The Hall of Fame. Just hearing this phrase brings to the minds of those who hear it the symbols of greatness, excellence, superiority, and perfection. Whether it is for basketball, football, soccer, etc, the hall of fame is the ultimate destination for all great players to seal their legacy and prove that they have placed their impact onto their respective sport. With the Baseball Hall of Fame electing baseball greats such as Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice this past month, I’ve been wondering, if there were a hall of fame for Grifball, who would be eligible? Who would vote? What would be the criteria for someone to become a prestigious member of the hall of fame? These and many other questions come with the main general question of this article, is a Grifball Hall of Fame possible?

Detractors and hecklers of Grifball may immediately see this idea of a hall of fame as preposterous and absurd. How could there be a hall of fame for a custom game that doesn’t even have its own title, but instead is in a video game? A hall of fame is meant for people that play actual, real-life sports, not for people that play inside a virtual world. Anyone, if they try, can be just as good as those revered as amazing in Grifball. Even some people within the Grifball community would agree with this, and add on how can a hall of fame be possible when technically one must be retired to be eligible for Grifball? Doesn’t that mean then a person must retire from the sport he or she loves, not because he or she is physically tired or worn out, but because that person would then be eligible for the hall of fame? Who would even try to make a sacrifice if there is nothing interfering from a person’s real life situation? Do we even really need to recognize great players in Grifball, or is this hall of fame idea completely superfluous?

On the other hand, supporters of a possible hall of fame in Grifball may argue that Grifball isn’t just a custom game inside of a video game. Rather, Grifball is its own sport, ever since it’s groundbreaking of a 10 second race from one side of the room to another in barren Foundry. Maybe Grifball doesn’t require the physique and years of training that real-life sports need, but every sport requires practice, and even with practice it may not be enough to be considered one of the best or greatest, further supporting the exclusiveness of the hall of fame. A person needing to be retired from Grifball may be a rule that could be overlooked for now in order to presently have eligible players, since Grifball is a unique sport in which the possible retirees are few. Yet, maybe if this sport continues to age with the community, this rule could finally come into effect one day (assuming a majority of the current Grifball players stopped playing by then while a new batch of players enter this realm) with the understanding of the players that slipped under this rule beforehand while still appreciating equally their greatness in Grifball history.

So if a hall of fame was passed by the Grifball administration, what would the rules of eligibility be (considering the retirement requirement was overlooked)? Well, let’s say in order to be eligible, one must have been in the league for at least four seasons, which can start for some players in GBSL08 or for others in GBSML08 to and including GBSML09. Most likely the next question would be, “What would the voting on the player be based on?”. I think there are two parts to this question. The first part would be stats in order for the Grifball community and observers outside of Grifball could get an idea of the quality of play of these players, at least on paper. However, some may say, “How did he/she get into the Grifball Hall of Fame? His/Her K/D is atrocious, his/her bomb plants are tiny, and his/her betrayals are incalculable! Surely the election committee did a poor job. What a bunch of BKs all-around this place.”

Instead, the second part, and just as important if not more, is how that player is remembered in the actual game of Grifball. Maybe he/she may not get enough kills to get a positive K/D spread or enough bomb plants to average more than a goal a game, but that person got the kills and scores when the time came. Moreover, what the Grifball community remembers about these candidates besides their stats are the launches, bomb stops, number of double kills, triple kills, overkills, killtaculars, clutch moments, innovative techniques, impact on the community, championships, and other things that are immeasurable by stats.

Hypothetical Situation
You’re a Hall of Fame voter and you have to choose five players out of nine candidates that would be added to the Hall of Fame. Each player has played in at least four seasons. Your vote decides who enters the Hall of Fame. Players were picked at random and are hypothetical and do not represent my opinion in any way. When I say picked at random, I mean they came from all sorts of places – interviews from the HUB, players known around the community, etc. If you changed your gamertag multiple times I tried to link each one together. Hopefully I retrieved all gamertags, if not I’m sorry. Also, facts and stats may be inaccurate. I’m nowhere near perfect, I didn’t want to bother anyone with my trivial questions for my article, and I joined this league in GBWL09 so I don’t know much. For stats, I went by the player’s page(s) and my own calculations, and I apologize in advance for anything, especially if I butchered your stats/facts.

If elections were based on stats, most likely Player B may be chosen for having a lot of scores and kills, Players F and I and for high amounts of kills, and then Players H and A would be in a lock as well as Players D and E, as both can be made arguments for depending on how you go, while Players G and C would get laughs. However, as previously mentioned this isn’t just a stat based vote. What if I told you:

• Player A = Puptastrophe
• Player B = PP MooCow PP
• Player C = ColHotShotx
• Player D = TheHolmcross
• Player E = Dr Waffels
• Player F = tHuMeEe
• Player G = runNOKYARDrun
• Player H = HighlndHellrazr
• Player I = I CITI I

How then would the five be picked? Should Nokyard and Pup be given extra boosts for their services to the community (Grifball Mapmaker and GrifballHub Webmaster respectively)? How big of an enhancement do championships give to players like Highlnd, Waffels, and tHuMeEe? Does ColHotShotX’s impact on the game of Grifball, where negative K/Ds are overcome by launching and other antics to score, put him in the Grifball Hall of Fame? Don’t CITI, MooCow, and Holmcross still get credit for their consistent play throughout the seasons, shown by their stats and by their play in games? What happens to the rest of the four players that don’t get chosen? Do they get to run again next season and if so, how long can they run if they’re not chosen again next season? Where do host, strength of schedule, activeness and popularity among the community, and other factors play in? Should they even be seen as factors? Who should even be voting for the Hall of Famers, the community, the staff or a select few?

These and many other questions come with the idea of a Grifball Hall of Fame. With so much work to do, answers to find, people to trust to vote, players to nominate, stats to uncover, history to remember, gameplay to consider, etc. I end this article with one question. Think upon your answer instead of answering without thinking, and (if you wish) share your idea with the Grifball community. Is a Grifball Hall of Fame possible?