Name: Greg Kellogg
Nickname: Greg to friends, komments on the web
Job title(s): Solutions Architect (real world), BlogTalkRadio Host (fantasy world)
Full-time in fantasy? Not currently though I have been in my past
Age: 55
Education: Lots of college — no degree
Family status: Married for 34 years
Favorite fantasy sport to play: Football
Favorite sport to watch: Football and college basketball
Favorite team (any sport): Detroit Lions (yeah, I’m a masochist at heart)
All-time favorite athlete: This is tough: In football probably Barry Sanders, but overall I would have to say Jesse Owens for how he represented us at the Berlin Olympics.
Years playing fantasy: 21 (since 1988)

I got my start in the fantasy industry when: I started writing a column titled Kellogg’s Komments in the mid-’90s. I was the first to syndicate my work to multiple fantasy sites, with Komments appearing on more than two dozen sites, including Mr. Football (now Football Guys), The Huddle and Sam Caplan’s Fantasy Insider. Shortly after that I opened my own site, Komments.com, where I provided a forum for up-and-coming writers to be published.

Since then, my fantasy résumé includes:
Producer, FOXSports.com (full-time)
Creator of the Ladies of Football league that promotes the hobby to ladies
Partner, FantasyAsylum.com
Sr. Writer, GridironGrumblings.com (now SportsGrumblings.com)
Guest Writer, SportsIllustrated.com
Partner, FantasySportsGroup.com
Radio Host, FantasySharks.com

I also was awarded with the prestigious Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association (FSWA) Annual Award for the Best Fantasy Football In-Season Article, Feature or Series — an award that my article, penned by another author, received two years later.

Named to the inaugural FSWA Hall of Fame class in 2010.

Before fantasy, I worked in: The Army (military intelligence — Russian Linguist) and Defense Contracting.

Three questions

1. How did the transition from Komments.com to your various fantasy pursuits since then come about? Was it tough to let the old site go?
I was spending about 40 to 60 hours a week on Komments, and it was getting to be too much when I also had a 50-hour-per-week paying job. I sent a notice to my email list stating that I was going to cut back on the work I was doing for Komments to maintain my sanity (and my marriage). A week later, Mike Perlow contacted me to ask if I would be interested in a job with FOXSports.com. It is always tough to let go of a business you have built from nothing (even when the business isn’t making any money). But the opportunity to get paid for a full-time job in the fantasy sports industry was well worth letting Komments go.

2. How did your background in military intelligence and data analysis feed into your fantasy exploits?
Military intelligence trains you to be very cognizant of patterns — to be logical in your analysis and to dig through reams of minutiae to find one small sliver of intelligence. Fantasy sports analysts — at least the good ones — do the same thing. When I first started, news and insight were hard to come by. Hence the 40 to 60 hours of weekly digging. Now information is everywhere, and the difference is in the analysis. We still dig through all the news, but now things like how the pension change is causing assistant coaches to consider changing careers is as important as a Pro Bowl left tackle changing teams.

3. Can you give us the full (OK, maybe abridged) story on the FAD?
Sure. Joe Bryant and I created FanEx from some folks in the old rec.sport.football.fantasy newsgroup. We started doing live drafts at fantasy football conventions early on. These were extremely popular and presented us with large crowds. We found that if we would give a short analysis to go with our picks, the folks watching would maintain interest, so we took the idea back to the league and started a May Draft where we provide our analysis of our picks, hence the name FanEx Analysis Draft — shortened to FAD for everyone now. In some years we have added guest analysis and during our live drafts we would take questions from the audience. This remains a very popular draft to this day.

Bonus: Be honest — would your bumper sticker say “I’d rather be fishing” or “I’d rather be drafting”?
Truthfully, it would be “I’d rather be CATCHING,” but if the fish aren’t biting then how about “I’d rather be Drafting while I am Fishing”?

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.

We’ve been keeping you up to date since March 2009 on the FSWA’s planned hall of fame, and Tuesday brought the clearest public sign that the process is working.

The Fantasy Sports Writers Association has announced 14 finalists for its inaugural class, which will be rolled out Sept. 9 to coincide with the start of the NFL season. The names (listed alphabetically): Greg Ambrosius, Matthew Berry, William Del Pilar, Scott Engel, Dan Grogan, Kelly Grogan, Bob Harris, Emil Kadlec, Eric Karabell, Greg Kellogg, James Quintong, Brendan Roberts, Peter Schoenke and Ron Shandler.

With its focus on writers and content in general, the FSWA required that any candidate have at least 10 years experience on the editorial side of fantasy. More than just writers, though, this effort is might to acknowledge those who have made significant, lasting impressions on fantasy content.

We’ll have more on the process for whittling this group down to the inductees as well as some background on each candidate in the days to come.

For now, though, FSB.com congratulates everyone who made it this far. The fantasy industry is still new, but to be recognized as one of its most impactful contributors to date is an accomplishment in itself.

There’s fantasy content, there’s good fantasy content and then there’s chatting with legendary Rams defensive end Deacon Jones.

The headslap artist who terrorized quarterbacks before sacks were even counted joined former NFL lineman Ian Allen and Greg Kellogg on “Inside the Trenches” on BlogTalkRadio’s Fantasy Sports Channel on Tuesday night.

You won’t find fantasy talk, but you’ll get gems such as the toughest offensive lineman Jones ever faced …

“My ex-wife.“