It's safe to say we haven't just recently started this trend, but the last couple of weeks in the sports realm has been fatiguing from all the off-the-field nonsense that's been going on.
In a world where the sports wire is looking more and more like a police blotter, it hasn't been a light-hearted couple of weeks. But rather than rehash who's the latest person is to get hit by a professional football player, or who's been caught cheating by using performance-enhancing drugs, or who's gotten caught driving drunk again, I'm going to head another direction.
It was nice on Saturday to get something that made me focus on the actual playing of sports, rather than the disgusting deeds done by the players of those sports. You see, what was great about Saturday was it was when the preliminary nominees were announced for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
This is the kind of thing that's the center of those awesomely fun arguments you get to have with your friends and co-workers. It's those passionate arguments you get to have about who's a Hall of Famer and who's not. And judging by this list, there's plenty of room for argument.
There are a whopping 99 players and 14 coaches on the list, and each position has plenty of guys with cases to be made. Well, except for tight end, where Mark Bavaro is the only guy listed.
Other than the special teams/position players listing, which has just two candidates, the next-smallest group is quarterback, with four. But you could still have some fun debating if Kurt Warner, Randall Cunningham, Rich Gannon or Phil Simms is worthy of induction.
Heck, even the placekicker/punter category has more nominees, with four kickers - Morten Anderson, Gary Anderson, Jason Elam and Nick Lowery - joining punter Sean Landeta.
The rest of the groups, with number of nominees, are wide receiver (9), running back (14), offensive lineman (23), defensive lineman (12), linebacker (13) and defensive back (16).
I'm not going to deep-dive into each group, but suffice to say, there's tons of tough calls for the committee in charge of choosing the next class. For example, look at just the list of finalists who didn't earn election last time around - Tim Brown, Marvin Harrison, Jerome Bettis, Will Shields, Charles Haley, Kevin Greene, John Lynch and Morten Anderson. Oh, and Tony Dungy was a finalist as a coach.
In addition to Warner, there's plenty of interest for St. Louis Rams fans on the list, including wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, offensive lineman Orlando Pace and coach Dick Vermeil.
There's also some former Kansas City Chiefs on the list, like Shields on the offensive line, defensive backs Albert Lewis and Ty Law, and Lowery. Plus, Marty Schottenheimer and Vermeil as coaches.
I'd love to be in the room when the voters are making the case for their favorite, and I'm guessing it looks a lot like the debates the rest of us will be having.