No HOF For Punter?

After reading a Bleacher Report Article that displayed 30 of the greatest snubs for the NFL Hall of Fame, one name really shone on the list, Ray Guy. Oh, and did I mention he is a punter?


For all you football fans out there, you realize the role of punter on an NFL team. They come out onto the field during the game to punt 4-5 times a game, and less if their team is doing well. They really go unnoticed, and people don't have their "favorite punter" like they do with their "favorite quarterback" (mines Brett Favre). This is why punters never find themselves getting inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. But what about the best punters of all time?


Ray Guy, punter for the Oakland Raiders from 1973-1986, is widely considered as the greatest punter of all time. Let me give you a rundown of his career in brief.

• Attended Southern Mississippi where he punted and kicked. He had so much success that has been inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, and the College Football Hall of Fame.
• Drafted in the 1st round of the 1973 draft. If you didn't know, only 3 punters have ever been drafted in the first round. Ever.
• In his NFL career, he played in 207 consecutive games.
• Led the NFL in punting 3 times
• Has a record of 111 punts in postseason history
• He has NEVER had a punt returned for a touchdown. This is the fact that I find most amazing because to not have a punt returned requires precision and placement, and to not have 1 of his 1,049 punts returned is just astonishing.
• He has been a vital part of 3 Super Bowl Winning teams
• Has a collegiate award named after him, the Ray Guy Award, which is awarded to collegiate's best punter.
• 7 time Pro Bowl selection

These are just a handful of his amazing statistics, and is incomparable to any other punter, so why is he not in the Hall of Fame? If you were not aware, a punter has never been elected into the Hall of Fame, and why not? They are a vital part of a team and every team needs a good punter.

Ray and his wife Beverly Guy had to file for bankruptcy in August, 2011. He was forced to put up all of his Super Bowl rings up for auction and sold for just over $96,000. Punters and football players alike didn't make that much money back in the 70's and 80's, so don't think that Guy was just spending-happy and wasted all of his money, he just wasn't paid that much.

People normally imitate their favorite quarterback or wide receiver when playing football. But when Ray Guy was playing, fans would imitate him. They tried to copy his picture perfect form. He was an exciting player, which is amazing to consider for just a punter.

Guy's Hall of Fame snub is considered one of the greatest of all time. Who knows, if he had been inducted to the Hall of Fame, he may not have had to file for bankruptcy and make drastic changes to his life. Why not break the trend and induct the first ever punter into the Hall of Fame? Ray Guy definitely deserves it.

Another Habitable Planet?

"Goldilocks" is the nickname for a section of space that is habitable for humans. In the Goldilocks, there are temperatures ranging from 80-120 degrees, which is much like certain parts of Africa in the summer. The ground is rocky and possible to build upon, and there are even clouds for shade. Amazingly, we have discovered a planet in this region of space, HD 85512b. If HD 85512b were as far from Earth as Mars is, we would be able to visit there safely, even start a colony. This is what gets astronomers so excited. The only problem is, HD 85512b is over 36 light years away. 

With our present technology (telescopes and spacecrafts), we are not able to get a clear view of the planet or even get anywhere near it. The idea of another planet being able to house humans is amazing to me, but sadly we won't be able to make any further investigations of it without the right technology. And the one thing that technology requires is money.

NASA is still a vital part of our government and country. We need to keep the funding to NASA up so we are able to make more discoveries like this and to investigate them further. 


The brilliance of what lies deep in the outer rim of our universe (and many other universes for that matter) will not be discovered without the proper funding. Habitable planets, new sources of energy, or even other living creatures is just a short list of what is possible beyond our solar system. 


In just 53 years since the establishment of NASA, we have made incredible discoveries in our own solar system, and even managed to safely send a man to the moon and back. Now imagine what we can do in the next 50 years if we focus on what is outside of our solar system. The possibilities are endless.

1372 Days Until Our 1st Picture of Pluto

It's been nearly 2091 days since the New Horizons spacecraft was launched by NASA in it's remarkable 10 year journey to fly by Pluto and its surrounding moons, Nix, Charon, Hydra, and S/2011 P 1. The goal of the New Horizons spacecraft is to shed light on the mysteries that lie deep in the outside parts of our universe, and to give us our first ever close up picture of what Pluto looks like. So far, all recreated images have been based of the speculations of scientists across the globe, but in roughly 1372 days the spacecraft will be at its closest point to Pluto and will take pictures and other scientific readings of this massive dwarf planet.


New Horizons is the fastest ever man made object to be launched from Earth, traveling at an astonishing 36,373 mph after its last engine had shut down. Now, the spacecraft has slowed down to roughly 15 km/s, which is equivalent to about 33,000 mph.


The expected date that it will fly by Pluto is July 14, 2015, where the spacecraft will be a couple billion miles away from Earth. (The flight path that New Horizons has been on is shown above). Soon enough, we will have our first picture of the former planet Pluto.


To track New Horizons on its journey across the universe, go to NASA's website where its location and time of fly by is updated daily.