Sharpe Falls Short In Bid For Hall Of Fame

February 8, 2010 by mindpinball · 1 Comment
Filed under: NFL, football, sports 

For the second year in a row, former Baltimore Raven and Denver Bronco tight end Shannon Sharpe was denied election into Pro Football’s Hall of Fame. Sharpe made the first cut from 15 to 10, but was not in the final cutdown from 10 to 5 among the modern-era players who were eligible.

The news that Sharpe fell short was somewhat surprising, but when looking at the list of candidates who were eligible for this year’s class, not overwhelmingly so. Everyone knew that Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith were locks to be inducted in the first year of eligibility for each. Also, Sharpe is in a pool of pass catchers that are also in line for induction: Andre Reed, Cris Carter and Tim Brown. Brown and Carter failed to make the first cut, while Reed fell short with Sharpe.

In addition, the Hall had a backlog of candidates that have been on the list for years and have been denied by candidates who were deemed more deserving. Some of those candidates finally were elected on Saturday. Russ Grimm had been eligible for years, and becomes the first member of the famed “Hogs” offensive line of the Washington Redskins of the ’80s and early ’90s to get into the Hall. Rickey Jackson, for years one of the best pass rushing linebackers for the New Orleans Saints and later the San Francisco 49ers had also been on the line for a few years. The same can also be said for the two senior candidates who were elected: Floyd Little and Dick LeBeau. With only a maximum of seven slots, there are going to be a number of candidates who are going to have to wait their turn. Sharpe just happens to be one of them.

I have no doubt that Sharpe, as well as Carter and Tim Brown, and perhaps even Reed will all eventually get in. It’s just going to take some time, particularly with a lot of deserving players on the list now and in years to come. Remember, in a few years Jonathan Ogden will be eligible. Will he have to wait a few years, or is he a first year lock to get in? Time will tell.

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Random Sports Thoughts 7

February 7, 2010 by mindpinball · Leave a Comment
Filed under: MLB, NBA, NFL, baseball, basketball, college basketball, football, sports 

Around and about in the world of sports:

  • Congratulations to the seven members of the newest class of the NFL Hall of Fame: Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, John Randle, Rickey Jackson, Russ Grimm, Dick LeBeau and Floyd Little. Rice and Smith were no-brainers of course, and the other candidates deserved their nods as well. There is a backlog of great players that are eligible for the Hall; it will take some time to get all of them in. I would just like to put in a few words for Grimm. Given the fact that the Hogs were one of the best offensive lines of the last 25-30 years, it’s actually about time one of them got some recognition by the Hall.
  • There was talk last week of the NCAA opting out of their contract with CBS and possibly expanding the NCAA basketball tournament from it’s current 65 team format to 96 teams. Okay, let me get this straight. No action is necessary for a college football playoff, but the greatest college event ever needs to break up the current format to let more teams in? I don’t think so…this thing reeks of a money grab. Not to mention, that if they really want to fix the tournament they should get rid of the play-in game, or at the least let the last two at-large teams play in that game. Don’t put a small school automatic qualifier in the game-they deserve the opportunity to have the full tournament experience much more than some BCS school mediocrity. Not to mention, if the tournament did include 96 teams, most if not all of those spots would be to BCS schools with unimpressive resumes.
  • The days are growing short leading into spring training for another baseball season, and I wonder what exactly will the Orioles look like this year. I’ll have more to say about them as the season gets closer, but it has been a pretty quiet offseason for Baltimore’s baseball birds. For some fans, it has been too quiet. I’ll reserve judgement until things get going, but once again, I am hoping for progress. I’m not expecting a worst-to-first season, but at least be competitive past the All-Star break, and if possible, make an approach to .500.
  • Gilbert Arenas was suspended for the remainder of this season, and has probably seen his last days as a member of the Washington Wizards. Has there been a more stunning fall from grace? Arenas was once the prince of the city; his blog was popular and his skills on the court made fans sit up and take notice. His absence serves as just a symbol of the Wizards’ season; where they were counting on him to finally be healthy enough to play, he ends up missing another large chunk of a third consecutive season. I don’t see how the Wizards can keep this core of players together, with Arenas surely gone it may be time for Ernie Grunfeld (or someone else) to blow this team up and build it back from the ground up. It will definitely be interesting to see how the Wizards proceed from here.
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