but I looked up her body of work and frankly, it's average. Name your favorite Nyro banger. I know the HOF was freaking out that they didn't have enough women representing Rock... but there are such better ways to diversify than just grabbing some random hippie chick who had no hits.
Go ahead... kick somebody out of a Hall of Fame and explain why.
Then I thought, what if all these Halls of Fame could involve fans to kick somebody out. We all know there are a few who sneak in who are worse than people we really like. So to make all HOFs more interesting, who would you vote out of a Hall of Fame in a ceremony that strips them of their dignity?
Here's who I came up with:
Pro Football Hall of Fame: Remove Bob Griese. He is 75th all time in passing yards in NFL history and 54th all time in passing touchdowns. Eight or nine of his contemporaries had better numbers. He was a game manager for a great coach in Don Shula, that's it.
Basketball Hall of Fame: Remove Bill Bradley. Okay, he was a white guy from Princeton and he ended up a successful politician. He also was statistically the third or fourth best player on his team almost his entire career. He went to one All Star game. But of course, he was a former Knick. Strip this man of his awards.
Baseball Hall of Fame: Remove Harold Baines. So annoying when that one was announced, right? He went to a handful of All Star games for a mediocre team. He played DH half of his career. Watching the American League every summer in his prime, at no point did I ever think, "Wow, I'm watching a legend of the game." I usually thought, "Well, he's a useful hitter considering he is stuck in Chicago."
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Remove Laura Nyro. There are so many ways this one can go, but I looked up her body of work and frankly, it's average. Name your favorite Nyro banger. I know the HOF was freaking out that they didn't have enough women representing Rock... but there are such better ways to diversify than just grabbing some random hippie chick who had no hits.
Go ahead... kick somebody out of a Hall of Fame and explain why.