Questionable Hall of Fame Ballot

Ballots for the World Golf Hall of Fame were mailed to voters recently. For my money, this is the most screwed hall of fame in professional sports. Call me a traditionalist but how can you put active players in a hall of fame? Yet the World Golf Hall of Fame includes Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, Hale Irwin, Bernhard Langer, Nick Price and Vijay Singh, all of whom are still competing either on the Champions Tour or the PGA Tour. This year’s ballot also includes current players like David Toms, Davis Love III, Fred Couples, Mark O’Meara, Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal. I’m not suggesting that players have to be dead to be considered for the hall of fame, but I believe they should at least be retired. Can you imagine the criticism if the pro football hall of fame announced it was election Peyton Manning and Brett Favre this year or if Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter showed for induction ceremonies at Cooperstown? Ridiculous. At the same time, Craig Wood, Denny Shute Ken Venturi and Tony Lema are not in the PGA wing of the hall and Peter Allis and Christy O’Connor are still on the outside looking into the International wing. The hall asks voters to select five PGA Tour honoree and three International honorees. My vote, if I have one, would go to: Wood, Shute Tony Lema, Venturi and Bob Charles as well as Allis, O’Connor. Meanwhile, the hall should adopt a rule that no golf is eligible until he or she has stopped playing competitive golf for five years.

Hitting range balls while wondering whatever happened to Lionel Hebert.