Evaluating the Seedings

First, I want to say congrats to the DoG crew, especially Marshall. I remember him saying after Nats in 04 that that was probably his best chance for a championship. Well, that isn't the case and I am glad that the team will have the chance to represent the country in Vancouver.

Second, this post isn't really about the seedings. It is about the simple fact that if teams play lots of games, especially inter-regional games...the data is better, the seedings are better, and the quality of Nats is better as the initial pools are better balanced.

So, again, thanks to the Mixed teams that put in the effort to travel during the season and organize events like Boston, ECC, and Labor Day. I think this season pretty clearly speaks that it is positive when teams play under one moniker and take the good with the bad. One of the primary reasons for the initiative to increase inter-regional games was to improve data for seeding Nats, so how did we do?

In subjecting the seedings to a predictive point of view, this was by far the most successful year since I became NXD in 03. 3 of 4 semifinalists were correct. 7 of 8 quarterfinalists were correct. 9 of the top 10. 3 of the bottom 5 were also correct.

Biggest changes:
Poodle Club +5(possible answer: pick-up team...everyone doesn't show up until Nats)
Bashing Pinatas +5
Barrio +4 (no data to seed)
ICE -3
Mischief -3
Bad Larry -5

This is much better when compares to years like 05, where we had the 12th seed in the finals, 11th seed in Semis, etc.

The seedings were, generally, as good as RRI in terms of predicting outcomes. The RRI, if I recall (I didn't save a copy of the matrix before the event), had Rival too high, Amp too low, etc, but was pretty good.

So, get out there, play the games, travel to tournaments, keep your name, and take the good with the bad. Your team will be better off and the sport will benefit from your efforts.

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Qtrs Predictions?

Very busy getting ready for this show I am doing. I am pretty bummed I will not be making the trip down south this week........

So, let's discuss brackets.

Please feel free to post your predictions for qtrs/semis/finals of any/all divs.

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More Deep Thoughts

-I received a call from one of my captains yesterday as I was headed back from NYC. I guess my girls won Purple Valley. I think this might be the first time the Whips have won a tournament. My understanding is that they lost to Williams on Sat, but beat Tufts in the final.

-With the light diminishing quickly in the afternoons, we are starting to have some practices in which we don't scrimmage. I do like that as it provides a reminder that actually playing is something not to be taken for granted.

-Finished seeding Nats. It was pretty consuming as there are some points with a glaring lack of data. The captains were great to work with and, thanks to Boston Invite, Labor Day, CHC, and ECC, we did have much better data than in previous years.

-Heady times for Boston sports...really a wicked pissah time to get provincial.

-We are getting great proposals in for the UCPC 08. Reminder that proposals are due by Nov 9. www.buda.org/ucpc

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Deep Thoughts

-Interesting to drive directly from working the BC-Bowling Green game to Regionals. Obviously very different atmospheres. The BC game atmosphere was a bit mundane as the game was a blow out. Regionals, with everyone fighting to keep their seasons alive, was very exciting.

-One of my girls qualified for Mixed Nats with Bashing Pinatas. I think she might be the first Whiptail to do so while still a student.

-The end of the Open final has been written about in detail. Not much to say there other than it is rare to see someone very clearly take the game over and exert their will to that extent.

-It was nice to see the celebrations when teams earn their spot to Sarasota. For the established teams, earning a spot might be an afterthought, but I found it one of the most rewarding feelings.

-Brute really took it to Godiva in the Women's final. Pretty solid on both sides of the disc. They had 1 point scored on them on Sat...

-The Mixed Div does all that work to develop inter-Regional results and then we get three or 4 teams with little or no results plus no Moe, Deliverance, Puppet, Pleasuretown. I am especially curious about how Central Regionals played out as Moe was having a great season up until that point.

-Working on Zone D with the girls this week.

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Announcing UCPC 08/Request for Presentation Proposals

All of the permits and budget stuff is settled, so Tiina and I are excited to announce that UCPC 08 will be held on January 26, 2008 at Newton South High School.

The updated website is;

www.buda.org/ucpc

This year's theme is "Preparation and Performance for the Sport of Ultimate". We are accepting proposals for presentations until November 9, 2007. Please go to the "Presenters" page to submit a proposal.

We will be releasing information about registration, logistics, and who is presenting over the next few week, so stay tuned.

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Questions & Anecdotes

1) Will this be the first year that neither of Boston's #1 Open and Women's teams will be a #1 seed at NE Regionals?

2) In the club division, will this be the first time that teams from Canada will be both the #1 seeds in Open and Women's at Regionals? Maybe FG and Prime one year??

3) Wanting it both ways #1:

Complaining that the sport isn't on TV/legit/respected

AND

Whining about the numbers on shorts

Even leaving the pro sports out of it, ever read the NCAA uniform guidelines? Want to be legit? Get ready for someone to tell what color and brand your underwear has to be.

4) Another Hard Time Cap controversy out in the NW. This reminds me a bit of the situation with UBC and Berkeley a few years back.

There is a lot of work to be done in this area. First thing, the concept of an "end of round" time point in the schedule is not only meaningless, but it is dead and gone. Here is what we have:

The Start of the round: This is the first time listed on the SRT.
The Soft Time Cap: The second time listed on the SRT.

To be clear, the UPA suggests and has written into its SRT templates that 30 minutes is needed for the completion of the game after the Soft Time Cap. The 30 minutes listed is NOT a break.

The only other time device available is:

Hard Time Cap

The first thing is that we need to agree that 30 minutes is enough time to complete the game after the Soft Time Cap. If so, then the Hard Time Cap should be no less than 30 minutes after the Soft Time Cap. If the Hard Time Cap is scheduled for less than 30 minutes after the Soft Time Cap, then it should be due to day light, round scheduling, or other concerns.

If a break is needed to change fields AND there is enough time in the day, I will therefore offer my opinion of a "preferred" schedule:

Start of the round: 9AM
Soft Time Cap: 10:30AM
Hard Time Cap(if needed): 11AM
Start of the Next Round: 11:15AM

Notice that there is no "end of round" marker. That is because it is dead and gone.

5) Wanting it both ways #2:

A friend of mine told me about taking a high school team to UPA Open Sectionals a week or so ago. For quite of few of the high school players, this was their first time playing at Club Sectionals. Not unexpectedly, the team played several college teams and, not unexpectedly, the college teams, some who went to Nationals last year, behaved atrociously. Inappropriate sexual cheers within earshot of parents, trash talking on the field, intimidating my friends team during time outs by surrounding them and singing loudly, etc. Of course, "Its all good", right, dude?

After one game that was particularly horrendous, the college team captain approached my friend, who is a very successful Ultimate coach, and asked if my friend would be interested in coming during the fall and speaking to the team about what it would take to improve, etc. My friend reflected for a moment on the 2 hours of abuse that just occurred, took another look at the costume wearing college team and replied "I don't think so....."

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