Comments on: Hall of Fame Voting Process Flawed? http://www.zoneblitz.com/2009/01/08/hall-of-fame-voting-process-flawed/ Two Linemen, Dropping Into Coverage Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:02:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Team Olkewicz http://www.zoneblitz.com/2009/01/08/hall-of-fame-voting-process-flawed/#comment-1129 Team Olkewicz Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:35:07 +0000 http://www.zoneblitz.com/?p=701#comment-1129 I have to wonder...if Philip Rivers or Mario Williams (both NC State grads as it turns out...hmmm...) end up being controversial Hall of Fame candidates (you know, with several years as finalists, and maybe highlight videos and online blogs devoted to getting them in, lol), will the Pro Bowl spots they were each robbed of the last couple of years contribute in some way to helping keep them out? "Well you know, Philip Rivers only made the Pro Bowl 5 times, and I just can't vote for someone who didn't make it at LEAST 6 times..." - Voters say stuff far more stupid than this on a regular basis. I have to wonder…if Philip Rivers or Mario Williams (both NC State grads as it turns out…hmmm…) end up being controversial Hall of Fame candidates (you know, with several years as finalists, and maybe highlight videos and online blogs devoted to getting them in, lol), will the Pro Bowl spots they were each robbed of the last couple of years contribute in some way to helping keep them out?

“Well you know, Philip Rivers only made the Pro Bowl 5 times, and I just can’t vote for someone who didn’t make it at LEAST 6 times…” – Voters say stuff far more stupid than this on a regular basis.

]]> By: Team Olkewicz http://www.zoneblitz.com/2009/01/08/hall-of-fame-voting-process-flawed/#comment-1120 Team Olkewicz Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:57:25 +0000 http://www.zoneblitz.com/?p=701#comment-1120 I'm going to keep on banging this drum, because I frankly don't get why other people aren't upset about it. When the Football Hall of Fame writers get together to discuss who desrves to get in, they often throw out the number of Pro Bowl appearances that a player had as proof of his greatness or lack thereof. I understand why they do this; it's a reflection of what some people thought of the guy while he was playing, and for defensive players and offensive linemen, it's one of very few stats actually available. The problem with this practice is that the Pro Bowl voting has always been a little flawed to begin with, and it is becoming more and more meaningless as the years pass. It is not hard to go through player stats and find guys who did not get selected for a particular year's team, but had superior numbers to somebody who did (for example: in 1989, Washington's Gary Clark, Art Monk and Ricky Sanders ALL had better stats than the Vikings' Anthony Carter. If you take the WORST stats from each category from the three of them to create a fictional single player, that player would have 14 more catches, for almost 300 more yards and the same number of TDs when compared to Carter!). Are stats everything? Hopefully not, but I've heard voters admit that they go look at a player's stats before hurriedly sending in their ballot. So why did the above-mentioned injustice occur? In part, because Pro Bowl voting, BY RULE, MUST HAPPEN BEFORE THE SEASON IS ACTUALLY OVER!! For some reason that has never been explained to me, it is necessary for Pro Bowl voting to be based on an incomplete representation of a player's year. Pro Bowl voting has always ignored AT LEAST the final week of games, and now ignores at least the final two games. You know, some of the most important games of the year. So players that step up in these important late-season games get absolutely NO Pro Bowl love for it! In 2008, 12.5% of every player's performance was, BY RULE, ignored when it came to Pro Bowl voting. How would you like it if more than 10% of your job performance was purposefully ignored when it was time to determine bonuses or promotions or who gets to keep his job? I’m going to keep on banging this drum, because I frankly don’t get why other people aren’t upset about it.

When the Football Hall of Fame writers get together to discuss who desrves to get in, they often throw out the number of Pro Bowl appearances that a player had as proof of his greatness or lack thereof. I understand why they do this; it’s a reflection of what some people thought of the guy while he was playing, and for defensive players and offensive linemen, it’s one of very few stats actually available.

The problem with this practice is that the Pro Bowl voting has always been a little flawed to begin with, and it is becoming more and more meaningless as the years pass. It is not hard to go through player stats and find guys who did not get selected for a particular year’s team, but had superior numbers to somebody who did (for example: in 1989, Washington’s Gary Clark, Art Monk and Ricky Sanders ALL had better stats than the Vikings’ Anthony Carter. If you take the WORST stats from each category from the three of them to create a fictional single player, that player would have 14 more catches, for almost 300 more yards and the same number of TDs when compared to Carter!). Are stats everything? Hopefully not, but I’ve heard voters admit that they go look at a player’s stats before hurriedly sending in their ballot.

So why did the above-mentioned injustice occur? In part, because Pro Bowl voting, BY RULE, MUST HAPPEN BEFORE THE SEASON IS ACTUALLY OVER!! For some reason that has never been explained to me, it is necessary for Pro Bowl voting to be based on an incomplete representation of a player’s year. Pro Bowl voting has always ignored AT LEAST the final week of games, and now ignores at least the final two games. You know, some of the most important games of the year. So players that step up in these important late-season games get absolutely NO Pro Bowl love for it! In 2008, 12.5% of every player’s performance was, BY RULE, ignored when it came to Pro Bowl voting. How would you like it if more than 10% of your job performance was purposefully ignored when it was time to determine bonuses or promotions or who gets to keep his job?

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