> Once again, here's the essence of my argument: Play
> the games. Decide the winner and the ranking of the
> rest of the field on the results of those games, and
> not anything else.
See, people don't realize that Matt's position is one in which
playoffs don't exist. There are no such things as playoffs. Each
team plays each other team, and the team with the most wins wins.
Like in European soccer, or in baseball before 1969.
If playoffs exist, it makes the outcome of the tournament less likely
to correspond to the actual quality of the teams, but it makes the
tournament more exciting. "Hey, it's been clear since the fifth
round that Fort Hays State was going to be undefeated, but now it's
the playoffs, and that means they can be taken out by one good game
from Transylvania College!" Matt says that although every other quiz
bowl tournament has playoffs, this one shouldn't, because it actually
provides the winner with a reward, namely a free trip to Philadelphia.
Is that right, Matt?
Michael davies
mld6_at_...