Name: Scott Engel
Nickname: “The King”
Job title(s): managing director, RotoExperts.com
Full-time in fantasy? Yes, since 1996
Age: 44
Education: B.A. in journalism, Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus
Family status: Married to Victoria, 16-year old son, Sean.
Favorite fantasy sport to play: Football
Favorite sport to watch: NFL
Favorite team (any sport): New York Mets
All-time favorite athlete: Bernard King
Years playing fantasy: Since the early ’90s, but much earlier if you count games like Strat-o-Matic.

I got my start in the fantasy industry when: I was hired at CBS Sportsline in the winter of 1996 and joined their fantasy department to help in many areas.

Since then, my fantasy résumé includes: Eight years at CBS Sportsline: served as managing editor and senior writer. Four years at ESPN as a fantasy writer, analyst and associate editor. Joined RotoExperts.com in July of 2008. Original executive committee member of the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association and named 2006 Fantasy Football Writer of the Year. Inducted to Fantasy Sports Writers Association hall of fame in 2010 as part of the inaugural class. Host of the “RotoExperts” morning show on Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio.

Three questions

1) How did the fantasy scene of 1996, when you were with CBS Sportsline, compare with that of today? What do you see as the pros and cons of each landscape?

It was so new and exciting then, and I was able to help heavily shape the future of a great company in one of its most important departments. Early on, though, fantasy sports was viewed as an afterthought that didn’t need much attention overall. That thinking changed in a major way over the years, and it was so exciting to be part of the rise from a tiny section on the site to a major component of a successful corporation. Today, I’m back as part of another fast-rising company, enjoying that thrilling growth spurt all over again. It was more challenging in recent years to crack the industry, obviously, but with the right model and people, you can still make a major dent, as RotoExperts has proved.

2) With so many people analyzing and writing about fantasy football and so much luck factoring into the game itself, what does it take to be a truly good fantasy football analyst?

You must not go by numbers alone and realize there are so many other factors that can contribute to performances — emotions, rivalries, and a lot more. Plus, you must be able to write well and have in-depth knowledge of individual sports. Many potential prospects in the industry do one or the other well, hopefully they learn to combine the two.

3) Why did you leave ESPN, and what drew you to RotoExperts?

Working at ESPN was, at the time, reaching the top of the mountain in my career. It was like running out of the tunnel in the NFL when I first arrived there. It was a thrilling, unforgettable period in my life. Yet I thirsted for more creativity and avenues to share my experience with a company that wanted to meet the challenges of trying to crack the industry. Nothing ever matched the thrill ride of being with CBS Sportsline from the beginning and being part of that growth process. With RotoExperts, I saw the same kind of visions and people who wanted to scale great heights and believed in themselves. It was great being with ESPN, which was like a rock legend playing stadiums. Yet RotoExperts was the band I saw in a local club and knew they would be famous, and I wanted to get in early on the ride to stardom.

In well less than three years, I’ve already seen the RotoExperts audience grow in major ways, and we are ready to rock the fantasy world for years to come. I am actually playing on bigger stages than I did at ESPN, and RotoExperts now draws large audiences as its own popular fantasy act. I grew up wanting to be in KISS, and RotoExperts is the fantasy equivalent: unique, groundbreaking and unmatched for excitement. Joining forces with RotoExperts CEO Louis M. Maione was like meeting and joining up with Gene Simmons, they both are history-making visionaries with incredible work ethics. We already have churned out big hits like our significant presence on Sirius XM’s fantasy sports channel and partnership with NFL.com as an exclusive fantasy content provider. We have more to come, including our totally groundbreaking Sports Grinder product and Upset Challenge game. Rock and roll!

Matthew Berry has a lot to say and a grander stage than anyone in fantasy on which to say it. That’s what makes it all the more notable when he uses his ESPN pulpit to convey humility in the wake of a hall of fame nod and shine the spotlight on some industry contemporaries.

Berry opened his “Week 2 fantasy pickups” Tuesday night by mentioning his recent election to the Fantasy Sports Writers Association hall of fame. Rather than diving too deep into what got him there and what the honor means, though, Berry spent the bulk of the intro pointing to a pair of fellow finalists he thought to be locks for induction.

On Ron Shandler, Berry wrote:

Shandler, for those who don’t know, founded the seminal BaseballHQ.com site, has authored the terrific Baseball Forecaster the past 24 years, is one of the creators of the famous Tout Wars expert league, is the creator of many oft-used and quoted fantasy theories (the “LIMA plan” being the most famous) and was the first to bring deep, underlying statistical analytics to fantasy baseball analysis. In addition to the work for his own site, his work has appeared all over, including here on ESPN. It’s not always credited to Ron, but many of the theories and even stats you hear quoted in fantasy analysis started with him.

On Peter Schoenke:

You might not know Schoenke’s name, but you know his company, Rotowire.com. (It provides many of the player news nuggets you read on our player cards). Peter and his first site, Rotonews.com, invented the “here’s what happened/here’s what it means” format you see in all fantasy player news on pretty much every site. Many terrific writers got their start or a huge boost under Peter, including our own Stephania Bell, as well as industry stalwarts Scott Pianowski, Jeff Erickson and Chris Liss.

It’s tough to argue with the merits of either choice. Then again, when you’re inducting a first class of hall of famers — even in an industry still as young as fantasy sports — there are bound to be folks left out who appear deserving.

We have our first class of Fantasy Sports Writers Association hall of famers:

Greg Ambrosius
Matthew Berry
Scott Engel
Eric Karabell
Greg Kellogg

FSWA president Mike Beacom told FSB.com Thursday that these five reached the 70 percent threshold in the final round of voting by the 20-person hall committee. Ambrosius, Berry and Kellogg each came away with 16 votes, while Engel and Karabell followed with 15 apiece.

Ambrosius has been producing fantasy sports magazines since the 1980s, helping give voice to prospective writers along the way. Although this honor specifically deals with editorial contributions, Ambrosius also founded the National Fantasy Football Championship and its baseball counterpart, now part of Fanball.

“Greg Ambrosius was the first person that really gave me a break in the industry,” Beacom said. “I owe something to Greg Ambrosius.”

Berry is the most familiar face in fantasy today thanks to his placement at the forefront of ESPN’s efforts. He arrived at ESPN, however, by way of his site TalentedMrRoto.com — which not only gave breaks to other prominent fantasy analysts of today but has helped to bring more personality out in fantasy writing.

Beacom said that Berry has also been important to FSWA efforts over the years.

“We have a lot of people who have helped the FSWA, and Matthew does it in a number of ways,” Beacom said, referring to more than just Berry’s work at the annual FSWA awards ceremony. “He’s a great showman, a great emcee. He always makes himself available to the FSWA. He doesn’t do it for me. He does it for young writers.”

Engel has popped up in various places throughout the fantasy industry, and if he’s not quite as publicly familiar as Berry, he is certainly known to everyone in fantasy.

Engel was on the earliest crew of fantasy analysts at CBS Sportsline, spent several years with ESPN and now runs RotoExperts.com, including its multiple shows on Sirius XM’s Fantasy Sports Channel.

“Scott’s a major-media pioneer,” Beacom said. “If you’ve been to the conferences, you know he’s the guy you’ve got to spend time with, get to know. He’s likable. He’s been doing it a long time. People are aware of him. Everybody likes him. He — along with Greg Kellogg — is a treasure in our industry.”

For his part, Kellogg has had his hands in just about everything fantasy since the mid-1990s. He began publishing his Kellogg’s Komments newsletter back when folks didn’t give fantasy advice. He helped build the fantasy operation at Fox sports, amid other major-media gigs. (Check his FSB profile for the full list.)

Today, Kellogg remains one of the most accessible veterans of the fantasy industry — including a pair of shows on The Fantasy Sports Channel — and a particularly valuable resource for those trying to break into the industry or make their way.

“A lot of people know him. Everyone loves him,” Beacom said. “He’s a very gracious person. When I spoke to him (about being chosen for the Hall), I could tell he was humbled, that it means something to him.”

Last but not least, Karabell has been with ESPN for many years, from the early days of fantasy’s integration into the Worldwide Leader through a fantasy overhaul that included the acquisition of Berry’s TMR.com.

The length of his stint with ESPN through various stages not only made Karabell one of fantasy’s most public faces, but also allowed him to help a number of new writers.

“He’s been at ESPN a long time, through their transition,” Beacom said. “Eric has worked with a lot of young writers.”

This inaugural induction class is a product of extensive volunteer work by the 20-person hall committee. Beacom stresses that committee members reviewed a lot of material in two separate stages and exemplified its dedication by asking questions of the candidates whenever allowed.

That portion of the effort was led by Robert Burghardt, who was integral to keeping things organized and flowing.

“You need someone who can put the pieces together, and Robert delivered,” Beacom said. “Robert ended up being a great pick.”

The FSWA has yet to nail down specifics on recognizing the inductees, but Beacom says the group wants to make sure the honor is special. More than a one-day honor, the FSWA wants to create a club atmosphere that ties the annual classes together and makes all feel a part of something.

“We’re going to spend, and we’re going to make it special,” Beacom said. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to make it a big deal.”

Getting recognized at this level by a jury of your industry peers — many of whom have probably never met you — is a big deal in itself.

Mike Beacom knows that when the FSWA tried to get a hall of fame going previously, things weren’t quite done the right way.

It’s not that anyone was intentionally impeding the process. It’s just that such a project has so many different steps, so many possible methods and so many potential pitfalls that it takes a large amount of time, planning and patience.

The patience has been particularly important, as the whole thing hasn’t always stuck to the initial timeline.

“We took our time to do it right,” said Beacom, the president of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association. “Nobody’s going to care a year from now if we’re two weeks or two months behind. They’ll care if we mess it up.”

Doing it right included involving members of the math department at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point to craft the voting formula. Beacom said the FSWA set out with the idea that it could combine aspects of the election processes used by the Baseball Writers Association of American and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It seems to be working but might not have without the help of those professional mathematicians (as opposed to the amateur mathematicians that make up a fantasy sports non-profit).

“It was one more step that we took to ensure that we were doing things scientifically,” Beacom said. “We were trying to blend two processes that we thought could work together. They’ve proven that you can make this formula work.”

The pro football segment of the process comes in narrowing candidates down from a list of 40 nominees to the 14 finalists recently announced. Beacom told FSB.com that the first round of voting is designed to produce 15 finalists a year, despite a fluky five-way tie leading to this year’s number.

From there we move to the BBWAA component, in which the 20 Hall committee members can each fill a ballot with as many of the 15 finalists as they like. Anyone who appears on at least 70 percent of the ballots will gain induction.

The committee responsible for that final vote is a group of volunteers — led by chair Robert Burghardt of TG Fantasy Baseball — whose role Beacom spotlights.

“I can’t stress enough how important that committee is,” he said. “Robert has done an unbelievable job. They all admitted it was more work than they imagined.”

Those ballots will be turned in over the next week, with the class to be announced on Sept. 9, opening day of the NFL season.