A Hall of a weekend...
The sports spotlight fell on Canton, Ohio over the weekend as the Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted 6 new members (Troy Aikman, Harry Carson, Warren Moon, the late Reggie White, Rayfield Wright and John Madden). Fittingly NBC-TV debuted their new Sunday Night football package as Madden worked his way from being honored on the field to the TV booth for the Hall of Fame game between Philadelphia and Oakland...
The Pro Football Hall of Fame had its first induction in 1963 with a charter class of 17 enshrinees including Jim Thorpe, Bronko Nagurski, George Halas, Red Grange, Sammy Baugh and other greats of the game. Let's take a look at the numbers that form the profile of the pigskin heroes that reside in the Hall:
- The state with the most members: Pennsylvania with 26...
- The college representing the most members: Notre Dame and USC, tied with 10...
- Number of Heisman Trophy winners: 8...
- The pro team with the most members: Chicago with 26...
- Uniform number most represented: 16 and 44, tied with 9...
- Position most represented: Offensive Lineman with 30...
- Position least represented: Place kicker with 1 (Jan Stenerud)...
[These numbers are reflective of the Pre-Modern Era which is defined as post-1946]...
Congratulations to Lesley Visser who became the first female member of the Hall of Fame when she entered via the radio-tv section of the Hall and was paid tribute along with the 6 new members...
Ten Timeline Memories...
1782] George Washington creates the Order of the Purple Heart, a decoration to recognize merit in enlisted men and noncommissioned officers...
1947] The balsa-wood raft Kon-Tiki, which had carried a six-man crew across the Pacific Ocean, crashed into a reef in a Polynesian archipelago (Is this where "LOST" got the idea ?)...
1970] Christine McVie joins Fleetwood Mac...
1974] Yogi Berra and Sandy Koufax enter Baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown (NY)...
1990] "Desert Storm" begins as President George H. W. Bush orders U.S. troops and warplanes into Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq...
1998] Al Qaida sets off bombs at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224, including 12 Americans and injuring more than 5,5000...
1999] The Giants' Lawrence Taylor enters the Pro Football Hall of Fame...
1999] Wade Boggs becomes the 1st major leaguer to hit a home run for his 3,000th hit. On the same date, Tony Gwynn of San Diego gets his 3,000th hit...
2000] Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore picks Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman to be the 1st Jewish vice-presidential candidate of a major party ticket (today Lieberman is fighting for his political life in the Ct. Senatorial race for endorsing the war in Iraq)...
2004] Greg Maddux becomes the 22nd pitcher in major league history to record 300 victories as he leads the Cubs to an 8-4 win over San Francisco...
Wedding Bells: 1974] Peter Wolf (J. Geils Band) and Faye Dunaway (they will divorce in 1979)...
Released on this date: 1965] "It Ain't Me Babe" - Turtles...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
Commentary...
Rest assured that Tour de Testosterone champ Floyd Landis goes to the top of our HP-Top 10 list and will stay there unless: 1) He can take one test that artificial testosterone doesn't show up in and so far he's 0 for 2 and 2) We believe him...
Our good friend Norm N. Nite ("Mr. Music") has started his own website. Click on and enjoy: www.rockonforever.com. Norm's knowledge of music is legendary. Author of the "Rock On" series of books, Norm does a live show from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame once a week on Sirius. It looks great Norm. Good Luck...
"Happy Trails"...
Richard Barrett who passed away from pancreatic cancer in Philadelphia on Thursday, August 3rd. Barrett was not only lead singer of the Valentines, who were staples on Alan Freed shows in the 50's but he also played an important part in the discovery of the Teenagers, The Chantels, Little Anthony and the Imperials and later, The Three Degrees. His work with George Goldner and his rocky relationship with Morris Levy, 2 veteran record moguls was widely known in the industry as he supplied both with some of the biggest artists of the 50's and 60's. Barrett was 70, although it's believed he may have been 72 or 73 at the time of his death. "Happy Trails" Richard...
August 7th Birthdays...
Charlize Theron (31), David Duchovny (46), Wayne ("Newman") Knight (51), B.J. Thomas (64), Garrison Keillor (64), Don ("perfect game") Larsen (77), Herb (The Platters) Reed (78) and Stan Freberg (80)...
[Timeline countdown: 29 days until Labor Day, 33 days until NFL kickoff, 58 days until MLB playoffs and 146 days remaining in 2006]
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