Goose!

I thought Mooch would get the sympathy vote, at least. Hope he makes it...

Speaking of Hope -- does our Ms. Solo have hope of making it to the Hall?

How is Earnie Stewart or Joy Fawcett not first ballot HOFers?

No Marco? bwahahahahahahahahahaha

what a joke....

Just curious, who are the voters for this?

off-topic, but USWNT beat Norway 4-0 to advance to the final.

Did you watch the match, troy?

I'm surprised to see Preki on the top of the list...I've always thought he was underappreciated, and he was a non-factor on the MNT.

No Etcheverry, No Arena......are you kidding me?

At least two of Earnie, Joe-Max, Marco and even Joy Fawcett should have gone in...

If Hugo Perez can get in after all these years, all four of them will get in eventually, but I'm really disappointed in this years voting.

Believe me, Marco Etcheverry doesn't need to be inducted into the US Soccer HOF to have his career validated.

i hope once United has it's own stadium (zzzzzzzzz) they make sure there's some sort of DCU hall of fame somewhere at the ground.

None of those people mentioned are hall of fame material. They were the best of a bad country's footballing culture, not famous.

The HOF for soccer is crap!

Thanks for checking in, Mr. Maske.

From soccer hall website:

"Among the voters are over 100 media personnel from the print, broadcast, and on-line communities, National Team and qualified MLS Coaches, national soccer administrators, and Hall of Famers. In total over 200 individuals are eligible to vote in the 2008 election."

But only 128 voted.

Total travesty.

How does Agoos not get inducted? The guy has several championships and was a part of the national team for a long time. Yeah the tail end of his career was brutal (especially the World Cup performance) but he was a key figure in MLS. What a dumb system.

Hey Goff,

I'm a Master's of Architecture candidate at Virginia Tech, and have dedicated my thesis work over the last year to designing a new soccer stadium for United on the RFK site. I have already run the plans by a DCU exec. (to remain nameless). I would like to get a little more public exposure for the project, to possibly spark a discussion. The site has amazing potential. Drop me a line if you're interested.

Webne6@yahoo.com

How is Earnie Stewart or Joy Fawcett not first ballot HOFers?

Posted by: Mark | March 10, 2008 12:41 PM

It's easy not to pue Earnie and Joy in the first time when you consider who they're up against.

For example, 14 voters looked at the exemplary career of Mike Sorber and said, "Yup, way more impressive than Earnie Stewart. Joy Fawcett? Didn't she leave the game like 3 times to have babies? Mike Sorber never had any babies."

A similar realization occurred to the 17 voters who selected Mike Burns. "When I say 'World Cup' and 'Earnie Stewart' in the same sentence, it usually comes out 'Earnie Stewart played in 3 World Cups.' When I say 'Mike Burns' and 'World Cup,' I think of only one word: '1998.'"

Of course, these is the same HOF voter pool that didn't give Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Eric Wynalda, or John Harkes 100% of the vote. If it's true that there are 200 eligible voters and only 128 responded, I'm very sad for the Soccer HOF process.

Steven, I don't know about you, but I'm flabbergasted by the vote. Maybe people still think you're only allowed to vote for two or three people even though at least five are worthy. (My ballot: Agoos, Dooley, Etcheverry, Fawcett, Lassiter, Preki, Stewart, Valderrama ... and I could see a case for Fraser, MacMillan and others.)

If this keeps up, people visiting Oneonta might get the impression that today's stars simply can't compete with, say, the backup goalkeeper from the 1950 World Cup team or the key player on a thrilling charge to the U.S. Open Cup in the 1930s.

(Roger Allaway always writes to remind me that I can't compare standards from the old days to the last few years, when the writers have taken over the vote. He's right. But we're not going to kick anyone out, so to even up the eras just a little little, we're going to have to put SOMEONE in. Say, maybe the best defender in women's soccer history or the guy who scored the third-most important goal in 70 years of U.S. soccer, among other accomplishments.)

But only 128 voted.

Posted by: WNT fan | March 10, 2008 02:01 PM
======================

That should be embarrassing to the HOF and the electors. This isn't a Presidential election, where a voter can be apathetic. It should be considered a high honor and a responsibility to be an elector - and it's not a one-day voting process.

Now, the unselected nominees have one chance taken away because of elector apathy. Shame on the 72.

I just re-read my comments and would like to clarify them. It is also a high honor and a responsibility to be an voter in our political elections - despite the turnout. I don't want to invite (incite?) a debate on that non-soccer point.

My point is that a 64% turnout of invited, and presumably knowledgeable, individuals is unacceptable to me.

""i hope once United has it's own stadium (zzzzzzzzz) they make sure there's some sort of DCU hall of fame somewhere at the ground.""

A bust of Etcheverry's mullet would be perfect for the steps.

I should probably just bite my tongue.

However -

Of it being an honor to vote - you could say the same thing about the Heisman (tons of voters don't even watch the games), Naismith, and other awards.

Heck - you could say the same thing about the average American not exercising their right to chose their leaders for whatever reason and then whining when they're unhappy.

Can't call it unacceptable when most elections in this country are decided by the un-informed or apathetic.

Baseball HOF voting is taken so seriously only 1-2 guys per market have a vote, and the NFL locks 40 guys in a room until they come up with a slate of nominees. If soccer wants to be taken seriously in this country, then they need to vote with the same amount of accountability and seriousness. If you didn't vote this year, you should have your vote taken away, forever. Fawcett, Agoos, Preki, Earninho and Dooley should have been carried into the HOF on the fans' shoulders because I can't figure out what the writers and coaches were looking at over the past 15 years.

I like the mullett idea.

Or, they can just post Left Turn Only signs, or its equivlanet, Right Turn inside a circle with a big slash through it.

The percentage calculations for the non-player categories on the HOF website seem to be wrong. Wonder why that is? High quality process all around. Too bad for the folks that deserve better.

Goff, do you think someone like Etcheverry gets hurt by not being a citizen during his playing years? Is there a US-only bias among some of the voters? BTW - Are you a voter?

Goff: Isn't it the case that you were among the 200+ eligible voters, but not among the 128 who actually voted? Some time ago you explained why you and your Post colleagues steer clear of these voting opportunities. This may be a good time to explain your (and/or the Post's) policies once more, for the benefit of people who have joined the conversation more recently.

Hard to understand how Etcheverry would not make it as a first balloter...I wonder what the criteria for selection are?

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Here's my prediction for what I'll yell on Wednesday:

"Moreno...Gallardo....EMILIOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Goooal DC United" (insert annoying voice here)

Marco and Bruce Arena should have made it.

Sorry for not answering questions on here today. I'm finishing an Oly soccer story for tomorrow's print edition and getting ready to cover George Mason basketball tonight. Cheers, SG

If Marco Etcheverry isn't in the Hall of Fame, it's a Hall of Shame...pardon the cliche

I think Steve Goff should be in the hall of fame for his great coverage of soccer.We are lucky to have this great coverage....................

I need to stop cooking during WaPo Live. Was Goff just doing CAA tournament coverage?

sitruc,

OPEN A BOX OF CEREAL FOR PETE"S SAKE! It takes 10 seconds and you won't miss out.

hey sitruc. no, I got caught up at work. I'm going to solve that for wednesday's final by not showing up there in the first place. repeat of last year's final: US-Denmark. I used to live in Denmark, but that was ten years ago, so i don't know any of the players. I'll brush off my rusty danish to see if there is any useful insight before the match.... I'm just rambling now; I need sleep. amanha cavalheiros...

Troy: Before you drift off to sleep, perhaps you can comment on this bit of Benfica-related news:

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/7892824/Benfica-coach-Camacho-quits

8 days to the first home match!

Wow, Freddy's already outlasted 2 head coaches at Benfica. Wonder what it'll mean for him...

Goff, make sure you pick Mason to go all the way to the Final Four. No one will expect it and you could get rich!

I agree ... sooner or later, Goff deserves a place as a Builder in the Hall. Coverage like his really makes it more enjoyable to be a fan.

Curious, you're a beacon of light and hope in a dark, dark world.

Thank you for all you do.

Although I'm eating cereal now as a 2am snack, I had "dinner food" for dinner.

As I typed that, I realized that comment was too late 90s/early 2000s bloggy for a soccer blog. Oh well. I'm currently feeling majestic blue.

sorry, slept before I saw the post. Camacho quit and a chorus of "ding dong the witch is dead" rang out. OK, only I was singing it, but when I explained its meaning everyone agreed. Camacho was in a perpetual snit, connected with no one, didn't speak Portuguese, and used baffling tactics (stand in your spot and wait for the ball, essentially). Odd, because he was successful in his first go around.

Interim coach for now. In an interesting twist, veteran midfielder Rui Costa will pick the new coach. Not as strange as it sounds; Costa has long been identified as the team's new Sporting Director once the season ends. There has been much clamor for him to play one more season especially if it is with a hand-picked coach, but he appears committed to entering this new career. He is still the best player on the pitch in any match he plays, but I respect his decision. Anyway, there will be no morale or attitude problems with him in charge. I am curious who he will pick. Much gossip about Italians, given that Costa played in Italy, but that is from pundits and not from Costa.

We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.

User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.