2010 Hall of Fame Ballot

[The Games Club]

Full details - http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/HallOfFame.aspx?x=mtgevent/ho...

 

We now have the ballots for what is looking like the toughest selection year to date (and just in case you didn't realise, I am on the Hall of Fame Selection Committee, and have seen since it's inception).

 

Just looking at this year's class alone it would be very easy to fill, most if not all, of the ballot with the just new candidates - Anton Johnsson, Tomoharu Saito, Gabriel Nassiff, Eugene Harvey and and Katsuhiro Mori (all statistically in the top 12 players on the ballot).

 

Similarly, it would be increadibly easy just to make a selection from the previous classes - Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz, Brian Kibler, Tsuyoshi Ikeda, Alex Shvartsman and Bram Snepvangers  (all statistically in the top 8 players on the ballot).

And then there is the statistical option - Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz, Anton Jonsson, Brian Kibler, Tsuyoshi Ikeda and Tomoharu Saito.

 

But what about the candidates that have achieved more than just being a player - Bram Snapvengers (player, active judge, active TO and a pillar of the Dutch community), Scott Johns and Ben Stark (both had to throw away their PT career when they joined WotC, the later provides some of the most relevant commentary today - see "Why Legacy players Suck"), Craig Jones (offered increadibly insightfull written coverage and is renknowned for providing one of my favorite annecdotes - it involves an ashtray, a Moscow stip club, the 2nd floor, right, meowing and vomit), to name but a few.

 

So what are your thoughts, who should be voted for, who shouldn't and more importantly why?

[Simon O'Keeffe]

Wow I didn't realise how long the candidate list was now. I imagine there are some guys whose chance has passed now (Mark Justice for example).

Apart from Nassif there are many, many options. Personally I would go for something beyond just the stats, this is the hall of fame, not just of numbers. So for players who were standouts of their time, brought some personality to the tour, were great ambassadors, and great writers.

I'm not too worried about players who won't use their permanent access to the tour, they are all going to fade from the game eventually and I assume the idea is that the hall of fame will still be standing.

[Tom Reeve]

Other than the porn, of course >_>

Philip Dickinson said:

david williams should get in for putting a non-disgusting face on magic. seriously he's like one of the only pro players who isn't a total goon.

[Max Botten]

I kind of agree with the Knutson article that eventually Mike Long should get in. Apparently his infractions were far more minor than the stories, and certainly I would say his worst offences were still better than Bob Maher's. But even then, to take a Hall of fame literally he is one of the names that carry on from the early days of the pro tour, a legend if not a particularly pleasant one, and a Hall of fame seems incomplete without him.