Re: B teams

UniversalDoctor · Wed, 23 Feb 2000 08:05:09 -0800

Todd Gregory wrote:
<I do have a problem
with inviting a team that doesn't deserve to be at a
national championship simply because a good team comes
from a school with an even better A team. The effect
of inviting inferior teams to the ICT is watering
down the championship.>

I refer back to the
original thought of my post: if one doesn't want the
championship watered down, then only the few dominant,
championship-caliber teams should be invited. The notion is that by
virtue of a field so large as to include 42 teams, the
championship is *already* watered down with inferior teams.
So, if NAQT is going to invite teams it knows have no
reasonable chance of contending for the championship, then
why do they do so? 

The only logical
conclusion I can come to is that they wish to recognize and
reward institutions who have been well represented by
successful teams during the season. If in addition to
Powerhouse A they include B, C & D teams from Powerhouse,
Powerhouse gets no more media coverage, no more recognition.
Let's face it, the general public knows so little about
our game that they have no mechanism for discerning
any difference between Powerhouse and Podunk--whether
Powerhouse has one or four teams at the ICT is meaningless
to them.

NAQT must be seeking to increase
participation through promoting good feelings of inclusion by
inviting such a large field. Maximizing this effect
requires one team per institution.

Now, that is not
to say that there is the *rare* B team that is
actually among the elite teams that can actually contend
for the championship. I certainly think those B teams
should be invited, but I've only seen two or three B
teams that good in 20 years.

Todd
continued:
<As an afterthought, the NAQT sectional tournament
would become just another tournament to every B team
that attended it if no B teams were allowed at the
ICT.>

I don't see anything wrong with this at all. After
all, why did Podunk attend the SCT? Arguing that only
teams that believe they're going to get the ICT
invitation is a slippery slope; one jeopardizes one's
participation level. There are a host of great reasons to
attend a tournament--even an SCT--with the foreknowledge
that it's "just another tournament": institutional
representation, experienced gained, knowledge acquired, social
fellowship, just plain fun...

And, I believe this line
of reasoning is valid for any tournament. I've
always maintained in tournaments that I've hosted that A
teams always get precedence over B teams in filling a
field (and B teams get precedence over C teams, for
that matter). If someone called me 6 months ahead and
requested four teams, I'd tell them they'd just have to
wait until it becomes abundantly clear that all other
A teams that are going to come have reserved their
slots. Only then do I start allowing B, C, & D teams
into my tournament.

Albert Whited