NBA Hall of Fame trainwreck ... Peter Vecsey

Jordan and Vecsey were both pricks to deal with. Jordan was tolerated because he was one of the best to ever play the game. Vecsey wasn't because he brought no appreciable skills to the table.

 

The Basketball Hall of Fame is the biggest joke. People take shots at voting for the baseball hall of fame, and while it isn't perfect, at least the writers have some degree of accountability. The votes are released and you know who has a ballot.

I remember writing about the basketball Hall of Fame when Gene Keady was a nominee. I did a short item on the selection process and Hall officials told me voting was a 16-member panel, but wouldn't give their names, how they voted, etc. What a freaking joke. I'll never visit that place, even if I drive right by it someday.

But it does explain how Dick Vitale -- a man with a big heart, but just totally obnoxious on television -- can get in. Or a Peter Vecsey.

 

I've never had a problem with Vitale. He's genuinely passionate about the game, which is why he may come off as obnoxious. But atleast it's sincere, and he's done a lot to promote college basketball.

 

Fact: He was told that an outburst Friday night would get him ejected.

This is complete bullshit. Yeah, he's going to get thrown out of his own Hall of Fame speech.

Do people actually believe this stuff?

I can just hear it now ... "Well that's what my friend said his friend said happened."

 

All this talk about Vecsey being "IN" the Hall of Fame is incorrect. He was given an award by the Hall of Fame for his work in print. It's the equivalent of baseball's Spink award. It's nice, but you're not "IN" the H of F.
One year, I won that award. The trophy is somewhere in this room, but I'm not "IN" anything. I just wrote a lot of basketball stuff for a long time. As best I knew at the time, a small committee decided who got the trophy.
My speech was brief. I thanked Adolph Rupp, who once answered a phone call from my colleague Dick Fenlon and said, "I know two guys in Louisville. One's Fenlon, one's Kindred. One's a good guy, the other one's a son of a bitch. Which one are you?" Fenlon was the good guy. Also, that night my wife had said, "Look at that old man, dropping his cigar ashes on the floor." The old man was Red Auerbach. I said, "This is Massachusetts. It's a state law that Red can smoke anywhere he wants. The world is his ashtray." And gave the the stage to the Hall of Famers, sweet Meadowlark Lemon among them. A great, classy night it was.

 

I could only watch a couple minutes. His incredible narcissism is offputting.

 

I'm sure that clip was very heavily edited. I know the Stringer comment wasn't in there.

 

Thanks for that, Dave. I honestly didn't realize that. The fact is, I think that if he's being given an award, the implication is that he's done good work, and in his case there's too much crappy work.

 

It's 100 percent true.
His speech was Thursday, by the way.
Friday was about the real Hall of Famers.
Ass.

 

The only good thing was he listed those who he thought deserved to be in. I thought that was cool and different.

Other than that, it was boring and just a mindless rant. It's almost disgusting that he was honored. I can't recall anyone who seems to appreciate being the antagonist.

 

Who was Vecsey's "presenter"? Mitch Lawrence?