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John Elway and Barry Sanders were among 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced Wednesday.
The Hall's board of selectors selected the finalists from a list of 25 semifinalists.
Two candidates, tackle Bob Brown and wide receiver Bob Hayes, were recommended by the Hall's senior committee. Other finalists: wide receiver Art Monk; defensive ends Richard Dent, Carl Eller, and Jim Marshall; guard Bob Kuechenberg; safety Cliff Harris; cornerback Lester Hayes; tackles Rayfield Wright and Gary Zimmerman.
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Linebacker Harry Carson and general manager George Young are automatic finalists
because of their high finish in last year's voting. Tickets
Team owners Art Modell and Ralph Wilson Jr. did not make the list.
The new class will elected in Houston on Jan. 31, the day before the Super Bowl.
If you think you've already seen a lot of the 49ers' Terrell Owens on the field and in bad-behavior TV lowlight reels, check out his 2004 calendar. The slick production -- a fast seller at sports memorabilia shops around the Bay Area -- shows off Owens' spectacularly buff body in a variety of poses: standing by a white tiger, shooting hoops, coming out of the shower (with one hand and a white tile wall obscuring just enough). "The calendar seems to be really popular with women," says Kent Herkenrath of the Fan Club shop near Santana Row. He also gives buyers of the $12.99 item a free Sharpie pen. (The calendar, though, may be the most we'll see of Owens around here this year. He's said to be shedding property, not just clothing, which could mean that he's not expecting to stay with the 49ers for next season.)
While we're on the subject of calendars (it is the time of year for this sort
of thing), you also might want to check out one from the A&E cable network
based on its "America's Castles" series. The page for the week of
Feb. 8 salutes the Winchester Mystery House, which has been featured on the
series numerous times. And that week has a Friday the 13th in it -- a theme
repeated often throughout the mysterious mansion.
DEPT. OF GOOD WORKS: Service clubs have come a long way since Sinclair Lewis skewered them in "Babbitt" as small-thinking, self-serving booster groups. The Kiwanis Club Foundation of Mountain View plans to distribute grants to a number of worthwhile Santa Clara County organizations at its meeting next Wednesday. The grants top $100,000.
The Salvation Army made a lot of its reputation during World War I and World
War II by passing out doughnuts and coffee to service personnel. Now it's hoping
its doughnut rep will pay off to support the Salvation Army's current charitable
efforts. Ken Kelly, a San Jose board member, says the organization has begun
selling what it calls its "Famous Army" doughnuts in retail stores,
starting last week at Fred Meyer stores in the Northwest. "The plan is
to go nationwide as soon as more bakeries and retail outlets are found,"
Kelly notes. It could ease some of the guilt we feel about eating the fatty
fried goodies if we know the money's going to a good cause.
And speaking of the Northwest and good causes, the Portland-based Making Memories
Breast Cancer Foundation brings its national tour of fundraising events to San
Jose on Sunday. The 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. program at the Fairmont Hotel, titled
"Brides Against Breast Cancer," will offer more than 2,000 wedding
gowns -- donated by designers -- for sale. Proceeds go to grant wishes for women
and men with terminal breast cancer. And yes, I said men. Breast cancer most
often strikes women, but it's an equal opportunity scourge.
DEPT. OF BAD WORKS: Disability activist Dennis Holter's new year isn't off to
a good start. Someone swiped his wheelchair from outside his San Jose apartment,
where it had been left momentarily while Holter was using other transportation.
"Don't feel too bad for me," the always-upbeat Holter says. "I'm
getting a loaner from Kaiser-Santa Teresa. But the economy must be really bad
if you have to steal a wheelchair."