Well I am going to have my little hissy fit about Angus being excluded from this category and get it over with.
Angus' participation on these forums predates the great day in Feb 2007 - yes, he has always been a columnist here and then later graduated into a management position, but consistently through time and not wearing either of these job hats, this guy has been here, helping people, treating them well and never once, to my knowledge, played the arrogant dick or smacked someone disrespectfully - he might not go down as a cuddly kinda guy but he has nurtured the newbies year after year, he consistently supports his recommendations with analysis (that is pretty hard to beat) - the man has been a forum rock. Take a look at his blog spot on the forums - does anyone else run theirs as interactively with forum members as he does (I think not - most others are tellers first and not askers)?
Take him away if you want Dobber, but here is one guy that says Angus belongs in the DBHHOF as a forum user, first and foremost. It's the Hall of Fame for heavens sake, not a political appointment.
Alright, rant over - on to other things.
If we look at all the values that we have talked about in terms of making someone worthy of HOF induction - it seems to me that several of the nominees are missing significant chunks. Now that doesn't mean that you don't induct someone because they are more one dimensional in their value here - lord knows that guys like Fzusher and JHM are brilliant beyond belief in analysis and feeding it into the forums. Praba would get my vote if we are putting someone in on humor, plus abundant participation. And there are several others that have singular or plural skills that rank very high. HPG does the analysis/respect thing perfectly.
But if I was going to list guys that cover the sweep and who have been here consistently and have done nothing to detract from their candidacy, my list is as follows. It is not ranked.
Metaldude, Smack, Ultrawhiteness, Fungchen, Eric Daoust, Crazynuck (gone but not forgotten for his contributions).
Now here is an issue I have - I think you put folks into the Hall because of their career not because of a couple of great seasons. Enduring quality - that's what I think my list of 6 represents - these guys care about how they treat others, they care to do due diligence in their analysis/recommendations, they don't go away for extended breaks and they jump in anywhere to lend a helping hand - and they haven't taken a dump in the forums. Give me a 4 year career of this and then you are both eligible and worthy in my mind.
Are there a whole bunch of other folks who are on a path to this list - damn rights there are, lots!
Okay, now I am really done. Thanks for listening