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Online now: 1 member: Shy; 10 anonymousDiscussion: Eastern Nationals
| Posted | Discussion |
| July 24 Casey39 17 posts | Curious to know the thought or reasoning of putting the 50M+ and 55M+ together? Why wouldnt you put the 55M+ in with the 55M teams? So now the 50M+ has to play an equalizer to earn a shot at winning a #1 seed in Vegas. |
| July 24 titanhd Men's 60 639 posts | I would guess because 50M and 55M have the same index rating (8)they were slotted together. Conversely 55M+ & 55M do not. Nor do 50M+ and 50M. Equalizer would still apply in those senarios as well..Perhaps SSUSA is allowing both 50M and 55M #1 seeds out of this Bracket ??? Equalizer still would apply however. My "ARMCHAIR" Opinion |
| July 24 DaveDowell Men's 70 4322 posts | Jim ... It would hve been the same effect in the 50-Major+ ... With less than four teams, you would have played crossover games with the 50-Major, also giving an equalizer ... This way: • You only play other Major+ teams ... More HR's, more runs per inning and all the other "big dawg" stuff you love; • BOTH the top 50-Major+ and the top 55-Major+ teams earn berths in the USA National Championship games AND receive 1st place awards; • You play more teams and avoid the dreaded "Best 2 of 3" and the almost as unappealing 3-team DE formats ... Most teams prefer a five team bracket over either of those formats ... It made sense to me at the time (and still does) to do it this way ... So I did ... Good luck! ... |
| July 25 Kyphogt Men's 55 28 posts | Dave- Great timing on this as our BPA 55M+ team just returned from The ISA Tournament in Indiana this past weekend and this was a topic amongst our team as well as the manager player from the other 55M+ team (DLB) who will be attending Eastern Nationals this weekend. We all agreed that we would greatly prefer keeping the format of last year at Eastern Nationals where 50M+ and 55M+ were separate brackets while combining the 50/55 M+ teams in pool play on Friday. In other tournaments I would agree with you in combining the 50M+ and 55M+ teams in bracket play but with the winner in each age group representing the East in the World Championships in Las Vegas we all agreed that playing head to head against a team in our own age group at M+ level (direct competitors)is much preferable in bracket..even with just 2 teams playing best 2 out of 3. This would offer the best of both worlds by playing against different teams (albeit different age group) in pool play and then against direct competitors in bracket play with the opportunity to represent the East in our respective age and level. I am confident the same holds true for those teams playing in the 50M+ division Thank you for all you do for Senior Softball Dave and for considering my post. Regards, GT |
| July 25 DaveDowell Men's 70 4322 posts | Thanks for your gracious thoughts, George ... You mention "Great timing", but I view it a bit differently ... The train has left the station for any fundamental change in philosophy for the 50/55-Major+ grouping when the tourney commences in a couple days ... In nearly two decades of doing this type of complex scheduling for large events, I can't recall teams ever making a request for smaller brackets ... While that's a first for me, it's not compelling enough to actually make changes that would require significant revisions affecting multiple other divisions ... As an accommodation to the other 55-Major+ team in the mix, I have regenerated the round robin sequencing on Friday to ensure that the two 55-Major+ teams DO play each other at least once ... DLB had made that "complaint" in an email to a third party who forwarded it to me as a heads up ... Good luck, play safely and have fun! |
| July 25 Kyphogt Men's 55 28 posts | Thank you for your reply Dave- I understand it is late to make any major changes I am not sure where the emphasis on my post was "smaller" bracket as I did my best to stress our (BPA) desire to play in bracket vs the other 55M+ team (DLB) considering the winner would represent the East in Vagas in the 55M+ division. Obviously DLB has the same desire based on the email you received. We all were hoping to keep it like last year where 50M+ had their own bracket and 55M+ had their own 3 team bracket...perfect!! why the change this year? GT |
| July 25 DaveDowell Men's 70 4322 posts | The principal motivation for change is the "almost universal" disdain for Best 2 of 3 Championship Series play ... As an incidental sidebar to this year, the only 55-Major+ team who entered the Western Nationals withdrew late last week ... There will not be a USA National Championship game in Las Vegas in September ... |
| July 26 Casey39 17 posts | I am going to guess that teams would rather play teams in their own age group, regardless of the rating. That stinks for 55 M+ that there will be no Western champion and no USA National Championship...kind of defeats the purpose to play Eastern Nationals. Anyways...at least we have a 5 team tourney spread over 3 days...plenty of rest for everyone. |
