No former Wizards were elected to the Hall of Fame this year. To be elected, one must be on 66.7% of the ballots, this year, only two players, Jeff Agoos and Joy Fawcett made the Hall. The next closest was Preki with 60.4%. Former Wizards, and current technical director, Peter Vermes, got 31.4%.
While it'd be nice to see Vermes get into the Hall. The fact that Preki hasn't gotten in yet, is borderline criminal. Sure his national team stats are not that great (28 caps, 4 goals), but the rest of his career should have made him a first ballot entry. He was the MVP of both the old MISL and the CISL before MLS even got started. When it did start, Preki was 33, but still managed to win 2 MVP awards during his career, the second in 2003 when he was 40! And this all is topped off with what appears to be a blossoming coaching career. How he continues to miss out on election is confusing to say the least.
You are right on. Preki must go in!
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I think Preki's illustrious career indoors hurts him in the HOF voting. I think there's still a prejudice against the indoor game, and those who played/starred in it. Either that, or these voters just don't realize just how good Preki really was indoors. He was flat out unstoppable. And for him to have played for that long, and then adjusted to the outdoor game again in the blink of an eye, at the age of 33 - that's a world class hall-of-famer in my book.
ReplyDelete