GENS 2011 "B" PLAYOFFS - LATEST NEWS

[LA Robbie]

OK,

Well first off, apologies to everyone for steaming in an making changes to the "B" playoffs today. I was far too hasty and didn't give it enough consideration. I admit it and I appolgise. ProBob was the voice of reason but I got a message from AJ saying he still wanted to be involved & I just thought "Oh, thats great, everyone's in still", rather than thinking through the idea of placing AJ in the "B" cup.

Basically I need confirmation from you AJ, but this was what we were proposing a week or so ago:

Playoffs go ahead minus Dallas and Montreal in the "B" playoffs. San Jose & Anaheim get bumped up again. Playoffs as originally planned.

We have an "A" champ and a "B" champ. Purely for the fun of it, AJ can play the B champ, (as we know he's an A player and not a B player) and the winner of that can play the A champ.

Those final 2 series would purely be exhibition series, for "bragging rights" if you will. It wouldn't determine who is the 2011 champ. Th 2011 champ will be the winner of the A playoffs. The B champ will be whoever wins the B playoffs. Obviously we can't have a situation where a guy can finish way down the standings (Even if for no fault of his own) and he ends up being given a wildcard to become "2011 Champion".

Can I get some feedback on this guys, and again, apologies. I take responsibility for creating this mess in the first place. It would have been easier to say "Sorry AJ, you missed the checkpoint", but I didn't want to turn a guy away who was expressing a desire to play.

OK, thoughts please?

[PRoBob38]

Perfect. My apologies for over-selling that series winner as a "champion."

[LA Robbie]

I am waiting for a response from AJ, but basically the definitive B playoffs will be posted tomorrow.

[Comeback_King]

but I didn't want to turn a guy away who was expressing a desire to play.

I'm on both sides of the fence on this issue we are having between Rob and Probob. I agree with what you said in this above quote, it sucks turning guys away who want to play and you hate to be that guy. Dishing out forfeits sucks and nobody wants to see that or win that way. But things like this happen and go with the territory running a league. Welcome to Chaos and Halifax's world probably. This way is fine. I'm just glad we found a resolution.

Edited July 7, 2011 by Comeback_King

[LA Robbie]

OK, here it is gentlemen,

We had a really tough decision to make here. Again, I appologise for changing things round in the first place without thinking it through enough first. This is a case of trying to please everyone...............which never happens!

Basically, we are reverting back to the playoffs the way they were originally scheduled. Due to the delay this week a new deadline for the "B" playoffs has been set at Wednesday 13th July. The reasons for this decision i'll explain below:

GENS 2011 "A" PLAYOFF SEEDINGS & MATCHUPS

WASHINGTON (VOCALLY CAGED) (1)      VS       EDMONTON (HOULY) (8)
GAME 1 @ WASHINGTON    4-2 EDM
GAME 2 @ WASHINGTON    3-2 WAS
GAME 3 @ EDMONTON      5-4 WAS OTW
GAME 4 @ EDMONTON      4-3 WAS
GAME 5 @ WASHINGTON    9-1 WAS
BOSTON (DCICON) (2)                 VS       DETROIT (MAV) (7)
GAME 1 @ BOSTON
GAME 2 @ BOSTON
GAME 3 @ DETROIT
GAME 4 @ DETROIT
NEW YORK RANGERS (KINGRAPH) (3)     VS       TAMPA BAY (CARSE) (6)
GAME 1 @ NEW YORK       8-2 TB
GAME 2 @ NEW YORK       8-0 TB
GAME 3 @ TAMPA BAY      8-3 TB
GAME 4 @ TAMPA BAY      5-4 TB
LOS ANGELES (BOKNOWSNHL94) (4)      VS       PHILADELPHIA (ORANGEBLACK) (5)
GAME 1 @ L.A.
GAME 2 @ L.A.
GAME 3 @ PHILADELPHIA
GAME 4 @ PHILADELPHIA

GENS 2011 "B" PLAYOFF SEEDINGS & MATCHUPS

BUFFALO (PEARATE) (1)               VS       SAN JOSE (CORY GIBSON) (8)
GAME 1 @ BUFFALO
GAME 2 @ BUFFALO
GAME 3 @ SAN JOSE
GAME 4 @ SAN JOSE
CHICAGO (COMEBACK KING) (2)         VS       LA ROBBIE(ANAHEIM) (7)
GAME 1 @ CHICAGO
GAME 2 @ CHICAGO
GAME 3 @ ANAHEIM
GAME 4 @ ANAHEIM
NEW JERSEY (EGGINK) (3)             VS       MINNESOTA (SICARIUS) (6)
GAME 1 @ NEW JERSEY
GAME 2 @ NEW JERSEY
GAME 3 @ MINNESOTA
GAME 4 @ MINNESOTA
VANCOUVER (KUPUCK) (4)              VS       PITTSBURGH (PROBOB) (5)
GAME 1 @ VANCOUVER
GAME 2 @ VANCOUVER
GAME 3 @ PITTSBURGH
GAME 4 @ PITTSBURGH

Upon consulting a number of other guys from the league the changes made were considered unfair for a number of reasons. Among those pointed out were:

1) AJ joined the league only recently, and had only 8 games to play to complete their season. He played just 5 and failed to appear online in the final days of the regular season to complete the final 3 games. His opponents - Cory Gibson & ProBob were regularly online and asking about AJ during this time. The other 2 players who failed to complete - Pearate & Sicarius were also regularly online, but missed each other, perhaps due to the time zone difference. Pearate was actually online at 2am in his native France on deadline day, such was his desire to play.

As AJ not only missed the final checkpoint, but was also absent and unavailable to play, within the rules he should have been removed from the league, making the original playoff schedule the correct one.

2) This one's my fault. AJ responded to my request to confirm his participation a good 12 hours after the original playoffs had been posted. They were set. Everyone knew who they were playing. My initial response was not to disappoint AJ, but upon reflection I should have given the priority to those who had been playing and completed, or were available to complete. Changing the playoffs disrupted everyone for the sake of 1 player.

3) When AJ originally joined & we saw how difficult it would be to make "A" playoffs (Needing to win all 8 games to even have a chance) we proposed a compromise (Check the forums. It's there somewhere, I think in the Playoff seedings thread). We considered that AJ is obviously an "A" player, and would be expected to dominate the "B" playoffs. Sure there's a couple of guys that might think they had a sporting chance, but over 7 games the odds would be heavily stacked in AJ's favour. This isn't what the "B" playoffs are about. It's about the guys who are lower level, lesser experienced guys having a chance at a championship. I'm probably the weakest player in the league, but even I can dream about having a little luck against any of the other guys in the "B" section. We therefore proposed that AJ could play an "Exhibition Championship" series against the "B" champion, and the winner of that could play a similar series against the "A" champion. These series would not be recorded as titles, but more as "bragging rights" games. A chance to prove yourself AJ against the tournament champions. Again, this is not an afterthought. Check the thread & you'll see it was there at least last week!

AJ's presence, although it would have been allowed had he completed, creates a real downer for the other guys in the section. "Why are we here then?" is the obvious question if AJ sweeps everyone for the "B" title. AJ really doesn't need that on his signature! For the fact that you failed to complete and weren't present for the final 4 or 5 days of the season AJ, we have to give priority to the guys that did complete, and showed 100% commitment to the league throughout the season. I'm sorry if that disappoints you.

Again, to everyone, I apologise for creating this mess. It was born out of good intentions and an eagerness to keep everyone involved, but it was the wrong decision. Again, sorry to AJ, and I hope you'll take up the compromised proposal outlined here.

Thanks all for your patience and understanding, and once again, good luck to all in your series.