Parcells' HOF induction long overdue - ESPN New York

AP Photo/Ray StubblebineBill Parcells will join Lawrence Taylor in Canton.

My sentiments exactly for the same reasons I outlined last year when he was snubbed.
http://slavieboy.blogspot.com/2012/02/parcells-snubbed-by-hof.html

So now Strahan waits. I'm not sure he's any less worthy than Warren Sapp. The NFL's Hall of Fame problem is there is such a logjam of guys who should be in, but there is a cap on the number of guys they let in each year. No knock on Sapp, he was a force of nature when he came into the league.

Parcells did so much to turn around the fortunes of two of the current NFL heavyweights -- the NY Giants and the New England Patriots -- that he simply had to get in. LT's comments may make it seem like a parochial issue, but further down in the article fellow HOFer Curtis Martin give Parcells equal amount of credit for his HOF career. Those two endorsements alone should have carried him in the first ballot. Sometimes I just have no idea what these media types are doing.

To me, he was always the model of what a coach should be. The master motivator, the sometimes caustic wit. He was so Jersey. His press conferences became legendary before YouTube and 24/7, nationwide sports coverage. He was Governor Chris Christie before there was a Governor Chris Christie. Or maybe Christie is simply the political incarnation of Bill Parcells.

Congrats to the Big Tuna!! Now if we can just get Phil Simms in there, all would be right with the Football Hall of Fame.

from ESPN.com:
Parcells' HOF induction long overdue - ESPN New York:

"But if Bill didn't finally get in this year," Lawrence Taylor told ESPNNewYork.com on Saturday night, "they needed to shut the Hall of Fame down. The whole thing wouldn't have meant anything without him in there."

If a lot of people thought Parcells' failure to earn induction last year was something of a joke, Taylor wasn't among them. "I wasn't laughing," he said by phone. "You can't keep a coach like Bill Parcells out of the Hall of Fame, or the place means nothing. I'm very thankful to be part of his legacy."

'via Blog this'

BBWAA says none are worthy, not even one

This was fairly predictable for the main protagonists Bonds, Sosa and Clemens, but Craig Biggio too? C'mon guys?

Baseball -- via the powers vested in the BBWAA and the Hall of Fame -- seems bound and determined to continually this annual rite of public flagellation and humiliation over the PED issue.

The NFL addressed this when Lawrence Taylor was up for induction and -- with no huge public outcry or retribution -- Taylor was admitted under the premise that the Hall of Fame is not the Hall of Saints. Given the baseball Hall of Fames ridiculous adherence to the following "character clause" we can expect more of the same debate in coming years.


from foxsports.com
Morosi: Simple change to MLB Hall of Fame ballot could help deserving players - MLB News | FOX Sports on MSN:

PEDs enter into play when we consider the evolution of voters’ thinking. Of course, the actual criteria, set forth by the Hall of Fame, remain unchanged: “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.” The BBWAA isn’t easily convinced, enshrining more than two players in a year only once during the past two decades. But now it seems successful candidates must check three boxes.

How many guys have actually been elected to the baseball Hall on the basis of integrity, sportsmanship or character without superlative playing ability and contributions to winning? Anyone? Is there a "Miss Congeniality"  that has been elected who didn't pass the usual playing ability tests? I didn't think so, although I thought I heard a couple of Phil Rizzuto whispers back there, but WDIK?

If you're not willing to take open and avowed racists (talking to you Cap Anson) or guys who padded their stats by competing in a segregated league, then don't go all high and mighty now.

The Hall is a museum and should speak to the history of the game, warts and all. If you're not scrubbing or ignoring the racists past, it seems rather silly, childish and petty to only punish players of this era for their sin in participating in the "culture of the game" within the context of the era in which they were participating. By that standard, you should yank Babe Ruth out for not speaking up against segregation.

Why MLB insists on turning what should be an annual celebration of the game into an annual black eye, to appease a small minority of self-avowed "purists", who truth be told are not all that pure themselves, is a joke.


from the MLBPA:

Michael Weiner, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, released the following statement after the BBWAA failed to vote in a single candidate for 2013:

"Today's news that those members of the BBWAA afforded the privilege of casting ballots failed to elect even a single player to the Hall of Fame is unfortunate, if not sad. Those empowered to help the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum document the history of the game failed to recognize the contributions of several Hall of Fame worthy players. To ignore the historic accomplishments of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, for example, is hard to justify. Moreover, to penalize players exonerated in legal proceedings -- and others never even implicated -- is simply unfair. The Hall of Fame is supposed to be for the best players to have ever played the game. Several such players were denied access to the Hall today. Hopefully this will be rectified by future voting."

Parcells Snubbed by HOF

Americas Game 1986 New Giants part (1).mp4

I could watch this documentary on the Giants 1986 season a million times and still get goose bumps. The Parcells-Simms relationship drama, the genesis of the Gatorade dump, the Parcells - Taylor marriage, the ups and downs of how a team is built under one of the biggest microscopes in sports.

At the time, I thought Parcells was the best coach I had ever seen (in some ways, I still do). He was the BCOPE (Best Coach on Planet Earth) to Barry Bonds' BPOPE (Best Player on Planet Earth).  Apparently, greater minds than mine disagree. For now.

Bill Parcells not elected to Hall of Fame
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/35973/bill-parcells-not-elected-to-hall-of-fame

INDIANAPOLIS -- It was the first year in which former New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and New York Jets coach Bill Parcells was eligible for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, so the fact that he did not make it is not devastating. There's reason to believe he will get in eventually, but on Saturday night, he was not among the final candidates. Neither was former Cowboys great Charles Haley. My personal opinion is that they both should be in, but Parcells is the more surprising omission, so let's take a look at it.

I get some of the reasons stated, if they are what kept Parcells out, but some of the "logic" makes no sense at all.

Parcells should be in and Phil Simms should be in. You watch how fast the debate begins around "Is Eli a HOF QB?" now that he has two rings and Coughlin will be debated as a coaching candidate as well.

Folks forget that Simms has two rings as well, and he led the Giants team and organization through the wilderness.  They helped blaze the trail and lit the path for those that followed.

 It was a much tougher road traversed by the Simms - Parcells combo than Manning - Coughlin. And in many ways -- they actually made things easier -- if "easier" is a term that can be lightly tossed into a discussion about winning Super Bowls.

Hopefully, you get my point. If Manning - Coughlin are deemed worthy, I'm not sure why Simms and Pacrcells are meeting with such resistance.


Parcells 11 Comandments



Parcells on Responsibility
http://youtu.be/9ztDGM7qYj4