The FSWA announced earlier this week the first-ever set of finalists for its new hall of fame. On Friday, the organization published some of the reasons that those 14 men were selected.

You can go to FSWA.org to read the full entry for each nominee, but here are most of the facts. FSB.com has also told the stories of many of these candidates in profiles. Other members of this class will no doubt follow.

The induction class is expected to be announced Sept. 9.

Greg Ambrosius
- Became editor of Fantasy Baseball Magazine in 1989
- ESPN.com’s first fantasy sports writer in 1996
- Founding member of what became the FSTA (president from 2002 to 2006)
- Creator of NFFC and NFBC, which are now owned by Fanball

Matthew Berry
- Started out as a RotoWorld columnist in 1999
- Created TalentedMrRoto.com in 2004, a site that not only propelled his rise but launched the careers of some other prominent fantasy analysts
- Joined ESPN in 2007 when it acquired TMR and now serves as basically the national face for fantasy sports

William Del Pilar
- Co-founded KFFL.com in 1997 and helped drive innovations in fantasy player news and content delivery
- Sold KFFL to Fantasy Sports Ventures in 2006

Scott Engel
- Started with Sportsline.com back in the 1990s, moving to CBS Sports when the two merged in 2000
- 2004 took him over to another little startup named ESPN
- 2008 brought the association with the launch of RotoExperts, for which he now serves as managing director

Dan and Kelly Grogan
- Together, they established the first football-dedicated fantasy mangazine, Fantasy Football Eval, in 1986, which later became Grogan’s Fantasy Football Analyst
- Played a large role in introducing fantasy sports magazines to retailers, who now carry myriad fantasy titles annually
- Sold Grogan Sports to Athlon in 2006, combining a trusted fantasy brand with a well-known brand for general sports info

Bob Harris
- Created the TFL Report in 1993, a newsletter that included fax updates
- A tireless writer and editor who has helped discover and promote various writers throughout the industry
- One of the driving forces behind (and out in front of) Football Diehards

Emil Kadlec
- Rolled out Fantasy Football Pro Forecast magazine in 1990
- Created Fantasy Sports Publications (FSP.net) in 1996
- Co-founded the World Championship of Fantasy Football in 2003
- Launched Football Dihards in 2004
- Co-founder and current vice president of the FSWA

Eric Karabell
- A name synonymous with ESPN fantasy coverage, Karabell has written since 1997

Greg Kellogg
- Kellogg’s Komments (which began in the mid-1990s) was at the forefront of incorporating statistical analysis into fantasy writing
- Helped build FoxSports.com’s fantasy section
- Can now be heard multiple times weekly on The Fantasy Sports Channel at BlogTalkRadio.com

James Quintong
- Formerly wrote for SportsIllustrated.com
- Joined ESPN.com’s staff during its most recent expansion
- Helped create avenues for other fantasy writers to get published on the well-known sites for which he worked
- Charter member of the FSWA board of directors

Brendan Roberts
- One of the creators of The Sporting News’ Fantasy Source
- Moved to ESPN in 2007, where he serves as an editor for Insider content

Peter Schoenke
- Co-founder of RotoNews in 1997, which introduced the now near-universal template for player updates
- Co-founder of Roto Sports Inc. (parent company of RotoWire.com, among other outlets) in 2001

Ron Shandler
- Created Baseball Forecaster in 1986, which was at the forefront of baseball’s advanced-stats revolution
- Created BaseballHQ.com in 1996 (which is now owned by Fantasy Sports Ventures)
- Co-founded Tout Wars, one of the industry’s most prominent “experts” competition platforms

Tags: fantasy baseball, fantasy football, fantasy sports, fantasy sports business, fantasy sports industry, fswa, fswa hall of fame

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