BPL "Controversy" Commentary - Goal Difference Tiebreakers and Spirit for Forfeits

One of the things people love (or hate) about BPL is that some people take it as seriously as other people take their sport ... and therefore there's lots of (fun) arguing about minor things, mostly on the grounds that one day they could be major things.

So too with the discussion here on the home of BPL commentary and reporting, the Brisbane Ultimate Blog, following this post listing last week's results and particularly Dojo Mojo's unfortunate and unplanned forfeit, we here in the stately mansion's editorial wing feel compelled to offer 2c, or at least trigger more hoo-ha.

Lots of the following is opinion from outside, and as always its up to the LD based on his reading of Captain and player wishes to make decisions (and equally he may rightly feel that these things are so unimportant as not worth fussing about)

We're really posting this because its interesting and useful to know something about in all Ultimate contexts, not just BPL.

Question 1 - How are Goal Differences (or point differentials) Applied to Semi Final Berths if Team's Forfeit?

So the question was raised - with regards the result of the Buggers-Dojo game being recorded as Bugs 15 Dojo 0 - how fair is that to other teams that might be fighting against a significant goal difference when its comes to Semi-Finals time?

This might be a new issue for some people, but Ultimate has torn itself apart sorting this out in the past, and we in the mansion suggest standing on the shoulders of such giants and using the AFDA Tournament Formats Manual, which offers the following in the cases when teams finish on the same number of competition points and ranking is needed:

In the event that two or more teams have the same win/ loss record (or number of points) at the conclusion of the round-robin or cross-over matches, the higher placed team will be decided by applying the tie breaker rules found in the UPA Tournament Formats Handbook. A summary of which is given below.

(a) Win-loss records, counting only games between the teams that are tied (i.e. head to head).
(b) Point differentials, counting only games between the teams that are tied.
(c) Point differentials, counting games against all common opponents
(d) Point differentials, counting games against all common opponents, excluding each team’s best and worst differentials.
(e) Points scored, counting only games amongst the teams that are tied.
(f) Points scored, counting games against all common opponents.
(g) Points scored, counting games against all common opponents, excluding each team’s best and worse scores.
(h) Sum of the square roots of the absolute values of the point differentials, counting games against all common opponents.
(i) Disc flip.

Familiarity with the above demonstrates one's true Ulti-nerdiness! We here have only ever heard of one instance of going to (c) - nil beyond but feel free to advise.

In practice, it may be the case that goal difference shouldn't be reported on a weekly basis in an Ultimate League. It does make Ultimate look like other sports (particularly in competitions where everyone doesn't play everyone), but then again, if you're taking the above on, goal difference is irrelevant until well down the list of factors.

Question 2: Spirit scoring guidelines and how should one allocate Spirit points in the case of a forfeit?

As pointed out, BPL does not presently provide guidelines for allocating spirit points. There is talk about providing guidelines. Groovy.

Guidelines are cool, so long as nobody decides they are *rules*.

The value of such guidelines is they give diverse teams a common understanding. This is particularly useful when trying to judge spirit when you only have a portion of teams to judge against (ie you're at big tournament but only play some of the teams).

But in BPL (or any Ultimate event where there is a full round robin), all that is needed is that each team is consistent within itself. There is nothing wrong with scoring your first opponent as 5/10, so long as future opponents who show the same spirit are also scored at 5/10, while other teams may giv ethe same level of spirit 8/10 - if you're reasonably confident everyone will be familiar with and play everyone else.

As far as the question of 'what spirit do you give to a forfeiting team'? Well yes, zero is an option - not playing a game particularly when people are expecting one is pretty poor.

But then again, there's degrees of good and bad spiritedness in how forfeits happen. Did nobody on the team show up at all and tell no one? Were players clearly disappointed/surprised/apologetic about their team having to forfeit? Was the decision made quickly or dragged out for ages?

As with spirit in general, spirit in forfeits is up to teams to determine and they may draw on guidelines, but there isn't a need for a strict rule that forfeits. Teams should remain free to award their spirit points as they judge.