Saxmania
06-05-02, 02:40 PM
The first Bronx-Bombers.com League is now around halfway through the regular season, and it's time to have a quick look around and take stock. We've got three pretty good pennant races on the go, with only the Michigan Wolverines enjoying a gap of more than a single game over the chasing pack. No team remains unbeaten, and no team is without a win. And although the DiMaggio Division appears the weakest of the three, with a few changes in fortune, most of the five teams within it could easily possess winning records at this time.
As it stands, then, the playoffs would currently consist of:
Bad News Bears (Mantle) at Lords of Flatbush (Ruth)
Michigan Wolverines (DiMaggio) at West Haven Yankees (Wild Card)
For complete statistics and standings, including the Wild Card race, please download the attached zip file.
Around the League
A quick tour of the tables:
Ruth Division
The division looks rather different now than in the early weeks - YankeesRule2002 have not capitalised on a fast start, although they have demonstrated consistency, while the Lords of Flatbush suffered their first (and so far only) loss in week 3, dropping them off the pace temporarily. The Lords then bounced back in the league's longest winning streak, currently at six games, and have posted impressive weekly points totals during that time, never dropping below 290 points. The YRMbombers couldn't get out of the starting blocks in the first month, but have played .500 ball in the second, including posting one of the highest scores of the league to date. Only West Haven have really been unchanged since the division began, with a few anomalous weeks throwing off the Yankees' claim on first. Meanwhile, the Cunning Linguists have appeared to lead something of a charmed life, racking up an impressive record despite a relatively low scoring average.
Of the leading teams in the division, the Linguists may have trouble sustaining a challenge if their average does not improve, for they play the Bashers, West Haven, and the Lords during their final five games - three teams with averages over 300 points. West Haven will be eyeing Week 17 with interest, as their second clash with the Lords falls on that date, giving them at least one opportunity to catch the red-hot Flatbu................es (not to mention a chance to exact revenge for their week 6 defeat). The Lords, however, will be optimistic of extending their six-game winning streak still further if they can overcome Michigan this week, since they will then have played all three of the other top-scoring teams in the league. The YankeesRule have a tough schedule ahead of them, but also a couple of DiMaggio teams that on paper are tempting targets, while the YRMbombers may look to make up some ground after having already met many of the best teams in earlier weeks.
DiMaggio Division
These five teams - particularly the lower three - have taken some punishment during inter-division match-ups, but still include strong contenders whose luck has deserted them. Tipped for success at the start of the year, the German Gold Gloves have seen an average of well over 250 garner only one win, perhaps partly due to the team's failure to scale the heights of 300 points even once so far this year. Neither the Italian Ice nor the Buckeye Bombers have posted awful scores, but have each been involved in very close matches (the Buckeyes have twice lost games by under ten points; the Ice posted their highest score of the season against the Balloon Knots, only to see the Knots do the same). Meanwhile, Michigan have been the success story of the division, posting consistent results in the 280-320 points bracket, and have been unlucky not to hold a perfect record, since both of their defeats came despite scores of over 300 on their part. Their last four games have produced victories, despite points totals that have been wavering beneath the 300 mark - unusually for the Wolverines. The Bashers have rebounded after a disappointing start, losing three of their first four, and appear to be making up for lost time with three scores of over 350 in the last five weeks. These last two are the obvious picks for pennant contenders at this time.
The first match between Michigan and the Bashers went to the second-placers, and the return leg falls on the last week of the season. This might prove an exciting close to the year, as the Bashers' current run of form is coinciding with some uncertain wins for the Wolverines, meaning that the two could yet end up neck and neck by Week 21. For any of the other teams to be in contention in the future, luck must change - the Gold Gloves appear to have the best shot based solely on their points-scoring record thus far. However, the Germans must still play the Wolverines twice in the remainder of the season. The Ice and the Buckeyes will both require immediate improvement if they are to become contenders, and must take advantage of forthcoming matches against other divisions before the final intradivisional match-ups begin. It's not over yet in the DiMaggio Division, but a few more weeks could see the pennant race thinned out significantly.
Mantle Division
The only division so far to include a week in which all five teams won, and then a week in which all five teams lost, the Mantle Division is noticeably the closest-run of the three. Each team has won at least three games, while no team has yet reached seven wins - neither fact is true of either of the other divisions. The current leaders, the Bad News Bears, have arrived with a bang on the back of a 4-game winning streak, after going .500 during the first month, and toppled both the previous leaders in Week 8. Bambino's Ghost, the early leaders, have dropped four of the last five after a 4-game winning streak of their own, and must look to re-establish themselves after three scores under 250 in the last five weeks. Saxmania's Swingers have enjoyed some good one-off victories, but are yet to string consistent scores together, and have been faltering in recent weeks. No-one knows what to expect from the Playaz, who posted 323 in Week 3 followed by 174 in Week 4 - then doubled their points score between Weeks 5 and 6. One win out of six does not encourage, although their defeat in Week 7 to the Flatbu................es despite scoring 365 was the height of bad luck. Last but not least, the Balloon Knots have been unlucky not to generate more wins out of 263.9 points per week, and have a couple of impressive scalps. They could be a surprise package in the second half of the season, having gone .500 in the last month.
Looking ahead, if the Bad News Bears can come through the next month unscathed, they will fancy their chances at the division pennant - both the Lords of Flatbush and the Michigan Wolverines will play them in the next few weeks. The Ghosts' immediate schedule is even tougher, going up against all three 300-plus average teams in consecutive weeks starting in Week 11, while the Swingers have things a little easier by comparison, with clashes against the Bashers and the Flatbu................es already behind them. The Knots have a good opportunity to move towards the .500 mark, playing three teams with losing record between weeks 11 and 14. Finally, the Playaz's unpredictability could be an asset or a liability against an even mix of winning and losing franchises in the next month. Once the run-in of intra-division match-ups starts, things could get very interesting in this division, with so little between the teams in terms of both wins and points scoring.
Wins and points
Obviously, one of the more interesting features of a head to head points league, as opposed to a straight points league without weekly match-ups, is that points don't always translate into wins. A good week for your team can be countered by an even better week from your opponent, leaving you cursing the 350+ points you just racked up in vain. And, conversely, a meagre points total can still net you a surprise win when your opponent suffers an even more catastrophic week. Frankly, the extent to which this has happened so far this year surprises me, with scoring averages sometimes totally unrelated to wins collected. For the sake of argument, if we were conducting this league on purely a points total basis, the league tables would look rather different:
Ruth Division
West Haven Yankees (316.3 points average)
Lords of Flatbush (300.3)
YankeesRule2002 (259.1)
YRMbombers2002 (244.6)
Cunning Linguists (227.9)
DiMaggio Division
Junior's Bashers (303.7 points average)
Michigan Wolverines (296.4)
German Gold Gloves (257.4)
Italian Ice (232.5)
Buckeye Bombers (224)
Mantle Division
Babe's Piano Playaz (281 points average)
Saxmania's Swingers (274.3)
Bad News Bears (267.1)
FP Balloon Knots (263.9)
Bambino's Ghost (260.9)
In all three divisions, the first place team changes, and in two the last place team also changes. Only one team in the Mantle Division would remain in the same position, and none would in the Ruth Division. The DiMaggio Division would be the only table to look familiar, with the top two teams having simply swapped places. Two playoff teams would be replaced, with the Wild Card also shifting ownership. To illustrate further the complications: the Linguists have the second lowest points average in the league, but only four teams of fourteen have a better win/loss record. The Bashers have the second-best points average in the league, but are only just over the .500 mark - six teams have a better win/loss record, and another is tied. In fact, despite having an average 75 points better than the Linguists', the Bashers are one game behind them in the Wild Card race! Clearly, success at the Bronx-Bombers.com League requires more than racking up points week in, week out.
Records and Accomplishments
Highest points total (weekly): 1. 403 West Haven Yankees Week 2
2. 400 Babe's Piano Playaz Week 6
3. 390 Lords of Flatbush Week 7
Longest winning streak: 1. 6 games + Lords of Flatbush Week 4 - ?
2. 5 games West Haven Yankees Week 1 - 5
=3. 4 games + Bad News Bears Week 6
=3. 4 games + Michigan Wolverines Week 6 - ?
=3. 4 games Bambino's Ghost Week 1 - 4
Largest winning margin: 1. 198 points Linguists v Wolverines Week 4
2. 195 points Linguists v Bears Week 7
3. 164 points Ghosts v YRMbombers Week 5
Smallest winning margin: 1. 2 points Knots v Swingers Week 4
=2. 3 points Buckeyes v Gold Gloves Week 5
=2. 3 points Swingers v Ice Week 2
Biggest improvement (week): 1. 200 points Babe's Piano Playaz Week 5-6
2. 192 points West Haven Yankees Week 1-2
3. 140 points Cunning Linguists Week 7-8
Notes and Oddities
The most unpredictable team in the league is Babe's Piano Playaz, with a high score of 400, a low score of 174, and a standard deviation of 81.6 points.
The most consistent team is the Michigan Wolverines, with a high score of 341, a low score of 266, and a standard deviation of 23.9 points.
The league average for a weekly points total is 267.3 points. Standard deviation between weekly league total scores is 20.1. (Excluding the shortened week 1 totals, the average is 273.7, with a standard deviation of 10.1.)
The highest-scoring week was Week 9, with an average score of 286.1. Lowest scoring week was Week 1 with 220.4. (Excluding the shortened week 1 totals, the lowest-scoring week was Week 8, with an average score of 255.8.)
The West Haven Yankees have won "Team of the Week" four times, more than any other team.
The Cunning Linguists have won "Luckiest Team of the Week" three times, more than any other team.
The Michigan Wolverines and the German Gold Gloves have each won "Unluckiest Team of the Week" twice, more than any other team.
The DiMaggio Division, as a whole, has just nine wins against the other two divisions combined.
Junior's Bashers are the only team to have a perfect record when playing against teams from their own division.
The FP Balloon Knots have been following a pattern of "lose two, win one" for the entire season.
Week 4 featured both the largest winning margin and the smallest winning margin so far recorded in the League.
Be seeing you,
Saxmania
As it stands, then, the playoffs would currently consist of:
Bad News Bears (Mantle) at Lords of Flatbush (Ruth)
Michigan Wolverines (DiMaggio) at West Haven Yankees (Wild Card)
For complete statistics and standings, including the Wild Card race, please download the attached zip file.
Around the League
A quick tour of the tables:
Ruth Division
The division looks rather different now than in the early weeks - YankeesRule2002 have not capitalised on a fast start, although they have demonstrated consistency, while the Lords of Flatbush suffered their first (and so far only) loss in week 3, dropping them off the pace temporarily. The Lords then bounced back in the league's longest winning streak, currently at six games, and have posted impressive weekly points totals during that time, never dropping below 290 points. The YRMbombers couldn't get out of the starting blocks in the first month, but have played .500 ball in the second, including posting one of the highest scores of the league to date. Only West Haven have really been unchanged since the division began, with a few anomalous weeks throwing off the Yankees' claim on first. Meanwhile, the Cunning Linguists have appeared to lead something of a charmed life, racking up an impressive record despite a relatively low scoring average.
Of the leading teams in the division, the Linguists may have trouble sustaining a challenge if their average does not improve, for they play the Bashers, West Haven, and the Lords during their final five games - three teams with averages over 300 points. West Haven will be eyeing Week 17 with interest, as their second clash with the Lords falls on that date, giving them at least one opportunity to catch the red-hot Flatbu................es (not to mention a chance to exact revenge for their week 6 defeat). The Lords, however, will be optimistic of extending their six-game winning streak still further if they can overcome Michigan this week, since they will then have played all three of the other top-scoring teams in the league. The YankeesRule have a tough schedule ahead of them, but also a couple of DiMaggio teams that on paper are tempting targets, while the YRMbombers may look to make up some ground after having already met many of the best teams in earlier weeks.
DiMaggio Division
These five teams - particularly the lower three - have taken some punishment during inter-division match-ups, but still include strong contenders whose luck has deserted them. Tipped for success at the start of the year, the German Gold Gloves have seen an average of well over 250 garner only one win, perhaps partly due to the team's failure to scale the heights of 300 points even once so far this year. Neither the Italian Ice nor the Buckeye Bombers have posted awful scores, but have each been involved in very close matches (the Buckeyes have twice lost games by under ten points; the Ice posted their highest score of the season against the Balloon Knots, only to see the Knots do the same). Meanwhile, Michigan have been the success story of the division, posting consistent results in the 280-320 points bracket, and have been unlucky not to hold a perfect record, since both of their defeats came despite scores of over 300 on their part. Their last four games have produced victories, despite points totals that have been wavering beneath the 300 mark - unusually for the Wolverines. The Bashers have rebounded after a disappointing start, losing three of their first four, and appear to be making up for lost time with three scores of over 350 in the last five weeks. These last two are the obvious picks for pennant contenders at this time.
The first match between Michigan and the Bashers went to the second-placers, and the return leg falls on the last week of the season. This might prove an exciting close to the year, as the Bashers' current run of form is coinciding with some uncertain wins for the Wolverines, meaning that the two could yet end up neck and neck by Week 21. For any of the other teams to be in contention in the future, luck must change - the Gold Gloves appear to have the best shot based solely on their points-scoring record thus far. However, the Germans must still play the Wolverines twice in the remainder of the season. The Ice and the Buckeyes will both require immediate improvement if they are to become contenders, and must take advantage of forthcoming matches against other divisions before the final intradivisional match-ups begin. It's not over yet in the DiMaggio Division, but a few more weeks could see the pennant race thinned out significantly.
Mantle Division
The only division so far to include a week in which all five teams won, and then a week in which all five teams lost, the Mantle Division is noticeably the closest-run of the three. Each team has won at least three games, while no team has yet reached seven wins - neither fact is true of either of the other divisions. The current leaders, the Bad News Bears, have arrived with a bang on the back of a 4-game winning streak, after going .500 during the first month, and toppled both the previous leaders in Week 8. Bambino's Ghost, the early leaders, have dropped four of the last five after a 4-game winning streak of their own, and must look to re-establish themselves after three scores under 250 in the last five weeks. Saxmania's Swingers have enjoyed some good one-off victories, but are yet to string consistent scores together, and have been faltering in recent weeks. No-one knows what to expect from the Playaz, who posted 323 in Week 3 followed by 174 in Week 4 - then doubled their points score between Weeks 5 and 6. One win out of six does not encourage, although their defeat in Week 7 to the Flatbu................es despite scoring 365 was the height of bad luck. Last but not least, the Balloon Knots have been unlucky not to generate more wins out of 263.9 points per week, and have a couple of impressive scalps. They could be a surprise package in the second half of the season, having gone .500 in the last month.
Looking ahead, if the Bad News Bears can come through the next month unscathed, they will fancy their chances at the division pennant - both the Lords of Flatbush and the Michigan Wolverines will play them in the next few weeks. The Ghosts' immediate schedule is even tougher, going up against all three 300-plus average teams in consecutive weeks starting in Week 11, while the Swingers have things a little easier by comparison, with clashes against the Bashers and the Flatbu................es already behind them. The Knots have a good opportunity to move towards the .500 mark, playing three teams with losing record between weeks 11 and 14. Finally, the Playaz's unpredictability could be an asset or a liability against an even mix of winning and losing franchises in the next month. Once the run-in of intra-division match-ups starts, things could get very interesting in this division, with so little between the teams in terms of both wins and points scoring.
Wins and points
Obviously, one of the more interesting features of a head to head points league, as opposed to a straight points league without weekly match-ups, is that points don't always translate into wins. A good week for your team can be countered by an even better week from your opponent, leaving you cursing the 350+ points you just racked up in vain. And, conversely, a meagre points total can still net you a surprise win when your opponent suffers an even more catastrophic week. Frankly, the extent to which this has happened so far this year surprises me, with scoring averages sometimes totally unrelated to wins collected. For the sake of argument, if we were conducting this league on purely a points total basis, the league tables would look rather different:
Ruth Division
West Haven Yankees (316.3 points average)
Lords of Flatbush (300.3)
YankeesRule2002 (259.1)
YRMbombers2002 (244.6)
Cunning Linguists (227.9)
DiMaggio Division
Junior's Bashers (303.7 points average)
Michigan Wolverines (296.4)
German Gold Gloves (257.4)
Italian Ice (232.5)
Buckeye Bombers (224)
Mantle Division
Babe's Piano Playaz (281 points average)
Saxmania's Swingers (274.3)
Bad News Bears (267.1)
FP Balloon Knots (263.9)
Bambino's Ghost (260.9)
In all three divisions, the first place team changes, and in two the last place team also changes. Only one team in the Mantle Division would remain in the same position, and none would in the Ruth Division. The DiMaggio Division would be the only table to look familiar, with the top two teams having simply swapped places. Two playoff teams would be replaced, with the Wild Card also shifting ownership. To illustrate further the complications: the Linguists have the second lowest points average in the league, but only four teams of fourteen have a better win/loss record. The Bashers have the second-best points average in the league, but are only just over the .500 mark - six teams have a better win/loss record, and another is tied. In fact, despite having an average 75 points better than the Linguists', the Bashers are one game behind them in the Wild Card race! Clearly, success at the Bronx-Bombers.com League requires more than racking up points week in, week out.
Records and Accomplishments
Highest points total (weekly): 1. 403 West Haven Yankees Week 2
2. 400 Babe's Piano Playaz Week 6
3. 390 Lords of Flatbush Week 7
Longest winning streak: 1. 6 games + Lords of Flatbush Week 4 - ?
2. 5 games West Haven Yankees Week 1 - 5
=3. 4 games + Bad News Bears Week 6
=3. 4 games + Michigan Wolverines Week 6 - ?
=3. 4 games Bambino's Ghost Week 1 - 4
Largest winning margin: 1. 198 points Linguists v Wolverines Week 4
2. 195 points Linguists v Bears Week 7
3. 164 points Ghosts v YRMbombers Week 5
Smallest winning margin: 1. 2 points Knots v Swingers Week 4
=2. 3 points Buckeyes v Gold Gloves Week 5
=2. 3 points Swingers v Ice Week 2
Biggest improvement (week): 1. 200 points Babe's Piano Playaz Week 5-6
2. 192 points West Haven Yankees Week 1-2
3. 140 points Cunning Linguists Week 7-8
Notes and Oddities
The most unpredictable team in the league is Babe's Piano Playaz, with a high score of 400, a low score of 174, and a standard deviation of 81.6 points.
The most consistent team is the Michigan Wolverines, with a high score of 341, a low score of 266, and a standard deviation of 23.9 points.
The league average for a weekly points total is 267.3 points. Standard deviation between weekly league total scores is 20.1. (Excluding the shortened week 1 totals, the average is 273.7, with a standard deviation of 10.1.)
The highest-scoring week was Week 9, with an average score of 286.1. Lowest scoring week was Week 1 with 220.4. (Excluding the shortened week 1 totals, the lowest-scoring week was Week 8, with an average score of 255.8.)
The West Haven Yankees have won "Team of the Week" four times, more than any other team.
The Cunning Linguists have won "Luckiest Team of the Week" three times, more than any other team.
The Michigan Wolverines and the German Gold Gloves have each won "Unluckiest Team of the Week" twice, more than any other team.
The DiMaggio Division, as a whole, has just nine wins against the other two divisions combined.
Junior's Bashers are the only team to have a perfect record when playing against teams from their own division.
The FP Balloon Knots have been following a pattern of "lose two, win one" for the entire season.
Week 4 featured both the largest winning margin and the smallest winning margin so far recorded in the League.
Be seeing you,
Saxmania