2010 US Open 'Battle of the Boards' pick 'em contest

eblunt · Club Coach

RE: 2010 US Open 'Battle of the Boards' pick 'em contest

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

If Nadal-Djokovic becomes a regular occurence in grand slam finals, i might just start watching bowls instead

indiana · Tennis legend

It's a view smile

Can't say I agree with it since for me Nadal and Djokovic operating at the top of their game is still well worth a watch. Or is this just a a pick'em comment ?

Oh and thanks Novak for my pre damage limitation, and in spite of the slight friendly grief we've been giving eblunt for not living for the moment and his predicted final. looking briefly at the overall world ranking situation I can maybe see why pre damage limitation might work for him. I'm not sure that he needs every point going smile

-- Edited by indiana on Sunday 12th of September 2010 06:28:23 PM

steven · Tennis legend

2010 US OPEN BOTB - SFs 'SYNDICATED' REPORT

So after one wipeout semi-final followed by a fabulously intense battle that may well have wiped out both players, it's a Rafa v Nole Final - something only 7 entrants (2%) predicted. Rafa was a 21% pick to reach the Final, Nole a 7% pick, thus around 100 entrants got at least one finalist correct.

Detailed results, lists of everyone's picks and so on can be found at http://www.freewebs.com/britishtennis/Competitions.html and these are now being updated regularly each day.

TEAMS

The semi-finals ended up deciding the top three in the teams league with one match to spare. Who would have thought after their heroes' relatively early exits that AM.com would win the title with the Dammitaires in 2nd place?! Team CC, up 1 to 3rd after the semis, could have taken the title had Fed won and then won the Final too, but they will have to settle for 3rd place, edging out GBTG, who fell 1 to 4th after being in the top three for most of the tournament.

The top scorers in the semis were Tennisopolis, up 5 to 7th, with TAT, down 2 to 9th, and TW, down 2 to 13th, the only other teams moving more than one place. The latter and BBC 606, down 1 to 16th, were the only teams that failed to score at all in the semis.

INDIVIDUALS

Rafa's win in the first semi confirmed Jojo56 (RG) as the individual winner - well deserved given that, as she herself said, "c'est vrai que j'ai pas mal misé sur les frenchies" (= it's true that I didn't half back the GEMs) in a tournament where the return of 'GEM power' was the story of the first week.

She will win by 7 points from scruffybearmac (AM), who rose 7 to 2nd after being one of the 7 entrants who got both finalists correct. However the bonus points for how far above the average score you are mean that both have about 55 points (35 more or 21 less in the winner's case) riding on whether their winner pick Rafa wins the Final.

anne (IN) dropped just 1 place to 3rd despite getting neither finalist correct and will hold onto that position if Nole wins but GoGo (AM), up 2 to 5th, will finish 3rd if Rafa wins.

Other movers within the top 10 were --cj-- (TA), up 1 to 4th, cazza99 (AM)#, down 3 to 6th, and jmc116 (IN)#, down 3 to 7th, while Oscar (RF)#, up 11 to 8th, Sean Huggan (LH), up 63 to 9th after getting both finalists correct, and Bhar11 (TA), up 11 to 10th, rose into the top 10. The latter two could yet finish 4th & 5th if Rafa wins the title.

The only other entrants who can now dislodge those in the top 10 are srberg (DF), who will finish 6th if Nole wins the Final, and world no. 8 eblunt (BT), Gigi (AM) & andys_ipod (AM), who will finish 8th, 9th & 10th respectively if Rafa becomes the champion, dislodging those marked with a # above.

ON THE RISE

Apart from the two members of the new top 10 mentioned above, the other five entrants who got both finalists correct were risers of the day clare2904 (ML), up 150 to 100th, and MisterPap (RG), up 150 to 101st, together with RobH (BT), up 112 to 232nd, ANNA K (MT), up 97 to 250th, and Love70alsndale (IN), up 97 to 251st.

DODGY DROPPERS

Nearly 300 of us got both finalists wrong but only Alli (CC), down 31 to 127th, and Big Al (CC), down 31 to 128th, fell more than 30 places.

Unusually for a slam, there were no totally mad entries and the lanterne rouge, by a single point, is djlovesyou (BT) - 14 points ahead of the bot that gave preference to US players and way, way ahead of the starving gorillas. Who knows whether they (or we) will ever recover from sallydaisy (JM) leaving them for dead to finish in what is now certain to be a top 25 position?!

TEAM KO

The scores after 6 of the 7 matches that count towards the Finals are:

FINAL: (7) RichardGasquet.net lead (12) RogerFederer.com 12.15-11.43
3-4: (1) AndyMurray.com lead (14) TalkAboutTennis 12.68-12.36
5-6: (4) MyTennisLounge.com lead (6) Tennis-Warehouse 13-10
7-8: (2) GBTennisGirls.com lead (9) MensTennisForums 14.43-9.33
9-10: (15) Tennisopolis.com lead (5) Tennis4you.com 13.47-11.4
11-12: (8) JamieMurray.org lead (3) BritishTennis.net 13.5-12.74
13-14: (13) Rusedski.co.uk lead (10) Centre Court Forum 13.18-12.92
15-16: (16) NewBallsPlease lead (11) BBC 606 boards 12.67-10

None of the above leads can be overturned by the result of the Final.

THE FINAL

AA-2: (1) Rafa 12% v (3) Nole 2% - other picks: Fed 42%, Muzza 39%, others 5%

THANKS / the next BOTB

As usual, I have tried to put enough info about the remaining possibilities into the post-SFs report to make up for the fact that there will not be a daily report after the Final tomorrow (except for the odd tweet) but I will be back with a a report on the new overall rankings when I get round to doing them sometime next week.

Thank you all for playing in another fascinating contest - it has felt like the most unpredictable USO for some years, despite the fact that the ATP Race and rankings bots could both finish in the top 25 if Rafa wins on Sunday. The US Open Series was a dreadful guide this year, with the USOS bot Ceres now sure to finish in the bottom 25 whatever happens!

There are now just two BOTBs left this year - entries for Shanghai BOTB are likely to open by noon on Saturday 9 October (the draw is scheduled for 3 pm Sat Shanghai time = 07.00 GMT but last year they didn't post it until about 4 hours later) and it's a Sunday start (boo!!) at 06.00 GMT, so there could be just 18 hours to get your entries in.

LadyTigress · County player

Having searched through the finals of every Grand Slam since they began, there has not been a single final featuring Nadal vs Djokovic. Expressing disgruntlement at it becoming a regular occurrence implies that the event has occurred at least on several occasions in the past, thus giving one reason to complain that you might suspect that it is becoming a regular occurence. As this is clearly not the case, there is no reason to complain.

Personally I agree with Indy that when Nadal and Djokovic are at the top of their game there's the potential for a searingly good match (see Madrid 2009, for example), thoroughly good stuff from a spectating point of view. But if anyone wants to suck lemons, they can go right ahead. I'll sit back and enjoy the final, thanks very much.

In the Pick'em stakes, I've got extra interest and the chance to pick up those glorious champion points. Either way things are looking pretty good. If Nadal wins, which I've thought likely since Picking two weeks ago, I have a chance for a half-decent Pick'em finish and he'll complete the career slam, possibly marking a new shift in dominance and a new era in the game, and if Djokovic wins it could mark a really good return to form for him which'll be good for us spectators, and in the words of the immortal Blackadder "yah-boo-sucks" to the overly hasty naysayers. Win-win. We're looking forwards to it.

SMC1809 · All-time great

LadyTigress wrote:

Frankly at this point I've given up in disgust. Let me know if I manage to pull out a top 50 finish, otherwise it's a write off till the next Pick'em.

Is this that overly hasty naysayer you were referring to? biggrin

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

LadyTigress wrote:

Having searched through the finals of every Grand Slam since they began, there has not been a single final featuring Nadal vs Djokovic. Expressing disgruntlement at it becoming a regular occurrence implies that the event has occurred at least on several occasions in the past, thus giving one reason to complain that you might suspect that it is becoming a regular occurence. As this is clearly not the case, there is no reason to complain.

Personally I agree with Indy that when Nadal and Djokovic are at the top of their game there's the potential for a searingly good match (see Madrid 2009, for example), thoroughly good stuff from a spectating point of view. But if anyone wants to suck lemons, they can go right ahead. I'll sit back and enjoy the final, thanks very much.

In the Pick'em stakes, I've got extra interest and the chance to pick up those glorious champion points. Either way things are looking pretty good. If Nadal wins, which I've thought likely since Picking two weeks ago, I have a chance for a half-decent Pick'em finish and he'll complete the career slam, possibly marking a new shift in dominance and a new era in the game, and if Djokovic wins it could mark a really good return to form for him which'll be good for us spectators, and in the words of the immortal Blackadder "yah-boo-sucks" to the overly hasty naysayers. Win-win. We're looking forwards to it.

Must be a nice view up there on that moral high ground, huh?

No but seriously, i couldn't watch tennis simply to admire the quality - don't get me wrong i can do that as well it's just not enough to make me watch. I don't like either of these guys (though i will never belittle their outrageous abilities), so when they are playing how am i meant to get excited about it? Isn't that the real thrill - not the quality on show but taking one side or the other, and living on the emotional rollercoaster of it all? (obviously high quality is preferred)

Otherwise what is this sport if we aren't taking sides? Just chin-stroking, saying "good shot old boy" after a rally, with no real care for the ultimate result. Just look at this website, what do you think people are looking for when they read it? Eg. Are they looking for how long and close the rallies were when Dan Cox play De Chaunac? No. They're looking for whether Coxy won or not, and ultimately are much more satisfied by a positive result than anything else

Oh yes and you didn't read my post correctly, i said "If" it became a regular occurence, which implies either once or twice (or even never)

steven · Tennis legend

Of course, in BOTB, you're sometimes happy even if the player you don't like wins (if you picked them), but yes, hard to get that excited if you haven't picked either and you don't particularly like either of them.

I'd like Nole to win because a) I prefer him to Rafa and b) it would save me a few more ranking points than a Rafa win, but in the expectation that Rafa will win fairly easily and with a lot of things to do, I'm not going to watch it from the start. I might well succumb late in the match if it gets interesting though!

indiana · Tennis legend

I'd certainly say that sport is often really it's most exciting / annoying / enthralling / exasperating etc etc, indeed very occasionally truelly emotional when I really care who wins through my support for one or other teams or individuals and of course to a lesser degree when I just for lesser reasons take sides.

But hey I feel I would have missed out on some great sporting occasions with the sports' top comperitors inolved if I only watched when I had a real wish for one person or team to triumph ( although I guess even that as it evolves I find myself wanting one rather than another to win, sometimes quite unexpectedly ).

Anyway, even as an often very biased supporter on some occasions, I can still also really enjoy these other big occasions without as far as I know stroking my chin smile

Buyt hey, just in case this Nadal vs Djokovic match is the start of a new dynasty, Knight, better start preparing now : http://www.worldbowlstour.com/

indiana · Tennis legend

Anyway, as we come to the end of another pick'em, thanks again to Steven and Bethan for all their work in setting up another roller coaster experience, and of course to Steven for keeping everyone very well informed throughout .

Andy dug a hole for me but Novak came along and largely rescued me smile

One thing I was wondering about was displaying the pick %s while folk were still making their selections. I know this was done at Wimbledon when Steven wasn't around for first day or two, but is this likely now to be more the norm ?

It does I feel potentially change the dynamics of the game in that a ) pickers have potentially another source of info - what these who have already picked think as a whole the results will be and b ) it brings in perhaps more of a tactical element in that you really have more idea of how high risk certain selections might be.

I've thought about this a little while as regards whether the more regular "blind selection" ( or certainly more regular in my time ) is not maybe better with just finding out ( maybe to surprise ) how others as a whole have selected once battle commences.

-- Edited by indiana on Sunday 12th of September 2010 11:01:33 PM

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

so excited for the Scottish International Open, my bet's on Les Gillett, he's on form at the moment

yeh sorry about the massively long response, and sorry if it seemed that i was trying to say how people should view this sport (yes i think head scratching is more likely than chin stroking). I just wasn't happy that an off-hand comment that was just a personal view was being painted as if i was having a go at everyone else...which i definitely definitely wasn't

Anyway my (very slight) preference would be Rafa to win

indiana · Tennis legend

The Weather Gods by posponing the final till Monday have at least maybe helped even the contest by giving Novak more time to recover from his 5 setter with Federer.

steven · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
One thing I was wondering about was displaying the pick %s while folk were still making their selections. I know this was done at Wimbledon when Steven wasn't around for first day or two, but is this likely now to be more the norm ?

It does I feel potentially change the dynamics of the game in that a ) pickers have potentially another source of info - what these who have already picked think as a whole the results will be and b ) it brings in perhaps more of a tactical element in that you really have more idea of how high risk certain selections might be.

I've thought about this a little while as regards whether the more regular "blind selection" ( or certainly more regular in my time ) is not maybe better with just finding out ( maybe to surprise ) how others as a whole have selected once battle commences.

I was interested to see what comments there would be on this (the answer seems to be hardly any!) before deciding whether to extend it.

The thing is, the ATP show the percentages on their bracket challenges already (at least to the extent that if you hover over a pick you've made, it'll show you what % of the entrants have gone for him, so you can 'experiment' if you want to check, so it seemed a bit pointless (and perhaps unfair to those who don't play the ATP BC, though there are many times when I've been influenced by the pick %s and ended up wishing I'd gone with my first instincts, so it's a double-edged sword!) to suppress this information for Masters events, and from there it seemed natural to offer the information for slams too.

In fact, we do sometimes have to suppress it in the period between when qualifiers are added to the entry form and when I do a set of global search/replaces to change the Qualifier/LL 01, Qualifier/LL 02, etc, to the actual names on all the entries that were done on the original entry form. That's not something it would be fun to do twice, so I have to leave enough time to be pretty sure that there are not going to be any more entries that were started on the original form (before qualifiers were placed) but not sent until afterwards.

indiana · Tennis legend

Thanks Steven, think I do prefer it "blind" but I understand what you are saying, particularly re the ATP bracket challenge, which I have never done.

Given that and that it's not something you have had many comments about to date, I guess I can live with it.

I can see the double-edged sword element smile

So far, although I have looked at the percentages after finalising my selections but not inputting them, I have stuck by mine. That's not out of any great principal, but once I am happy that none of mine are crazily out of line ( then I might stop to think in case I'd forgotten about something ) I feel happier staying as I am rather than worry that I'm second-guessing myself.

-- Edited by indiana on Monday 13th of September 2010 09:52:15 AM

philwrig · Hall of fame

indiana wrote:

The Weather Gods by posponing the final till Monday have at least maybe helped even the contest by giving Novak more time to recover from his 5 setter with Federer.

Having placed a reasonable amount of cash on Nadal to win it outright, I had already begun to count my winnings, so was less than chuffed that the rain came yesterday to help out Novak.