Warrior General Games

I love Pro level dotball, especially here in OPL. There are always good games, and we know each other well enough that anything can happen. This week there were some entertaining games but some of them left me less certain how to rank than I was before.

Anyway, here are this week's rankings:

Top Ten

#1 (Last Week: 1) - Cypriot Freedom (3-0) - Cypriot is still the top team, after handily beating new comer VBA. If they can get thru the next three games without losing, they will stay at the top for most of the season. Next opponent - 6th Street Savage Swarm (Prediction - Cypriot by 17)

#2 (Last Week: 2) - Sin City Silent Assassins (3-0) - Sin City needed OT to win their last game and hold onto their #2 ranking. Even with the win, comparing scores and opponents, a case could be made for Devonport to move up this week. However, the two teams play one another this week, so we'll let the dots sort out who is really #2. Next opponent - Devonport Devils (Prediction - Devonport by 7)

#3 (Last Week: 3) - Devonport Devils (3-0) - I know what you may be thinking. How can I be a non-homer and rank Sin City over my team, then be a homer and pick my team to win. Well, my rankings are based primarily on the games already played. I do factor in my opinion of future performance when teams are similar. However, I reserve the right to be a homer and not a homer at the same time . With that said, Devonport won another solid game beating Bora Bora. As a reward, the Devils get to face the #2 team next. Next opponent: Sin City Silent Assassins (Prediction - Devonport by 7)

#4 (Last Week: 4) - Asau Pirates (3-0) - This will almost certainly be Asau's last week at #4 for a while. With #2 playing #3, a win for Asau this week will pretty much guarantee a move up the ranks. However, they have a tough opponent in IC, a team that is improved and wants to prove it. Next opponent: IC Incinerators (Prediction - Asau by 17)

#5 (Last Week: 6) - Banzai Pipeline Nites (3-0) - Really, this should be 5a, but choosing not to choose between BPN and EEA would be the cowardly thing to do. BPN's win over OffTopica was a solid win, but that in itself is not the reason I bumped them up. I just was not impressed by the EEA win over Oberon. I just think the #5 team should beat a team in the 20s by more, so BPN gets the nod at #5. Next opponent: Gold Coast Michelin Men (Prediction - Banzai by 28)

#6 (Last Week: 5) - Eastern European Alliance (2-1) - See #5 commentary. Feel free to call me fickle. I know I fall victim to giving more precedence to recent events than past, and the Cypriot loss still is very impressive. However, I have typed all this up already, so I'm not changing my mind now. Next opponent: Motown Legends (Prediction - EEA by a ton)

#7 (Last Week: 7) - Death Dealers (3-0) - Death barely pulled out the win to stay at #7. They need a late 4th quarter TD to beat Boston. Even with the win, I considered dropping them a spot or two, but I decided to wait another week or so and see how they do in the next game or two. Next opponent: Bora Bora Bangaroos (Prediction - Death by 3)

#8 (Last Week: 9) - 6th Street Savage Swarm (2-1) - So long as Sin City is in the top 2, the OT loss to them is almost as good as a win. Add in their ranked scrim victory over Sumatra, and 6th moves up a spot, even with a loss. They get an even tougher challenge their next game. So long as they play Cypriot close (and of course if they win) their spot in the top 10 is pretty safe. Next opponent: Cypriot Freedom (Prediction - Cypriot by 17)

#9 (Last Week: 8) - Sumatra Sea Hawks (3-0) - Sumatra got another win to stay undefeated. So long as they stay at the top of Zeta, their spot in the top 10 is assured. The schedule gets a bit tougher over the next 3 weeks, but their next game looks like a win for them. Next opponent: San Diego Supa Chargers (Prediction: Sumatra by 42)

#10 (Last Week: 10) - Offtopica Miracle (2-1) - Once again, the choice for #10 was ridiculously hard to make. OT opened the door a bit by losing to #5 Banzai. However, the teams directly below them either lost to top 10 teams or beat bottom feeders easily. In the end, I am leaving OT here because I think BPN might be REALLY good, thus making that loss not that bad. Next opponent: Florida BeachDogZ (Prediction: OffTopica by a ton)

The Rest of the Pack
The shuffle continues as I try to weigh quality of wins and losses in to figure out who should go where.

#10 (13) - Gold Coast Micheline Men (2-1)
#11 (12) - Bora Bora Bangaroos (1-2)
#12 (11) - Gold Coast Vipers (2-1)
#13 (12) - Bora Bora Bangaroos (1-2)
#14 (14) - Boston Bulldogs (1-2)
#15 (16) - IC Incinerators (1-1)
#16 (20) - Stockholm Black Death (1-1)
#17 (19) - Oregon Ducks (1-1)
#18 (18) - Indianola Longhorn Legends (1-1)
#19 (15) - Volgograd Black Army (1-2)
#20 (17) - San Diego Supa Chargers (2-1)
#21 (22) - Saipan Sin-Eaters (1-2)
#22 (21) - Hong Kong Voodoo (0-3)
#23 (23) - Oberon Bulls (0-3)
#24 (24) - Addict Nation (0-3)
#25 (25) - 8 Mile Assault (1-2)
#26 (28) - Tasmanian Muskrats (1-2)
#27 (27) - Florida BeachDogZ (0-3)
#28 (29) - Urban Super Dogs (1-2)
#29 (26) - Fortaleza Prowlers (1-2)
#30 (30) - Warriors of Oceania (0-3)
#31 (31) - Motown Legends (0-3)
#32 (32) - Tasmanian Devils (0-3)

GCMM too high.

-WJ

Nothing like moral victories when we've lost our first 3 and are ranked higher than in the preseason...maybe there's some hope in there somewhere...

Great rankings planton, look forward to these after each game!

Originally posted by snakes22
Great rankings planton, look forward to these after each game!

but....

Originally posted by Plankton

#4 (Last Week: 4) - Asau Pirates (3-0) - This will almost certainly be Asau's last week at #4 for a while. With #2 playing #3, a win for Asau this week will pretty much guarantee a move up the ranks. However, they have a tough opponent in IC, a team that is improved and wants to prove it. Next opponent: IC Incinerators (Prediction - Asau by 17)


This surely means another long night of AI-ingments

Nice 4vs5 battle in the GLB Tournament GL Nites
http://goallineblitz.com/game/compare_teams.pl?team1=5128&team2=596

Sumatra beat IC.

that game wasnt as close as the score indicated.

Sumatra TOO LOW.

Originally posted by The Big Cack Envy
Sumatra beat IC.

that game wasnt as close as the score indicated.

Sumatra TOO LOW.

You guys are hampered by a couple of factors:

#1 - 12-4 in favor of Alpha. While the top half of Alpha is working itself out, I am inclined to rank all of those teams higher than similar Zeta teams simply because the wins carry more weight.

#2 - There are not enough common opponents or even 2nd degree common opponents to really judge where people stand. I'll give you a perfect example: Devonport and Sin City. Neither team has played a common opponent. Thus it is hard to judge from that. The closest thing I have is their Week 3 opponents played each other (6th and Bora). 6th won that game by 2. Sin City beat 6th in OT by 7. Thus, transitively speaking, Sin City is ~ 9 points better than Bora. Devonport beat Bora by 32. Thus, an argument could be made that Devonport is 23 points better than Sin City.

You may be thinking that transitive score predictions don't work, and in RL that is very true. However, this game is a computer simulation, and thus is not nearly as random as RL. Thus, transitive works better here than in RL, but it is still flawed. There are differences in care level from game to game. There is a certain amount of randomness to the sim, and the AIs are made by humans, so there is the chance of mistakes or bad play call judgments by the coordinators.

All of that is why I did not flip Devonport and Sin City. However, after this week, I will have not only a better picture of where those two teams stand, but also their opponents. All of their opponents are getting somewhat of a boost from playing those teams. If Devonport loses by 30, for instance, then Volgograd and Gold Coast will get a boost, while Boston and Bora Bora will take a bit of a hit.

However, Sumatra is pretty much cemented in the top 10, unless you guys lose a game, and you will go up as the Alpha picture clears up and I can figure exactly who in Alpha is top 10.

I think Sumatra is fine. We lost to 6th Street we *should* be behind them. Ank Plank is right, Alpha is >>> Zeta this season.

Originally posted by The Big Cack Envy
Sumatra beat IC.

that game wasnt as close as the score indicated.

Sumatra TOO LOW.

However, it is possible that IC could have won (yes, I said won) had the 3 FFs not happened.
So yeah, it was about as close as it should have been.

Does it mean I think IC is the better team? No.

Originally posted by Plankton

#2 - There are not enough common opponents or even 2nd degree common opponents to really judge where people stand. I'll give you a perfect example: Devonport and Sin City. Neither team has played a common opponent. Thus it is hard to judge from that. The closest thing I have is their Week 3 opponents played each other (6th and Bora). 6th won that game by 2. Sin City beat 6th in OT by 7. Thus, transitively speaking, Sin City is ~ 9 points better than Bora. Devonport beat Bora by 32. Thus, an argument could be made that Devonport is 23 points better than Sin City.

You may be thinking that transitive score predictions don't work, and in RL that is very true. However, this game is a computer simulation, and thus is not nearly as random as RL. Thus, transitive works better here than in RL, but it is still flawed. There are differences in care level from game to game. There is a certain amount of randomness to the sim, and the AIs are made by humans, so there is the chance of mistakes or bad play call judgments by the coordinators.



Often times the better team doesn't win. Morale swings, RNG's, va setups. Anything can happen.