Massive Attack Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 The women soccer competition at the Olympics in Athens will involve 10 teams. Two groups of 3, and one group of 4, with 8 teams advancing. ------------------------- "And tha riot be tha rhyme of tha unheard..." Calm Like A Bomb - Rage Against The Machine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 That IS scary! So that ensures that some last-place team will reach the quarter-finals!? The person who came up with that format should really go back to school and complete grade 8 (or at least stick to his job with the CFL)! Fortunately we're talking about an event that nobody cares about so we can just laugh about it. quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack The women soccer competition at the Olympics in Athens will involve 10 teams. Two groups of 3, and one group of 4, with 8 teams advancing. ------------------------- "And tha riot be tha rhyme of tha unheard..." Calm Like A Bomb - Rage Against The Machine AMacPherson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 That IS scary! So that ensures that some last-place team will reach the quarter-finals!? The person who came up with that format should really go back to school and complete grade 8 (or at least stick to his job with the CFL)! Fortunately we're talking about an event that nobody cares about so we can just laugh about it. quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack The women soccer competition at the Olympics in Athens will involve 10 teams. Two groups of 3, and one group of 4, with 8 teams advancing. ------------------------- "And tha riot be tha rhyme of tha unheard..." Calm Like A Bomb - Rage Against The Machine AMacPherson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbin Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack The women soccer competition at the Olympics in Athens will involve 10 teams. Two groups of 3, and one group of 4, with 8 teams advancing. I'm not sure I understand what's wrong with either 12 teams or with 2 groups of 5. Both options require a longer schedule but then again they would also resemble one of those... you know... tournaments. Allez les Rouges, M@ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbin Posted July 29, 2003 Share Posted July 29, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack The women soccer competition at the Olympics in Athens will involve 10 teams. Two groups of 3, and one group of 4, with 8 teams advancing. I'm not sure I understand what's wrong with either 12 teams or with 2 groups of 5. Both options require a longer schedule but then again they would also resemble one of those... you know... tournaments. Allez les Rouges, M@ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by amacpher Fortunately we're talking about an event that nobody cares about so we can just laugh about it. What do you mean nobody cares about it? This is the biggest women's tournament after the Women's World Cup. Why laugh about it? And I don't understand your shot at the CFL in this context. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbin Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by DJT What do you mean nobody cares about it? This is the biggest women's tournament after the Women's World Cup. Why laugh about it? And I don't understand your shot at the CFL in this context. The shot at the CFL, I believe, is that out of nine teams, six make the playoffs. This kind of criticism of the CFL is always amusing--I often wonder whether the critic remembers the NHL in the Original Six era, where four out of six teams made the playoffs, or in the first expansion era, when sixteen of twenty-one teams made the playoffs. One loser in each division of five, except for the division that had six. (And the Leafs still couldn't get into the post-season!) And I would argue that the women's olympic soccer medal is more prestigious than the WWC. An medal in a team sport is a big deal to any country, and you can bet that the ten teams in the tournament will be closely watched and well-supported. Allez les Rouges, M@ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 People DID (and many still do) complain about the high number of teams that qualify for the NHL playoffs! But back when the CFL had 8 teams, 6 made the playoffs and if the 4th place team of one division had a better (or should I say, less-horrible) record than the 3rd place team of the other division, then that 4th place (ie. LAST place) team made the playoffs. I just think there's a problem with any format that enables a last-place team to advance such as the Women's Olympic soccer tourney! Do you think anyone would be excited about the English Premier League's 38-game season kicking-off in two weeks if that league had a playoff 8 months from now where the top 16 teams played in? quote:Originally posted by mattbin The shot at the CFL, I believe, is that out of nine teams, six make the playoffs. This kind of criticism of the CFL is always amusing--I often wonder whether the critic remembers the NHL in the Original Six era, where four out of six teams made the playoffs, or in the first expansion era, when sixteen of twenty-one teams made the playoffs. One loser in each division of five, except for the division that had six. (And the Leafs still couldn't get into the post-season!) And I would argue that the women's olympic soccer medal is more prestigious than the WWC. An medal in a team sport is a big deal to any country, and you can bet that the ten teams in the tournament will be closely watched and well-supported. Allez les Rouges, M@ Andrew, New York City Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbin Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 quote:Originally posted by amacpher People DID (and many still do) complain about the high number of teams that qualify for the NHL playoffs! But back when the CFL had 8 teams, 6 made the playoffs and if the 4th place team of one division had a better (or should I say, less-horrible) record than the 3rd place team of the other division, then that 4th place (ie. LAST place) team made the playoffs. The last-place team in the East can still make the playoffs with the crossover rule, so that's still around. Although I agree with it being a strange way to run a league, it's also been that way for many years--I'm not sure when the crossover rule was instituted but I'm almost certain it wasn't in my 30-year lifetime. However, I am willing to give the CFL a lot of leeway, because they have a lot more history and tradition than most other leagues, and when you consider that they've remained almost unchanged Some people also feel it was ridiculous to have two teams named the Roughriders (/Rough Riders) in the same league. Me, I'm campaigning to have Saskatchewan change their name to the Renegades just to keep things clear. quote:Originally posted by amacpher I just think there's a problem with any format that enables a last-place team to advance such as the Women's Olympic soccer tourney! Do you think anyone would be excited about the English Premier League's 38-game season kicking-off in two weeks if that league had a playoff 8 months from now where the top 16 teams played in? Andrew, New York City Well you're talking about two different things here, really. Your EPL example is very apt, but I think pertains more to the NHL than the olympic tournament; tournaments and league seasons are entirely different animals. When it comes to tournaments, an even sillier example--and an olympic example at that--is the hockey tournament. Fourteen teams qualify--and six get a bye to the second round!? AND in the second round, NO ONE</u> gets eliminated, even the two last-place finishers? I mean, who dreamed that up? The NHL? I think I agree with you in all respects, really, Andrew, but I think it's unavoidable given the number of teams in the tournament. If they went with twelve teams then they'd be able to deal with it. OTOH, field hockey and basketball both have 10 qualifying teams I think (or does basketball have 12 in 2 pools?). Water polo as well. So maybe the format is the problem. I guess I wouldn't keep this discussion going except that I get really defensive about the CFL. Loving that league is like loving... I don't know... Canadian soccer maybe. Allez les Rouges, M@ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 Personally, I LOOOOOOVE the cross-over rule (like in the CFL). If the NHL did the same after the 2nd round of playoffs then maybe for once we would get the two best teams playing in the final (last year it would have been Ottawa/Jersey in the final instead of the NJ/Anaheim final that friends & families of the players plus maybe 3 other people watched)! Unfortunately, I'm thinking that the creation of these ridiculous formats (men's olympic hockey, women's olympic soccer, etc.) is a fruitless panic attempt by organizers to try and generate more money. The inventor of the men's olympic hockey tourney should sue the Survivor Reality series for copyright infringement. What is it, about 12 rounds where each round eliminates one team (or as you mentioned, sometimes eliminates 0 teams)? quote:Originally posted by mattbin The last-place team in the East can still make the playoffs with the crossover rule, so that's still around. Although I agree with it being a strange way to run a league, it's also been that way for many years--I'm not sure when the crossover rule was instituted but I'm almost certain it wasn't in my 30-year lifetime. However, I am willing to give the CFL a lot of leeway, because they have a lot more history and tradition than most other leagues, and when you consider that they've remained almost unchanged Allez les Rouges, M@ Andrew, New York City Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L.T. Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 I don't know why people slag the CFL "Crossover" rule so much. The NFL does the same thing, calls it a Wildcard and everybody loves it. (Better PR, I guess) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 quote:Originally posted by mattbin The shot at the CFL, I believe, is that out of nine teams, six make the playoffs. This kind of criticism of the CFL is always amusing--I often wonder whether the critic remembers the NHL in the Original Six era, where four out of six teams made the playoffs, or in the first expansion era, when sixteen of twenty-one teams made the playoffs. One loser in each division of five, except for the division that had six. (And the Leafs still couldn't get into the post-season!) Allez les Rouges, M@ To say "couldn't" is inaccurate, as they did in 1980, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988 & 1990 in that format (from 1980 to 1991) - obviously they still missed the playoffs too many times in that era, but in a couple of those years were a goal-post away from reaching the semi-finals - believe me, with Ballard as your owner, that's quite an achievement. [] Even the wolf can learn. Even the sheep can turn. Even the frog can become at last the prince. - Peter Hammill, Over (1977) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbin Posted August 1, 2003 Share Posted August 1, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca To say "couldn't" is inaccurate, as they did in 1980, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988 & 1990 in that format (from 1980 to 1991) - obviously they still missed the playoffs too many times in that era, but in a couple of those years were a goal-post away from reaching the semi-finals - believe me, with Ballard as your owner, that's quite an achievement. [] I knew that would get a rise out of someone! I know they were a great team considering the ownership in those years. But I was a Habs fan back then, and from my point of view they really seemed to suck. It's a lasting impression of that time... Allez les Rouges, M@ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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