I’m proud to be a voter for the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Last year, I wrote an extensive piece on every player on the ballot and why I would or wouldn’t vote for them. This year it’s a bit simpler.
My ballot last year was Mauricio Cienfuegos, Mary Harvey, Frank Klopas, Alexi Lalas, Pato Margetic, Bruce Murray, Peter Nowak, Carla Overbeck, Carlos Valderrama and Peter Vermes. Lalas and Overbeck got in, and Harvey and Murray dropped off the ballot. So, if you assume that I’ve got to vote for the other six this year if I voted for them last year, that leaves me four slots.
The newcomers are Leonel Alvarez, Amanda Cromwell, Raul Diaz Arce, Marco Etcheverry, Joy Fawcett, Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Brian Maisonneuve, Joe-Max Moore, Siri Mullinix, Victor Nogueira, Cindy Parlow and Saskia Webber.
The ones who were at least in the running, who got a second look from me last year, were Desmond Armstrong, Mike Burns, Wendy Gebauer, Mo Johnston, Debbie Keller, Dominic Kinnear, Roy Lassiter, Hugo Perez, Steve Trittschuh, Perry Van der Beck and Roy Wegerle. Armstrong, Perez, Trittschuh and Van der Beck aren’t on the ballot this year. I didn’t vote for Thomas Dooley last year (shoot me) for reasons I went into in the article, though I think he’ll get in soon.
So, my pool from which to select four is Alvarez, Burns, Cromwell, Diaz Arce, Etcheverry, Fawcett, Foudy, Gebauer, Hamm, Johnston, Keller, Kinnear, Lassiter, Maisonneuve, Moore, Mullinix, Nogueira, Parlow, Webber and Wegerle. Hamm is an obvious choice, so that leaves three slots.
I can eliminate Alvarez, Cromwell, Diaz Arce, Keller, Maisonneuve, Mullinix and Webber right away, leaving a dozen players for three spots. I think Fawcett is an obvious choice, perhaps as obvious as Hamm when you get past the hype. And Etcheverry was one of the truly great players in MLS history and had a major impact on championship teams.
That leaves ten players battling for the tenth and final spot on my ballot. I think Nogueira is absolutely a Hall of Famer but considering he’s already 127 years old and still looks 38, I think he’ll keep for a few years, too. I really like Joe-Max Moore, but I wish he’d scored more as a forward. He did score the penalty that put the US in the 2002 World Cup, but he’s not a lock. Roy Lassiter has to stay in purgatory a bit longer despite all the goals.
So, I’m going with Foudy for the tenth spot, making my final ballot:
- Cienfuegos
- Etcheverry
- Fawcett
- Foudy
- Hamm
- Klopas
- Margetic
- Nowak
- Valderrama
- Vermes
Personally, I think it’s cool that we can have Hall of Fame debates now, just like the other sports do.
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