The Scoresheets: By earlier testing we knew that 12 shooter scoresheets worked best with the printed sheet having the proper 1, 2, 3 lane assignments for the shooters. The only small issue is that the printed lines do not line up with the match, but once the scorekeeper knows that it is not a problem. The CFDA program handled the x count correctly for the entire match even though 1/3rd were wins and 2/3rds were losses.
The Main Match: We shot three rounds for the main match, each shooter facing 6 opposing shooters, except for a absence shooter, see below. It was a no x contest and a match standing report gave us the shoot off seeding based on x count and time out. This is standard here in Arizona for club shoots as will be explained below.
The Shoot-off: As is customary here in Arizona we did a progressive elimination shoot-off. At clubs shoots here we divide the field into three groups then do simultaneous magnificent shoot-offs. This allows all shooters to participate in a magnificent shoot-off and keeps the shooters engaged to the end which is important when you are taking down a range in 115 degree heat.
At Shady Mtn we did this but made it a 2x magnificent shoot-off. A proper name for it is a 2x Magnificent 24 shoot-off. We were able to do the 2x because we continued to use the 3 shooter match which results in 1 win and 2 losses in each match. It took about 1 1/2 hours to shoot this shoot off.
Housekeeping: Arizona announcers and scorekeepers will be familiar with the method of doing the shoot-off. You simply take the standing report and move from the bottom up crossing out the shooter being eliminated and assigning a place to that shooter. No computer is used and only one sheet of paper is used. To do a 2x progressive elimination you do the same thing except you make a second column for the 1x shooters and then progress up that column as well. I will attach a photo of this week's standing report to demonstrate.
For titled matches, 4 lanes are used, but for the Arizona club matches, since the shoot-offs are simultaneous only two lanes are available. If you are doing a 2x on 2 lanes, you simply rotate the winners and losers, or if you prefer the no x and 1 x shooters. Just remember you shoot winners, then losers, then winners, then losers until you get to two shooters. Or if you prefer you shoot the left column on the standing report, then the right column, then the left, then the right. down to two shooters. (Being an old youth sports coach, I am used to losers brackets and it does not offend me. I give more credit to champions that come from the loser bracket.)
The Sort: The sort visually appears to be good. Hi Strung defeated Shady Mike in two consecutive matches coming from the loser bracket. (Hi Strung is practicing hard for that FGA rematch and these come from behind wins may help him.)
The Absence Shooter: One of the 24 shooters failed to appear and rather than take him out and risk scoring program glitches we simply followed CFDA Rule IV.6. This worked well with the program moving him down in the standings as he accumulated xs and 33s. Since we were shooting three shooter matches where ever he was drawn just became a two shooter match. At titled matches, CFDA has tried to formulate SOP s that do not follow Rule IV.6 and it has never worked well. Rule IV.6 works so well and it is so easy to use, if only shooters would accept that a forfeited match is just luck of the draw. No different than drawing a shooter that misses all of their shots.
For Arizona Clubs: At all of our club events the data people make a big deal out of asking those leaving after the main match to come and tell them so they can be taken out of the match. This is just wasted effort and actually causes the scoring program to place them at the bottom of the standings. If you are shooting simultaneous magnificent shoot-offs it does not matter whether they are taken out or not. If they are not taken out, the announcer should just apply Rule IV.6 to give the absence shooter a forfeiture and move onto the next shooter. For The Association of Arizona Gunslingers, club rules require this procedure because of club points. Following Rule IV.6 is following CFDA rules.
Shady Mtn: I don't know if we will continue to use the 3 shooter range for our mid week practices. We generally get more than 18 shooters so it makes sense from the range time aspect but it takes some extra work on the hosts. This week we used my computer which has only 19.5 on it. If we do it next week we will use Shady's computer which has 19.7 on it.
Either way, if you come to Shady Mtn not only will you learn how to win, you will learn to score keep and run the computer with the CFDA scoring program.
Hitch, I only want to discuss the absent shooter aspect of this post. I see your point of following the rule and and letting forfeiture settle the issue, but that is not the cause of the consternation at titled matches. The problem you refer to occurs in the "included" bracket matches, not the main match and it occurs by failure to properly administer the "included" bracket. In the main match there is registration and roll call. Everyone that has registered (paid) is put in the match and roll call is performed to make sure everyone that has paid to be there is there. Early registration is confirmed by sign in. If a shooter paid to be there and has signed in they are entitled to their Xs before being removed from the match and if it is by forfeiture, so be it. The problem with the "included" bracket that causes all the forfeiture issue is administrators that want to start shooting right now and refuse to do a roll call because everyone that was in the main match may not want to shoot the "included" bracket. There is no reason to give a shooter the advantage of a forfeiture when their opponent was never in the contest. When 24 showed up for practice on the mountain, did you put 26 names in the computer? That goes to one of your main points, a loss of shooting time. Why have an empty target when there are people waiting to shoot?
ReplyDeletePossum, try following the rule, you will like it. 24 said they were coming and were in the computer, one who has chores and livestock did not make it. By following the rule he ended up in 24th place properly placed there by the computer. As you may know any edit or adjustment after the start of the match may disrupt the match standing report, that is why we had no standing reports at Colorado State and at World.
ReplyDeleteIf you rank unfairness 1 to 10 with 1 being the least unfair and 10 being the most unfair, luck of the draw is probably at 5 or 6, CFDA bye at 5 or 6, and when you combine them in last man standing events they combine for an 8 or 9. Heck, I seen a event winner compete in only 1 round out of the last 5 rounds of the event. Myself, last year I only competed in 2 out of the last four rounds of Categories at Nationals. Following the Rule IV 6 only is a 1 or 2 in unfairness and that is just part of luck of the draw.
The title match problem you refer was the worst I ever experienced in 2017 Nationals. Old timers had about 20 shooters with 4 no shows and it took the better part of an hour to sort out and reshuffle the draw, (either because we were old timers and befuddled or we all thought we knew the proper way to do it.) I also know different categories reshuffled differently. In any event if we had just followed the rule we would have been done with round one before it even got started trying to follow the SOP. This delayed the entire event to the ire of CFDA management, which caused the 2018 to be shot with a 2nd chance bracket (which was neither a true bracket nor true 2nd chance). In any event, Nationals in 2018 was not delayed by categories.
It is hard for shooters to understand, we score by losses or X s. Wins do not matter. At every event they will be shooters with fewer wins. Luv those byes! A forfeiture is no more unfair than a flip of the coin bye. In fact, it is a lot less unfair when in comes in the first few rounds than when it comes when the field has been reduced to thee final 10%.
Now that I have beaten dead horses, I will finish by saying "Try it, you will like it."
The horses are all dead, and we are riding different ones. As stated I have no problem with the rule and the program will handle the shooter that is never there just fine placing him first out with no time. There were multiple issues that created the problems in '17, one of those "perfect storm" situations. The only problem getting things going in '18 was the, shall we call it bracket rule had not been written, only practiced and the resulting debate between following the written match rule and the accepted/designated bracket rule. When you want to discuss the fairness issue and only scoring Xs, well, in the first round of a match we should all have an equal opportunity to earn an X instead of the luck of the draw determining a pass because administration was too impatient to do it correctly.
ReplyDelete