Congratulations to Towpath's Craig and North Ridge's Robert on entering the most vaunted of all the Halls ... the D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame!
And 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!
No offense.
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. Voting Panel narrow a list of 200+ worthy nominees down to but two? And why only ... two? And what role did the N.E.O., the N.W.O, and Dayton play in the selection process? And why is that answer "none"? And where did the fans put their voting passion? And what controversies took place?! Whoa whoa WHOA! CALM DOWN!! Just read below to find out all the answers to all your questions (as long as those questions are about who was selected for the D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame)!
Preliminary List
As the 2022 season wound down at the end of October and November, the preliminary list stood at 209 potential nominees, almost 35 more than last year! What a great assembly of athletic titans! So congratulations to all of those who were simply on the list ... it turns out attendance does count!
Round 1
Despite being on the list, that didn't mean every 3.0er made it to Round 1. December 1st, as always, is the biggest day of the month - with no exceptions! - as everyone would find out if they had earned promotion to 3.5, were staying at 3.0, or in some cases, were going to live in the world of 2.5!
As soon as the ratings were out, so too were a number of nominees on the Preliminary List who were unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) eliminated from further D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame consideration due to not meeting one of two rules - they had enjoyed too brief a career at 3.0 (Hall of 3.0 Fame nominees must have at least three years of play at the 3.0 level) or they were still active 3.0ers but hadn't played for the requisite 10 seasons at the rough and tumble 3.0 level. Thus, 95 players were ceremoniously crossed off the preliminary list. Some players who had peaked too early, like current Player of the Year Matthew and all-3.0-time singles wins leader Nicholas as well as former Player's of the Year like The Great Scott Hovey and Greg Starc, while others still needed a few years of seasoning, such as long-time greats like Frank and J.P. and Michael D. from Dayton, who had dominated the 3.0 level for eight fantastic seasons, would be put on hold. Sometimes forever! Or at least another year or two. Whichever comes first!
Round 2
Of the 104 remaining nominees, the D.F.O. Voting Panel narrowed the list down further, and per D.F.O. rules, the list had to be paired to at least half, an incredibly difficult task (mostly because the D.F.O. is really bad at numbers). Some of the Voting Panel appreciated history, and thus gave the edge to any player who had tournament titles, multiple trips to Nationals, Player of the Year honors, or a decade of service, which meant stellar tournament players like Thomas, incredible captains like Jansen, and nigh-50 match winners like Ronald were sadly eliminated after Round 1. Some of the Voting Panel, however, found themselves more impressed with individual wins, meaning fantastic team players like Derek, former Player's of the Year like Charles, tournament tested stars like Thomas and Joshua, and history making players like Chuck and Ricardo were ruthlessly put on the "wait for next year" list (seeing as this is Cleveland, most of these fine folks were totally comfortable with said status). In the end, the Voting Panel narrowed the list down to 37 ... which is totally half of 104.
Round 3
With 37 remaining nominees for the illustrious D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame, things started to get as heated as playing indoors at Force when they forget to turn on the air conditioning. Which is ... hot! Per D.F.O. rules, the Voting Panel had to cut their list 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 18-19. Faced with such a difficult task, the Voting Panel called in the Twelve Apostles, a group of leaders from all over O-H-I-O who had the leadership and knowledge necessary to help make these difficult decisions.
Unfortunately, only one of them voted.
The system works!
Thus, with the "help" of the Twelve Apostles, the Voting Panel responded by cutting their list down to ... seven! Math, it turns out, is difficult.
In terms of trends, players with over a decade of service to their 3.0 craft, such as Matt, Anthony, Ramesh, Donn, and Lars, were joined by big time winners Stephen, Steven, Mel, and Roderick in knowing that while 2022 may not be their year, surely their time was nigh!
Round 4
With the list down to the final lucky seven, the Voting Panel was in a bit of a dilemma. Per D.F.O. rules, they had to parry this list down to half, so down to 3 (though 3.5 would have been quite ironic). But as they voted in secret, there was a chance the list could go, depending on how they voted, down to ... one. Yikes!
As the secret voting commenced, and each member of the Voting Panel received three votes, the nominees no doubt were in high anticipation of an event they didn't even know was taking place!
When what was taking place was finally revealed, it was a moment of rejoicing!
For only two people.
Final Selections
Two?! Yes, but two! After the 2020 and 2021 class each had five selections for each year, the 2022 class would have but two (which is fine though ... because of doubles!). As the Voting Panel revealed their votes, it became clear they agreed on two nominees and disagreed on everything else, meaning, due to a mathematical anomaly, only two of the 200+ fantastic preliminary list nominees would walk through the virtual D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame.
Some players were eliminated because it just didn't seem like the time was right, including three time Round 4 participant Ron, who's time is just about there as he will soon be the only member ever of the illustriou 40/40 Club, which would seem to make him a tennis-sized shoe in for 2023! Further, some of the Voting Panel felt some players amazing, comet-like careers, like Tim and Clayton's, needed more time to percolate, and once they did, they would no doubt soon be recognized! Meanwhile, some all-around greats, like John and Benjamin, had all the accolades necessary to tell the Voting Panel to shove it.
Ahem.
Although, let it be known, that the one Voting Panel member who actually played against all of these players voted for everyone. All the time.
Ahem part two.
The 2022 D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame Class
When all was said and done, though, two 3.0ers stood among the best of the 3.0 best, as both had amazing resumes to their credit. Craig, the all-3.0-time winning player in 3.0 history, had as close to a complete 3.0 vita as a 3.0er could have, especially when it came to winning, both individually, as he had done a record 113 times (!), and as a teammate, as he was a key member of the only National Championship team in Ohio 3.0 history! And as wins were often one of the key components for first ballot Hall of 3.0 Famers (Clem in '21 and Travis in '22), Craig ended 2022 exactly where he belonged ... in the Hall!
Joining him in the (imaginary) Hall would be another triple-digit 3.0 winner, Robert, who's decade-long service - and serving! - had earned him 100 career wins as a player as well! Adding to his resume was his play off the court, as his 50+ career wins as a captain showed, as well as his play on the tournament courts, as his Akron Open Doubles Championship showed. With so much successful showing, it's no wonder that Robert is now showing up in a place he could once only dream of (if he had such dreams) - the D.F.O. Hall of 3.0 Fame!
Congrats to both fantastic players, congrats to all the nominees, and congrats to YOU, dear reader, for checking out their bio's here! See you on the courts - or in court?! - in 2023!
I can only image that different colored smoke is released from a smoke stack, once the candidates have been successfully picked.