Days of My Life: Whose NPPL am I sucking on?

[manike]

Originally posted by Tony Montana
Just a side note, and keeping it within the confines of the arguments that you made. Why did I have to wait in that bar on site in Amsterdam for 4 1/2 hours waiting on my schedule? I never complained. Because I do understand what it takes. But, now I ask why?

Because they f&*^ed up the schedule at Amsterdam. Badly.

In my opinion because those responsible for the event hadn't put enough organisation and effort into getting it right at that event. There were several reasons given for it, down to computer failure etc, With no back up, but that's irrelevant. It was bad, and the worst Millennium screw up I can remember since the dreaded 1997 Toulouse...

But Amsterdam is/was the exception, not the norm, when it comes to Millennium series schedules.

Whats the norm when it comes to the NPPL/PSP events? I've not been to that many, but all bar one that I have attended had tough schedules to keep and ran badly behind... That's if all teams games were included in the schedule to start with

manike

 

[Tony Montana]

Manike -

This year:

LA - some fields a bit behind, some a bit ahead. Not great, but I don't think it was a problem for anyone.
Vegas - the worst I have ever seen. Total absolute catastrophic failure of the schedule.
Chicago - I do not believe a single game started more than 7-8 minutes behind schedule and those that did were very few and far between. As far as adherence to schedule, the best that I have ever seen of any event that even approached this size.
AC - Somewhere between LA and Chicago. No big lags at all. But not quite up to par with Chicago.
World Cup - honestly, I don't know. With so much going on, and with me playing, I have no idea how the whole schedule worked. I didn't have any problems with my schedule.

The thing is that people seem to want to know who they play and on what field 3-4 days in advance. Until 80+% of the individual players are ID's and classified, I don't see it happening. PSP spends the week after the deadline playing Dick Tracy to sort out sandbaggers as best possible with no database available. And until they have all teams fitted into their final classification, they can't even start on the schedule.

 

[Baca Loco]

Okay, Tony

Maybe you can help me out here.
Regarding scheduling--was the pre-event announced cap of 96 teams for Atlantic City incorrect? If it wasn't do you have any idea how 112 teams ended up playing? (On its face that looks like what Beak was talking about.)

With these sandbaggers are you talking teams 'cus that doesn't seem like a big deal? Or are you suggesting rosters are reviewed for individuals who may be so-called sandbaggers? Has the PSP removed anyone from a roster prior to at an event?

Do you know anything about the rumored widespread sandbaggin' in the Rookie 10-man division at this year's Cup?

I don't doubt Lane makes that effort but I've never heard of any implementation or enforcement after the fact of anything like that by the PSP.
Appreciate your input.

 

[Tony Montana]

Baca -

I knew you would bring up the AC cut off thing. That really bothered you, huh?

PSP thought that there was only room for 6 fields. The schedule guru thought having more than 96 teams on 6 fields would be rushed at best, and possibly impossible. After careul inspection of the facility Rosie felt he could make 7 fields fit into the area with some creativity. Being that it was obvious that more than 96 teams were interested in playing, the decision was made to raise the number of teams allowed to attend. It ended up that the schedule could be manipulated to accomodate 112 teams on 6 fields and do so without much hassle to the teams. We could also keep the fields at the standard size, have walk ways, and set the air system on the way to the fields. So the original plan of 6 fields was also left in place.

Many chose to argue that PSP simply saw they could make more money and jumped on it. But why would they limit the number of teams to begin with, if that was the case. In all actuality an announcement was made in haste. PSP felt it important to let teams know of the team cap as early as possible in order to assure teams weren't surprised with the news that they could not play after spending money on tickets, scheduling time off, etc. In an effort to put out news early, and then consequently having the conditions change, PSP's integrity was once again questioned. It was simply an effort to not leave teams hung out to dry. Certainly PSP wants as many teams as they can get. But when PSP felt that the number of teams who would attend would be more than the event could handle, they chose to limit the number of teams and thus lose income, in order to have a managable event. I don't see why that is so hard to see. But I am sure you will tell me

As for any action the rules committee or Bill Cookston has taken in regards to teams with illegal rosters, I have no idea. That is outside of my realm of involvement. I'm not trying to seperate PSP from anything that goes on at the events, as I agree it is in it's entirity their domain, but I (personally) am not much involved in the loop of what happens at the events.

Baca - "I've never heard of any implementation or enforcement after the fact of anything like that by the PSP"

If by after the fact you mean once the event begins, see above.

After the fact that a team signs up in the wrong class is different -
many hours are spent on the phone calling "friends" in the vicinity of the team in question trying to determine if there are violations. As a matter of fact, there are a couple of guys on Static who have been contacted numerous times with questions regarding teams and their rosters in Florida. It is a matter of having some one send an email or make a phone call telling that a team listed in the Rookie class has 2 Novice and a rookie player coming to the event (or something of that nature). Being that the (to remain nameless) group that was suppose to collect, categorize, and provide information to the PSP chose to not do so, the only way to check the alegations out was through good old fashion detective work. If there are 4 teams in question ( for World Cup I would guess the number was more like 24), and it takes 5-8 phone calls to and from "friends" per team to "check out" their roster, then an additional 3-4 phone calls to the team to determine if their roster is legal or not, and then if not how to make it legal or which class they fit into - you can see that even after the deadline, there is a lot of work that goes into both getting the team list in order to be made into a schedule, and trying to get the teams into proper classes. It is a terrible system. It could have been much easier and BETTER FOR ALL THE PLAYERS if the data collected for ID cards was used for the purpose it was designed. It is a pity that others chose not to do put the info they collect to use or provide it as they said they would to the people who were capable. What purpose could they possibly have had in collecting that info if it wasn't going to go to the person who is trying to sort the classifications out? Any hypothesis' Baca?

I'm rambling. I'll stop.

There will be efforts in place to get a handle on the classification issue. A new registration process will be much more productive, informative, and easier for both the registerer and the teams. Hopefully these efforts will combine to help alleviate some of the problems experienced in the past. I also hope that it will cut down some of the "silly" efforts that a certain person has to put into this and free up time to deal with more important things at these events.

I think PSP should hire the following people -
Waddidiz, Robbo, TJ Lambini, Raehl, Baca Loco, Manike, Bobvannes, and Tony Montana

They'd have
- a guy who seems to be as much into rules and reffing as Clinton was into interns
- a guy who could finally put a plan to satisfy the Europeans need for toilets
- a guy, a guy to..to.. what is it that TJ does again?
- a guy to tell everyone to shut up, get back to work, and be happy they are even allowed to work here
- a guy to critique every single move the competition makes and find fault in it and keep adding fuel to the fire even after it has been out for months
- a guy to take Jerry Brauns place and make at least two people mad each day
- a guy we can beat the hell out of everytime something goes
wrong
- a guy to make sure something is always wrong so we can beat the hell out of Bobvannes AGAIN

 

[manike]

Tony, this years cup scheduling was the best I have ever been to. Some fields got a little behind but in general for the size of the event I though it was very good. I thought everything about this cup was excellent apart from the judging which at many times was appalling. I didn't have a major problem with the toilets either, only used them a few times though when I absolutely had to

manike

 

[Wadidiz]

PSP Forum

FYI,

PSP has opened a forum on their updated website at http://nppl.com/

Some (I think) interesting topics, including some things discussed here are being taken up there. They even have Lane Wright himself answering and holding forth. More room for excessive verbosity from us all.

Tony Montana, I highly recommend that you have a look.

Maybe some of the more interesting stuff ought to be cut and pasted into this thread.

Steve

 

[manike]

lmao

Do you think they will mind if I post there under a pseudonym?

 

[Wadidiz]

lmao

Originally posted by manike
Do you think they will mind if I post there under a pseudonym?

Good one! Works for me. Just don't sign it with your second pseudonym like I do.

Steve

 

[Baca Loco]

Originally posted by Tony Montana
Baca -
1--I knew you would bring up the AC cut off thing. That really bothered you, huh?

2--PSP thought that there was only room for 6 fields. The schedule guru thought having more than 96 teams on 6 fields would be rushed at best, and possibly impossible.

It was simply an effort to not leave teams hung out to dry. Certainly PSP wants as many teams as they can get. But when PSP felt that the number of teams who would attend would be more than the event could handle, they chose to limit the number of teams and thus lose income, in order to have a managable event. I don't see why that is so hard to see. But I am sure you will tell me

3--As for any action the rules committee or Bill Cookston has taken in regards to teams with illegal rosters, I have no idea. That is outside of my realm of involvement. I'm not trying to seperate PSP from anything that goes on at the events, as I agree it is in it's entirity their domain, but I (personally) am not much involved in the loop of what happens at the events.

Baca - "I've never heard of any implementation or enforcement after the fact of anything like that by the PSP"

If by after the fact you mean once the event begins, see above.

4--After the fact that a team signs up in the wrong class is different -
many hours are spent on the phone calling "friends" in the vicinity of the team in question trying to determine if there are violations. As a matter of fact, there are a couple of guys on Static who have been contacted numerous times with questions regarding teams and their rosters in Florida. It is a matter of having some one send an email or make a phone call telling that a team listed in the Rookie class has 2 Novice and a rookie player coming to the event (or something of that nature). Being that the (to remain nameless) group that was suppose to collect, categorize, and provide information to the PSP chose to not do so, the only way to check the alegations out was through good old fashion detective work. If there are 4 teams in question ( for World Cup I would guess the number was more like 24), and it takes 5-8 phone calls to and from "friends" per team to "check out" their roster, then an additional 3-4 phone calls to the team to determine if their roster is legal or not, and then if not how to make it legal or which class they fit into - you can see that even after the deadline, there is a lot of work that goes into both getting the team list in order to be made into a schedule, and trying to get the teams into proper classes. It is a terrible system. It could have been much easier and BETTER FOR ALL THE PLAYERS if the data collected for ID cards was used for the purpose it was designed. It is a pity that others chose not to do put the info they collect to use or provide it as they said they would to the people who were capable. What purpose could they possibly have had in collecting that info if it wasn't going to go to the person who is trying to sort the classifications out?

5--Any hypothesis' Baca?

6--There will be efforts in place to get a handle on the classification issue. A new registration process will be much more productive, informative, and easier for both the registerer and the teams. Hopefully these efforts will combine to help alleviate some of the problems experienced in the past. I also hope that it will cut down some of the "silly" efforts that a certain person has to put into this and free up time to deal with more important things at these events.

7--a guy to critique every single move the competition makes and find fault in it

1--Not at all. It was simply a first (as I can't recall the PSP ever previously announcing a registration limit) and as such "looked" like the PSP was limiting numbers to assure quality control and perhaps deliver a schedule somewhat in advance of the event. So that given past history (and a suspicious mind, I'll grant you) it ended up "looking" like the same old thing instead.
2--A release at the time with the info you've provided now would have done the trick I think, particularly as the event went off scheduling wise just fine.
3--fair enough.
4--sounds like a real hassle and one that the NPPL database would help alleviate, but--you didn't actually answer my question. Has the PSP prior to an event ever insisted a rostered player be removed from a team or unilaterally moved a whole team to a different classification?
5--yes, balance of power chip and/or launching pad for alternative series.
6--no pain, no gain
7--I didn't say word one about the toilets or the bleachers. And actually it's usually the moves that are left unmade that get critiqued. Besides, if results are indicative of impact nobody listens to me anyway Oh, wait, yeah, Magued did one time.

 

[Wadidiz]

Originally posted by Baca Loco
...nobody listens to me anyway Oh, wait, yeah, Magued did one time.

I'm curious about that one, O Great Steer. What did Magued listen to you about?

Steve

{Sent you an email. To the rest o' ya it ain't important. Ghost Cow was here. Wooo. Spooky. )