It seems to me that the main issues are:
1. How best to reward Top Teams from the Regular Season as they move to the Finals,
2. Whether to conduct the Finals on a progressive elimination basis.
1. Rewarding Top Teams - we can either give them a
BYE for 1 or 2 Final rounds, or we can give them a
bonus points reward relative to their Regular Season finish. Both are a reward. BYEs give both a breather and respite from elimination. It seems BYEs and the prospect of elimination go hand-in-hand (i.e. the concepts are linked). Bonus points are also a reward: the better the finish over a long Regular Season, the greater the bonus relative to the surviving teams.
It strikes me that the winner of the tournament should have had to survive continual challenge from every one else. A BYE in the Finals, while rewarding, removes some of the challenge which a Winner should have to survive. BYEs reduce competition, and also reduce activity. It seems if we're having a tournament, we should try to engage as many people as possible for as long as possible.
Thus - I favour the
bonus points approach over the
BYE approach as a reward for Regular Season high standing.
2. Eliminations in the Finals. The only reason to eliminate teams throughout the Finals is to more easily count points (or dollars won) to determine the winner. If points are still easily counted without eliminations, even if the competition is thinned by halving the teams going into the Finals (or making 2 Groups) - then the Finals could go forward simply continuing to count points (number of teams beat each round).
Is there any
extra value eliminations serve towards the goal of counting up to the Winner, versus simply
all teams continuing to compete and continuing to count the points?
* * * *
The above arguments summarized, and thinking about Chris' idea (and privately received comments), my simplified proposal would be:
1.
Top Half of Regular Season Teams join Finals Group A. All Teams start again with 0 points -
PLUS bonus points = the number of teams you beat, divided by 2. Example: 48 teams play, Top 24 proceed to Finals Group A. Team ranked #1 beat 23 teams and gets bonus points = 23 / 2 = 11.5 rounded up = 12.
Group A teams play 3 weekends more (4 days), no eliminations, accumulating points based on the number of teams beat each day. Winner determined by points count.
2.
Bottom Half of Regular Season Teams join Group B. Same bonus point system applies as for Group A, same play schedule, same winner criterea
3. Group A winners qualify for cash prizes and PACS points. Group B winner(s) receive honourable mention, perhaps some other prize.
4. Teams have to play in the final Regular Season round to qualify for Finals in either Group. If a Team misses one Finals round, they are eliminated.
5. Schedule - play 14 Regular Season rounds from January 4 through April 5. Take 1 week off (April 12). Play 3 Final weeks April 19, 26, May 2 & 3 (4 days, 32 events). Contest Concludes with Kentucky Derby May 3.
Final thoughts?
Ted
