By Paul M. Banks Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net,

Possibly the greatest “second banana” in NBA history, Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen, will enter the basketball Hall of Fame as part of a very special class this year.

2010 inductees include Jerry Buss, Cynthia Cooper, Bob Hurley, Sr., Karl Malone and two celebrated teams: the 1960 USA Men’s Olympic team and the 1992 USA Basketball “Dream Team.” The announcement was made at a press conference in Indianapolis, Indiana during the 2010 NCAA Final Four.

In the Bulls’ regular season finale vs. the Boston Celtics, Pippen was a special guest of the team, and he was honored before the United Center crowd. After the game, I caught up to him outside the Bulls locker room.

“It’s great. I can’t go out there and play the game like I used to, but any time you’re able to go out in front of a crowd of 20,000+, is a great place to be,” Pippen said of his public appearance at the Madhouse on Madison.

“It is a great, great class. Karl Malone, the ’92 team to be a part of that team, Cynthia Cooper- who I believe is the face of the WNBA, really put the game on the map and got women’s basketball going in the right direction and brought some excitement to it as well,” Scottie said.

Pippen, widely regarded as a top 25 all-time player in NBA history, and the second greatest Bull in franchise history, was asked to opine on the development of current Bulls franchise player Derrick Rose.

“Being an All-Star, stepping up and making plays down the stretch of games, he’s definitely been able to do a lot of growing this year,” Pip responded.

Pippen is one of just of just four post NBA-ABA merger players to ever lead his team (’94 Bulls) in points, rebounds, steals, assists and blocks in the same season. He had a storied career which included seven All-Star appearances, and was a lock to someday enter the hall. However, he was still pleasantly surprised when he heard the official news.

“I was excited. I was relieved. As a player everyone will tell you, you had a great career, but it all comes down to the judges, and getting in on that first ballot is a big source of pride for a player,” Scottie stated.

I asked Pippen about being honored at halftime of one of the most exciting NCAA title games in history. In between halves of Duke-Butler, Pippen and rest of the class was honored at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“It was a great Final Four and a great place to be honored, to be a part of what I think was one of the greatest Final Fours, and final game I’ve ever seen- just made it that much sweeter.”

Also joining him on that stage was the legendary Larry Bird, and since the ceremony took place in Indianapolis, you know the crowd reception was especially warm.

“Larry has always been a guy I’ve admired my whole career and before, any time I’m in his presence it’s a great feeling,” Pip concluded.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

Andre Dawson, known to many lovingly as “The Hawk” was one of the great heroes of my childhood.  Pretty much any Cubs fan in the late 1980s and early 1990s was a Hawk fan.  He won the MVP in 1987 as a Cub and blasted a career 438 home runs in an era where steroids were just a twinkle in baseball’s eye (well maybe the bash brothers were having some fun, but for the most part baseball was as innocent as a few greenies and a 6-pack).  In fact, I have wanted a throwback Dawson Cubs jersey for years now but just didn’t have the funds to buy one (I had to settle for this cheap stupid Fukudome jersey tee instead).  Now that he has finally, and rightfully, been inducted into the Hall of Fame, the question that has arisen in most people’s minds is what team’s jersey he will go into the Hall wearing.  While he spent his first 11 seasons with the Expos, he spent his next 6 with the Cubs and won the MVP while playing there as well as making 5 of his 8 career all-star appearances.

I’m not entirely sure what the Hall’s process is for selecting the team of each member, but if Dawson’s intentions are any indication, we might get our wish and have another Cubbie in the Hall.  Also playing in favor of the Cubs is the organization itself, which is trying to make Dawson an offer he can’t refuse:

Dawson has been promised by the Cubs to have his No. 8 uniform number retired if he goes into the Hall of Fame as a Cub, a source close to Dawson said on Sunday.

No word on whether the Cubs would follow through with retiring his number if Dawson is inducted as an Expo.

I like the Cubs strategy, although it seems obvious that his number would be retired if he makes the  Hall as a Cub.  The only player in the last 75 years I can think of who would have their number retired with the Cubs while entering the Hall with another team will be Greg Maddux.  Hopefully we have the #8 flying on one of the flagpoles at Wrigley this season either way, but it’d be nice to see The Hawk in the hall with Cubbie blue on.

Congratulations to Andre Dawson.  The Hawk was always a class act and his numbers and swagger make him an obvious Hall of Famer in my book.  My well wishes go out to Bert, Robbie, and Barry who did not make the Hall this year.

Go Hawk!

In the wake of the Sammy Sosa steroid scandal, many people around the majors have been chiming in about what they think regarding this topic.  Ryne Sandberg does not approve, and he had this to say:

Appearing on the “Waddle & Silvy” show on ESPN 1000, Sandberg was asked whether Sosa belongs in the Hall of Fame. “I don’t think so,” he said.

…Sandberg and Sosa were Cubs teammates from 1992 to ’94 and again in ’96 and ’97.

“I was around Sammy for about five years before I retired, and there wasn’t anything going on then,” Sandberg said. “I did admire the hard work he put in. He was one of the first guys down to the batting cage, hitting extra. I figured he was working out hard in the offseason to get bigger. It was just happening throughout the game, that even myself was blinded by what was really happening, maybe starting in the ’98 season.

Ryno has a point and as some of these steroid guys become eligible for the hall, we’ll find out if that is the general sentiment among sportswriters (I’m pretty sure it is, sportswriters are old and like all old people, they think their childhood was “pure” and modern times are shitty).

Another weird, weird, weird story about Sosa has surfaced as well.  Apparently he not only wanted to hit the ball better, but wanted people to know how strong he looked as well.

It turns out Sosa had his jerseys tapered around his arms for a period of years. A study of photo archives suggests Sosa’s jerseys were tailored with elastic inside the arms from 2002-2004, while he was playing with the Chicago Cubs.

Sosa’s custom ordering came to light thanks to pictures of an authentic Sosa jersey that is currently being auctioned off by Hunt Auctions. The jersey, advertised as being used by Sosa for the game he hit home run No. 470, was from the 2002 season.

CNBC confirmed through a source that Sosa did indeed ask for the elastic arm tapering for at least the 2002 season. The source said that he could not remember another player that asked for this specification.

“I don’t know why it would be tapered like that other than it being a purely cosmetic change so that people could see his muscles,” said David Hunt, president of Hunt Auctions. “There doesn’t seem to be any other reason why he’d do it.”

What a douchebag, right?  I mean am I the last one to realize that? (yes)  It’s funny how when some players do things like this, its funny and endearing, and when others do it its just plain douchy.  I still love the guy, but now that its a fact he did steroids, I like him less and less.  No matter how much of this crap comes out though, he did save baseball in Chicago and across the country.  Don’t forget.  Just laugh at him, but don’t forget.

The Basketball Hall of Fame inducted some new members this past week.  Unfortunately for Basketball, no one cares about it’s Hall.  No disrespect to Michael Jordan, Jerry Sloan, David Robinson, and the other inductees, but who really cares?

Why are Halls of Fame so different in importance from sport to sport?  I’m not entirely sure, but here is a little ranking of the major ones and my reasoning for why they are as important or meaningless as they are:

1. Baseball Hall of Fame: While the actual site of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown may be just as important as the site of Football’s in Canton, Baseball gets the edge.  The sheer importance of making the Hall in Baseball transcends the sport.  When discussing a player’s accolades in baseball, the Hall of Fame is the highest honor one can achieve.  The sport is so obsessed with statistics and numbers that it makes sense the Hall would be so important.

2. Football Hall of Fame: Everyone has heard of Canton and the Football Hall of Fame.  While Championships are important in football, the Hall is something every great player aspires to.  It is not necessarily as central to the sport as baseball, but it is still very important.

3. Hockey Hall of Fame: I have actually heard of it, which is enough to put it above basketball’s Hall.  Please direct questions to StevieY about the Hockey Hall of Fame.

4. Basketball Hall of Fame: Why is the Hall so meaningless in basketball?  Here is my theory.  In no other sport is a team championship given so much credence when discussing the success of an individual player’s career.  Sure Charles Barkley is a Hall of Famer, but all anyone ever talks about is how he never won a Championship.  Basketball is a team game in a way that none of the other 3 sports are (besides hockey maybe).  Since the team is given importance above all else, Championships are how great players’ careers are judged, not individual accolades like induction into the Hall of Fame.