Opinion: Hall of Fame commits double fault

   Since I'm apparently one of the few Americans who hasn't guest-hosted "Jeopardy!," here goes:

   Me: "Start us off, Norman Knowitall."

   Norman: "I'll take Bogus International Tennis Hall of Famers for $1,000."

   Me: "These players have no business being inducted."

   Norman: "Who are Goran Ivanisevic and Conchita Martinez?"
   Me: "Correct!"

   Each of the newly enshrined — ahem — Hall of Famers won a grand total of one Grand Slam singles title and no major doubles crowns. "Immortals" Michael Chang, Andy Roddick, Yannick Noah and Manuel Orantes also won only one Slam in singles.

   This sad state of affairs is hardly surprising. Standards have fallen, if not disappeared, almost everywhere in society — in the United States, at least. It makes people happy. Meanwhile, institutions crumble.

   What's next? Inducting just a Grand Slam finalist? Semifinalist? 

   Can we agree that the definition of a Hall of Famer is "one of the greatest players ever"? Are you telling me that Ivanisevic, Martinez, Chang, Roddick, Noah and Orantes belong in the same group as Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert? Yeah, right.

   News flash: Tennis greatness is measured in Grand Slam titles. Period. Everything else — Davis Cup/Billie Jean King Cup championships, Olympic medals, ATP/WTA titles, appearances in Grand Slam finals, weeks at No. 1 (zero for the Fab Five aside from Roddick, by the way), first this or first that — is a bonus. Collecting a bunch of those but capturing just one Grand Slam title begs the question, if you're such a great player, why didn't you win more Slams?

   It's pretty simple, folks. One Grand Slam singles title makes you a one-hit wonder. Three major singles crowns make you one of the best players of your era. Five make you one of the best ever.

   Double those numbers for doubles, because each player is responsible for half of the team's success and the top singles players don't play.

   Combinations of major singles and doubles titles are allowed. Thus, two Grand Slam singles titles and six major doubles crowns make you a Hall of Famer under this formula.

   Mixed doubles doesn't count because few play it. 

   A sport's history is sacred. Enshrining singles specialists with one Grand Slam title defaces tennis history.

Ex-Capital Davenport nominated for Hall of Fame

Lindsay Davenport, playing for the Newport Beach Breakers
against the host Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis
last year, reached No. 1 in the world in singles and doubles.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Lindsay Davenport, a former Sacramento Capitals star in World Team Tennis, and six other luminaries were nominated Thursday for enshrinement in the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport, R.I., next year.
   Also on the ballot are former players Mary Pierce and Conchita Martinez, wheelchair player Chantal Vandierendonck, coach Nick Bollettieri, executive Jane Brown Grimes, and British broadcaster and author John Barrett.
   Voting will take place over the next several months, and the Class of 2014 will be announced early next year. An international media panel, consisting of tennis journalists and authors, will cast ballots on the players. An international masters panel, comprised of Hall of Famers and tennis historians, will vote on the contributors. Candidates in either category must receive 75 percent affirmative votes for induction.  
   Davenport, 6-foot-2 (1.89 meters), reached No. 1 in the world in singles and doubles. The 37-year-old resident of Laguna Beach in Southern California won six Grand Slam titles, three in singles (1998 U.S. Open, 1999 Wimbledon and 2000 Australian Open) and three in doubles (1996 French Open with Mary Joe Fernandez, 1997 U.S. Open with Jana Novotna and 1999 Wimbledon with Corina Morariu). Davenport also earned the singles gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
   Playing for the Capitals, Davenport was named the WTT Female Rookie of the Year at 17 years old in 1993 and the Female MVP in 1997. She competed on three of Sacramento's record six WTT championship teams -- in 1997, 1998 and 2007.
    Davenport also was known for her down-to-earth personality and unfailing cooperation with the media. 
    Pierce, 38, of France captured four Grand Slam titles, two in singles (1995 Australian Open and 2000 French Open), one in doubles (2000 French Open with Martina Hingis) and one in mixed doubles (2004 Wimbledon with Mahesh Bhupathi).
    Martinez, 41, remains the only Spanish woman to win Wimbledon, having stunned nine-time champion Martina Navratilova in 1994.
   ITA to honor Crawford -- Roger Crawford, 52, of Granite Bay in the Sacramento area will receive the 2013 Intercollegiate Achievement Award today in New York.
   Crawford, a renowned motivational speaker and author, was born with four impaired limbs. He has one finger on his right hand, two fingers on his left hand, three toes on his right foot and a prosthetic left leg. Yet he played Division I college tennis at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.