The first five members of the FSWA Hall of Fame were introduced on January 25 as part of the FSTA/FSWA Awards Banquet in Las Vegas.
Scott Engel, Eric Karabell, Greg Ambrosius, Matthew Berry and Greg Kellogg were celebrated by those in attendance at the dinner. Each was presented with an 11-inch by 15-inch plaque, which read: For your distinguished body of work and efforts in advancing the careers of others in the fantasy sports industry. The five men were allowed to select a presenter prior to the event: Louis Maione (Engel), Berry (Karabell), Rick Wolf (Ambrosius), Ryan Houston (Berry) and Tony Holm (Kellogg).
"I think it was a special day for all five," said FSWA President and Chairman Mike Beacom. "It was a special day for the FSWA, too. We’ve wanted to celebrate our industry’s editorial giants for a long time, and we’re excited to recognize future classes now that we have something to build off of."
The 2011 FSWA Hall of Fame process will begin this spring. More than 50 eligible candidates will be reviewed by a committee of 21 members – all FSWA members, none eligible for entrance to the Hall of Fame. A vote will determine a list of 15 semifinalists; those individuals will need to appear on two-thirds of the ballots cast for the final vote to gain entrance.
Soon, the FSWA plans to build a page on its site where it will celebrate Hall of Fame members and offer a detailed explanation for eligibility and the voting process.
More information on each of the 2010 inductees …
Greg Ambrosius
Ambrosius is one of the pioneering spirits of the fantasy writing industry. In 1989, he became the editor of Fantasy Baseball Magazine and has been writing and editing steadily over the last 21 years. Ambrosius also became the first fantasy sports writer for ESPN.com in 1996. He is one of the founding members of the Fantasy Sports Players Association and helped create the Fantasy Sports Trade Conference. He was also the President of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association from 2002 to 2006. Ambrosius also created the National Fantasy Baseball and Football Championships. In 2009 the NFBC and NFFC were acquired by Fanball.com, for whom Ambrosius now works.
Matthew Berry
Also known as "The Talented Mr. Roto," Berry is one of the most recognizable faces in the fantasy industry. His writing combines the statistical analysis required for fantasy sports with humor and personal anecdote. He began his ascent in 1999 as a senior columnist for Rotoworld.com and in 2004 created his own website called The Talented Mr. Roto. In 2007, ESPN.com acquired TMR and installed Berry as the lead fantasy analyst for all of its sports. The TMR website also launched the careers of many other talented fantasy writers. Berry won the FSWA award for Most Humorous article in 2005, and that was just a prelude to winning four awards in 2006 (Best Article on the Net, Basketball Writer of the Year, Best Major Media Article, and Most Humorous Article). Berry currently serves the FSWA as an advisor to the Executive Committee.
Click here to read Matthew's induction story
Scott Engel
Over his nearly 15-year career in the fantasy industry, Engel has been the rock that many websites have relied upon for excellence. He has also shown that a rolling stone gathers no moss. He began his fantasy sports writing career at Sportsline USA, which merged with CBS Sports in 2000. Engel was the lead editor and established himself as an excellent judge of writing talent by assembling a fine supporting class. In 2004, he moved to ESPN and helped establish it as the worldwide leader in fantasy sports writing. In 2008, he made the move to RotoExperts.com and is now the Managing Director of the site. He has helped to advance RotoExperts by creating partnerships with Yahoo and NFL.com. Engel won the 2006 FSWA award for Football Writer of the Year.
Click here to read Scott’s Hall of Fame thank you story
Eric Karabell
ESPN has been a constant face with fantasy sports and Karabell has been a consistent presence in pushing the site to prominence. Karabell has shown remarkable enthusiasm and knowledge of fantasy games since 1997 and has twice received FSWA writing awards (in 2005 as the Football Writer of the Year and in 2007 for the Best Baseball Series). He not only writes with quality but with quantity, and has been known to provide blog posts as often as four or five times a day. Karabell has also published The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments and can be heard on ESPN’s Baseball Today podcast.
Greg Kellogg
Like many other writers, Kellog began as a player who then started analyzing the games. His well known column Kellogg’s Komments was one of the first to aggregate statistical analysis and fine writing. Kellogg won the 2004 FSWA award for Best Football Series based on Komments’ success. He helped fashion the fantasy section of Fox Sports as one of the elite. Kellogg also helped establish Fantasy Asylum as a prominent fantasy sports site and has launched the careers of numerous fantasy writers.
http://www.fswa.org/index.php?option=com_c...d=3:latest-news
Scott Engel, Eric Karabell, Greg Ambrosius, Matthew Berry and Greg Kellogg were celebrated by those in attendance at the dinner. Each was presented with an 11-inch by 15-inch plaque, which read: For your distinguished body of work and efforts in advancing the careers of others in the fantasy sports industry. The five men were allowed to select a presenter prior to the event: Louis Maione (Engel), Berry (Karabell), Rick Wolf (Ambrosius), Ryan Houston (Berry) and Tony Holm (Kellogg).
"I think it was a special day for all five," said FSWA President and Chairman Mike Beacom. "It was a special day for the FSWA, too. We’ve wanted to celebrate our industry’s editorial giants for a long time, and we’re excited to recognize future classes now that we have something to build off of."
The 2011 FSWA Hall of Fame process will begin this spring. More than 50 eligible candidates will be reviewed by a committee of 21 members – all FSWA members, none eligible for entrance to the Hall of Fame. A vote will determine a list of 15 semifinalists; those individuals will need to appear on two-thirds of the ballots cast for the final vote to gain entrance.
Soon, the FSWA plans to build a page on its site where it will celebrate Hall of Fame members and offer a detailed explanation for eligibility and the voting process.
More information on each of the 2010 inductees …
Greg Ambrosius
Ambrosius is one of the pioneering spirits of the fantasy writing industry. In 1989, he became the editor of Fantasy Baseball Magazine and has been writing and editing steadily over the last 21 years. Ambrosius also became the first fantasy sports writer for ESPN.com in 1996. He is one of the founding members of the Fantasy Sports Players Association and helped create the Fantasy Sports Trade Conference. He was also the President of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association from 2002 to 2006. Ambrosius also created the National Fantasy Baseball and Football Championships. In 2009 the NFBC and NFFC were acquired by Fanball.com, for whom Ambrosius now works.
Matthew Berry
Also known as "The Talented Mr. Roto," Berry is one of the most recognizable faces in the fantasy industry. His writing combines the statistical analysis required for fantasy sports with humor and personal anecdote. He began his ascent in 1999 as a senior columnist for Rotoworld.com and in 2004 created his own website called The Talented Mr. Roto. In 2007, ESPN.com acquired TMR and installed Berry as the lead fantasy analyst for all of its sports. The TMR website also launched the careers of many other talented fantasy writers. Berry won the FSWA award for Most Humorous article in 2005, and that was just a prelude to winning four awards in 2006 (Best Article on the Net, Basketball Writer of the Year, Best Major Media Article, and Most Humorous Article). Berry currently serves the FSWA as an advisor to the Executive Committee.
Click here to read Matthew's induction story
Scott Engel
Over his nearly 15-year career in the fantasy industry, Engel has been the rock that many websites have relied upon for excellence. He has also shown that a rolling stone gathers no moss. He began his fantasy sports writing career at Sportsline USA, which merged with CBS Sports in 2000. Engel was the lead editor and established himself as an excellent judge of writing talent by assembling a fine supporting class. In 2004, he moved to ESPN and helped establish it as the worldwide leader in fantasy sports writing. In 2008, he made the move to RotoExperts.com and is now the Managing Director of the site. He has helped to advance RotoExperts by creating partnerships with Yahoo and NFL.com. Engel won the 2006 FSWA award for Football Writer of the Year.
Click here to read Scott’s Hall of Fame thank you story
Eric Karabell
ESPN has been a constant face with fantasy sports and Karabell has been a consistent presence in pushing the site to prominence. Karabell has shown remarkable enthusiasm and knowledge of fantasy games since 1997 and has twice received FSWA writing awards (in 2005 as the Football Writer of the Year and in 2007 for the Best Baseball Series). He not only writes with quality but with quantity, and has been known to provide blog posts as often as four or five times a day. Karabell has also published The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments and can be heard on ESPN’s Baseball Today podcast.
Greg Kellogg
Like many other writers, Kellog began as a player who then started analyzing the games. His well known column Kellogg’s Komments was one of the first to aggregate statistical analysis and fine writing. Kellogg won the 2004 FSWA award for Best Football Series based on Komments’ success. He helped fashion the fantasy section of Fox Sports as one of the elite. Kellogg also helped establish Fantasy Asylum as a prominent fantasy sports site and has launched the careers of numerous fantasy writers.
http://www.fswa.org/index.php?option=com_c...d=3:latest-news