I’ve started to think that the same people who decide on the Oscar nominations is the same group of people who elect new members for all of the Hall of Fame’s as identical sets of irrational fingerprints are found on each.  Its some sort of secret society of quasi-senile shut in’s who make Howard Hughes look like a social butterfly.

There’s no other way to explain the most recent set of Oscar Nominations or possibly the candidacy of Kurt Warner for the National Football Hall of Fame (more on that in a minute).

First of all, how can you whitewash Gran Torino from the primary Oscar categories?  No nod to Eastwood for Best Actor?  Best Picture?  Nada.  How about at least Best Director, the Gold Glove to Best Picture’s Cy Young and Best Actor/Actress’s MVP awar?  Robbed there too.  Its one of the most complete movies I can remember seeing.  It makes most dramatic or social commentary movies feel like Corky Romano 2.  It’s funny.  It’s thought provoking.  It's moving.  The character development is stunning.  It’s as funny as it is somber.  And at the end of the movie, you’ll hear more than a few embarrassed sniffles.  It’s a must see.  Trust me.

Now, one to more important issues.  Kurt Warner’s candidacy for the Hall of Fame.  Warner has started 16 games just 3 times in his career: 1999, 2001 and 2008.  All 3 of those seasons uncannily resulted in a Super Bowl appearance, including a win for the 1999 season.  Incredible to be sure.  But in between, Warner was unproductive, ineffective and irrelevant.  He was cut by the Rams.  He was dumped by the Giants.  He was an afterthought for 2 mostly forgettable seasons for the Cardinals.  His number of unproductive seasons (6) doubles the number of extremely productive seasons (3).  It’s not as if he wasn’t in the league for those 6 years.  He was.  He just didn’t do anything.

This is not a Sandy Koufax, Jim Brown or Steve Young case.  His dominance is scattered unpredictably over the course of a 10 year career.  Further, it can be explained by the situation.  Dick Vermeil, Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Ken Whisenhunt are all very good reasons for any QB to have success.  How many Hall of Famers were a non factor for 60% of their careers? 

This is not to say Warner is not one of the most compelling stories in NFL history or that his ascension is any less remarkable because of his lengthy period of NFL irrelevance. 

Now, maybe if I could broker a deal with the secret society of Oscar and Hall of Fame voters that got Gran Torino on this year’s ballot, I’d be willing to accept the curious case of Kurt Warner as a Hall of Famer