Edit - Removed original suggestion after discussion. Replaced with below.
Let's face it. It's the only league level that has it's own unique structure and the question is why? The main reason is people want their regional affiliations. I am suggesting that for the good of the game we have to revamp this a bit and make the game about having competitive leagues that make sense. This is a bit of a merger of the Hemispheres suggestion and how the regular minor league structures work. Basically it would work like this:
Western Hemisphere (equivalent to Elite #1)
Eastern Hemisphere (equivalent to Elite #2)
(we can work on the regions that are used here, this is just the general concept being outlined)
Western Hemisphere Feeder leagues
North America
South America
Europe
Eastern Hemisphere Feeder leagues
Oceania
Africa
Asia
Promotion/Demotion
The top 8 teams (winner of first round playoff games) from each Hemisphere would promote to World League. The bottom 16 teams (non playoff teams) from World League would demote to Hemisphere. The bottom 16 teams from each Hemisphere (non playoff teams) would demote back down to Feeder leagues. The losers of first round playoff games from each Hemisphere would be the only teams that would remain. There would be 16 open slots for each Hemisphere. They would be taken by the final four participants in each feeder league and then the next 8 best teams based on current tiebreakers (W-L record first).
The bottom four teams from each conference for each feeder league (total of 48 teams) would demote to Regional Pro. Promoting teams from Regional Pro would take those slots.
Original concept for Hemispheres from jdbolick here:
Originally posted by jdbolick
This idea has been suggested in various forms, but the need is more obvious than ever. Excluding the one gut, the Radicals have won six CPL games by a score of 549 to 45, and there are similar examples throughout the Pro leagues. Teams like Providence, Jebediah, Canton, WWR, Arkadak, Black Sea, Syracuse, Cypriot, Mayan, Porto, Palembang, TKW, Rhode Island, South Otto, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam don't belong in the Pro leagues anymore. A season full of blowouts is boring not only for those teams, but the ones who play them as well. Those teams are much closer in quality to the average World League squad than to the average Pro league team. Providence has beaten Alpine & HHWC in scrimmages, but we're not in the WL because we were unlucky enough to be in the same Pro conference last season as one of the top 10 teams in the game. Meanwhile the Pro leagues have far too much variation within their ranks, meaning a lot of uncompetitive results.
The solution is simply to take the top 64 teams out of those Pro leagues and put them into two Hemisphere leagues, then condense the remaining eight Pro leagues into four regions.
How it would work:
You start by taking the top 64 teams out of the eight Pro leagues (I did this using NiborRis' rankings), then splitting those teams up into the Western Hemisphere and the Eastern Hemisphere. The hemispheres could further be divided into North America, South America, Europe, and Asia for the conferences. Demotion from the World League would remain all sixteen teams who missed the playoffs, therefore the teams promoting from the respective hemispheres would be the eight teams who won their first round playoff games.
Meanwhile there would be 192 teams left in the Pro leagues, but instead of splitting those among eight different regions, they should be split up into only four. Having North America, South America, Europe, and Asia as regions would reduce the overall number of Pro teams to 128. Doing so would remove the CPUs and under-leveled rosters that are currently losing by two hundred points per game. Instead you would get better competition every two days in the Pro leagues as the teams face teams more appropriate for their talent level. Each conference championship participant from those four Pro leagues would promote to their corresponding hemisphere, for a total of 16 Pro teams promoting each season. Meanwhile the bottom four teams from each hemisphere conference would demote in exchange.
Why it would work:
The gap between the absolute best World League teams and the best Pro league teams is smaller than ever, but unfortunately the gap between the best Pro league teams and the worst Pro league teams is bigger than ever. To give people a better regular season experience, you need to have these teams grouped together in tiers that better represent their talent level. By adding hemispheres, you no longer drop World League alums into Pro leagues where they out-match everyone but the Pro elite. You would also have the Pro leagues themselves be legitimately competitive, with teams that actually should be playing one another. Meanwhile it would not take teams any longer to reach the World League than in the current model, as the only quicker way would be to win that first season in Pro, which hardly any teams have ever done. This proposal would not only increase competition for the elite Pro teams, but also for those Pro teams below them.
Let's face it. It's the only league level that has it's own unique structure and the question is why? The main reason is people want their regional affiliations. I am suggesting that for the good of the game we have to revamp this a bit and make the game about having competitive leagues that make sense. This is a bit of a merger of the Hemispheres suggestion and how the regular minor league structures work. Basically it would work like this:
Western Hemisphere (equivalent to Elite #1)
Eastern Hemisphere (equivalent to Elite #2)
(we can work on the regions that are used here, this is just the general concept being outlined)
Western Hemisphere Feeder leagues
North America
South America
Europe
Eastern Hemisphere Feeder leagues
Oceania
Africa
Asia
Promotion/Demotion
The top 8 teams (winner of first round playoff games) from each Hemisphere would promote to World League. The bottom 16 teams (non playoff teams) from World League would demote to Hemisphere. The bottom 16 teams from each Hemisphere (non playoff teams) would demote back down to Feeder leagues. The losers of first round playoff games from each Hemisphere would be the only teams that would remain. There would be 16 open slots for each Hemisphere. They would be taken by the final four participants in each feeder league and then the next 8 best teams based on current tiebreakers (W-L record first).
The bottom four teams from each conference for each feeder league (total of 48 teams) would demote to Regional Pro. Promoting teams from Regional Pro would take those slots.
Original concept for Hemispheres from jdbolick here:
Originally posted by jdbolick
This idea has been suggested in various forms, but the need is more obvious than ever. Excluding the one gut, the Radicals have won six CPL games by a score of 549 to 45, and there are similar examples throughout the Pro leagues. Teams like Providence, Jebediah, Canton, WWR, Arkadak, Black Sea, Syracuse, Cypriot, Mayan, Porto, Palembang, TKW, Rhode Island, South Otto, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam don't belong in the Pro leagues anymore. A season full of blowouts is boring not only for those teams, but the ones who play them as well. Those teams are much closer in quality to the average World League squad than to the average Pro league team. Providence has beaten Alpine & HHWC in scrimmages, but we're not in the WL because we were unlucky enough to be in the same Pro conference last season as one of the top 10 teams in the game. Meanwhile the Pro leagues have far too much variation within their ranks, meaning a lot of uncompetitive results.
The solution is simply to take the top 64 teams out of those Pro leagues and put them into two Hemisphere leagues, then condense the remaining eight Pro leagues into four regions.
How it would work:
You start by taking the top 64 teams out of the eight Pro leagues (I did this using NiborRis' rankings), then splitting those teams up into the Western Hemisphere and the Eastern Hemisphere. The hemispheres could further be divided into North America, South America, Europe, and Asia for the conferences. Demotion from the World League would remain all sixteen teams who missed the playoffs, therefore the teams promoting from the respective hemispheres would be the eight teams who won their first round playoff games.
Meanwhile there would be 192 teams left in the Pro leagues, but instead of splitting those among eight different regions, they should be split up into only four. Having North America, South America, Europe, and Asia as regions would reduce the overall number of Pro teams to 128. Doing so would remove the CPUs and under-leveled rosters that are currently losing by two hundred points per game. Instead you would get better competition every two days in the Pro leagues as the teams face teams more appropriate for their talent level. Each conference championship participant from those four Pro leagues would promote to their corresponding hemisphere, for a total of 16 Pro teams promoting each season. Meanwhile the bottom four teams from each hemisphere conference would demote in exchange.
Why it would work:
The gap between the absolute best World League teams and the best Pro league teams is smaller than ever, but unfortunately the gap between the best Pro league teams and the worst Pro league teams is bigger than ever. To give people a better regular season experience, you need to have these teams grouped together in tiers that better represent their talent level. By adding hemispheres, you no longer drop World League alums into Pro leagues where they out-match everyone but the Pro elite. You would also have the Pro leagues themselves be legitimately competitive, with teams that actually should be playing one another. Meanwhile it would not take teams any longer to reach the World League than in the current model, as the only quicker way would be to win that first season in Pro, which hardly any teams have ever done. This proposal would not only increase competition for the elite Pro teams, but also for those Pro teams below them.
Edited by Catch22 on Mar 11, 2011 22:42:22
Edited by Catch22 on Mar 11, 2011 18:04:28
Edited by Catch22 on Mar 11, 2011 12:45:35
Edited by Catch22 on Mar 11, 2011 12:36:47
Edited by Catch22 on Mar 11, 2011 12:36:30
