tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71072338247710610432024-03-14T04:05:06.485-04:00First Round ByeA blog about sports systems and structuresFRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-31021329376974399192017-02-17T15:43:00.002-05:002017-02-17T15:43:44.557-05:00Top 10 Face Characters at Disney World You HAVE to Meet1. Princess Belle<br />
2. Wendy<br />
3. The Tremaine Sisters<br />
4. Alice<br />
5. Princess Cinderella<br />
6. Peter Pan<br />
7. Princess Tiana<br />
8. Rosetta<br />
9. Silvermist<br />
10. Tinker Bell<br />
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<br />FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-2832689385205818852012-09-05T20:23:00.003-04:002012-09-05T20:23:47.390-04:00NASL Split Season ProblemThe N.A.S.L. is going to <a href="http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2012/09/nasl-moves-to-split-season-schedule.html">a split-season format in 2013</a>. The first-half winner will play the second-half winner in the Soccer Bowl at the end of the season to determine the overall champion.<br />
<br />
This is a system used in a number of Latin American leagues with some success. But in those leagues, if the same team wins both halves, it is declared the winner. In the N.A.S.L., the winner of both halves will still have to play in the Soccer Bowl against the team with the second-best overall record.<br />
<br />
This could be a disaster, as FRB pointed out in his <a href="http://firstroundbye.blogspot.com/2011/03/frb-flashback-baseballs-1981-split.html">flashback post about the 1981 baseball split season</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">This created the possibility of a team having to </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">lose </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">to make the playoffs. Let's look at an example.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The first half in the American League East ended like this:</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Yankees 34-22; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Orioles 31-23; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Brewers 31-25; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Tigers 31-26; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Red Sox 30-26; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Indians 26-24; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Blue Jays 16-42. </span></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Now imagine that the second half has come down to its final game. The Yankees are tied with the Indians for the best second-half record, while the Orioles are mathematically eliminated, though only a game and a half back. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The Yankees' final game that year was against the Orioles. Now think about where that leaves the O's. If they win, the Yanks fall behind the Indians in the second-half race, and those two teams advance to the playoffs. But what if the Orioles lose? Then the Yankees win both halves, and their opponent in the playoffs is the team with the next best overall record. With a second place in the first half and a third place in the second half, that would be the Orioles!</span></blockquote>
<a href="" name="more" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The N.A.S.L. has to hope it doesn't run into the same situation.</span>FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-26787996492491725782012-03-04T17:08:00.001-05:002012-03-04T21:27:16.754-05:00Australian Rules Football Preseason Cup<a href="http://www.afl.com.au/">Australian Rules Football</a> has begun its preseason. But what in other sports is a series of meaningless friendlies is instead organized into<a href="http://www.afl.com.au/tabid/18551/default.aspx#fixtureid=7885&tab=Stats"> an actual competition</a>, with a winner and trophy at the end.<br />
<br />
First, the 18 teams are split into six groups of three. Those teams play each other, all in a single day at a single site. To prevent exhaustion, the games are only half as long as an ordinary Aussie Rules game, but each counts as a full game in the Cup standings.<br />
<br />
Over the next two weeks, each team plays two more games, one home and one away. The two teams with the best records over all four games then play in the Cup final; point differential is the tie breaker. The other 16 teams are matched up for final exhibition games, generally against a local rival.<br />
<br />
This is a fairly modest competition, but successful on its own terms. Imagine if the N.F.L. preseason, now greeted with yawns by players, management and fans alike, had a point system and a champion. While it would not give preseason games playoff intensity, it would at least add some interest and give teams and players -- even guys who eventually get cut -- the chance for minor glory. <br />
<br />
Using preseason record alone, the last four winners of the NFL Preseason Cup would have been Detroit, San Francisco, Baltimore, and Detroit again. Are you telling me these teams couldn't use a trophy?<br />
<br />
The other intriguing thing about Aussie Rules's Cup is the "half games." Again, that might be something to increase interest in the N.F.L. preseason. Would you rather go to the Meadowlands and see the Giants against the Broncos with nothing on the line, or see Giants-Ravens, Ravens-Bills, and Bills-Giants, back-to-back, with two games in the Cup standings at stake?<br />
<br />
Of course, the N.F.L. currently has little interest in making preseason more enjoyable for fans. Season ticket-holders are stuck buying the games whether they want to or not, and then paying for parking and food at regular-season prices. Sadly, football would have to face an unlikely downturn before we see any Aussie-style innovation.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-76867840919019765642012-01-24T23:47:00.000-05:002012-01-24T23:47:22.495-05:00M.L.S. Playoffs 2012In the<a href="http://firstroundbye.blogspot.com/2012/01/american-soccer-changes-2012.html"> last post,</a> FRB neglected to mention yet another change for M.L.S. next season: tweaks to the post-season playoffs.<br />
<br />
FRB would get a bad headache if he had to re-explain 2011's goofy format. <a href="http://firstroundbye.blogspot.com/2011/03/mls-playoffs.html">Take a look at his post last year</a> for details.<br />
<br />
Here are the changes for 2012:<br />
<br />
First, the Western and Eastern Conferences will have separate five-team playoffs. There will be no wild cards that cross over to the other conference's bracket, as in recent years. It's good that geographical absurdities like New York being the Western champion are no more. But as he wrote last year, FRB would still rather they chuck the conferences entirely and have a true national league.<br />
<br />
The 4-5 play-in game and the conference semifinals are unchanged. But each conference final will now be a two-game total-goals series rather than a single game. This is a good thing, as it gives quality teams a chance to rally after a bad game. <br />
<br />
Lastly, the single-game Cup final itself will now be at the home site of the finalist with the best record, rather than at a predetermined neutral site. Again, FRB approves: it's a good way to increase the importance of the regular league season and reward the team that played better all year.<br />
<br />
The M.L.S. playoffs remain somewhat misbegotten, but at least these alterations move things in the right direction.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-78491083628901897282012-01-22T21:18:00.002-05:002012-03-04T16:48:34.140-05:00American Soccer Changes 2012All three competitions in which American soccer teams compete are being altered in some way in 2012. Let's take a look at the changes and see if they get an FRB thumb's up.<br />
<br />
<b>U.S. Open Cup</b> <br />
<br />
The Cup is being expanded this year. In the past, only 6 of the 16 American teams in Major League Soccer entered the Cup automatically, joining in the round of 16. The other 10 competed in<a href="http://firstroundbye.blogspot.com/2011/06/us-open-cup-qualifying.html"> a qualifying tournament</a> for two more round of 16 berths.<br />
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This year, <a href="http://thecup.us/ussf-announces-monumental-format-changes-to-2012-us-open-cup/">all 16 teams will enter</a> the Cup at the round of 32 stage. They will be joined by 16 lower league sides who have survived from 48 early round entrants, including all U.S.-based teams in the next two teams down the <a href="http://firstroundbye.blogspot.com/2011/04/american-soccer-pyramid.html">pyramid</a>, the N.A.S.L. (making its Open Cup debut) and U.S.L. Pro. <br />
<br />
This is definitely a good thing. M.L.S. teams mostly treated the Open Cup qualifiers as a joke, sending out teams made up of scrubs and youngsters in front of three-figure crowds. Having all of the country's elite teams entered should give the Cup a needed boost and increase visibility. <br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Another, less publicized, change to the Cup is an even better idea. In most cups around the world, home advantage is assigned randomly. But the U.S. Open Cup has been using a sealed bidding process. Yes, incredibly, whichever team offered the most money got the home game, as <a href="http://thecup.us/dollars-cents-the-controversial-us-open-cup-hosting-bid-process-explained/">thecup.us uncovered</a>. Indeed, the three-time defending champion Seattle Sounders have been the home team in 17 of their last 22 matches, dating to when they weren't even an M.L.S. team. <br />
<br />
This supershady "buying" of the Cup will mostly be stopped under the new system. Now the federation will set a minimum standard for hosting and as long as both teams meet it, there will be a random draw.<br />
<br />
Until the semifinals, when the old silent auction system comes back in force. Bleh.<br />
<br />
<b>Concacaf Champions League</b><br />
<br />
In the past, 24 teams entered this competition for teams from North and Central America, including four from M.L.S. Eight advanced directly to the group stage, while the other 16 played two-legged playoffs for the other eight berths. The group stage mimicked the more famous European Champions League, with each team playing six games, and the top two in each group advancing to quarterfinals. <br />
<br />
In response to complaints that teams were playing too many games, the <a href="http://www.concacafchampions.com/page/CL/Home">Champions League has been streamlined this year</a>. There are still 24 teams, but all will begin in the group stage, eliminating the qualifying round. There will be eight groups of three, so each team will play only four group games. And only the top team in each group will advance. Teams therefore will play just four games to reach the quarterfinals, rather than six to eight.<br />
<br />
FRB understands the need to streamline, but finds these changes a little deflating. The group stage feels pretty unsubstantial with groups of only three. In the old format, groups generally had one American and one Mexican team, making for some strong matchups. The seeding this year, though, will assure that the four American and four Mexican teams are in eight different groups. Expect a high percentage of group stage mismatches.<br />
<br />
Unchanged is what FRB considers the worst aspect of the Champions League: It extends for 10 months over two calendar years. The current Cup began last July, and the group stage ended in October. The eight teams that remain are now waiting five full months until the quarterfinals this March, and the final won't be held until April. How many of you still remember what teams are in the quarterfinals? The 2012-13 event, despite being streamlined, will be no better, running from July 31 to May 1. <br />
<br />
Couldn't we at least get the thing all in one calendar year and dump the absurd five-month break? How about group games in April, May and June, and knockout games in August, September and October? That also would mean the winner only waits two months before participating in the World Club Championships in December instead of seven months.<br />
<br />
<b>Major League Soccer league play</b><br />
<br />
M.L.S. had 18 teams last year; as in most leagues around the world, each team played the others home and home, for a 34-game schedule. This year the Montreal Impact is being added. So the teams will play 36 games instead.<br />
<br />
And that's the end of this post.<br />
<br />
Oh, if only that were true. Nope, instead M.L.S teams will continue to play 34 games, playing the other teams once, or twice, or maybe even three times. <br />
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As an example, the team FRB supports, the Philadelphia Union, will play the nine "Western" teams once each. It will play seven other teams three times. And it will play two teams, Montreal and Kansas City, twice each.<br />
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There is no excuse for this. Saving travel costs? This is a major professional league, come on! Encouraging rivalries? It's not ice hockey. Eliminating fixture congestion? You only need to play two more games. Philadelphia is playing only three games in April and three in June. Soccer teams can play two games a week.<br />
<br />
And worst, it's just <i>inelegant</i>.<br />
<br />
Play everyone once at home. Play everyone once away. The world of sports systems and structures is messy and ugly sometimes, but that is a thing of beauty.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-67921177933233637672012-01-14T22:28:00.001-05:002012-01-23T13:41:59.262-05:00Spanish Segunda Division B PlayoffsSoccer leagues with relegation are usually pretty straightforward. Bottom three go down, top three go up.<br />
<br />
But as you move down the pyramid, at some point leagues become regionalised. Now you have to find a way to determine which of 40, or 60 or 80 teams are promoted to the next division. This problem occurs in Spain where the second division meets the third, and they have developed a pretty good system of resolving it.<br />
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Let's start at the top. <a href="http://www.lfp.es/">Spain's Primera Division</a> has 20 teams. The bottom three are relegated. Next is the Segunda Division. The bottom 4 of 22 teams are relegated there.<br />
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But in the next division down, the Segunda Division B, there are fully 80 teams, 20 in each of four regionalised groups. How do we find the four teams to be promoted?<br />
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<a name='more'></a>One way, of course would simply be to promote the winner of each group. There are two drawbacks to that. First, the groups may not be evenly balanced, so an outstanding second-place team may be passed over for a mediocre first-place team. And second, with only the winner promoted, many teams in each group would be virtually eliminated from the race by halfway through the season, leaving them little to play for.<br />
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Instead Spain has a post-season playoff system that seems to work quite well. Four teams from each group make the playoffs. Each is seeded based on its finishing position within its group, so there are four 1's, four 2's, four 3's and four 4's. The teams are then paired in two-game total goal series as follows: the 1's are drawn against each other, as are the 3's, while the 2's face the 4's.<br />
<br />
<br />
That may seem counter-intuitive, but see how it works. The two matchups involving 1's are direct qualifiers. The two winners are immediately promoted. And the two losers are not eliminated. They join the six winners of the 2-4 and 3-3 matches in another playoff. These eight teams are winnowed by two more home-and-home rounds, and the two survivors are promoted as well. (Readers may note some similarities here with <a href="http://firstroundbye.blogspot.com/2011/09/australian-playoff-systems.html">Australian playoff systems</a>.)<br />
<br />
This system cleverly serves the two fundamental goals of sports structuring, which are often in opposition: rewarding the best teams and giving as many teams as possible a chance. Fair <i>and</i> exciting.<br />
<br />
Notice that the four group winners still have a huge advantage: they get one free shot at promotion, and even if they lose they can be promoted with two straight series wins. By contrast, the second, third and fourth place teams must win three straight series with no second chance. Still, they have a chance. <br />
<br />
Few neutrals get excited about the results of a nation's third division. But FRB will have at least one eye on the Spanish Segunda B playoffs this spring.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-3712909336418194352012-01-01T21:24:00.001-05:002012-01-23T13:41:44.384-05:00Gaelic FootballGaelic Football in Ireland is a rare sport in that its league competition is much less prestigious than its Cup.<br />
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There is a Gaelic Football league, though it is a somewhat sleepy affair that runs only from February through April. Americans may be startled to learn that it is called the National Football League, or N.F.L. (It dates to 1925, only three years after the somewhat more famous N.F.L. took that name.)<br />
<br />
But that is only a warmup to the big event. Even if you're not an aficionado, you may have heard of it: the <a href="http://www.gaa.ie/fixtures-and-results/national-fixtures/gaa-football-all-ireland-senior-championship/">all-Ireland Senior Football Championship</a>, a knockout Cup that rivets Irish sport fans every year. Here's how it works.<br />
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First teams must qualify in the Provincial championships, contested in May, June and July. There are four of these, each a single-elimination knockout event with between 6 and 11 teams. Teams compete in their home region: either Munster, Leinster, Connacht, or Ulster. The total number of teams entered is 33: one representing each of the 32 Irish counties, except Kilkenny, plus teams representing Irish diaspora in New York and London.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>(In case you are wondering, Gaelic football just isn't popular in Kilkenny. The county rejoined the N.F.L. in 2008, and has so far managed to win just one game there.)<br />
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The winners of these four tournaments head straight to the all-Ireland finals. The 28 losers (excluding New York, play in a national repechage tournament (the "Qualifiers") in June and July, also single elimination, producing four more entrants for the all-Ireland. Teams that advanced the furthest in the regionals get a bye (or even several byes) in the qualifiers. <br />
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The all-Ireland itself is a single elimination eight-team tournament played in August or September. The winner is the undisputed champion of Ireland, regardless of how it fared in league play.<br />
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The obvious drawback of such a system is that it leaves most teams with only a few important games to play all year. Even a pretty good team may play only two-to-four games in the whole tournament.<br />
<br />
Take County Down, which was the runner-up in 2010. In 2011, it was knocked off in the quarterfinals of the Ulster championship by Armagh. In the qualifiers, it won three straight games, but lost at the final hurdle to Cork. That's it, a five-game season and it's wait till next year.<br />
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On the plus side, of course, is that every game is incredibly important. At the provincial stage, losers get sent to the difficult path of the qualifiers, and in the qualifiers and the all-Ireland tournament proper, losers go home. That drama helps explain why every year Croke Park sells out for the final. <br />
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Is there any other sport in the world that stakes so much on a single-elimination tournament? FRB can think of one. It's hurling, the other quintessentially Irish sport.<br />
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Hurling's format is <a href="http://www.gaa.ie/fixtures-and-results/national-fixtures/gaa-hurling-all-ireland-senior-championship/">very similar, though smaller</a>. Fourteen teams contest two Provincial championships, Munster and Leinster, with winners advancing straight to the all-Ireland semifinals. A repechage produces four more teams who play off for the other two semifinal berths. And yes, the hurling final drew an 80,000 sellout crowd to Croke Park as well last year.<br />
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The winner? FRB is delighted to reveal that it was Kilkenny. Who needs Gaelic football?FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-82922270171442006992011-12-08T12:22:00.002-05:002012-01-23T13:41:26.088-05:00Ask FRB: What's the Best Sports Structure?<i>Dear FRB: You were<a href="http://firstroundbye.blogspot.com/2011/11/ask-frb-whats-most-complex-sports.html"> pretty critical last week </a>of the NCAA Division 1 football format. How about an example of a sports structure that works really well?</i><br />
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<br />
NCAA Division 1 basketball. <br />
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Yes, though the NCAA gets football spectacularly wrong, it has somehow stumbled on to a great system for basketball.<br />
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To appreciate the beauty of the basketball system, imagine if you had to build it from scratch. Here is your mission: You have <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/bkt1112.htm">345 teams of different sizes</a> and finances spread all over the country. You must determine one champion in five months. And ideally you must keep the season interesting throughout for every team, big and small, by offering intermediate trophies or at least varying the format enough to prevent boredom.<br />
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That is a very tall order. Unlike with football, it's hard to imagine sitting down with a pencil and coming up with a much better system than the one we have.<br />
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Some of the same aspects that make the football system so infuriating work exceptionally well in basketball. Having unequal conferences makes some football teams second class citizens who can never win a national title. In basketball, the conferences help to give everyone a chance to win something at a realistic level, yet still earn a shot against the top teams at the end of the year. <br />
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An overlooked facet of the basketball system is the variety teams and fans get as the season goes along.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Teams start by playing a couple months of nonconference games. These allow them to play games with local rivals and teams with similar talent levels, as well as be on either end of a mismatch or three. Frequently, teams will also play in a four or eight-team tournament, offering a chance for a trophy, and giving even the weakest team a chance to win, say, a seventh-place game.<br />
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<br />
After the teams have shaken off the cobwebs and given a sense of how good they might be, they launch into conference play in January and February. With the same opponents every year, this provides continuity. And no matter how badly the first two months went, everyone gets a fresh start.<br />
<br />
<br />
Another fresh start comes in March, with conference tournaments. Just about every team in the country, no matter how wretched, gets one more chance to get hot, win a title, and qualify for the national championship. A far cry from football, where a team's season can be essentially over after one or two games.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We don't need to say much about the final stage, the NCAA tournament, which everyone knows is one of the most phenomenally successful events in the country, attracting the attention of millions of people who don't know Samford from Stetson. More underrated are the other post-season tournaments, <a href="http://firstroundbye.blogspot.com/2011/03/nit-cbi-cit-other-tournaments.html">the NIT, CBI and CIT</a>. Few casual fans pay attention, but fans and players of the teams in them get a chance for a few more precious games for their seniors and perhaps one more shot at a trophy.<br />
<br />
<br />
The system is not perfect of course. The top teams too often play patsies at home in the early season. FRB has a few beefs about the sacred NCAA tournament too. The overuse of the human element in selecting teams makes him uneasy. And 68 is an aesthetically unappealing number of teams, especially when it is so close to 64, that beautiful power of 2. But as a whole, it accomplishes most of the things its sets out to do effectively.<br />
<br />
<br />
And yet this fine system wasn't created by a central planner. Though the NCAA runs the final tournament and sets rules about games and dates, many of the most interesting aspects of college basketball are structured by others. The in-season tournaments, conference play and conference tournaments, and the CBI and CIT are all structured by separate entities. This chaos has brought a successful working system. FRB is no doctrinaire libertarian, but he offers a thumb's up for the free market in this case.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-70114280539689923972011-11-27T20:26:00.001-05:002012-01-23T13:41:01.731-05:00Ask FRB: What's the Most Complex Sports Structure?<i><span style="font-size: small;">Dear FRB:</span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;">What is the single most bafflingly convoluted sports system of them all?</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">This is an easy one. The N.C.A.A. Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision. No other structure, in FRB's opinion, has more unusual elements.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Imagine an intelligent person who avidly follows many sports around the world, but for whatever reason knows nothing about American college sports. Now imagine trying to describe to him how the college football champion is crowned. How many potentially confusing things would you have to explain?</span><br />
<br />
1. The conference. Each is a grouping of 8 to 13 teams from one region of the country. Except that the regions overlap. And some of the conferences have spread so far out of their original regions that people have seriously discussed adding San Diego State to the "Big East."<br />
<br />
1a. You also probably want to point out that the Big 10 has 12 teams and the Big 12 has 10.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>2. Scheduling. Teams play most of the other teams in their conference, but not all. The teams they don't play rotate from year to year, except certain teams are always on the schedule.<br />
<br />
2b. Teams also play several games against teams from outside of their conferences. Bizarrely, they choose and schedule these games themselves, often many years in advance. <br />
<br />
2c. A few teams are independents, and therefore schedule all their games themselves.<br />
<br />
3. Divisions. Each of the larger conferences is divided, mostly arbitrarily, into two divisions. At the end of the season the winners of each division meet in a conference final.<br />
<br />
3b. Only in-conference games count for determining division or conference winners. Nevertheless, conferences might consider performance in non-conference games in breaking ties. <br />
<br />
4. Bowls. At the end of the season, there are about 35 of these games, which have no equivalent in any other world sport. Many of these are scheduled automatically "Fourth place in the Big 10 vs. Fifth place in the SEC" for example. Others are scheduled ad hoc each year. All but one of them have no influence on the national champion. <br />
<br />
Wow. FRB contends what we have just covered is the most difficult structure to explain in all of world sport.<br />
<br />
<i>And we haven't even mentioned the letters "B.C.S." yet.</i><br />
<br />
If you haven't exhausted your curious friend yet, imagine explaining:<br />
<br />
5. The BCS ranking, which includes two entirely subjective polls of various people with sometimes vague connections to college football. It also includes several computer rankings run by independent people who may use their own formulas, but who may not factor in margin of victory. (Though those voting in the polls may consider it.) <br />
<br />
6. The process of qualifying for the five BCS bowls. (Six conference champions get in, based on their conference records, but the other four teams get in based on records both in and out of conference.)<br />
<br />
6a. The difference between BCS and non-BCS conferences.<br />
<br />
6b. The rule that Notre Dame (but not other independents) gets in automatically if it is in the top 8.<br />
<br />
6c. The rule that one non-BCS conference champion gets in if it is in the top 12. (You might point out that this rule was put in under pressure from the United States Congress(!).) <br />
<br />
7. The BCS championship game, which matches the top two teams in the BCS rankings. Even if one (or both!) didn't win its conference or even its division.<br />
And finally we've come to the end. The winner of this game is the national champion.<br />
<br />
Except.<br />
<br />
Maybe.<br />
<br />
It.<br />
<br />
Isn't.<br />
<br />
Before the advent of the BCS system in 1998, there were competing bodies determining the national champion. The most prestigious of these is the AP poll of news media members. Though it is not part of the BCS ranking, the AP poll is still the most reputable ranking of teams during the season. And at the end of the season, there is a final AP poll selecting a national champion. In 2004, LSU won the "national championship game," but AP voters selected USC as the national champion.<br />
<br />
Just about anyone with a pencil and 10 spare minutes could construct a better, cleaner way of taking 120 football teams and finding a national champion in a five-month season, Sadly, because of entrenched interests, a hidebound bureaucracy, and the money that keeps both going, any changes are likely to be marginal. And, if anything, in the direction of still more complexity.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-87541493893927105742011-10-29T18:55:00.002-04:002011-11-27T20:15:20.800-05:00Boxing and the Ultimate Fighting ChampionshipMixed martial arts has soared in popularity in recent years, far surpassing, especially among young men, the venerable sport of boxing. Certainly some of the reason is the nature of the sport itself: fighters can kick, wrestle and elbow; there are fewer dull stretches of clinching; and the fighters are more limber than lumbering.<br />
<br />
But FRB is more interested in structure; is there something about the way mixed martial arts is set up that gives it an advantage over boxing?<br />
<br />
For all of recorded history, people have enjoyed watching other people fight, from gladiator fights to bare-knuckle brawling. But boxing as we know it first became popular when a coherent system was organized in the late 19th century. Unified rules and organized championships helped give the sport credibility with newspapers, and by the 20's and 30's even the austere New York Times covered its front page with boxing news. <br />
<br />
The organization was quite straightforward: there were eight weight classes and a champion in each class who held the title until he was defeated. It was easy for fans to keep track of. Even non-fans knew the names of the heavyweight champion. Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and many others became among the most celebrated people in the world.<br />
<br />
The problems started in the 1960's, when two competing organizations, the WBC and the WBA, began crowning separate champions. In the 1980's they were joined by the IBF and the WBO. Most weight classes now have four champions.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Do you even know who the heavyweight champion is now? Well, its either Wladimir Klitschko, or his brother Vitali Klitschko, or maybe someone named Alexander Povetkin. Here are some other current "champions": Tavoris Cloud, Hassan N'dam N'Jikam, and Pongsaklek Wonjongkam. It's a long way from Sugar Ray Robinson, Jersey Joe Walcott and Jake LaMotta. <br />
<br />
And those are only the champions in the traditional weight classes. Boxing organizations now recognize as many as 17 weight classes, like cruiserweight, light welterweight, super featherweight, and strawweight. FRB tried counting the champions recognized by the four major organizations and came up with 82, counting interim champions and things like "superchampions" that he doesn't quite understand. But it's so confusing, FRB has no confidence that figure is correct.<br />
<br />
Nothing endangers enjoyment of a sport quite like not knowing what the hell is going on. When even boxing nuts don't have a prayer of keeping track of all the champions, something is wrong.<br />
<br />
Worse, the numerous championships and lack of organization allow the best boxers to avoid fighting each other. Floyd Mayweather is perhaps the biggest name in boxing right now, and many people would love to see him fight Manny Pacquiao. In the old days, one would be the welterweight champion and the other would work his way up until he got his shot at the title. But in today's world both are champions, Mayweather with the WBC and Pacquiao with the WBO. So both men can fight whoever they want and lack incentive to fight each other.<br />
<br />
In many ways, the Ultimate Fighting Championship reminds one of the glory days of boxing. While there are competing organizations like Bellator and Strikeforce, everyone knows that all the best fighters are in the UFC. There are just seven weight classes, with one more perhaps soon to be added. And a central authority plans all the matches, so champions pretty must fight whomever the organizers choose. As a result, fans get an endless parade of attractive matchups.<br />
<br />
There are perils to a single organization with so much power. If the UFC were to be biased against a particular fighter, he might never get his deserved shot at a title. But there have been few complaints along these lines so far.<br />
<br />
So next time someone tells you the reason the UFC is popular is its personalities, its showmanship, its fast action or the general barbarity of society, you can tell them the real reason. It's the way it is structured.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-23510361489327787912011-10-11T11:29:00.001-04:002011-10-11T18:34:02.443-04:00African Nations Cup QualifyingSome readers of First Round Bye might protest that the subject of sports systems and structures is trivial. "Just play the games, and don't worry about tie breakers and wild cards," you might think.<br />
<br />
Tell that to the South African soccer team.<br />
<br />
With one game to go in <a href="http://www.cafonline.com/competition/african-cup-of-nations_2012/groups">qualifying for the 2012 African Nations Cup</a> last weekend, the standings for Group G looked like this (3 points for a win, 1 for a draw):<br />
<br />
<br />
<table><tbody>
<tr></tr>
<tr><td>Team</td><td>W/L/D</td><td>pts.</td><td>goal diff.</td><td><br />
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Niger</td><td>3-2-0</td><td>9</td><td>+1</td><td><br />
</td></tr>
<tr><td>South Africa</td><td>2-1-2</td><td>8</td><td>+2</td><td><br />
</td></tr>
<tr><td>Sierra Leone</td><td>2-1-2</td><td>8</td><td>0</td></tr>
<tr><td>Egypt</td><td>0-3-2</td><td>2</td><td>-3</td><td><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
In the final games, played simultaneously, Egypt hosted Niger and South Africa hosted Sierra Leone.<br />
Word soon filtered back to South Africa that Egypt was beating Niger handily (they went on to win, 3-0). So here's your quiz question: what does South Africa need to do to win the group and advance to the Cup finals?<br />
<br />
Well, beating Sierra Leone is clearly enough. That would give South Africa 11 points to Niger's 9 and Sierra Leone's 8. What about a draw? That would leave Niger, South Africa and Sierra Leone with 9 points, so I guess we better check what the tie breaker rules are.<br />
<br />
But South Africa didn't check.<br />
<br />
The team's coach, Pitso Mosimane, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/oct/09/south-africa-africa-cup-of-nations">just assumed that goal difference would break ties</a>. If so, a draw with Sierra Leone would leave the three teams' goal differences at South Africa +2, Sierra Leone 0 and Niger, thanks to its 3-0 loss, at -2. Mosimane ordered his players to play defensively and protect a 0-0 draw. He even pulled out a striker for a midfielder. When the game did end 0-0, the team <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL8uIgRZ_yM&feature=player_embedded">celebrated their "qualification."</a><br />
<br />
Mosimane was wrong. The tie breaker was not goal difference, but head to head record among the tied teams. Niger was 2-2 against South Africa and Sierra Leone, for 6 points, while the other two teams were 1-1-2, for 5 points. Niger won the group and will advance to the Nations Cup.<br />
<br />
Whether goal difference or head-to-head is a better way to break ties in a four-team group is a question for another day. But there is clearly not one set method. The World Cup uses goal difference; the Champions League uses head-to-head. You need to know the rules before you play the games. <br />
<br />
And how did the South African federation react to their debacle? With embarrassment, shame and regret? Nope. They are <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/oct/10/south-africa-africa-cup-nations?INTCMP=SRCH">appealing to get a spot in the finals</a>. "We think we have a case," South Africa's football chief executive said.<br />
<br />
Actually, you don't have a case. But as a consolation prize, we award you a one year's subscription to First Round Bye. Please read it.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-54068095899725676452011-09-04T21:30:00.001-04:002011-10-11T11:33:12.676-04:00Australian Playoff SystemsIt's time for the <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/">Aussie Rules football playoffs</a>, giving us a chance to examine Australian playoff systems, which have several unusual elements.<br />
<br />
There are 17 teams in the Australian Football League, and the top 8 make the playoffs. In a typical North American playoff system, that would lead to the quarterfinal matchups 1-8, 4-5, 2-7, and 3-6. For Aussie rules, though, the matchups are 1-4 and 2-3, known as the qualifying finals, and 5-8 and 6-7, known as the elimination finals.<br />
<br />
After the first round, the qualifying finals winners get a week off. The losers drop down to face the winners of the elimination finals in what are called the semifinals. (The losers of the eliminations finals, as the name implies, are eliminated.)<br />
<br />
The two "semifinal" winners now move on to face the qualifying finals winners in the "preliminary finals," which is what the rest of us call a semifinal. The two winners face off in the grand final to determine the champion. <br />
<br />
(That oddly named "semifinal" is confusing, but in Australian sports there are a number of things with slightly odd names to get used to. The standings or table is referred to as a "ladder," for example.)<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Essentially, what the Aussie Rules system does is give the top four teams a significant edge over the fifth through eighth teams in reaching the final four. A 5-8 team must win twice to get there, while a 1-4 team must only win one of two games. <br />
<br />
Other Australian sports use similar systems. <a href="http://www.a-league.com.au/">In soccer</a>, 6 of 11 teams make the playoffs. The initial matches are 1-2 (a two-game total goals series), 3-6 and 4-5 (single games). The 3-6 and 4-5 winners play each other, and the winner of that game takes on the 1-2 loser. The winner of this "preliminary final" meets the 1-2 winner in the grand final.<br />
<br />
This system provides a huge edge to teams 1 and 2, who must win only one series to make the grand final. (And losing that series, still have a chance to make the final with a win in the preliminary final.)<br />
A 3, 4, 5 or 6 team, by contrast, must win three straight games to make the final.<br />
<br />
One flaw in this system is that it kind of blows its best game too early by matching 1 and 2 in week one. Even if those two teams eventually also make the grand final, it may seem anticlimactic. <br />
<br />
Hold on, because<a href="http://www.nrl.com/"> rugby league</a> is even more confusing. Of the 16 teams in the league, 8 qualify for the playoffs. The matchups are traditional. 1-8, 4-5, 2-7, 3-6. Then it gets crazy.<br />
<br />
The two top-ranked winners of these games get a bye. The other two winners are drawn against the two highest ranked <i>losers</i> for what are called semifinals, while the two lowest ranked losers are knocked out. The winners of these semifinals take on the two teams with byes in the "preliminary finals" and the winners there meet in the grand final. <br />
<br />
An example might clear this one up a bit. In 2010, the 1st and 4th seeds won their opening matches and earned byes as the top-ranked winners. But 6 upset 3, and 7 upset 2. So the two lowest ranked losers (8 and 5) were knocked out, and the "semifinals" matched the remaining teams, 3-7 and 2-6. 3 and 6 were the winners there, and faced bye teams 1 and 4 in the preliminary finals, and 1 beat 6 in the grand final.<br />
<br />
One oddity of this system is that it is important what order the first round is played in. It always must be 4-5, 3-6, 2-7, and then 1-8. Imagine if the order were the opposite, say, and 1 and 2 won their games. Now we know that 1 and 2 are the highest seeded winners and will get the byes. Likewise we know that 7 and 8 are the lowest-seeded losers and will be eliminated. The 3-6 and 4-5 games are now meaningless. Only if those games are played first can it be assured that teams play knowing that the result may have an effect. (For example, 6 must try had to beat 3 in its game if it knows that 8 or 7 might win and knock it into the two lowest-ranked losers.)<br />
<br />
The common thread of all these systems is giving higher-ranked teams a greater chance of reaching the later rounds, above and beyond the home-field advantage that American sports generally provides. FRB is generally quite receptive to playoff ideas from other lands, but he doesn't think these systems would work in the U.S.<br />
<br />
One other thing Australian sports have in common is a single regular-season table, with no regional divisions. So at the end of the regular season we have a pretty fair notion that 2 is deservedly ranked above 3, and 4 above 5. Therefore we can give a generous reward to the better-seeded team with a high degree of confidence that we're being fair. In the U.S., divisions and unbalanced schedules mean we don't have as great a sense which teams have earned a higher ranking. Maybe we can give home-field advantage to a 11-5 team from the NFC Central over a 10-6 team from the NFC East, but do we really feel comfortable giving the 11-5 team an extra chance to make the final as well?<br />
<br />
Not to mention the confusion. FRB thinks it would probably take about a generation for most fans to keep the preliminary finals, semifinals and qualifying finals straight.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-86920624779060882402011-08-30T00:02:00.004-04:002011-10-25T01:44:29.773-04:00Rugby World CupThe structure of the upcoming <a href="http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/">Rugby World Cup</a> shares some of the flaws of the Cricket World Cup, which <a href="http://firstroundbye.blogspot.com/2011/03/frb-update-cricket-world-cup.html">we discussed some months ago</a>.<br />
<br />
Twenty teams are entered, divided into four groups of five. The top two from each group advance to the quarterfinals.<br />
<br />
Let's look at the five groups. In case you don't know the relative strengths of the various teams, FRB has included the bookmakers' odds to win the Cup (omitting them for teams who are 1000-1 or more):<br />
<br />
New Zealand 3-5, France 20, Japan, Tonga, Canada<br />
England 15, Argentina 250, Scotland 350, Georgia, Romania<br />
Australia 4, Ireland 40, Italy, USA, Russia<br />
South Africa 10, Wales 100, Samoa 350, Fiji 800, Namibia<br />
<br />
There will be 40 matches in the preliminary round. Study the groups and odds, and pick out the most intriguing storylines. Here's FRB's list: <br />
<br />
1. Will Argentina or Scotland get the second qualifying spot in Group B behind England?<br />
2. Can Samoa, or perhaps Fiji, upend Wales for a quarterfinal spot?<br />
<br />
Ummm. That's it.<br />
<br />
Nearly a month of rugby will be determining almost nothing. New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England, and France are gold-plated locks to make the quarterfinals. Ireland and Wales are also very, very likely to do so. But gee, that Scotland-Argentina game should be great. <br />
<br />
FRB understands that one of the goals of the World Cup is to promote rugby in places where it is not enormously popular. But having 20 teams in this event is absurd. And having knockout quarterfinals when there are only 6 or 8 really good teams is a mistake too. <br />
<br />
FRB proposes this format:<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
12 teams qualify <br />
The <a href="http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/home.php">Six Nations teams </a>from Europe: England, France, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Italy. <br />
The <a href="http://www.trinationsweb.com/">Tri Nations </a>teams from the Southern Hemisphere: Australia, New Zealand and South Africa<br />
Argentina, which is being added to the Tri Nations competition next year.<br />
And two qualifiers. This year, they might be Fiji and Samoa.<br />
<br />
Divide the teams into two groups of 6, and have only the top two teams advance to semifinals.<br />
Imagine the excitement if these were the preliminary groups:<br />
New Zealand, England, France, Argentina, Scotland, Fiji<br />
Australia, South Africa, Ireland, Wales, Samoa, Italy<br />
The preliminary round would be packed with great, meaningful games, not ugly shellackings like New Zealand-Canada or matchups like Romania-Georgia that hardly seem World Cup worthy. FRB estimates that at least 15 of the 30 games in this format would be close and meaningful. In the current format that number is, generously, maybe 4 out of 40.<br />
<br />
Maybe we'll get a streamlined format in four years. As for this year, wake FRB when the quarterfinals come.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-89131720367028689072011-07-26T20:52:00.006-04:002011-08-29T22:14:41.160-04:00Split Brackets in the Gold Cup and CopaConsider the 2011 Concacaf Gold Cup and Copa America, both just completed.<br />
<br />
Each had 12 teams, broken into three preliminary groups of four. The top two from each group advanced. As the groups are called A, B and C, let's call these six teams A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. The top two third place teams also advanced; let's call these T1 and T2.<br />
<br />
Now how should the quarterfinals be structured? Well, a logical breakdown could be:<br />
<br />
A1 v T1<br />
B1 v C2<br />
------<br />
C1 v T2<br />
A2 v B2<br />
<br />
The key factor here is separation. The two weakest teams, the third places, are put in different halves. The first-place teams are kept apart as long as possible. And teams that met in the group stage are also kept apart when possible.<br />
<br />
Now let's take a look at how the tournaments were actually drawm, Gold Cup on the left, Copa on the right:<br />
<br />
Gold Cup Copa<br />
A1 v T1 A1 v T1<br />
A2 v B2 A2 v C2<br />
------<br />
B1 v C2 B1 v T2<br />
C1 v T2 C1 v B2<br />
<br />
At first glance, these look pretty reasonable. But each of them violates one rule. Teams that met in the group stages are<i> not</i> kept apart as long as possible. Note how A1 and A2 can have a rematch in the semifinals, as can C1 and C2 in the Gold Cup and B1 and B2 in the Copa.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Why did the organizers go for these structures? Here's a hint. In the Gold Cup, Mexico was in group A, and the United States was in Group C. In the Copa, Argentina was in Group A and Brazil in Group B.<br />
<br />
The answer is that organizers desperately wanted their marquee teams to meet in the final, preliminary results be damned. There was always a danger that the United States, say, would lose to Panama and wind up being C2 instead of C1. But this bastard structure still keeps the Americans away from Mexico until the final. Indeed, that is what happened. Panama gained little from its upset win, since it had to play the U.S. again in the semi. The U.S. won the rematch, and the dream final with Mexico was successfully engineered.<br />
<br />
In the Copa, the teams the organizers hoped to match in the finals were Brazil and Argentina. Sure enough, one of them faltered; Argentina finished only second in its group, but as A2 it still avoided mighty Brazil, B1. <br />
<br />
Compare this with the women's World Cup, which had a fair A1 v B2, C1 v D2 /// B1 v A2, D1 v C2 structure. So when the United States fell to second in its group, it found itself in the other half of the bracket, playing Brazil in the quarterfinals.<br />
<br />
As for the Copa, hilariously, both Brazil and Argentina lost their quarterfinals, leaving organizers with the challenge of selling semifinals featuring Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.<br />
<br />
Sometimes, sport wins.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-71345679388172259462011-07-25T18:51:00.003-04:002011-10-11T11:38:18.412-04:00World Football ChallengeThe<a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/wfc/standings"> World Football Challenge</a>, a series of exhibition games in North America involving top European and Mexican soccer teams, is under way. An overall winner will be chosen, in a rather unusual system.<br />
<br />
Though there are nine teams involved, each plays only three games. Thus it is quite possible for an undefeated team to lose the title. Indeed, at this writing, both Real Madrid and Manchester City have finished their games with 3-0 records.<br />
<br />
So how to separate the teams? Each game ends after 90 minutes, and if tied, there is an immediate shootout. Wins in regulation are worth 3 points, shootout wins are 2 points, shootout losses 1 point and regulation losses 0 points. Not only that, but there is a bonus point for each goal scored in regulation, win or lose, up to a maximum of three per game.<br />
<br />
A couple of the teams are unusual too. Besides five European clubs and two Mexican sides, there are some hybrid "teams": MLS East and MLS West. Each is not really a team per se but rather the total points earned by several Major League Soccer teams. MLS East's point total is based on single games played by three different teams: New England, Chicago and Philadelphia. The MLS West side consists of Los Angeles (2 games) and Vancouver (1 game).<br />
Alert readers will have noticed that 9 teams times 3 games each is 27, an odd number. To solve this, Sporting Lisbon played in just one game as a non-competitor. Still, the game it played did count for its opponent, Juventus.<br />
<br />
At this writing, Real Madrid has a formidable point total of 17 out of a possible 18. Manchester United has 12 with a game to play, so still could get a perfect 18.<br />
Barcelona hasn't played any of its three games yet. In order to match or surpass its rival Real, it will have to win three times, scoring a lot of goals. But then few teams in the world are more capable of doing so.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-7468781391479421982011-06-24T21:44:00.001-04:002011-07-25T22:43:24.252-04:00Chilean CupWhat is it with South American cup competitions? FRB has written about their odd structures on a <a href="http://firstroundbye.blogspot.com/2011/02/ask-frb-whats-stupidest-structure-ever.html">couple</a> of <a href="http://firstroundbye.blogspot.com/2011/02/frb-update-another-stupid-structure.html">occasions</a>. Let's add Chile to the list.<br />
<br />
In 2010, the <a href="http://www.anfp.cl/anfp2/portal_copachile.php">Copa Chile</a> was a standard knockout tournament. But for 2011, quite a strange system has been put in place. <br />
<br />
The first few rounds, involving lower division teams, are ordinary two-legged playoffs. Eventually, 18 lower-division sides advance to a group stage, where they are joined by the 18 teams from the top division.<br />
<br />
So, 36 is a nice even number for a competition. There are lots of fairly straightforward ways of winnowing a field of 36 teams down to one champion. This is not one of them.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
First, the 36 teams are classified into three merit-based groups. Group A is the top 12 from the Premier League. Group B is the rest of the Premier League and the best 6 lower division sides. The weakest teams make up Group C.<br />
<br />
Each team is then assigned three opponents, one from each group, and plays home and home against each of them for a total of six matches. The opponents are chosen with geography in mind, so that there as many local rivalries as possible.<br />
<br />
<br />
The weird thing is that all 36 teams are placed in one jumbo table; the top 8 of 36 advance to the quarterfinals, based on their performance in those six games. That's a whole lot of teams for a single table.<br />
It's also seems a bit unfair that teams are being ranked based on only six games, when every side plays a different set of teams. In the Champions League, for example, teams play a six-game group stage, but are compared only against teams that have played the same opponents as they have. <br />
<br />
<br />
For practical purposes, the Chilean Cup's ranking is really going to be based on fewer than six games. The top teams, who will be the main contenders for the eight slots, will win pretty much all their games against "B" and "C" teams. So the eight winners will essentially be chosen based on the results of two games, again with each team playing a different opponent. And the tie breaker, which is almost certain to come into play, is goal differential. So expect to see A teams running it up on B's and C's.<br />
<br />
After this strange round, the tournament returns to classic quarters, semis, and finals. You kind of have to wonder if they couldn't have arranged a more conventional group stage as well.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-11289951264628965252011-06-20T13:04:00.002-04:002011-10-11T11:47:21.184-04:00Relegation in Argentine FootballRelegation in soccer is simple, right? At the end of the season, the three, or two, or four, lowest placed teams drop down a division, to be replaced by teams from below. But not in <a href="http://www.afa.org.ar/index.php">Argentina</a>. <br />
One of the dangers, and thrills, of relegation is that a big-name team that has a bad year can find itself sent down. In Argentina, and several other countries like Colombia and Mexico, where the biggest clubs are especially well-connected and influential, organizers want to avoid this. So they determine relegation based on performance over multiple years.<br />
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Let's take a look at how it works in Argentina. As in many Western Hemisphere countries, the league year is divided into two parts. The first championship, the Apertura, ran from August 2010 to February 2011. The 20 teams played each other once each, with Estudiantes winning the title with 45 points. The second championship, the Clausura, with an identical format, ran February to June; Velez Sarsfeld won with 39 points. <br />
Estudiantes and Velez are both considered champions; Velez had more combined points in the two championships by a large margin, but there is no "overall winner" crowned, though the full-season table does determine qualifiers for the continental Copa Sudamericana.<br />
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To determine the relegated teams, points over the last three years (six semiannual compeititions) are considered. Velez scored 66, 61, and 82 points in the last three years, for a total of 209, putting them top in this table.<br />
But it is the bottom of the table that matters. Take the team First Round Bye supports in Argentina, Huracan. It had a pretty good year in 2008-09, with a total of 58 points. But it earned just 37 in 09-10, and a league-low 30 this past season. The total was just 125, far behind Velez.<br />
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Alert readers of FRB may be wondering how the scores are calculated for recently-promoted teams, who don't have three years of Premier Division points. In actuality, the table is not ranked by total points, but by <i>points per game</i>. Since Velez's 209 points came in 114 games, their points per game was a healthy 1.833. Huracan by contrast earned just 1.096 points per game over the three-year period. Quilmes, which returned to the top level this season, was even worse, earning just 39 points in the 38-game season, an average of 1.026 points per game.<br />
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Here is how the bottom of the table looked:<br />
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<table><tbody>
<tr> <td>Pos.</td> <td>Team</td> <td>points</td> <td>games</td> <td>ppg</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>15T.</td> <td>Tigre</td> <td>144</td> <td>114</td> <td>1.263</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>16T.</td> <td>Olimpio</td> <td>48</td> <td>38</td> <td>1.263</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>17.</td> <td>River Plate</td> <td>141</td> <td>114</td> <td>1.237</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>18T.</td> <td>Gimnasia</td> <td>125</td> <td>114</td> <td>1.096</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>18T.</td> <td>Huracan</td> <td>125</td> <td>114</td> <td>1.096</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>20.</td> <td>Quilmes</td> <td>39</td> <td>38</td> <td>1.026</td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br />
As you can see, of the relegation contenders, two, Olimpio and Quilmes, played in just the most recent season in the top flight, while the others participated in all three seasons.<br />
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(For a copy of the full table, go to <a href="http://www.afa.org.ar/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=94">this link</a> and click "Promedio.")<br />
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In theory, it should be simple from here. The bottom two teams are relegated, while teams 17 and 18 are each matched against a lower division team in two-game playoffs. They stay up if they win and go down if they lose.<br />
But this year there is the added complication of a tie for 18th. Gimnasia and Huracan will play a one-game neutral site playoff this Wednesday (June 22) to determine 18th place, with the winner going to a relegation playoff and the loser heading straight down.<br />
(Promotion from Division B is based on just the past year, by the way, not a three-year system.) <br />
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So what are we to make of this system? It generally does achieve its main goal of protecting big teams from relegation, since such teams have three years to get their resources together to earn enough points to save themselves. On the other hand, is that such a worthwhile goal? Big teams have so many built-in advantages already that giving them another one seems absurdly unfair. It's not like a relegated big team wouldn't come back to the top division in a year or two anyway. This sort of system is a bad example of powerful forces colluding together to make it harder on the little guy.<br />
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Another oddity of the system is that teams can be affected significantly by results that took place two and three years ago, when they may well have had different players, coaches and even management. Take River Plate, who are 17th in the chart above. They had a terrible season in 2008-09, earning just 41 points, and were little better in 2009-10, with 43. But they weren't threatened with relegation either season because of their big point totals in 06-07 and 07-08. This season, they managed to improve tremendously, finishing in 4th and 9th in the two tournaments and 6th in the overall table, with 57 points. But those two bad seasons dragged them down to 17th over three years, and they will have to beat a lower division side in a playoff on June 22 and 26 to survive.<br />
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Oh, yes, River Plate are one of the biggest clubs in Argentina, champions 33 times, most recently in 2008. FRB knows who he'll be rooting against in that playoff.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-74930217559962749092011-06-02T21:50:00.002-04:002011-10-25T01:49:25.245-04:00U.S. Open Cup QualifyingThis week, the U.S. Open Cup <a href="http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Lamar-Hunt-U-S-Open-Cup/2011/06/First-Round-Pairings-Second-Round-Possibilities-Announced.aspx">announced its first and second round pairings</a>. Not every American team qualifies for the Cup, and each league uses its own system to determine who gets in. <br />
(For more on the various leagues, here's FRB's analysis of <a href="http://firstroundbye.blogspot.com/2011/04/american-soccer-pyramid.html">the American soccer pyramid</a> from earlier in the year.)<br />
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The top league, M.L.S., has 16 American clubs, and six qualify automatically based on their league finish last season. The other 10 are drawn into two five-team knockout tournaments (with six teams getting byes), and the winner of each advances to the Cup; this year it was Chicago and Kansas City. As in all rounds of the Cup, the home teams were drawn randomly.<br />
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The second level of the pyramid is the new N.A.S.L., which has only five American teams; it ended up not entering the Cup this year after failing to get organized quickly enough.<br />
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Next up is USL Pro, with 11 American teams. They have the easiest route to the tournament; they all get in!<br />
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The P.D.L. occupies the fourth rung. There are nine divisions, with five to nine teams in each. Every division gets one Cup entrant. In this year's format, four early-season games for each team were designated as Cup qualifiers. The team with the best record in those four games got the berth. If two teams tied -- and it was possible for two teams to tie with 4-0 records -- head-to-head record was the first tiebreaker. The next was goal difference, but with a twist. No team could amass more than +3 or -3 goals in a single game. The final tie breaker was goals scored, with a 3 goal per game maximum.<br />
In one division, the Northwest, these maximums came into play. Portland and Kitsap each had 3-0-1 records, having drawn their game against each other. Portland's goal difference was better, +10 to +9, but after enforcing the +3 goals limit, both teams were tied at +7. Both teams scored 10 goals, and factoring in the 3-goal limit they each scored 7.<br />
By rule, the teams had to be separated by coin toss. But they agreed instead to an extra one-off game to determine the Cup entrant, which will be played later this week.<br />
Those two teams have been dominant in Northwest Division's Cup qualifying over the years, by the way. Both were 4-0 last year, with Kitsap winning on goal difference. Kitsap took the 2009 spot by a single point over Portland.<br />
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Next is the National Premier Soccer League<span class="mw-headline" id="National_Premier_Soccer_League">, which gets four entrants. Each of the four divisions selected its team slightly differently: The Northeast had a three-team knockout, the Southeast had a six-team knockout at a single site, the West gave its spot to the team in first place in the league after seven games, and the Midwest gave its berth to Madison, the previous year's champion. </span><br />
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<span class="mw-headline" id="National_Premier_Soccer_League">At the bottom of the pyramid is the U.S.A.S.A, which has hundreds of teams nationwide under its umbrella. Each state produces a state champion, and these were drawn into four regional knockout tournaments. Two survivors from each became the association's eight teams in the Cup.</span><br />
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<span class="mw-headline" id="National_Premier_Soccer_League">In the Cup proper, to begin June 14, the 32 non-M.L.S. teams play two rounds to reduce their numbers to eight. At this point each of the eight M.L.S is drawn against one of the survivors. The knockout tournament continues, with home teams drawn randomly, until the final, which is held at a site determined by the organizers. </span>FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-34940604821641112442011-05-23T22:33:00.006-04:002011-10-25T01:54:07.075-04:00Draft LotteriesThe major professional sports leagues in North America all hold annual drafts in which teams take turns selecting young players. The key element of all the drafts is that the worst teams get to choose first. The worse your record, the earlier you get to make your selection. In theory, this is supposed to make the bad teams better over time and increase competitive balance. <br />
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Of course, a draft also provides a perverse incentive to lose games. If your team is having a bad year anyway, why not lose a bunch of games so as to move up in the draft? Maybe even aim to have the worst record in the league to get the coveted No. 1 spot and a potential superstar player.<br />
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The National Basketball Association was the first league to deal with this, in 1966, by holding a coin toss to determine if the top pick would go to the worst Eastern or worst Western team. This way, blowing the season and finishing last only guaranteed a 50% chance at the top pick, rather than a 100% chance.<br />
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The modern draft lottery came into being after suspicions that the Houston Rockets -- and perhaps other teams -- <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3553485.html">intentionally lost games in 1984</a> in order to get into the coin toss. The Rockets won the toss, and drafted the star center Akeem Olajuwon. (The Blazers lost the toss, got the No. 2 pick and chose Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan, but that's another story.)<br />
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<a name='more'></a>In 1985, the N.B.A. replaced the coin toss with a lottery to determine where the worst seven teams would pick. Each team had an equal chance to get the first pick. But the system also allowed the worst team to get a pick as low as seven, so in 1987, it was changed so that only the top three picks were determined by lottery. That way, the worst team would get a pick no lower than fourth.<br />
In 1990, they switched to a weighted system, in which the weakest team had the best chance of landing the top pick, about 16%, and the other lottery teams had reduced chances on a sliding scale down to about 1½% for the 11th worst team. In 1993, they tweaked that system to give an even greater chance to the worst teams. <a href="http://www.mynbadraft.com/nba-draft-lottery-odds">Today, the chances of landing the top pick range from 25% for the worst team down to half a percent for the 14th worst</a>.<br />
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While the Rockets were (allegedly) losing games to get Olajuwon, the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League were <a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09351/1021485-125.stm">(allegedly) doing the sam</a>e to get Mario Lemieux. As a result, the N.H.L. put in a draft lottery of its own, although it's something of a half-hearted affair. Every team gets a weighted chance to win the lottery, and the single winner moves up four places. And that's it.<br />
<a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=559500">This year the Devils won the draw</a> and moved up from eight to fourth. Not too exciting.<br />
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So far, football and baseball have not introduced lotteries for their drafts. Perhaps they haven't (yet) seen evidence of teams losing on purpose. Indeed, the football team FRB supports, the Philadelphia Eagles blew a chance for the No. 1 pick in 1968, by playing to win and beating the Saints in a meaningless late-season game. As a result, the Eagles missed out on O.J. Simpson.<br />
The next week, angry Eagles fans infamously<a href="http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/santa/philadelphia.asp"> pelted Santa Claus with snowballs</a>.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-78836763792870482222011-05-16T19:56:00.002-04:002011-06-03T11:40:49.404-04:00Russian Soccer's Long SeasonThere are many, many different ways to structure a sport. But nearly every structure has one thing in common: it determines one winner each year.<br />
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This annual cycle of sports seems natural to us. One Super Bowl a year, one Champions League, one Nascar points title, one World Cup skiing circuit.<br />
There are some special events like the Olympics that are held less often, but the basic national leagues nearly all follow a year-long cycle.<br />
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Mexico and some Central and South American soccer leagues defy the tradition by holding two championships a year, generally called the Apertura ("opening") and Clausura ("closing"). Two champions every year means there's more silverware to go around.<br />
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Now <a href="http://www.rfpl.org/">Russia's soccer league</a> is going in the other direction, stretching its season to a year and a half..<br />
The reason for this odd long season is that Russia is shifting its soccer system from one based on a calendar year to the more typical European structure running from Fall to Spring. The 2010 season began in March and ended in November. The 2011 season again began in March, but will continue all the way into Spring 2012. Then the next season will be on the standard European calendar, beginning in Fall 2012.<br />
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Stretching the Russian Cup competition for an extra six months is not that difficult; more time will be put between each round. But a new ad hoc system had to be found for the league. There are 16 teams in Russia's top division, and ordinarily they play each other twice each for a 30 game season. That's not nearly enough for this special 50% longer season.<br />
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For 2011-12 then, teams will begin with the 30-game double round robin. Then they will be split into two groups: the top eight will play each other twice more in a championship group, while the bottom eight will do the same in a relegation group. The old format will resume for the 2011-12 season.<br />
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You might say this special format is half good. For the eight teams at the top, there will be an exciting 14-game race to the championship, with every game against a good team. But the eight other teams, especially those with enough points that relegation is unlikely, will be in for a long slog against poor teams with little on the line. (Two teams are relegated, with two others sent into relegation playoffs.)<br />
In most sports, even a team off to terrible start one can look forward to a new chance in 12 months' time. For some Russian teams this year, there will be an extra six months of doldrums.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-66602986129774730432011-05-03T20:49:00.002-04:002012-03-01T17:22:42.420-05:00Expanded Baseball PlayoffsThere are serious plans afoot to <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/baseball/mlb/04/21/expanded.playoffs.ap/index.html">expand the baseball playoffs from 8 teams to 10</a>.<br />
First, a quick look at how the baseball playoffs currently work (Those familiar with baseball in North America can skip this paragraph.) There are two leagues, American and National, and each has three divisions. The winners of each division, plus the best second-place team in each league, "the wild card," make the eight-team playoffs.<br />
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There is no definite plan yet, but early word is that there will be two wild card teams in each league and that they will meet in a preliminary round, either best-of-3, or a single game. The two winners will join the division winners in the next round.<br />
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This is a terrible idea, and FRB will tell you why.<br />
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From 1903 to 1968, the playoffs had just two teams, and they met in the World Series. In 1969 the playoffs were expanded to four teams, and in 1994 they grew to eight. What do these numbers have in common? They are all powers of two. No team has ever had a bye in the baseball playoffs, and that makes sense. Baseball teams play constantly; six or seven games a week, with rarely more than day off here or there. This ensures that the entire pitching staff is tested, rather than just a few top starters. It's contrary to the way baseball has always worked to have a team, or in this case <i>six</i> teams, sitting around for five or more days while the first round is completed <br />
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This idea also penalizes wild card teams excessively. By having to play an extra round, their chances of winning the championship are effectively halved. That's an unfair penalty for a team that is usually pretty good. In 16 years of the current system, there have been 32 wild cards, and 21 of them, or 66%, had a better record than at least one division winner in their league (and a few more were tied). Fully 25% had the second best record in their league. Yet these teams would be forced to play an extra round while often weaker teams got a bye, merely due to an accident of geography. <br />
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Deciding the first round based on a best-of-3 series, or even worse in a single game, is a bad idea too. Baseball is the one sport where you absolutely have to play several games to separate two teams. In basketball or ice hockey, a five or seven-game series can feel redundant, since the same players are fielded every game. But because starting pitchers change, each baseball matchup is different. A Red Sox -Yankees game with both No. 1 pitchers throwing is fundamentally different from a game with the No. 2's or No 4's facing off. (And No. 1 vs. No. 4, or No. 3 vs. No. 5 are different too.) In order to determine which team is better, you must test them in several permutations, not just in a game with their best starters<br />
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If baseball is desperate for more revenue, why not expand the opening round of the playoffs to best-of-7, from best-of 5? That would add four games or so each year, and would provide fairer first-round results, a worthy goal.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-81798942720609600432011-04-22T20:57:00.002-04:002011-06-03T11:58:23.861-04:00Belgian Soccer PlayoffsThere are 16 teams in the <a href="http://sport.be.msn.com/jupilerproleague/">top division in Belgian soccer</a>. They play each other twice each, for a 30-game schedule. But unlike most other European leagues, the season does not end there.<br />
At the conclusion of the league season, the teams are divided into three groups, each with its own playoff system with its own structure.<br />
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The top six teams enter the championship playoff. Each team begins the group with half the points it earned in the regular season. Anderlecht, first in the regular season with 65 points, starts with 32 1/2 points, while sixth place Standard, which was 16 points back with 49 points, now is only 8 points back with 24 1/2. The teams play each other home and home for a 10-game playoff.<br />
When it's over, the first place team is the Belgian champion. Second place earns Belgium's second Champions League place, third gets a Europa League place, and fourth goes into a Europa League playoff.<br />
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Teams 7 through 14 enter a playoff of their own, with a different structure. They are divided into two groups of four and play the other teams in their group twice each. The two winners advance to a home-and-home total goals series. The winner of that meets that fourth place team from the championship playoff in a total goals series, with the winner getting a Europa Cup spot.<br />
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Teams 15 and 16? Yes, they get a playoff of their own. It's a five-game series: the 15th placed team gets three home games; the 16th placed team gets two. The 15th placed team also gets a 3-point head start in the series. The loser of this series is relegated. The winner advances to yet another playoff, joined by the second, third, and fourth place teams from the lower division. These teams all play each other home-and-home, and the top-placed team at the end gets to play in the top division next year.<br />
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FRB gives these playoff ideas a qualified thumb's up. The top playoff seems like it could be quite exciting. Instead of the title being decided in the last weeks by random games against various opponents, most of them out of the race, it ends with 10 games against top-level opposition. And the halving of the points makes the race wide open.<br />
If the English Premier League adopted this system this year it might begin looking something like: <br />
Man United 40, Arsenal 39, Chelsea 38, Man City 35, Spurs 33, Liverpool 30. With 10 games to play, all against each other, that's a recipe for a thrilling finale. <br />
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The middle playoff is less appealing. Seven of the eight teams are eliminated with nothing to show for it, while the one winner still has an uphill battle against a better team for a Europa Cup spot. And do you really want your Europa Cup spot to go to a 7th, or 10th, or even 14th place team, when the 5th and 6th place finishers don't even get a shot at it? On the other hand, leagues do award Europa Cup berths to Cup winners, and this is sort of like a mini-Cup<br />
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The bottom playoff seems pretty dire. If you're a fan of one of these poor teams, would you want to see it play the other terrible team five consecutive times? And the reward for victory is only the right to play six more matches against lower division sides to have a one-in-four chance to survive? Just relegate us now, thank you.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-88788094150738088682011-04-21T21:16:00.005-04:002011-05-03T20:51:35.503-04:00Choosing Your Playoff OpponentThe Chicago Bulls had the best record in the National Basketball Association this season and were seeded first in the Eastern Conference playoffs. As a result, the team is facing the eighth seed, Indiana, in the playoffs.<br />
But what if Chicago matched up better against seventh-seeded Philadelphia? Or sixth-seeded New York entered the playoffs on a terrible losing streak? Or fifth-seeded Atlanta had a host of injuries? Chicago might prefer one of those opponents. But it still has to play Indiana; there's no choice in the matter.<br />
But in Sweden's top hockey league, the <a href="http://www.hockeyligan.se/">Elitserien</a>, there is.<br />
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Eight of the 12 teams in the league make the playoffs, and the No. 1 seed gets first choice of who to play in the first round. It can pick any of the 5 through 8 seeds. Then No. 2 gets to choose, followed by 3, with 4 getting whichever of the 5-8 teams is left.<br />
There are no options for the semifinals though; the best remaining seed gets the worst remaining seed, like it or not.<br />
This past season, which ended last week, top-seeded HV71 made the safe choice and picked 8th-seeded AIK. No. 2 also played it safe, picking No. 7. But No. 3 chose to play No. 5 rather than No. 6. (Hilariously, AIK ended up sweeping HV71, 4 games to 0. So much for the safe pick.) In 2010, there was also one unconventional choice, as 2 opted for 6 as its opponent, rather than 7 (and won 4-1).<br />
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By the way, while National Hockey League and most N.B.A. seven-game series are played in a HH-AA-H-A-H format (better seeded team gets two home games, then two away games, etc.), the Swedish League alternates every game for a H-A-H-A-H-A-H format. And in 2009-10 they used an unusual A-H-A-HH-A-H format; yes, the better seeded team had to start on the road and play two of the first three games there, but then got three of the last four at home (if needed).<br />
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The Elitserien is not the only league in the world to offer its teams choice of playoff opponents. In a more limited way, so does the <a href="http://www.superleague.co.uk/">Super League</a>, a mostly-English rugby league. Eight teams make the playoffs, with the first week consisting of a qualifying bracket featuring 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3, and an elimination bracket of 5-8 and 6-7. The winners of the qualifying matches advance to the semifinals and get a week off, while the losers play the winners of the elimination matches in week 2.<br />
Here's where the choice (dubbed "Club Call") comes in. The qualifying round winner with the better record gets to decide which of the week 2 winners it wants to play.<br />
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Choosing one's playoff opponent is an interesting twist and opens up some exciting possibilities. Imagine if the top seed in the N.C.A.A. tournament got first pick of opponent, followed by the second seed, etc. The ratings of the selection show would soar if you had a live camera on Jim Calhoun sweating whether to pick a game against Harvard or Coastal Carolina.<br />
Don't expect to see it in the conservative world of American sports anytime soon though. Coaches would probably not want it, for fear of giving "bulletin board material" to the team they selected. Most likely everyone would pick the safe choices. We'd probably get a lot of "We respect all the teams, and so we selected the lowest seed, but that's not to say it's going to be an easy series. Blah, blah, blah."<br />
More's the pity.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-40082047818854997222011-04-16T18:48:00.003-04:002011-06-03T11:54:22.925-04:00The History of the Stanley Cup PlayoffsIt's time again for the <a href="http://www.nhl.com/cup/">Stanley Cup playoffs</a>. The format is simple: 16 teams, best of 7 every round, and you have your winner. It's been this way since time immemorial, right? Hardly. The Cup has had an enormous number of wildly varying formats over the years. Here's a selective list.<br />
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In 1893, the first winner of the Cup was determined by a five-team double round robin of teams from the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada. The Montreal Hockey Club (not a predecessor of the current Canadiens) won with a 7-1 record. (Oddly enough, they refused the Cup as a result of some minor spat.)<br />
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After just one year, that format was dumped in favor of a single elimination tournament. Four teams who had tied for the A.H.A.C. title were invited, although only three showed up. The tournament was played in Montreal, so Ottawa, the only road team, was awarded a bye.<br />
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Starting in 1895, the Cup became a single-game challenge event, sort of like the Americas Cup or a boxing crown, with the winner defending the Cup against various challengers. Some of the Cup finals were played in the preseason, and sometimes several were played in the same year.<br />
In 1899, the single-game format was changed to a two-game total goals series, and in 1900 best of 3 began, but in 1906, total goals resumed.<br />
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The challenge era ended in 1914, when the Cup became a best-of-3 duel between the winners of the top two leagues at the time, the National Hockey Association and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. In 1916, they went to best of 5.<br />
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The N.H.A. became the National Hockey League in 1920, and the Cup began to be played between the N.H.L. champ and the champs of various other leagues.<br />
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In 1926, the N.H.L. had become the dominant league, and it took over the Cup entirely. In 1927 it played a six-team tournament with total goals series for the first two rounds, and a best-of-5 final. This was changed in 1928, and quite an odd system was put in place. The N.H.L. had two divisions, and the top three from each division made the playoffs. The winners of the two divisions -- the two best teams -- played each other in the first round! Meanwhile, the second place and third place teams were facing the same placed teams in the other division. The winner of the first-place playoff went straight to the best-of-5 final, where it played the winner of a match between the second and third place winners.<br />
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They stuck with this system for a decade, but tinkered with it in 1939. Divisions had been dropped, and there were only seven teams in the league. The top six made the playoffs, which began with No. 1 playing No. 2 in a best-of-7. The winner went to the Cup final, where it played the winner of a 3,4,5,6 playoff.<br />
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In 1943, the New York Americans folded, and the N.H.L. was left with what are often inaccurately called "The Original Six." Four teams now made the playoffs, and bizarrely, the semifinals matched 1 with 3, and 2 with 4! Not a whole lot of incentive to finish third then. <br />
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In 1968, the N.H.L. doubled in size to 12 teams. The Original Six were placed in the same division, the "East" (although it included Chicago and Detroit). The expansion teams made up the "West" division, despite including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The top four from each division made the playoffs and, yes, 1 was still playing 3, and 2 was still playing 4 in the semis. The Stanley Cup final pitted the East and West playoff winners. Not surprisingly, Montreal beat expansion St. Louis 4 games to 0. 1969 and 1970 also brought 4-0 whitewashes by Original Six teams.<br />
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Only in 1971 did the league finally wise up and begin crisscrossing in the playoffs, with teams from the expansion division meeting teams from the Original Six in the first round. As a result, the Final of course included two Original Six teams, and an exciting 4-3 series resulted. And the next year, they finally gave up, and after 30 years went to traditional 1-4, 2-3 matchups.<br />
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From then on, the changes have been more incremental. In 1975, the playoffs expanded to 12 teams, necessitating byes. In 1980, they expanded to 16, and the divisions were thrown out too: the teams were ranked 1 to 16 and matched accordingly. After every round they were reseeded., so a No.16 might well have to beat 1, 2, 3 and 4 to win the Cup. This was dumped after two years, and divisions returned, with teams playing the first two rounds strictly within their divisions. In 1994, seeding became conference-based, and in 1999 the current format came into effect, with the three division winners within each conference getting the top three seeds automatically.<br />
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Whew, that's a lot of change. The current system is pretty fair, and we're certainly well rid of the weird 1-3, 2-4 matchups. But it's hard not to feel a little nostalgia for the wild old days of competing leagues, challenge matches and total goals series.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7107233824771061043.post-38350937415481033822011-04-09T19:40:00.002-04:002011-04-22T16:56:16.414-04:00The American Soccer PyramidWhen the Major League Soccer season opened, FRB <a href="http://firstroundbye.blogspot.com/2011/03/mls-playoffs.html">discussed its new playoff system</a>. Now as the lower leagues begin play for the year, let's look at the rest of the American soccer "pyramid."<br />
"Pyramid" is in quotes, because in the United States two key elements are missing: promotion and relegation. So leagues technically occupy a position in a hierarchy, but there is no way for the teams in them to rise or fall, at least not automatically.<br />
M.L.S., at the top of the pyramid, has 18 teams who play each other home-and-home for a 34-game season. Ten teams make the playoffs, as discussed in that earlier post.<br />
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Level 2 is the <a href="http://www.nasl.com/">new North American Soccer League</a>, which takes its name, though little else, from the defunct league of the 1970's. It has eight teams, but it will lose one of them next year when the Montreal Impact moves to M.L.S. Each team plays all the others four times each, for a 28-game season. Six teams make the playoffs, with the top two getting byes. The quarterfinals are one game, and the semifinals and final are home-and-home total goals series. <br />
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Although the N.A.S.L. is nominally Level 2, its financing is said to be somewhat uncertain, so oddly enough the third-level league, <a href="http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/">U.S.L. Pro</a>, seems to have a more secure future. Also newly organized this year, it consists of 15 team in three divisions: American, mostly in the South, National, mostly in the Northeast, and International, which has three teams from Puerto Rico, one from Antigua, and, bizarrely, the Los Angeles Blues.<br />
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The regular season scheduling is somewhat confusing. National and American division teams play two games against each of the other National and American teams, for 18 games, plus 6 bonus games, mostly against International division teams. As an example, for its bonus games, FC New York, in the National division, plays two of the Puerto Rican teams twice, another Puerto Rican team once, and a third game against Pittsburgh from its own division. For whatever reason, it doesn't play aginst the other two "International" teams, Los Angeles and Antigua.<br />
The International teams play four times against each of the other teams in that division, for 16 games, plus 8 bonus games. These bonus games are even more oddly scheduled. As an example. let's take a look at the Antigua Barracuda (who play at the delightfully named Sticky Wicket Stadium). They play three teams from the American division once each, one team from the American division twice, and one team from the National three times (maybe there's a natural rivalry between Antigua and Rochester).<br />
There is conflicting information about how the playoffs will work, but it appears that the top three teams from National and American and the top two from International will qualify. All rounds are single-game knockout, with home field advantage to the team with the best record.<br />
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Moving to level 4, we have the <a href="http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/">Premier Development League</a>, whose rosters are made up mostly of college players on summer break. There are 9 regional divisions, each with between 5 and 9 teams. Teams play a 16-game schedule: In the nine-team divisions, that's a double round-robin home-and-home; in smaller divisions, teams may play some opponents three or four times each. There are no games against teams in other divisions, to cut travel costs.<br />
Last year, the top two teams from each division advanced to a single-elimination knockout national playoffs. There were only eight divisions last year, so it worked out to a clean 16-team tournament. This year, the same system would put 18 teams in the playoffs. Hopefully someone has thought of a way to solve this, but there doesn't appear to be an announcement yet. <br />
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Next up is the <a href="http://www.npsl.info/">National Premier Soccer League</a>, which is also recognized as a level 4 league, but in most fans' minds ranks lower. Players are utterly amateur by this level, and few have ambitions of rising up the pyramid. The league consists this year of six divisions, up from five last year, of five to eight teams. Unlike the leagues above it, the N.P.S.L. has its playoff final four at a neutral site, Madison, Alabama, in late July.<br />
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Below these leagues is the <a href="http://www.usasa.com/">United States Adult Soccer Association</a>, a huge organization that includes 55 state associations, hundreds of teams and thousands of players.<br />
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Although teams are not upwardly (or downwardly) mobile in the American system, they do meet on level terms in one competition, the <a href="http://www.usopencup.com/">U.S. Open Cup</a>. This year's Cup will begin with 32 teams: 11 from the U.S.L. Pro, 9 from the P.D.L., 4 from the N.P.S.L., and 8 from the U.S.A.S.A. (The N.A.S.L. will not participate this year.) After two rounds, the eight survivors are joined by 8 M.L.S. teams in the round of 16. It's not as rigidly structured as a pyramid, but it's enjoyable democratic chaos nonetheless.FRBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10979084950586360450noreply@blogger.com1