Tag Archives: hall of fame

National Lacrosse League Announces Key Dates for Fall 2023

The National Lacrosse League (@NLL), the largest and most successful professional lacrosse property in the world, today announced key dates leading up to its season start in early December, including the dates for the 2023 NLL Draft and the 2023 NLL Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, both of which will be held the weekend of September 15 in the Toronto metropolitan area.

“We are building off the momentum of a record-breaking season and these key dates officially point us firmly toward a transformative 2023-24 season,” said NLL Commissioner Brett Frood. “There is no better way to connect the past, present and future of our league and the sport of box lacrosse by bringing the NLL Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and the NLL Draft together for an exciting weekend, kickstarting our upcoming season.”

The NLL’s key dates in the coming months include:

Sept. 15: NLL Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Burlington, Ontario
Sept. 16: 2023 NLL Draft in Oakville, Ontario
Oct. 28-29: NLL Training Camps officially open
Dec. 1-2: 2023-24 NLL Faceoff Weekend

The NLL will induct 10 new members into the NLL Hall of Fame. Among the honorees are eight former players and two referees, under the Builders category:

Roy Condon, NLL Official
• 23-season career: 1989 through 2011
• Three NLL Championship Games: 1994, 1995, and 1999

Colin Doyle, Forward
• 19-year career: Ontario Raiders, San Jose Stealth, and Toronto Rock
• 6-time NLL Champion: Toronto (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2011)
• 3-time NLL Championship Game MVP: Toronto (1999, 2002, and 2005)
• 2005 NLL MVP Award
• 1998 NLL Rookie of the Year
• 4-time NLL All-League First Team and 7-time NLL Second Team honoree
• 2-time NLL scoring champion in 2005 and 2009
• Finished fourth all-time in goals (527), assists (857) and points (1,384) and tied for fifth all-time in games played (266)

Kevin Finneran, Forward
• 13-year career: Detroit Turbos, New England Blazers, Philadelphia Wings, and Toronto Rock
• 5-time NLL champion: four with Philadelphia (1994, 1995, 1998, and 2001) and one with Toronto (2003)
• NLL All-League First Team in 1998 and 2-time Second Team honoree (1994 and 1996)
• Retired as the all-time league leader with 143 games played, sixth all-time in goals (235), third all-time in assists (329), fifth all-time in points (564), and 11th in loose ball recoveries (631)
• Held the record for longest consecutive games played streak at 139 games and was the all-time leading scorer by an American prior to Casey Powell breaking his record.

Bill Fox, NLL Official
• 20-season career: 1992 through 2011
• Six Championship Games: 1993, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, and 2010

John Grant Jr., Forward
• 17-year career: Rochester Knighthawks and Colorado Mammoth
• NLL Champion in 2007
• 2007 NLL Championship Game MVP
• 2-time NLL MVP: 2007 and 2012
• 2000 NLL Rookie of the Year
• 6-time NLL All-League First Team and 3-time NLL Second Team honoree
• 4-time NLL Scoring Champion: 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2012
• Selected first overall in the 1999 NLL Draft
• Retired in the top 10 all-time with 668 goals (second), 778 assists (sixth), and 1,446 points (second), and was 12th all-time with 1,202 loose ball recoveries
• Set the record for points in a season in 2012 at 116, which has since been surpassed and now ranks tied for fourth-highest in NLL history, and his 37 goals as a rookie are still tied for fourth best
• Averaged 8.29 points per game in 2012, an NLL record with at least four games played

Pat McCready, Forward
• 17-year career: Charlotte Cobras, Rochester Knighthawks, Buffalo Bandits, and Toronto Rock
• 3-time NLL Champion: twice with Rochester (1997 and 2012) and once with Buffalo (2008)
• 2011 NLL Defensive Player of the Year
• Retired as the third all-time in loose ball recoveries (1,593), second in penalty minutes (470), and seventh in games played (219)

Casey Powell, Forward
• 11-year career: Rochester Knighthawks, Anaheim Storm, New York Titans, Orlando Titans, Boston Blazers, and Colorado Mammoth
• 2010 NLL MVP (the only American to win this honor)
• All-time leader in points by an American in NLL history
• Selected first overall in the 1998 NLL Draft
• Retired 10th all-time with 33 playoff goals in only 13 playoff games

Regy Thorpe, Defenseman
• 15-year career: all with the Rochester Knighthawks
• 2-time NLL Champion: 1997 and 2007
• Rochester franchise leader with 193 games played, 966 loose ball recoveries, and 385 penalty minutes

Steve Toll, Defenseman
• 15-year career: Ontario Raiders, Toronto Rock, Rochester Knighthawks, San Jose Stealth, Colorado Mammoth, and Edmonton Rush
• 5-time NLL Champion: four with Toronto (1999, 2000, 2002, and 2003) and one with Rochester (2007)
• Named the first winner of the NLL Transition Player of the Year Award in 2007
• Retired in the top 10 all-time with 1,562 loose ball recoveries in the regular season and an additional 160 in the playoffs
• Played in 188 consecutive games between 2000-2011, which ranks tied for the third longest streak of all-time

Shawn Williams, Forward
• 17-year career: Ontario Raiders, Toronto Rock, Buffalo Bandits, Rochester Knighthawks, and Edmonton Rush
• 2-time NLL Champion: one with Toronto (1999) and one with Rochester (2007)
• NLL All-League First Team in 2004 and NLL Second Team honoree in 2007
• Retired as one of eight players to accumulate 1,100 career points
• Finished in the top 10 all-time in games played, goals, and assists

The Class of 2021 will represent the first additions to the NLL Hall of Fame since 2016, with the inaugural members having been inducted in 2006.

Additional details regarding the NLL Draft and other preseason announcements will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Tanzania Tourism Board Announces New Relationships with International Tennis Hall of Fame, USTA, ITF

The Tanzania Tourism Board announced new relationships with the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the USTA and the ITF, all designed to raise awareness, opportunity and good will tied to the expedition John and Patrick McEnroe will be making to Tanzania in December. The new and expanded relationships will broaden the scope and opportunity around the trip and will be able to put this global opportunity to expand the game of tennis top of mind with many of the key enthusiasts for the game of tennis on every level.

“This partnership is key to having us reach communities through sport across North America, and in aligning John and Patrick McEnroe with some of our other partners in places like the NFL and MLS, it shows how seriously we take this commitment,” said Tanzania’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources Hassan Abbas. “Of all our new relationships, this one we believe can have the greatest impact, both on people coming to experience our country and in those young people who will benefit from learning and growing the game of tennis in Africa.”

“The possibilities of what we can do with these partnerships as a way to reach and engage not just fans of tennis, but of those who have interest in social responsibility both across the United States and in Tanzania is pretty endless,” said Patrick McEnroe, the newly appointed President of The International Tennis Hall of Fame. “It is the rare opportunity to impact lives but here and in Africa and we are looking forward to moving this project along into the summer and fall, especially with those who will be coming with us.”

The partnerships include a number of opportunities for members to engage and participate with the experiences well in advance of the trip as well as learn more about how the trip and all its components will build and execute good will and growth of the sport. The programs will include digital and social media contact, select in person events and charitable connections across the board.

John and Patrick McEnroe will be travelling to Tanzania this December as part of a new goodwill, awareness and sport initiative. In cooperation and support of the Tanzanian government. The Brothers McEnroe will be accompanied by as many as 120 tennis aficionados during a special eight-day trip which will include the first ever professional tennis match in the Serengeti and other tennis related events.

Guests will also join John and Patrick when they visit a traditional Maasai Village to bring goodwill and cultural exchange and introduce the Maasai youth to the game of tennis as part of a special court dedication.

Travelers will enjoy African hospitality while staying at the Four Seasons Serengeti, Gran Melia and other luxury lodges. This bucket list tour package includes all gourmet meals on an all-inclusive basis, domestic air, almost daily Safari game drives in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, a welcome reception hosted by the President of Tanzania, tennis-themed activities and memories to last a lifetime.
Tennis fans will not want to miss this historic moment in tennis history. This is a once-in-a-lifetime expedition to one of the most majestic landscapes on the planet with tennis legends.

To learn more or join the tour, please visit: https://epictanzaniatour.com/

O’Neil, Mackey, Foster Among Negro League Stars Featured In Strat-O-Matic, NLBM NFT Partnership

Strat-O-Matic, the market leader in sports simulation, and the Negro League Baseball Museum, the world’s only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of African-American baseball and its impact on the social advancement of America, today announced a partnership to distribute NFTs (non-fungible tokens) featuring all-time baseball greats from the Negro Leagues. The program includes partnerships with the estates of superstars like new Hall of Famer Buck O’Neil, Biz Mackey, Bill Foster, Rube Foster, Leon Day and Pete Hill in the first set of digital collectibles.

The NFT offerings will include images or media owned by the NLBM or estates as well as a voiceover discussing the player’s career and legacy and their unique Strat-O-Matic game card, playable via Strat-O-Matic’s proprietary game technology.

The NLBM will receive 25% of profits from the offering, making it one of the first philanthropic digital collectibles available.

“The Negro Leagues had a profound impact on the advancement of American civil rights and culture.” said Adam Richman, Strat-O-Matic C.E.O. “These NFTs will preserve this legacy and celebrate these players, who need to have their stories and contributions to history preserved for future generations.”

“The Negro League Baseball Museum is proud to continue its amazing partnership with Strat-O-Matic, which has long been a supporter of the museum and Negro Leagues history,” said Bob Kendrick, NLBM President. “The NFT offerings are a creative new way to help fans and collectors celebrate the greatness of these legendary players while supporting our mission.”

cover image: credit kc congdon

Gehrig Speech NFT Helps Relaunch NY Sports Hall

The New York Sports Hall of Fame relaunched today with a slate of digital firsts, including bidding on a non-fungible token (NFT) of the speech regarded as the most famous in sports history.

The historic 1-of-1 NFT of uncut extant film of the iconic 1939 “Luckiest Man” address by New York Yankees captain Lou Gehrig is open for bidding at opensea.io/collection/gehrig. The film is the longest single-source recording of the speech and the first known Gehrig speech NFT. 

Delivered at Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium, the speech is part of a New York Sports Hall of Fame collection that includes filmed remarks at the same ceremony by baseball legend Babe Ruth and Yankees manager Joe McCarthy. The three men were inducted into the Hall between 1989 and 1991. 

After a long hiatus, the New York Sports Hall of Fame relaunched today in digital form at newyorksportshall.com and on the prominent NFT marketplace OpenSea at opensea.io/nys.  Later this year, the Hall plans to release digital commemoratives of more of its 310 inductees to date and to open balloting for its next member class.

The New York Sports Hall of Fame’s extensive collection of original Greater New York historical content is preserved from more than 150 years of various sports developments, from Major League Baseball to six-day bicycle racing. The Hall archives illustrate how the history of Greater New York sports has helped shape culture and society in the region and beyond.

Gehrig was voted into the New York Sports Hall of Fame twice, in 1989 for professional baseball and two years later for college baseball. The former Columbia University star and record-setting Yankees first baseman was born, raised and educated in New York City.

Well known for its line, “the luckiest man on the face of the earth,” Gehrig’s speech was delivered on July 4, 1939. At the time, Gehrig was dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, the rare and incurable disease that became known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. 

The Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day NFT collection on OpenSea accepts the popular cryptocurrency Ethereum, which can be purchased on the exchange Coinbase and used on OpenSea with the digital wallet MetaMask.

Launched 32 years ago, the New York Sports Hall of Fame is owned and operated by the streaming service New York Sports Experience (newyorkse.com).

“From its start, the New York Sports Hall of Fame has been dedicated to the preservation and commemoration of the rich history of Greater New York sports,” said Jordan Sprechman, New York Sports Experience’s founder and an original New York Sports Hall of Fame officer. “Today’s digital expansion reflects that mission.”