Re: Condescending TDs

theaug37 · Fri, 20 Apr 2001 20:15:35 -0700

I feel I should answer this post because I was
the statistician for BHSAT X and I was involved in
the playoffs process. In addition, many members of
YSAC are not reading the Yahoo! list, so there is a
danger that this post might not get answered. Therefore,
I'll do my best to answer this post. 

First, I
will say that I haven't been given the final stats
files, so I'm going to best answer the post from the
files I have, memory, and what is posted online. I
believe that the reason the online results do not show
any of the changes is because the modification was
never made to the stats files after the protest was
resolved. I apologize for that and I'll try to rectify the
situation although it might be difficult because we're in
reading week now, and the webmaster seems quite busy
these days. 

Now regarding the whole playoff
situation: First to describe briefly, we had three teams
from each bracket advancing to the playoffs with these
tiebreakers: 1. head-to-head, 2. Total points. After that, the
teams were seeded accordingly afterwards for the
playoff brackets. 

The problem you describe was
twofold: there was the mistake in the entry of one of the
AAST I games during the regular rounds. I'm not sure
whether the teams were reversed in the stat sheet we
received from the moderator during the rounds, or whether
the mistake was made in simple data entry, but the
win credit was given to the wrong team. Therefore,
AAST I's record was misfigured when it came time for
playoffs. When the mistake was discovered, AAST I was given
their proper position in the playoffs bracket. As for
AAST II, I must confess that I'm a little fuzzy on
exactly what happened. I know that Housatonic HS left,
and AAST II took their place in the playoffs. From
what I see in the stats, I think what happened was
that there was an assumed circle of death between
Housatonic, AAST II, and Bristol Central II, and Housatonic
got the nod based on total points. 

I
apologize for the unfortunate mistakes that have happened;
I understand that such mistakes should be avoided
at all costs, but I believe that we have resolved it
fairly considering the circumstances. I don't know who
you are referring as the condescending TDs, but I
believe that it was a misunderstanding that resulted from
the frustration on both sides, as well as the hectic
nature of the whole day contributing to the tension of
the situation. But in our defense, YSAC did resolve
the situation as soon as the mistake was discovered,
and we did everything in our power to assure that the
proper teams made the tournament. 

As for the
possibility that some teams that deserved to get into the
playoffs not doing so because of errors, I believe that
this is quite rare. First, most teams keep track of
their records, and alert the TD as needed. The
possbility that a mistake would come up in the first place
during data entry, happen to a disputable playoff team,
and have it passed over by the team themselves make
the situation very unlikely. Even when mistakes are
made, the situation is rectified as the TDs are
notified, much in the way that the issue was resolved for
your team. 

Lastly, I apologize if you
perceived any member of the YSAC as being condescending or
ignorant of obvious errors. I believe that we reacted
properly and rectified the situation as it was necessary.
If you have more questions, you are welcome to
contact me via email at augustine.kim_at_.... I will be
doing some more research on this matter and post more
things as I learn them. 

-Augustine Kim,
statistician for BHSAT