Three Divisions.  Did it work?

You clamored for it.  And you know who you are.  Last year, when people took a break from the usual Brian Calle chatter, it was all about moving Winter League to a 3-division format.  I mean, maybe most of you never heard a peep about this, or even cared.  But believe me, I heard about it a lot.  Mostly from the mid-level teams who said they were tired of getting blown out by the top teams.

But I was really curious - is this just a handful of vocal players (you know, the squeaky wheel gets the grease thing) or are most players thinking this same thing?  So I put out a poll (shocking), and I was really surprised to find out that the large majority of you were willing to move to three divisions.

My first thought was, don’t you want to play better teams, to help you improve?  Beating someone you know you can beat does tend to simply validate bad habits (see hare/tortoise.)  Plus, I thought everyone dreamed of getting to that next level?  It’s a little unusual hearing people dream of moving to the next level down.  Still, there’s something to be said for the thrill of an evenly-matched battle (notwithstanding 1960’s Vietnam.)

So the 3-division format was born.  And after the first season under the new system, I bet you’re all dying to find out how it worked.  (OR… you’re just reading this cause you’re bored at work and can only play so much on-line Scrabble.)  One thing’s for damn sure.  You all believe it worked.  In the poll I put out last week, over 75% of you said the 3-division format worked in some capacity, and that’s higher than the percentage of people who voted for it in the first place back in December.

So let’s find out.  How did W.L. 2010 compare to previous seasons?

I compared the results of all the scores from this year to the past 3 years, because that’s when we moved from 17-point games to 15-point games.  And here’s something you might be shocked by.  The average point differential in all the games played this year (excluding forfeits of course) was greater than in the past three.

I also looked at the percentage of “blow out” games.  What counts as a blow-out  is probably up for interpretation, so I used two measures that could arguably count.  I think anyone would say that a 15-5 game was probably a blow-out.  But some might even go further and say if you nearly doubled the other team’s score, that’s a blow-out too.  So I used both scenarios.  Again, the numbers show that this year the percentage of blow-out games was as high or higher than any of the past three.  See table below.  (Why do I even write that?  Like you couldn’t see the table below.)

What???  Wasn’t the 3-division format supposed to ensure closer games?  And yet, the opposite is true.  So how did this happen?  Well, the problem clearly wasn’t in A Division.  Avg. pt. diff. was down from last year, and the number of blow-out wins was as low as it’s been the past few years.  That’s great, but from people I talked to, few players in A requested the change.  So really it’s important to note what happened in B division (where the complainers reside).  As you can see, there definitely were more blow-out games this year.  In fact, half of the games played in B were decided by 7 points or more.  And the avg. pt. diff. was over a full point higher than last year.

Here’s a possible theory.  It could be that since there’s more teams in B than there are in A or C, there’s a greater difference between the highest seed and lowest seed.  That could lead to more blow-outs.  But… C Division, with fewer teams, had more blow-out games and the same avg. pt. diff.  Another way to look at this theory is to look at the middle-seeded teams only.  The 4, 5 & 6 seeds - Killer Chillers, Homer’s Disc and Caltech.  They should have a lower number of blow-outs and closer games than all the higher and lower seeds.  But their totals are pretty close to consistent with the overall average.  53% 7-pointers, 18% 10-pointers, and a 6.29 avg. pt. diff.

Another theory is the possible misplacing of some teams.  If Ultimate Scorgasms for example is really a C-Division team, and The Zoo is really a B-Division team, and they were switched, that could make a difference.  Consider that Ultimate Scorgasms had an 8.19 avg. pt. diff. and The Zoo had an 8.63 avg. pt. diff.  Of course, unless we saw those two teams play eachother, there’s no way of truly knowing that a switch between the two would make any difference.  For all we know, Ultimate Scorgasms would beat The Zoo head-to-head.  (Yes, I had scheduled that game for Winnetka.  Stupid rain, now we’ll never know.)

Also, Tarmac for example may have been more correctly seeded in A.  Last year in A, half their games were 7 points or greater with an avg. pt. diff. of 6.17.  This year in B, all but one of their games were 7 points or greater with an avg. pt. diff. of 8.00.  But last year they weren’t the lowest seed in A, which makes a small difference.  They would more benefit from being able to play only the bottom teams in A and the top teams in B, but unfortunately there was no great way to create that schedule.

*Note for stat geeks, when I mention an individual team’s avg. pt. diff.,  I’m adding the pt. diff. from each game regardless of whether the team in question won or lost, because that’s not relevant to the argument.  Whether you won by 10 or lost by 10, it’s still a blow-out.  So for example, if you play two games and you win one by 8 and lose the other by 6, your avg. pt. diff. is 7, not 2.

Now, one thing is fo shizzle, whether it’s a 3-division or a 2-division format, they’re both obvious improvements over the terrible terrible format we used to have when I ran Winter League.  In 2004 and 2005 when I took over, and foolishly moved the league from A & B back to 2 equal divisions, it was just disastrous.  The avg. pt. diff. for all teams was 8.33 and 8.98!!!  In both years, nearly half of all games were 10-pt. or greater blow-outs!  Over 2/3 of all games were 7-pt. or greater!  Thank God we abandoned that nonsense.  Too many rum and cokes for me back then.

So what’s my conclusion?  Did the 3-division format work?  For A Division, it looks like it did, although the trade-off was not getting to play as many teams, and it’s debatable whether that’s a good or bad thing.  But if the purpose of the 3-division format was to create fewer blow out games for all teams, and make for closer scores, then I have to conclude that it did not achieve that objective.

However, having said that, I acknowledge perception can sometimes be more important than reality.  Take, for example, witch doctors.  Do not underestimate the power of the placebo!  And based on that poll from last week, most of you really liked the 3-division format and think it worked.  Perhaps it could be that all it needs is a little bit of tweaking, and then it’d be perfect.  You know, like that guy that keeps treating you like his girlfriend, but he won’t call you his girlfriend, and you figure if you just keep having sex with him, eventually he’ll come around.  But you know what?  He’s never gonna come around.  He just likes having sex with you.  He’s only telling you what you wanna hear.  And you’re just feeding into it.   ……..  Whoa, I got off track there.  Sorry about that.  But you know what I’m saying.

Anyway, that’s my two cents.

BRACKETS

First round starts at 9AM.  Second round starts at 11AM.

The tournament is at Winnetka Recreation Center.  8401 Winnetka Blvd, Winnetka.  It’s on the NW corner of Winnetka and Roscoe Blvd.

There’s a Winnetka Blvd. exit off the 101, which I think is best, and you’d head North on Winnetka.  There’s also a Roscoe Blvd. exit on the 405 and you’d head West on Roscoe.

Field designations haven’t been assigned yet, because we honestly don’t know what the field layout will be until we get there.  It’s going to be tough squeezing in 6 fields, so anybody who can come early to help out, it would be appreciated.

For A Division, this is the schedule:
Quarters - Monday, March 15 at 8PM at Balboa
Semis - Wednesday, March 17 at 8PM at Balboa
Finals - Friday, March 19 at 8PM at Balboa

I don’t have any party information yet.  I’ll update as soon as we know it.

If you have any other questions, you can ask SDW, the tournament director.  She’s at winterleague@laout.org

If you don’t see your name, please don’t freak out.  Contact us at taialacarvalho@gmail.com immediately.

LAOUT Officers:

President: Andy Bandit
Vice President: Brian Calle
Treasurer: Jeff Chai
Webmaster: Nicole Belle Isle
Winter League TD: Sarah Davis-Weyman
Summer League TD: Andy Bandit
Women’s League TD: Nicole Belle Isle
Beach League TD: Matthew ‘Goat’ Colchamiro
Field Space Guru: Andy Bandit
Sponsorship Coordinator: Matthew ‘Goat’ Colchamiro
Public Relations Coordinator: Priya Finnemore

LAOUT Sponsorship Information

What:

LAOUT is proud to be continuing the St. Pat’s Hat tradition started by Mo in 1995. St. Pat’s is a coed hat tournament (each player signs up as an individual and is assigned to a team for the weekend). You must pre-register and pre-pay in order to play.

When:

Saturday & Sunday March 20-21, 2010. Games begin at 9:00 am Saturday. Please arrive NO LATER THAN 8:00 to get your JERSEY, meet your teammates, and warm up. There will be a captains’ meeting at 8:45.

Where:

Back to Balboa Fields - 17015 Burbank Blvd, Encino, Ca.

How:

Registration has closed.  If you would like to sign up, please contact Tai or Lauren at stpatshat2010@gmail.com.

Cost:

We are currently working on getting a deal on jerseys for ALL of our players.  Therefore, regular on time tournament fee is $45. Late registration (if there is still room in the tournament) is an additional $10, so $55 total (with no guarantee of jersey).  Payment can be made via Paypal immediately after you register (preferred) OR you can mail a check made out to LAOUT to

Attn: Taiala Carvalho
950 S. Flower Street – Apt. 913
Los Angeles CA 90015

(If you mail a check please email me at stpats@laout.org and let me know to keep an eye out for it!).

Discs:

As always, available for purchase at Frisbee Central for $10!

Gender Format:

12 coed teams. Format will be 4 men 3 women if enough women register. Otherwise it will be 5 men 2 women.  (To be determined after registration is complete).

Schedule:

TBD

Rules:

UPA 11th edition are in effect, with the following additions/modifications:

1. Hat D’s are welcome!  Looking forward to seeing all the creative hats!
2. Footblocks allowed!
3. Games to 13. Mirror half at 7.
4. Soft Cap goes on at 80 minutes. Play to the highest score + 2. Hard cap will go on at 90 minutes. At the end of the point, if there is a clear winner, game over. If tied, play one more point.
5. One timeout per half plus one floater, no timeouts during overtime. Time outs are 90 seconds.

Clothing Drive:

We’ll be having a clothing drive for Goodwill Industries at the tournament. Anyone can bring clothing (including unwanted jerseys) which can be shared at the tournament with other players and then anything left will be donated to charity.

Extras:

Field food and water (bring your own bottles) will be provided on Saturday and Sunday.

Accuracy Contest:

Thanks to DTW we will be having an accuracy contest available during your bye rounds. Report your scores to frisbee central to be eligible for a sweet prize.

Party:

TBD

Attire: 

Jerseys representing the magically delicious colors of the Lucky Charms’ rainbow will be provided.

Refund Policy:

Full refund will be given to anyone who cancels their registration on or prior to February 22nd.   No refund will be given after that.

Want to help or have questions?

Contact the TDs, Lauren Hill and Taiala Carvalho at stpats@laout.org.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

(Because registration is closed, please check with Tai or Lauren before you click this button to make sure you can still get into the tournament.)

Field Location
List of Registered Players
This year’s results

There are two ways to pay.  You can pay via Paypal below.  Or send a check in the amount of $55 (the late fee) made out to LAOUT to:
Taiala Carvalho
950 S. Flower Street – Apt. 913
Los Angeles CA 90015

We have updated the site to provide the LAOUT community with a more comprehensive system that will provide up to date information, as well provide a central area for Los Angeles ultimate players to register for LAOUT events (like Summer League, local tournaments, Beach league etc..) and track individual and team performances over the years.

What happens when I register?

By registering, you add yourself to the database of Los Angeles players, and allow LAOUT officials to organize players like yourself into teams for both leagues and local tournaments. This information will then also be used to create stats that track your performance as you participate in LAOUT events. After just a few events, you will be able to look back and see what individuals you played with, on which teams, at what events, and will be able to see really fun stats, like your overall win/loss ratio, overall point differential, and even more things that are in development. We will also be able to see who played with who on specific teams. Think of it like the IMDB of Los Angeles Ultimate.

Registration is, of course, free. We will not use your email for shady purposes, or make it public. We just need it to track our members, and ensure that each member is a real ultimate player, not some internet spy robot determined to destroy our lovely new website.

Sounds cool! How do I register?

Click the “Register” link to register for the new LAOUT site. Create a username and enter your email address into the form. A password will be emailed to that email address and will allow you to log in to your personal administration area.

** UPDATE ** We’ve heard that people are not receiving their registration emails. The password that is generated is a randomly generated mess of characters, which can be interpreted by some email clients as junk mail. We have noticed that gmail and some universities are moving these emails to the SPAM folder.  Please check your those folders to retrieve missing passwords. The address sending the email is ‘wordpress@laout.org’ so please also make sure that emails coming from that sender are not marked as SPAM. **

On the left hand side of your adminstration area, you will see a menu called “Member Admin” (shown in photo on the left). In that section you can create your personal profile, which will show up in the Discography page.

You can also register for the current league in that area by hitting the “League Registration” link. Fill out the information on that page to register for the current league.

The final option is to upload an image. This image will also show up on the Discography page inside your profile.

We will be taking past rosters and adding them to the site, so your past teams will be filled in automatically. All you need to do is register, and everything else will be done for you. If you haven’t registered, go do it now!

FROSTY BOY KIDNAPPED

Now I received this:

(Water boarding is a crime in this country, for the record. -ed.)

My first set of demands is this:

During your next game, you (Andy Bandit) must throw a thumber score to a girl.

And Greg Preston must wear ALL PINK.

These must be documented by your team with video or pictures and put up onto the laout website this week.

If you fail to meet these demands then something bad WILL happen to Frosty Boy!

I have been interrogating him and so far he is not talking.

But he has been answering with nods and head shakes to my yes or no questions, so he is close to the breaking point.

Can you believe that?  Does this not rip at your heart strings?  Now muppets, cartoon characters, that’s fine.  Torture them all day.  But Frosty Boy?  He’s like a real boy.  Pinnochio has wet dreams to be him.  So a few of us thought long and hard about this.

  
heh heh Long            heh heh Hard

And we came up with this video as a response.

Your move kidnappers.  Your move.