“Tony Meola mullet” on GIS takes 0.16 seconds and gives you about 999 results
Posted on February 5, 2012 1:25 am
Ever since Vespasian conquered Oneonta in AD 70, American soccer fans have kept hope in our hearts until one day we can return and rebuild the Hall of Fame. Until then, though, we will darn well act like we have a brick-and-mortar Hall. Baseball and football bloggers get three free columns a year – nominations, election, induction – so why can’t we? Bill Simmons used the Basketball Hall of Fame as a jumping off point for an entire terrible book. So we’re damn well going to take this turnip and get some milk out of it.
Here is this year’s complete ballot:
Tony Meola
Claudio Reyna
29 other people
Used to be there was a ceiling on how many of the recently retired could be promoted to glory. But, there wasn’t a floor, and it took a few years for the voting pool to warm up to Earnie Stewart, Jeff Agoos and Preki. Apparently someone saw that the Hall went a couple of years without enrolling a recent player, and then noticed the whole building closed down, and got all post hoc ergo propter hoc. These days, there’s no limit in how many people can be inducted at a time.
Which was fantastic news for ballot holdovers, because this year Meola and Reyna, like Cobi and Pope last year, are crashing the ballot like Kool-Aid Men. I suppose there will be people who vote against one, or the other – maybe those who hold games against Romania in 1994 and Ghana in 2006 in bitter searing memory. Or maybe those who hold it against Reyna that he did not in fact end up being one of the most influential people in the world like Time Magazine said he would. Or maybe those who only saw the two play in MLS in New York.
Pick and carp and nits and gnats – Meola and Reyna are in, and there will be dancing in the streets of Charlottesville.
Who else will get in? Depends on how much of an outlier Earnie Stewart was. He was initially getting vote percentages in the forties, and made up considerable ground until he was finally elected. Kenn has easy-to-read charts. Thomas Dooley also had a huge increase in support the year he was elected, but he started at around the 50% level on his first ballot.
The players most likely to make up the gap are Marco Etcheverry, Shannon MacMillan and Joe-Max Moore. All three have been hovering around 50-60%, and for some reason Hall of Fame voters will warm up to the occasional borderline candidate. I usually despise that kind of voter…except I’m doing it this year.
Let me explain. Three people I voted for last year got in. That leaves me with seven holdovers, against none of whom I had developed any sort of grudge. So I have three spaces on this year’s ballot. Two of those are Meola and Reyna.
The other first-time nominees, just for the sake of laughs, are:
Thori Staples Bryan
Jose Burciaga, Jr.
Ronald Cerritos
Lorrie Fair
Jen Lalor-Nielsen
Ronnie O’Brien
Ante Razov
David Regis
Greg Vanney
Kerry Zavagnin
Hall of Famers none.
So I’ve got an extra vote (you have ten picks). And I’m giving it to Shannon MacMillan, for a couple of reasons.
One, this week’s events have sort of proven that wonderful US women’s national team players are not to be taken for granted. Let’s just say that the way our current stars have been behaving this week have really made the 90′s team look great in comparison, and oh by the way MacMillan was on a team that won a World Cup.
But it’s possible that MacMillan will be a genuine, as opposed to theoretical, borderline case. One teeny weeny vote hasn’t made a difference yet, but this year it might.
I suppose I could wait until next year, where the biggest incoming names look to be Jesse Marsch and Ben Olsen. The year after, though? McBride, Chastain and Twellman. I’m going to get some of these people in while I can, because in a few years it’s going to get crowded again.
Oh, by the way, this year David Beckham became legitimately eligible for the US Soccer Hall of Fame.
Anyway, my ballot.
Carlos Valderrama
Peter Vermes
Mauricio Cienfuegos
Marco Etcheverry
Cindy Parlow
Robin Fraser
Shannon MacMillan
Chris Armas
Claudio Reyna
and, of course:
I know I shouldn’t feel this way but since, as you note, the US Soccer HoF displays current reside in a bunch of boxes stacked in an unlit back corner of a warehouse someplace in North Carolina, it just seems to diminish the import of deciding whose name should be added.
Like you went to Oneonta every summer when it WAS there. Please.
There were elections and inductions for 30 years before the Hall got a bricks-and-mortar site in Oneonta. It’s not like there’s no precedent for the idea. Also, I think maintaining the continuity of elections is important to getting those archives out of that warehouse some day. Yes, the whole process is less joyful, but I think it’s still a good thing to do.
I like Jason Kreis, but I am not sure who I would take off your list to shoehorn him in.
It’s amazing to me how little support Kreis gets. For his era, there weren’t many better in MLS. But as we know……..impact on the USMNT is a driver for American players.
By he way, I believe at least Vermes and Valderrama are in their final year of eligibility on the player’s ballot. You’ll have plenty of spots open up on your ballot next year.
Wanna bet I was there a hell of a lot more than you were?
Not that it has anything at all to do with my point.
But don’t let that stop you.
Please indeed.
Which was my only point.
Excuse me all to hell.
That Italia 90 “mascot” still has to rank up their as one of the worst ever… Goes well with the mullet, though…
I haven’t put a lot of time into deciding how good a player needs to be to make it into the Hall of Fame….but to score over 100 career goals in MLS is pretty impressive. Anyone know where to find a good break down of all time leading MLS scorers? for example the goal scorers broken down into goals per minutes played or non-PK goals?
I meant to type that I’m referring to Razov who has a resume that merits consideration for the HoF.
Why no love for Joe Max Moore? 24 goal and 100 caps for the USMNT, a nearly goal every other game record in MLS, something like 20 goals in 50 games over two season in Germany, what else does he have to do get on your ballot?
Also, Jason Kreis is one of the best goal scores in MLS history and seeing as that is the “League of Record” in the US that has to mean a lot in HoF consideration.
I have a feeling Joe-Max will to wait until the veteran’s ballot.
As far as Kreis goes………we’ve all seen this before. He falls into that category with Lassiter and Ravoz. Guys that scored tons of goals in MLS, but didn’t have much of an impact with the national team. Cunningham will join them when he retires. Twellman may be given more consideration, but if Kreis doesn’t in………Taylor probably won’t even.
A bunch of them may get in on the veteran’s ballot.
Can you vote for Tony Meola’s barber?
I bet the veterans put Kreis in (and I’m certain they’ll put Moore, who should have gotten in on regular balloting, in). Having been the first to 100 will mean more as the league gets older (whereas hitting 100 will probably mean less).
100 is probably not where they’re going to draw the line, because you can get there by being solid for a long time (or streaky) and never leaving for Europe (or not spending long abroad). Edson Buddle and Dwayne DeRosario are likely to cross that line this year or thereabouts, and Buddle hasn’t got much shot unless he ages surprisingly well. DeRo’s harder; I think he wouldn’t get in if he retired today. I would guess that to have a shot he needs the 100, probably needs 75 assists, and might need one more ring (which would tie him with the all time leaders at 5).
If I’m eyeballing a goals number that should get you a good look at the Hall even with few other resume bullets, that number’s probably 125-150.
Because it’s a USSF hall and MLS play is only a part of the picture, it’s quite possible that of the top ~10 or so scorers in the league, only one (Donovan) ends up in.
If you’re gonna post a photo of any of the candidates, let me suggest Lorrie Fair instead of Tony “this shoe sucks” Mulletola.
Razov, if he hadn’t bounced from Chicago to Chivas to somewhere in northern Spain and back, should merit more consideration.
Now you’ve done it.
How much weight do we put into Meola’s time with the NY Jets and the Buffalo Blizzard of the NPSL? Ooops, almost forgot the time he spent with the Long Island Rough Riders, too.
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