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Post by milehigh on Feb 8, 2022 20:46:52 GMT
I thought it would be a good idea to start our own UK Basketball "Hall of Fame".
Following on from the method used by the major pro sports HOF's in the USA, inductees can be from one of three categories
Player, Coach or Administrator/official
To get the ball rolling, I'd like to invite nominations for the Administrator/Official section.
Nominations close at 8pm Friday Feb 11th, I'll then set up a poll to decide who will be the first inductees.
To start off I'd nominate
Kevin Routledge of the Leicester Riders. Kevin was involved with the club from, almost day 1, and he has played a number of roles both for the club, the BBL and British Basketball in general. I feel he should be included.
Also,
Bob Hope, who was head coach in the early days of Team Fiat, that became Birmingham Bullets, before working on the commercial side of the game for many years, & is now working hard as part of the group trying to bring top level basketball back to Birmingham.
I look forward to hearing the nominations, and why, from other members here.
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Post by A tall man on Feb 8, 2022 21:01:13 GMT
Dan Routledge - essentially the voice of the bbl. Having that consistently for decades gives the league and sport in general a voice to be heard. The work he does with stats too is fantastic.
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Post by isthaturinal on Feb 8, 2022 21:10:57 GMT
I’m sure we’ll all agree that Vince has got to be in with a shout !
And I know he’s still playing but Mr 27 or what ever number it is Darius Defoe
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Post by milehigh on Feb 8, 2022 21:12:29 GMT
Nominations ONLY for administrators and Officials this week/
There will be a chance to nominate players and coaches soon
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Post by SamH on Feb 8, 2022 23:28:11 GMT
Referee Bob Bhania. Back in the day he was great craic before games when I used to help setting up. He even claimed a parking ticket on expenses for one of the other lads who got caught out by mistake parking round the back of the Brighton centre. But best of all, Bob always told it how it was. If a ref was sh*t, he'd say so. If a ref had f**cked with a player, he said so. Maybe not very professional but it was great listening! Plus I think he knew he was sh*t too and laughed about it. Legend!
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Post by LTfan on Feb 9, 2022 16:24:28 GMT
Nominations ONLY for administrators and Officials this week/ There will be a chance to nominate players and coaches soon But where would one nominate Vince Macauley... I'd say he's in all 3 categories! I suppose the obvious one is 'coach', but to the Lions organisation he was so much more than that and deserves that recognition. Other than that, I'd agree with Dan Routledge. Essentially 'the voice of the BBL', both literally and in terms of overall knowledge. |
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Post by milehigh on Feb 9, 2022 16:34:34 GMT
I Think we can accept Vince in the Administrators section, and take account of his overall contribution.
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Post by notoriousbigz on Feb 9, 2022 16:48:55 GMT
Here’s a few from me:
Vince Macauley - he has really dug deep over the years keeping a franchise going and has relatively successfully transitioned the programme into a competitive European side. It’s not often people in British basketball can say they’ve left a franchise in better condition than they found it, and he certainly can say that and then some.
Kev Routledge - first franchise in the UK to own its own dedicated basketball arena. I’m not sure there’s many better achievements in terms of facilitating the game in this country.
Roger Harrison - played and officiated on the international stage, and to be fair was a gentleman whenever I came across him. Definitely gets my vote as an official.
Finally, Id give an extremely honourable mention to Paul Blake and Dave Forrester too, the impact they’ve had at Newcastle and the Eagles foundation has been huge for the area, the community programme is huge and they also have the honour of being one of only two wholly owned dedicated basketball facilities in the country, so it would be remiss of me not to mention the vast good they’ve done for basketball in the NEnand the country in general. They’ve had some successes on the court as well if nobody had noticed haha!
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Post by milehigh on Feb 9, 2022 17:38:18 GMT
Some very strong nominations from "Bigz", it would be good to get nominations from all of our forum members.
Nominations close at 8pm Friday Feb 11th, I'll then set up a poll to decide who will be the first inductees.
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Post by stepback3 on Feb 9, 2022 21:09:39 GMT
Ian reid for me. The work he has done to establish basketball in scotland and increasing the presence in schools through his charity ssf is amazing
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Post by notoriousbigz on Feb 9, 2022 22:46:38 GMT
Ian reid for me. The work he has done to establish basketball in scotland and increasing the presence in schools through his charity ssf is amazing My historic scottish basketball knowledge is awful - my ignorance is sickening, do they have a history page on their website or anything like that? Im actually embarrassed I dont know too much about it. |
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Post by baldeagle on Feb 10, 2022 8:05:12 GMT
Going back a bit, referee Dave Turner for me. Apart from being a good guy, as far as I know the only UK official to ref an Olympic final (1980 if memory serves me right)
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Post by notoriousbigz on Feb 10, 2022 9:02:08 GMT
Going back a bit, referee Dave Turner for me. Apart from being a good guy, as far as I know the only UK official to ref an Olympic final (1980 if memory serves me right) Im learning a lot of stuff here - keep it coming. Refereeing an olympic final (and being the only one to do it!) seems worthy of an entry to me! |
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Post by SamH on Feb 10, 2022 9:41:42 GMT
Yes I'd agree with that! Amazing that in 1980 someone from the British leagues would get picked for such a big game.
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Post by reefram on Feb 10, 2022 18:19:50 GMT
Bigz Roger Harrison a good shout for his reffing over the years. Pretty sure he only ever played at local league level though (I played alongside him 30 odd years ago).
From Derby I don't think there is anybody who has done more for Derby basketball over the years than Martin Shaw (father of current Trailblazers coach Matt). He helped form the original Derby team and has consistently worked to help and improve Derby basketball and basketball England. His name won't be known by many looking on from the outside but over 40 of unheralded work is a great achievement.
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Post by notoriousbigz on Feb 10, 2022 19:10:33 GMT
Bigz Roger Harrison a good shout for his reffing over the years. Pretty sure he only ever played at local league level though (I played alongside him 30 odd years ago). From Derby I don't think there is anybody who has done more for Derby basketball over the years than Martin Shaw (father of current Trailblazers coach Matt). He helped form the original Derby team and has consistently worked to help and improve Derby basketball and basketball England. His name won't be known by many looking on from the outside but over 40 of unheralded work is a great achievement. I vaguely remember being told he played for England at one stage. That could well have been at junior level but yeah thats what I was led to believe. Could well all be BS haha!!!! More knowledge here though, didnt realise the Shaws basketball history went back further than Matt (and what a servant hes been as a player/coach/facilitator down the years too!) |
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Post by spacejammer on Feb 10, 2022 22:27:47 GMT
If we going on just the coaches surely the one and only Fab Flournoy has to be in the conversation.
3 clean sweeps and was one of the catalysts that made the Eagles organisation what it is today!
Speak of Eagles HOF weren't they meant to be doing some sort of top 25 ever players awards about 2 seasons ago that they asked us to vote one player on.
It seems like it has been forgotten about.
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Post by milehigh on Feb 11, 2022 0:04:40 GMT
To make this clear.
Nominations ONLY for administrators and Officials this week
There will be a chance to nominate players and coaches soon Nominations close at 8pm Friday Feb 11th, I'll then set up a poll to decide who will be the first inductees.
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Post by mac on Feb 11, 2022 16:41:46 GMT
I'm thinking that three days is too short a time frame. Folks like me check in infrequently and might miss it. Also is the forum big enough to get a broad enough opinion?
That said, it can only be Paul and Sam Blake, Off the top of my head, they took over a franchise in serious trouble and made it the most successful in BBL history. They set up a hugely successful charitable foundation which in turn led to the building of a fantastic Arena. Bigz has already mentioned the basketball program not just for kids but there is also walking basketball for older players. I'm pretty sure they developed Hoops 4 Health promoting health and sport in schools, something I believe is now copied all over the country. Finally Paul chaired the BBL and did many good things there. They should be nominated for a Gong IMO.
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Post by mac on Feb 11, 2022 16:49:41 GMT
Have Riders bought their Arena? I thought it was council owned. Agree Kevin R and Vince should be in the conversation.
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