Subject: Re: 14 Teams at Nationals

From: jonnygwiz@aol.com (JonnyGwiz)

Date: 1996/02/28

Reply-To: jonnygwiz@aol.com (JonnyGwiz)

Newsgroups: rec.sport.disc

On 2/26 Jim Parinella dares to question the wisdom of the UPA

>>Subject: 14 Teams at Nationals

From: "Luis A. Santiago" <Luis=Santiago%sdl%msdtwk@vines.sdl.ray.com>

Date: 26 Feb 1996 22:20:23 GMT

Message-ID: <4gtbn7$6j@swlab1.msd.ray.com>

A 14 team format will cause problems at Nationals.

1. There will be TWO additional rounds required to play that one extra game. With 12 teams, 2 rounds Thursday, 2 on Friday, 1 on Sat. With 14, 3 on Thurs, 3 on Fri, 1 on Sat.

2. One team each day will have a FOUR HOUR bye. First round is 9-11, second round is 12-2, third round is 3-5.

3. Some teams will be 99.99% mathematically eliminated after the first day of three losses. Presently, some teams are only maybe 90% mathematically eliminated after going 0-2. (I'm making those numbers up, but if you go 0-2, you still have a chance if perhaps 3 pivotal games go your way, but if you're 0-3, you would pretty much have to have every game go a certain way).

4. With the format presented, the #3 seed in each pool is really getting the shaft. They are one of the teams with a four hour bye on Day 1. On Day 2, they start off with the #4 seed, get the #2 seed after they've played #6, and close with the #1 seed which had a first round bye and then #7.

5. The 10 AM start time that each team gets on one of the first two days is eliminated. Teams really appreciate the extra hour, especially if your flight doesn't get in until 3 AM, as happened to many teams at last year's Nationals.

6. By no means was there a Player Mandate on this. 54% of the responders favored it. But of those, how many actually had a shot at Nationals? What percentage of players that attend Nationals are in favor of this? How many responders were aware of the problems associated with an odd number of teams in a pool? Of the people that didn't vote, how many were aware that this wasn't just another survey question and that it was going to be on the agenda at the UPA HQ meeting?

7. Two of the benefits cited by Eric for a 14 team tournament vs a 16 team tournament are also true for a 12 team format. He said that we will get a staggered semifinal, and no teams are eliminated after the first day (actually, this second item favors a 12 team format as stated in #3). Both of these can be true for a 12 team format, which also has exactly one pool play round on Saturday.

8. Perhaps most importantly, there aren't enough quality teams presently to justify this. In the Open Division, 16 of 30 pool play games were decided by 7 or more. In the Women's, 17 of 30 were won by 9 or more. These games aren't particularly interesting for either team or the fans. Adding two more teams at the bottom isn't going to improve the quality of the UPA's showcase event.

It's nice to reward teams by giving them an appearance at Nationals, but it's being done at the expense of the rest of the teams there. It's no wonder that the NUA has formed to cater to the needs of the semi-pro teams out there.

Jim Parinella<<