In order to be as transparent as possible, here is exactly how the D.F.O. selected the best of the best when it comes to the worst tennis around!
If you've read the D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame eligibility information (and who hasn't?!), you'll know that as soon as the U.S.T.A. releases their updated N.T.R.P. ratings, we here at the D.F.O. get to work on selecting the best of the 3.0 best for the ultimate honor that hardly any of them know about - the D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame!
So how did the process work? How did the D.F.O. narrow a list of 170+ worthy nominees down to but five? What role did the N.E.O., the N.W.O, and Dayton play in the selection process? Where did the fans put their voting passion? And what controversies took place?! Read on to find out!
Preliminary List
As the 2021 season wound down at the end of October and November, the preliminary list stood at 175 nominees!
Round 1
December 1st, as always, was a big, big, big day for all 3.0ers, as they would find out if their play during the season had earned them promotion to the near professional level of 3.5! Or were staying at 3.0. Or in some cases, were getting demoted to 2.5! Either way, there was a lot of anticipation in the air as all waited to find out where they'd be playing the next season!
And just like that, the reveal was ... revealed!
And just like that, several nominees on the Preliminary List were, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) eliminated from further D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame consideration. In fact, of the 171 big-time athletes on the Preliminary List, 79 were eliminated for not having the requisite amount of 3.0 years active at the 3.0 level (i.e., being too good). And just like that, some big time names like Atahan Koymen, a four time tournament champion, or Craig Warner, a one-time National Champion, or Robert Corts, third all time in 3.0 wins, were told they'd have to wait for next year (or in Atahan's case, never, because he was simply too good!).
Round 2
Of the remaining 82 nominees, the D.F.O. Voting Panel took the next week to narrow that list down, though this was a more difficult task! 56 worthy players, from D.F.O. 3.0 Players of the Year like Kyle Webb to Doubles Team of the Year award winners like Joseph Oriti to tournament tested veterans like Benjamin Young were given a hearty handshake for their performances, some of which makes one wonder what one has to do to get into a pretend online Hall of Fame?! That being said, after Round 2, the Hall of 3.0 Fame nominee list stood at an impressive 36!
Round 3
Per D.F.O. rules, each member of the Voting Panel had to cut their list of 36 by half, and according to D.F.O. Maths Expert Jeff, that meant each Voting Panel member had to cut their list to at least 18. The D.F.O. rules, though, are harsh, and only agreed upon nominees would make the final cut to Round 4! When the dust settled, the Voting Panel had agreed upon not 18 nominees but ... 13 nominees! OUCH!
At this point, some trends started to be evident among the D.F.O. Voting Panel's choices. Captaining careers were taking heavily into account, as Clayton, Michael, and James all enjoyed fantastic records in their leadership roles. Tournament play, too, was viewed positively, as Joshua, Travis, Ron, and Jim's tournament success helped explain how they made it to the final lucky 13. Playoff success, too, looked to be key, as Derek, John, and Stephen clearly excelled in that criteria. And finally, sheer numbers seemed to impress the Voting Panel, as Jim, Robert, and Roderick's weighty stats seemed to attest.
Simply put, the Voting Panel was impressed by EVERYTHING.
Now, that's what we call a trend!
Round 4
With the list down to the final lucky 13, the D.F.O. called in the Twelve Apostles. And to ensure that the voting was even more accurate and even more fair and even more representative, the D.F.O. expanded the Twelve Apostles to include the N.E.O. leadership as well as the N.W.O. leadership as well as the Dayton leadership. SO MUCH LEADERSHIP! When the votes were all tallied, the list had been paired from a lucky 13 (if we keep saying the word "lucky" enough times maybe we'll start to believe it) to a Magic 8! Congratulations, though, to round four qualifiers Derek, Robert, Jim, Stephen, and Roderick, though, for making the final round, and honor that clearly shows you'll be back in the running next December!
Round 5
With the list down to the elite eight, the D.F.O. began the laborious process of trying to select the final five. Three nominees seemed sure-fire locks thanks to one having the most singles wins, one having the most captains wins, and one having the most doubles wins. The final two, however, the D.F.O. Voting Panel wrestled with (not literally, for these Hall of 3.0 Fame nominees not only combine tennis toughness but physical toughness as well and one would be insane to challenge them to feats of physical strength!). One nominee had captained the best ever 40+ team finish at Nationals in O-H-I-O history... one had won four Flight and Midwest Ohio State Championship Championships in four straight seasons ... one had been the only 3.0er ever to be awarded Player of the Year and Doubles Team of the Year ... one had the best winning percentage in 3.0 history ... and one had one of the best tournament careers in 3.0 history.
WHAT TO DO!
The D.F.O. Voting Panel did everything it could do. It re-crunched the numbers ... it called in The Kommish ... it called in The Magistrate ... it flipped many, many coins, per D.F.O. rules.
Finally the D.F.O. Voting Panel did all it could do.
The D.F.O. Voting Panel took some time off.
Which made things worse.
Finally, the D.F.O., at the stroke of midnight, was forced to make their decisions, and ...
The 2021 D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame Class
The first three nominees sailed through relatively smoothly. Travis, thanks to his record 103 career victories, his eight tournament titles, and his ability to influence the Voting Panel (as one Voting Panel member was heard to say, "I've seen you play, you stink. I don't know how you won one match, let alone 100"), found himself among the 2021 D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame class.
James Jacobs was also an easy vote, as his career 106 captain victories was simply too amazing for the Voting Panel to ignore. Over the course of a decade, James had quite literally led an elementary school to 3.0 victory after 3.0 victory and had won a record seven Flight Championships!
Jim Montgomery proved to be the third nominee who wrote his ticket early to the D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame. Jim's longevity of over a decade of 3.0 play, his record seven Flight championships, his 11 playoff wins, and his 75 career 3.0 victories were impressive. Most impressive (as famous 3.0 tennis player Darth Vader once said). But the fact he'd played for almost a decade at an elementary school, combined with his on-court antics, made him not just impressive - but Hall of 3.0 Fame worthy!
When all was said and done, and after much analysis, Michael Kramer proved to be next up to get his imaginary bust carved upon the imaginary 3.0 Mount Rushmore of 3.0 tennis. Indeed, Michael's play, with more than 50 wins, combined with his second best ever captaincy winning percentage, plus his record-tying four trips to Nationals were noteworthy. But his sartorial-style combined with his pay-it-forward approach (as he's now Executive Director of N.E.O. tennis) helped make his noteworthy status not just noteworthy, but Hall of 3.0 Fame worthy!
If Michael's candidacy required much analysis, the D.F.O. Voting Panel crunched and crunched and re-crunched the data to make sure the fifth and final member of the 2021 D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame class was indeed worthy of the most pretend honor the D.F.O. can bestow. And after a final number crunch, something stood out that was first ignored. Indeed, initially on the outside looking in, John Prince's winning percentage finally got the attention of the attention-deficit addled Voting Panel. Indeed, winning in league, playoff, and tournament play made John one of the finalists from the get go. But the biggest knock against him was his short three year 3.0 career, usually looked down upon by the Voting Panel. But when it was discovered, through the power of math, that John had indeed enjoyed the best ever 3.0 winning percentage of any 3.0 player eligible for the D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame, well, the Panel conceded that John's success in all three phases of the 3.0 game were not only attention earning, but D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame earning as well!
Thus, when it was all said and done, the D.F.O. had once again wrapped up a fantastic year of 3.0 tennis with a fantastic Hall of 3.0 Fame class. From singles wins to doubles wins, from captaining wins to Nationals wins, from tournament wins to just plain winning wins, this group had it all!
And now THEY have the biggest honor a 3.0er who reads this website can have - D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame status!
AND MAYBE A CELEBRATORY CERAMIC MUG, TOO!
Like being selected for Who's Who In America, the DFO charges selected HOF members a fee for inclusion into the illustrious HOF. The laborious efforts of the Committee are really to determine who CAN and who WILL pay the fee to support the Committee's party fund. All kidding aside, congratulations to this year's Class. Well-deserved!