Current Players in Halls of Fame

The recent shrining of active coaches Boeheim and Calhoun has led many sports analysts including New York's Mike and Mike in the Morning to discuss inducting active players into Halls of Fame.

For me, the question starts here: what is the purpose of a Hall of Fame?

If a Hall is a place to honor numbers devoid of a personal connection, then certainly Berry Bonds should already be in Cooperstown. In this case, we should probably just set certain statistical thresholds, once broken granting access to a Hall.

But if a Hall of Fame is a place to preserve the history, human and statistical, of a sport-- which I think it is-- then granting active players this honor is a huge mistake.

• Imagine a Hall of Fame featuring a bust of Pete Rose the day his gambling scandal was broken.
• Imagine a Hall of Fame featuring Mark McGwire the day of the Congressional steroid hearings.
  

Inducting a player to your sport's Hall of Fame is a serious thing. I think the decision should be made with the clarity of hindsight.