What a load of rubbish...
Originally posted by Baca Loco
1--so the team that got thrashed all year as Novice decides to move up cus they aren't "novice" anymore and get thrashed all over again as Am and by some magical transformation are now better than all those teams that stayed Novice but thrashed them before? Interesting concept.
Who said they would be better?, in terms of skill they may not be, but in terms of who they are playing against then yes they are, by the very fact that they are playing tougher competition it ranks them above the people who aren't. See below, but a team which is always losing as Novice shouldn't necessarily be forced to move up. A winning Novice team should.
It's not necessarily right for who is actually the best but then unless every event was self seading (I wish! there would be lots of Ams and novices playing at much higher levels than they are now!) and then only the WINNING teams should get prizes.
They are now being measured against their peers and people who are playing at that level. If you do not play at (or above) Amateur level then your ranking starts from Novice down. If you don't choose to compete against people in higher divisions why should you get to place over them? You do not.
Originally posted by Baca Loco
2--if a team gets no prizes and no respect for playing Novice why would anybody "sandbag"?
People do get respect for playing Novice and winning, that and the ability to compete is why people do it. At the moment there are some prizes and novice teams that keep winning like whooping people again and again so stay where they are rather than step up. They should be forced to step up AFTER continually winning or placing. Teams do sandbag.
Originally posted by Baca Loco
3--who is "we", kimosabe? Seems to me the WE in question is organizers and I don't recall them either wringing their collective hands over the "problems" in the Nov division or trumpeting the need to modify how teams move through the ranks.
We is the royal 'us'. Best courtsey if I were you...
'We' is most definitely not the organisers of the events, although it could include them and often does it was meant to mean the people who care about making this a fair sport and introducing people to it and helping it grow. As you point out some organisers don't give a **** as long as they take the money but some do care. 'We' as a sport should care and persuade the organisers to 'do the right thing'.
Originally posted by Baca Loco
4--in mixed preliminary play they have already been playing teams above their division and it hasn't helped yet so what you're saying is said team should choose of their own volition to pay more to get thrashed cus somehow they might learn something they missed before when thrashed by a better class of team. And maybe theyll just chuck it in and say hell with it.
A team that continually loses but has been together for a long time is not one which is unfairly playing in the wrong division. I don't see an issue with them staying in a lower division until they start winning. Sandbagging here is used to refer to teams who continually win in a division and won't move up. Not teams that are always in the same division... I know many teams in this position who themselves have chosen to step up inorder to play harder competition and learn from it.
You'll notice my points in 4) were questions not statements.
However a team of pro's or amateurs that have competed in Pro or Am and done well, should not be able to drop back to the novice division in my opinion. Once they have been at that level they should only be able to drop back down into the Ams. After winning at Pro or Am you are no longer a novice (special terms and conditions can apply for teams that were pro back in the splat days then haven't touched a marker again until now
)
I'd love to see a proper series of divisions, with promotion and relegation, but our sport is too young and not ready for it yet unfortunately. And I don't think there is that much control over the players and teams yet.
manike
