Joining them at the Aug. 4 induction ceremony will be senior Jack Butler, a senior nominee.

The Steelers fared particularly well, with Dawson and Butler entering the Hall. Dawson played center for Pittsburgh from 1988 to 2000. Butler was a four-time Pro Bowl defensive back for them from 1951 to 1959.

Doleman was an eight-time Pro Bowl defensive end for Minnesota, San Francisco and Atlanta from 1985 to 1999. Kennedy spent his entire 11-year career with Seattle. He made eight Pro Bowls during that span.

Five-time Pro Bowler Martin played split his 11-year between New England and the New York Jets. He ran for 14,101 yards and reached the 1,000 yard mark during his first 10 years in the league. And Roaf was a dominant left tackle for New Orleans and Kansas City during a 13-year career that included 11 Pro Bowls.

The new class was selected by a 44-person selection committee Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis. The group was announced this evening on the NFL Network’s Road to Canton show.

Other finalists included Cris Carter, Charles Haley, Andre Reed, Aeneas Williams, Bill Parcells, Tim Brown, Jerome Bettis, Kevin Greene, Will Shields, former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. and Dick Stanfel, a second senior nominee.

The new class helps reduce an abundance of offensive linemen that will only get deeper starting next year when Larry Allen and Jonathan Ogden become eligible.

Perhaps surprising is that the class does not reduce the long list of wide receivers attempting to gain entry to the Hall. Carter, Brown and Reed will soon face additional competition from other star wideouts, such as Marvin Harrison, Terrell Owens and Randy Moss become eligible in years ahead.

The committee’s decision to not enshrine Haley and Parcells this year was mentioned by some analysts as surprising.

The selection committee had narrowed the field to 15 modern era finalists in January. Before that they had reduced the list to 26 from an original group of 105 preliminary nominees.

Stanfel and Butler were nominated in August 2011. Senior nominees are selected by a special committee that reviews the qualifications of players whose careers ended more than 25 years ago. Unlike the modern-era candidates, who are discussed and winnowed throughout the process, senior nominees move directly to the finalist vote.

We predicted in November that Reed, Roaf, Dawson, Martin and Parcells would get in from the modern-era nominees. Several readers posted their guesses today.

Last year’s inductees were Richard Dent, Marshall Faulk, Chris Hanburger, Deion Sanders, Shannon Sharpe, Les Richter and Ed Sabol, the man who started NFL Films.

And, of course, our Class of 2013 predictions, which we promise will be posted a lot sooner than November this time around.

Below are the final 2012 hall of fame class predictions that we’ve been able to scrape from the comments–let me know (tony(at)zoneblitz.com or in the comments section) if you’d like to be added to the list…

Four-time finalist Andre Reed seems to have gained the most momentum, based on his near miss last season. Three-time finalist Cris Carter and one-time finalist Tim Brown are the other two wideouts in the mix for this year’s honor.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Website did a comparison of these three players and how they fared up against the other 21 wideouts already enshrined in Canton, Ohio. But I wanted to do some analysis of my own.

Let me start with this. All three of these guys had great careers and they definitely are strong candidates, at least in the eyes of Zoneblitz. They all would be in the top five in receiving yards, touchdowns and receptions among receivers already in the Hall. Even as we move into a heavy passing era, Reed, Carter and Brown all continue to match up strongly with the other candidates they’ll be compared with in the near future.

But as the competition gets stronger in the years ahead, as guys like Marvin Harrison, Randy Moss, Torry Holt, Terrell Owens and a host of others retire, it’s going to be more and more challenging for the current group of finalists to get in. That makes the voting over the next couple years that much more important. And frankly, after doing some analysis, I think the current wide receiver finalists might be gaining momentum in the wrong order.

Two of the most frequently cited metrics cited in the comment sections for our posts are Pro Bowls and All-Pro selections. The All-Pro nods were surprisingly low for all three of these guys. Carter earned two while neither Reed nor Brown was ever selected for this honor. In fairness, all of their careers overlapped with that of Jerry Rice, which made that a difficult status to attain. Reed did earn two second-team All-Pro awards from the Associated Press while Brown and Carter each added one.

(In fairness, other publications and voting syndicates did name each of these three guys to their All-Pro and All-Conference lists several times, but the AP list is considered the Gold Standard of NFL honors.)

In terms of Pro Bowls, Brown was the leader with nine selections, edging Carter’s eight and Reed’s seven. Carter was on the NFL’s first team All-Decade team for the 1990s. Brown was on the second team.

Now let’s compare the raw stats. Carter and Reed both played 16 seasons while Brown outlasted them by one for a total of 17 years in the NFL. Carter had the most catches, with 1101, compared with Brown’s 1094 and Reed’s 951. The former Viking, Eagle and Dolphin also headed the touchdown category. He had 130 to Brown’s 100 and Reed’s 87.

Yards? In this category, Brown was the leader with 14,934 to Carter’s 13,899 and Reed’s 13,198.

So, taking into account all the comparisons so far, none of three finalists is leaps and bounds ahead of the other two. But in each of the categories, Reed trails at least one of the competitors, if not both.

Where Reed really does set himself apart from Carter and Brown is Super Bowls. None of the three ever won a ring, but Reed did play on all four of the Bills’ four Super Bowl losing teams. Brown played in one with the Raiders. Carter came close a couple of times, particularly with the 1998 Vikings, but never quite got there.

Is that category enough to make Reed the most deserving of the three? Not so much, at least in my eyes, particularly given the numbers he posted when the Bills got to the big game: 27 catches for 323 yards and zero scores. Nearly half of that yardage came against Dallas in 1992. His other Super Bowl stats were yawners (which obviously wasn’t all his fault, but still, his performances did not stand out).

A couple other stats to consider are 1000 yard seasons and 10 touchdown seasons. Those numbers are a bit random, but I thought they were interesting benchmark numbers to use as potential tiebreakers. Brown had nine 1000 yard seasons and two 10 touchdown seasons. Carter had eight 1000 yard seasons and put up 10 touchdowns six times. Reed, I was surprised to see, had just four 1000 yard seasons and only eclipsed 10 touchdowns once.

So what other factors should come into play. One potentially forgotten but possibly significant advantage Brown has over his competitors is that he also was an accomplished return man. He put up a career 3,320 yards returning punts and 1,235 yards returning kickoffs. He also scored a touchdown doing each. Carter and Reed were not significant contributors on special teams.

Other factors? I suppose you could take into account which quarterbacks were throwing them the ball. Reed spent the bulk of his career catching passes from Hall of Famer Jim Kelly. Carter had a number of guys throwing to him, including Rich Gannon, Daunte Culpepper, and Warren Moon. Brown probably had the most interesting collection of all. A random sampling includes guys like Jeff George, Wade Wilson, Jay Schroeder and Vince Evans. There were many more. Yet he still put up top-notch stats.

Further complicating these comparisons is that Carter, Reed and Brown brought different skill sets to the table. Brown was more of a game-breaking burner. Carter worked the sidelines masterfully, having a special knack for getting 11 yards whenever his team needed 10 for a first down. And Reed was a master over the middle, excelling at taking a five-yard pass from Kelly and turning it into a big gainer. So, in some ways, statistical comparisons are not totally apples-to-apples, which gives Hall of Fame voters a remarkably difficult task in sorting between the three.

In scanning some of the comments at Zoneblitz and other sites, it would appear as though each of the three wideouts has supporters in their corners for various reasons. This is understandable. As I mentioned previously, they all, in my opinion, are deserving candidates, and I believe all three will have their day in the Ohio sun.

Now, could a potential tiebreaker come down simply to whose turn it is? If that happens, Reed could get votes that way. He is a four time finalist. Carter has been that far on the list three times. Brown, interestingly, just once so far.

But if you ask me what order these three future Hall of Famers should be inducted, I’m putting Tim Brown at the top of the list. He put up the most spectacular numbers while often playing on bad teams with a collection of quarterbacks who will only be visiting Canton on their own dime.

He should be followed by Cris Carter and then Andre Reed. What are your thoughts?

Taylor and Tomlinson would seem to be sure thing inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame at this point. But Ward is an interesting case. He’s close — right on the borderline either way. His numbers were very, very good, but was he that good? Or did he benefit from playing in the NFL as the game — and the long-time run-heavy Steelers — transitioned more and more toward the pass?

You can find many of the arguments and much of the discussion on Ward here at a post we did on Ward a couple years ago. The folks over at Behind The Steel Curtain also made a pretty good case for his ultimately deserving enshrinement in this post here, which also is a couple years old.

If Ward does call it a career, he closes with 1,000 catches for 12,083 yards and 85 receiving touchdowns (he added another rushing TD), which according to profootballreference.com puts him at eighth, 18th and 13th all-time (the 86 total touchdowns puts him 39th there).

Ward was the MVP of the 2005 Super Bowl win and he was selected to four Pro Bowls, which is a somewhat middle-of-the-road number. He also never made the Associated Press First-Team All-Pro list, though he was named to the second team three times. And he did make first-team on the Pro Football Weekly team once.

As the Behind The Steel Curtain post points out, Ward was a devastating blocker and a great team leader, intangibles that can only help and not hurt his efforts to make the Hall of Fame.

I honestly don’t have a clue whether voters will see fit to enshrine Ward or not. If I’m a Steelers fan, I’m hoping at least a couple of Tim Brown, Cris Carter and Andre Reed get in soon, or Ward runs the risk of getting caught up in that wash.

Don’t forget also that neither Randy Moss nor Terrell Owens played this year. They reportedly weren’t the great leaders and teammates Ward has been in Pittsburgh, but their numbers eclipse those put up by the Steeler great. And if they stay out of the game, they’d be eligible a year earlier than Ward — and from what I’ve read, few expect them to go in on the first ballot, despite their individual accomplishments.

All this leaves Ward right on the borderline, in my opinion. I certainly wouldn’t be offended if he was elected, but there are other people not currently in the Hall whose cases I think are stronger. What are your thoughts?

Joining Parcells and Shields as finalists from the modern era:

The only two we missed on were Aeneas Williams (who we had as a finalist last year), and DeBartolo, Jr. In their places we had picked coach Bill Cowher (who wasn’t even a semifinalist, presumably due to the belief he will resume coaching) and RB Terrell Davis.

All five of our picks for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2012 are still in the running.

Missing the cut from the 2012 Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist list were:

The list of finalists will be narrowed to 10, and then down to five on the Saturday before the Super Bowl, and those five will be voted on individually for inclusion along with Senior Candidates Jack Butler and Dick Stanfel.

Follow up in the comments with your thoughts on the finalists…

Before last week’s game, Dolphins DE/LB Jason Taylor confirmed that he would retire at the end of the season. He finished his career with 139.5 sacks (6th all-time) in 233 games, 6 Pro Bowls and 3 First Team All-Pro selections. He recovered 29 fumbles (25th all-time) for 246 return yards (2nd all-time) and 6 TDs (1st all-time), and added 8 interceptions, of which 3 were returned for TDs.

The numbers here make me think that it’s less of a question of whether he makes the Hall of Fame, but rather when he makes it–is he a first year guy, or does he have to wait a few years?

Parcells had been a finalist before in 2001 and 2002, but the Hall is not counting those in its announcement because the rules have since changed, requiring coaches to be retired for five seasons.

Normally the list would have been whittled down to 25 at this point, but the Hall’s bylaws allow for more when votes result in ties.

We’ll get word on finalists and eventual enshrines leading up to and then at the Super Bowl. The class will be inducted prior to the first preseason game next year in Canton, Ohio.

Of the 105 preliminary nominees that had been previously announced, four other players who had been previously eligible made the semifinals for the first time: Steve Atwater, Clay Matthews, Karl Mecklenburg (who did an interview with Zoneblitz a few months ago) and Ron Wolf, who led the Packers back to prominence after decades of futility (Just keeping you humble, Packers fans).

Here is the list of semifinalists:

Steve Atwater
Jerome Bettis
Tim Brown
Cris Carter
Don Coryell
Roger Craig
Terrell Davis
Dermontti Dawson
Edward DeBartolo Jr
Chris Doleman
Kevin Greene
Charles Haley
Cortez Kennedy
Curtis Martin
Clay Matthews
Karl Mecklenburg
Bill Parcells
Andre Reed
Willie Roaf
Donnie Shell
Will Shields
Paul Tagliabue
Steve Tasker
Aeneas Williams
Ron Wolf
George Young

Of the semifinalists from last year who were still eligible, former Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell fell off the list. Otherwise, as we predicted, that group returned again – including all 10 players who were designated finalists but not enshrinees. So far, all but one of our predicted finalists remain in the running. The lone exception is Bill Cowher, who likely suffers from speculation that he will return to the sidelines before retiring for good.

Kudos to boknows34, who nailed the return of Steve Tasker to this list, and to BSLO, who predicted in the comments section of our previous post that Donnie Shell had a decent shot of being named a semifinalist. I would not have guessed either one would make the list, but it shows what I know.

In 2011, we hit on 3 out of 5 picks (Sanders, Sharpe & Dent) while missing the obvious Marshall Faulk and the longshot Ed Sabol, while picking Dermontti Dawson and Tim Brown. So how will we do this year? Keep reading to find out…

The class of 2012 may calm the waters considerably for some long-time candidates, like Cris Carter, who early on appeared to be a shoe-in for eventual enshrinement, but who has sat and watched for four years in a row now.

But for those who don’t make the Class of 2012, the wait could lengthen considerably.

The 2013 class of first-time eligibles includes Jonathan Ogden, Michael Strahan, Larry Allen and Warren Sapp. Sapp always seemed slightly overrated, in my opinion, but he’s likely going to get in sooner rather than later. The other three unquestionably have a legit chance to get in on the first ballot – and they won’t wait long if they don’t get in on try number one.

So who gets the nod next year? Well, let’s start with the semifinalist list from 2011 (minus Richard Dent, Marshall Faulk, Ed Sabol, Deion Sanders and Shannon Sharpe, who were elected, and Ray Guy and Lester Hayes, who reached the end of their 20 years of eligibility and now enter the pool for senior candidates) :

Jerome Bettis, RB – 1993-95 Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, 1996-2005 Pittsburgh Steelers
Tim Brown, WR/KR – 1988-2003 Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, 2004 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Cris Carter, WR – 1987-89 Philadelphia Eagles, 1990-2001 Minnesota Vikings, 2002 Miami Dolphins
Don Coryell, Coach – 1973-77 St. Louis Cardinals, 1978-1986 San Diego Chargers
Roger Craig, RB – 1983-1990 San Francisco 49ers, 1991 Los Angeles Raiders, 1992-93 Minnesota Vikings
Terrell Davis, RB – 1995-2001 Denver Broncos
Dermontti Dawson, C – 1988-2000 Pittsburgh Steelers
Edward DeBartolo, Jr., Owner – 1977-2000 San Francisco 49ers
Chris Doleman, DE/LB – 1985-1993, 1999 Minnesota Vikings, 1994-95 Atlanta Falcons, 1996-98 San Francisco 49ers
Kevin Greene, LB/DE – 1985-1992 Los Angeles Rams, 1993-95 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1996, 1998-99 Carolina Panthers, 1997 San Francisco 49ers
Charles Haley, DE/LB – 1986-1991, 1999 San Francisco 49ers, 1992-96 Dallas Cowboys
Cortez Kennedy, DT – 1990-2000 Seattle Seahawks
Curtis Martin, RB – 1995-97 New England Patriots, 1998-2005 New York Jets
Art Modell, Owner – 1961-1995 Cleveland Browns, 1996-2003 Baltimore Ravens
Andre Reed, WR – 1985-1999 Buffalo Bills, 2000 Washington Redskins
Willie Roaf, T – 1993-2001 New Orleans Saints, 2002-05 Kansas City Chiefs
Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner – 1989-2006 National Football League
Aeneas Williams, CB/S – 1991-2000 Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals, 2001-04 St. Louis Rams
George Young, Contributor – 1968-1974 Baltimore Colts, 1975-78 Miami Dolphins, 1979-1997 New York Giants, 1998-2001 National Football League

If we assume all of the remaining names on the list make it again, that leaves six new semifinalist spots (there were 26 semifinalists last year, as there was a tie for the last spot).  There are a few names that I’m not 100% convinced will make the semifinalist list again this year—namely Don Coryell, Art Modell and Paul Tagliabue (not saying they shouldn’t just not sure if they will), but for our purposes here we will assume they do.

Of the list of names that are eligible for the first time this year, there isn’t a lot of Hall of Fame caliber talent out there—guard Will Shields, quarterback Drew Bledsoe, and coaches Bill Parcells and Bill Cowher seem like the most likely, followed by running back Tiki Barber, and wide receivers Keyshawn Johnson and Rod Smith.  We’ll guess that Shields, Parcells and Cowher make the semifinalist list, and the rest are left off.

That leaves three spots for previously eligibles that have never been semifinalists. Anyone from this list is going to be somewhat controversial, so we’ll pick three—quarterback Phil Simms, center Kent Hull, and defensive end Ed “Too Tall” Jones.  Others I considered tagging—Ron Wolf, Darren Woodson, LeRoy Butler, Jimmy Johnson and Tony Boselli.  Anyone from this group is unlikely to make it to the finalists list.

So, last year’s finalists seem like the most likely to move on the finalist list:

Jerome Bettis, 2011 finalist
Tim Brown, 2011 finalist
Cris Carter, 2011 finalist
Dermontti Dawson, 2011 finalist
Chris Doleman, 2011 finalist
Charles Haley, 2011 finalist
Cortez Kennedy, 2011 finalist
Curtis Martin, 2011 finalist
Andre Reed, 2011 finalist
Willie Roaf, 2011 finalist

Then we’ve got to find five more names to add to the list of finalists—our guesses:

Will Shields
Bill Parcells
Bill Cowher
Terrell Davis
Kevin Greene

This leaves Aeneas Williams (who we predicted as a finalist last year), Paul Tagliabue, George Young, Don Coryell, Roger Craig, Art Modell, Edward DeBartolo, Jr., Phil Simms, Ed Jones and kent Hull on the outside looking in.

Looking at the final five, I believe Cris Carter should be the first wide receiver of the big three currently considered by some to be long overdue for induction, with Tim Brown following and Andre Reed taking the third spot. However, with the voters, it appears as though Reed is first in line – he made the finals while Brown and Carter were both eliminated heading into the round of 10.

As far as running backs go, I think Curtis Martin should go in ahead of Jerome Bettis, but they’re neck and neck—although Martin made the final 10 last year, and Bettis didn’t.  Terrell Davis still remains a long shot to make the hall, in our opinion, and definitely won’t make it until the latter half of this decade if he does.

One of Dermontti Dawson and Willie Roaf almost certainly has to get in during the 2012 voting, and both made the final 10 last year. Will Shields is the strongest first-year candidate and he’ll eventually get in, I would guess, but even as strong of a candidate as he is, I doubt the voters put him in before Dawson and Roaf get their due, especially since Shields was a guard.

The defensive logjam is a lot murkier to predict. Cortez Kennedy was the lone defensive guy to make the final 10 and not get inducted last year—but can he make the leap? One of Haley or Doleman will probably make the top 10 this year—Doleman had the better stats, but Haley has the Super Bowl rings. I’m not sure either can get past Kennedy, even though he’s got the weakest stats of the three (although the strongest postseason awards profile, with 3 All-Pro’s and 8 Pro Bowls, vs. 2-8 for Doleman and 2-5 for Haley).

On the coaching front, either of the two Bill’s probably could stake a claim to being a first year inductee—Parcells has two Super Bowl wins (in three appearances) to Cowher’s one (in two appearances), but Cowher has the better winning percentage and more division championships (9 vs. 8), despite being a head coach for 4 fewer years (15 seasons to 19 seasons).  Parcells biggest drawback might be the fact he kept getting back into coaching, after already being nearly eligible before—Cowher’s biggest drawback might be that no one seems to believe he is done.

So, here’s our shot in the dark look at 2012, which promises to be another large class:

C Dermontti Dawson – We’ve been putting him on our final list for at least the last two years, and will continue to put him here until the Hall of Fame voters get it right.

T Willie Roaf – Getting two offensive linemen in might be a tall order, but there are a bunch more coming down the road (Jonathan Ogden, Orlando Pace, Larry Allen, Walter Jones)

WR Andre Reed – Same argument could be made that they want to clear up the WR logjam (Reed, Carter, Brown), but I see two offensive lineman that played different positions as more likely than two WR of the same era.

RB Curtis Martin – Barely missed the cut last year, and gets the nod this year.

Coach Bill Parcells – I’m not convinced Cowher is done coaching either, but I think the Tuna has finally hung it up for good, and I think he gets his due.

As always, let us know what you think in the comments!

This week I was struck by a quote King got from Chicago return man Devin Hester, who lit up the Detroit Lions this weekend with an 82-yard punt return touchdown and numerous other long returns.

Hester told King he wants to be the first returner in the league to get voted into the Hall of Fame. I thought the comment was interesting for a couple reasons. First, it’s an acknowledgement on the part of Hester that he is known almost solely for his return work, as his play at wide receiver has been average, at best.

Second, it made me think about the increasing importance of special teams in today’s NFL. Kickers who can boot kickoffs through the end zone are vital, but less hard to find with kickoffs now back to the 35 yard line.

Return men who can break through crowds and bust long runs when the kickoff team starts five yards closer are all the more impressive.

As far as Hester goes, the return against Detroit was his 12th career punt return touchdown and 18th return touchdown overall. He’s got the punt return record and the overall punt and kick return record.

Teammate Brian Urlacher thinks the debate is ridiculous. He told “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000 that he thinks Hester is a first-ballot shoe-in for the Hall.

“He changes every football game he’s in,” Urlacher told listeners. “You can punt out of bounds or you get ready to give up a touchdown. That’s the bottom line. He changes everything you do.”

I’m not sure about the first ballot part of his argument. But it is getting harder and harder to argue against Hester potentially making it to Canton, Ohio eventually. I can think of few return men who come close to his numbers. Deion Sanders? Already in, though he’s known as much or more for his pure coverage skills on defense.

Brian Mitchell may be the most comparable player. He was not a dominant running back or receiver, but he scored on nine punts and four kickoffs throughout his 14 year career. Hester has already left those numbers behind.

Eric Metcalf is the guy whose punt return record went away when Hester broke it. Mitchell and Metcalf are not in the Hall. They are probably the best argument out there for keeping Hester out. But Hester statistically has left them in his dust.

The only true special teams player in the Hall right now is kicker Jan Stenerud. Others like George Blanda and Lou Groza kicked but also played other positions. With guys like Morten Andersen and Gary Anderson looming, there has long been debate about whether there is room in the Hall for more kickers. Ray Guy is the one punter who is often debated.

But what about return guys? When and where will there be a place in the Hall for one or more of them? And is Hester the guy? I was a skeptic for a long time, but he does constantly change games when teams are gutty – or stupid – enough to kick to him.

Is he the first to break through? It’s clearly on Hester’s mind. He told King: “I don’t know what it’s going to take for a returner to get voted in the Hall of Fame, but I’m going to make sure that it’ll be a hard decision to pass me up. There’s a first for everything: I want to be the first.”

I think he might.

In checking out some parts of the site, I saw a name that is somewhat familiar to me, Chuck Klosterman. Now, I readily admit that I don’t really know why I’ve heard the name–something makes me think it has something to do with the time I used to spend as a commentor at RandBall. But that really isn’t a part of the story.

In looking at Klosterman’s recent articles, I saw that he recently posted an article about the Hall of Fame induction–and I found the article to be a somewhat interesting read, and was wondering what our audience of regular Hall of Fame commenters would have to say about it.

The two major points that I found interesting:

• The first line of the story:
  

  “Here’s the most important thing to realize about the Pro Football Hall of Fame: It does not exist.”

  I realize this is (presumably) more of a philosophical statement–but I’m not sure I agree at all. But I’m not sure I can explain why I don’t agree.

• Later in the story:
  

  But it’s the selections of [Richard] Dent and [Shannon] Sharpe that are most interesting. They’re interesting because both of those players — while indisputably “great” — are bubble selections not altogether different than a bunch of newly eligible guys who didn’t make the cut (Cris Carter, Willie Roaf, Curtis Martin).

  Aside from the point that Cris Carter wasn’t newly eligible (nor were Dent or Sharpe), I thought it was interesting that he considered Shannon Sharpe a bubble selection. I would agree on Dent–but Sharpe, there was never a doubt in my mind that he would make it, especially since he helped redefine a position.

  I also think Carter, Roaf and Martin are eventual locks–Roaf and Martin as soon as 2012. So I have a feeling that Klosterman hasn’t spent as much time looking into the selection process, and some of the information that goes into it–which might make him more like the general public than your average Zoneblitz commenter.

So what do you all think of the article, and specifically the points above?