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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Georgie,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2> My
point of raising a "Soapbox" problem is to get folks to think about possible
solutions. You get the highest </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>marks for taking the time and trouble to put up what you
thought would be a better system. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It's OK to hug trees in a storm unless the tree
blows down!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The current system in Masters and FAI works but
unfortunately does not leave a good feeling with many of the pilots. That good
feeling is very important thing to preserve and nurture so that they come back
again and again.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In my book there are no "unworthy" finalist
pilots. If they get there because they flew better or prepared
their equipment better it all counts.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>To challenge you more, try this one. Design a
system that gives you a winner if you lose the weather and only get one, or two,
or three days of flying, with no rain day. I'm not teasing either - That is
what we have to do in 2005.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Eric.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>O.K., I'm going to subject my vulnerabilities and expose
my<BR>ignorance here, so here goes. I have some thoughts on the
Nats<BR>Matrix system for seeding the more accomplished
competitors<BR>regarding fairness in the matrix structure.<BR>I am aware of
one local competitor who was, in the past, a Nats<BR>competitor and who has
now proclaimed his extreme displeasure with<BR>what he perceives as the
unfairness of the current Matrix system.His<BR>feelings are significantly
strong and have brought about his total<BR>withdrawal from Nats
competition.He feels that it is unfair to be<BR>required to fly in a seeded
group that may consist of too many top<BR>calibre contenters making it all
but impossible to break into the<BR>upper ranks and reaching the
finals.<BR>I confess that I am not privvy to the procedure for setting up
the<BR>current system, so if I am way off here somebody enlighten me
and<BR>set me straight.<BR>Upon reading Eric's article in M.A. regarding
same, he also states<BR>that he feels that there must be a better way. It
sounds, to me,<BR>like he is suggesting that the winners of each day's
outcome would<BR>not be required to compete anymore, during the prelims,
until the<BR>finals. I don't think this would be a better solution. This
scenario<BR>would allow a situation where a top seeded competitor who
just<BR>happens to have a bad contest because of mechanical problems or
some<BR>other unforeseen mishap, ends up not making the cut and allowing
the<BR>advancement of a less than worthy competitor being thrust into
the<BR>finals, unjustifiably so!<BR>I would contend that a properly
implemented Matrix system is the<BR>fairer solution.<BR>Along these lines I
would propose a system where the finalists from<BR>the previous year are
seeded in a revolving application arranged in<BR>such a way that no two
rounds see the same group of seeded<BR>competitors duking it out against
each other.It could be<BR>accomplished something like this:<BR><BR>The top
eight competitors from last year are assigned a number from<BR>one to eight
according to their final placement. I don't think you<BR>have to worry about
seeding anybody below eighth position as those<BR>individuals in the next
level will seek their own status level in<BR>accordance with their
performance improvement over the previous<BR>year.<BR><BR>Day One, Site One,
would see 1,2,5,&6 competing in the half-group<BR>split (these could be
further split between the two judging panels)<BR>and Site 3 would see
3,4,7&8 competing in the other half-group<BR>split. After lunch break
and the completion of the first round, the<BR>competitors would switch sites
and Site One would now be looking at<BR>3,4,7&8 with Site 3 seeing
1,2,5&6. Day one goes into the record<BR>books!<BR><BR>Day Two, Site One
would see 1,3,4&7 competing in the half-group<BR>split and Site 3 would
see 2,5,6&8. Again, switch sites, and now<BR>Site One would see
2,5,6&8 with Site 3 seeing 1,3,4&7. Day Two goes<BR>into the record
books.<BR><BR>Day Three, Site one would see 2,4,6&8 in the half-group
split, with<BR>Site3 seeing 1,3,5&7. Again, after lunch break, switch
sites and<BR>now Site one would be seeing 1,3,5&7 with Site3 now seeing
2,4,6&8.<BR><BR>What I think this accomplishes is that in no two rounds
do the<BR>competitors see the exact same individuals to try to overcome
in<BR>their quest for superiority. They are not stuck everyday in
every<BR>round facing somebody that's going to kill them just by virtue
of<BR>the fact that he showed up!This system would insure that,at
least<BR>during certain rounds, guys that are not included in the
seeding<BR>Matrix would have a chance to maybe win a round (3,4,7&8) and
still<BR>would not affect the winning position of the ultimate
victor.<BR>Now, once again, I don't even know if the current system is set
up<BR>in just this same way, but Erics article got me to thinking and
I<BR>had to conclude, from his inferences, that it probably is not.
Also,<BR>there is probably some statistical analyst out there who can come
up<BR>with a better formula to improve the shuffle mix.<BR>Like I say,
somebody set me
straight,..........anybody?.....Van<BR>Putte???<BR>Georgie<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>=================================================<BR>To
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