The Class of 2004
Well, we only had 4 ballots returned, but it was still enough to make Snoop Dogg, Bill Simmons, Gary Godsey, and Coach Joe Yonto the inaugural class of the kankasports.blogspot.com KankaNation Hall of Fame.
Snoop Dogg: Simply famous for being cool, he is the most recognized rapper of his generation.
Bill Simmons: Revolutionized sports writing (and the way many men talk and think) with his column on Page 2. Inspired many knock-off sites such as this one.
Gary Godsey: He Beat Purdue. Twice. Nowadays, is more or less famous just for being Gary Godsey.
Coach Yonto: National Championships follow him everywhere: he was an injured member of the B team for ND's '46 championship, Assistant D-Line coach in '66, D-Line coach in '73, Defensive Coordinator in '77, and retired in '87, the year before Lou Holtz lead the Irish to the title. Also well known for his thoughts on gimmicks and locomotives.
Here's how the voting went down (out of 4 ballots, 4 votes required):
Snoop Dogg 4
Bill Simmons 4
Gary Godsey 4
Coach Yonto 4
Joe Namath 2
Kanka 2
Darrell Campbell 2
Elizabeth Hasselbeck 1
Joe Horn's cell phone 1
Jody Gerut 1
the KankaManiacs 1
the other Manning brother 1
DJ Fitzpatrick 1
Dick Lynch 1
the creator of Happy Days (and hence "jump the shark") 1
The Weekend in Review
NFL
Colts/Patriots: A textbook case study of the Peyton Manning face. Every expletive in the book. Every emotion from "are you kidding me?" to "why did I do that?" to "not again." New England was able to shut down the Colt receivers, taking their chances with Marcus Pollard. They made the right choice. This game is a lesson learned from John Hart and the Indians of the mid-90s: no matter how high-powered your offense is, the good all-around team will always win.
Panthers/Eagles: Defense wins championships. We should have seen that coming. The injury to McNabb surely didn't help, but that wasn't the Eagles main problem on Sunday. Carolina just wanted it more. The Panthers were making the hard hits, going out for the tough catches, and fighting for the extra yards. The Eagles, on the other hand, had players like James Thrash olé at passes over the middle and Deuce Staley dance out of bounds a yard short of the first down marker. Freddy Mitchell was one of the few guys fighting hard for that team. In the end, the Panthers had much more heart and determination, and when you combine that with their talent, you get a free trip to Houston.
ND in the Playoffs Update
Baltimore
Javin Hunter DNP, injured
Gerome Sapp DNP?
Anthony Weaver 1 game, 3 Tackles
Denver
Bertrand Berry: 1 Game, 1 Tackle, 1 Assist
Steve Beuerlein: DNP, injured
Jarious Jackson: DNP
Indianapolis
Tom Lopienski: 3 Games, 1 Catch, 2 yrds Rec, 1 TD
Hunter Smith: 3 Games, 1 Punt, 55 yards, 1 heads up play on the safety
New England
David Givens: 2 Games, 12 Catches, 94 yrds Rec, 1 TD
Kansas City
Jordan Black: 1 Game?
Tennessee
Rocky Boiman: 2 Games, 1 Tackle, 1 Assist
Craig Hentrich: 2 Games 6 Punts, 44.7 Average, 63 Long, 4 Inside 20
Carolina
no players
Dallas
Kurt Vollers: 1 Game
Green Bay
Brennan Curtin: 2 Games?
Tony Fisher: 2 Games, 2 Rushes, 9 yrds Rush, 4 Catches, 25 yrds Rec
Philadelphia
Jim Flanigan: ?
Paul Grasmanis: Injured, DNP
Tyreo Harrison: DNP?
Bobby Taylor: 2 Games, 7 Tackles
Seattle
no players
St Louis
Jeremy Akers: 1 Game?
Joey Goodspeed: 1 Game, 1 Catch, 9 yrds Rec
Shane Walton: DNP?
ND Men's Basketball
Well, they lead the whole way to beat VPI Tuesday, but let's talk about that Syracuse game that was on TV. Tom Timmermans deserves all the talk he got from the announcers. Why? He (and maybe Colin Falls) was the only guy showing any semblance of hustle out there! I mean, I watch the Cavs, a mediocre NBA team, and they even box out! A very winnable ball game...
Transaction Wire
Hot off the presses! Cavs trade Darius Miles to Portland (you can't make this up!) for PG Jeff McInnis and center Ruben Boumtje Boumtje! I wish I were kidding. Miles missed practice the other day. He apparently overslept, and when he didn't answer his phone, the Cavs sent the police to check on him. A posse member answered the door, and Miles explained the situation. I don't think this incident is in any way related to the trade. The Cavs need depth at PG, especially since LeBron is becoming overworked. McInnis is a solid, starter-quality ball handler who doesn't turn the ball over. RBB is the question. The Cavs are already fairly deep at center with Ilgauskas, Battie, and Diop, although Ilgauskas and Diop are injury prone. Hopefully this is a sign that the east's best center (scoring-wise, anyway) is about to be traded away. If you would like to see me wearing a Boumtje Boumtje Cavs jersey the next time I visit campus, feel free to send donations to...
Rockie sign "El Presidente." Coming of arm surgery and a bad 2003, Turk Wendell isn't making his situation any better by coming to Coors Field. At least he still hates the Yankees.
Several more Gammons-esque names were involved this week, plus the Giants made many assistant coaching hires, but unfortunately, it looks like this is it for the Transaction Wire this week.
Join me tomorrow for what will probably be a short article. I have a few ideas in my mind, plus a look at forming a "not" Hall of Fame. Congrats again to Snoop, Bill, Gary, and the Coach. Watch the message board as I'll try to make sure each HOF member is contacted. Join us again tomorrow - same Kanka time, same Kanka Channel.
