Angela and Cammi, They Belong.

Angela James and Cammi Granato elbowed their way into the Hockey Hall of Fame today.  About time?  Yea, it's about time. It's over due.  I've been reading some of comments on sports web sites and it amazes that there are people (guys) who don't think the two belong with the men. Especially when they take the spots of more deserving men.

First off, James and Granato didn't keep anyone out of the Hall of Fame.  They made it in a seperate category.  Builders, male players and female players.  So Joey Nieuwendyk wasn't bumped by James and Dougie Gilmour's spot wasn't sacrificed for Granato.  Nieuweundyk and Gilmour simply didn't cut it with voters.

Yea, I know, women's hockey isn't played on the same level as men's.  Not as big, not as strong, not as fast.  But James and Granato weren't and shouldn't be measured by that standard.  They were the best female players in the world who are eligable for Hall of Fame.  They deserve to be in,  It's not the NHL Hall of Fame or the Men's Hockey Hall of Fame.  It's the Hockey Hall of Fame. 

Another bit of controversey with Dino Cicarelli getting in. He's been over looked for years. Hey, they guy scored more thaqn 600 career goals. He belongs. 

To me the argument about who does and doesn't get in is silly.  It's silly because of one name.  Harold Ballard is in the builder's category.  Harold did a lot of things as owner of the Maple Leafs.  What he didn't do was build anything.  Harold took one of the most storied franchies in all of sport and turned it into a standing joke.  A team players refused to be drafted by or traded to.  He alienated a generation of fans.  He embarassed a generation of fans.

Harold saw himself as the consumate business man.  After he passed away and Cliff Fletcher was brought in to run the hockey operations and one of the first  things Fletcher did was raise ticket prices.  Fletcher knew that Maple Leaf tickets were some of the most under priced in all of professional sports.  That never sunk in with Harold who also thought he knew more about the game than anyone else did.  We saw the results.

 The other day Robbie Alomar was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.  He's not Canadian.  But he played the game in Canada and he helped grow the game here.  That's one of the arguments against James and Granato going in as players.  They helped grow the women's game in North America so put them in the builder's category not the player's.  I'd put them in both.  They deserve to be in as players and they did a hell of a lot more for hockey than Harold Ballard ever did.