I would also like to make it clear that I too am not the TD.

i'd second that .. but send your nominations to soup asap so we can move on

An open letter to Souptree,

In my previous post, I apologized to the complainer, and to my teammates and to my opponents but I failed to apologize to you.  I would like to take this opportunity now to do that.  Its easy to hide behind the anonymity the internet provides and say things that one wouldn't normally if they were face to face.  Please know that the things I've said to you weren't meant to be malicious or hurtful but were borne out of frustration at what I perceived to be a lack of dialogue  when I was trying to get answers to my questions. 

Having said that I think I have a solution which would be a win/win situation for all parties involved.  It seems that there is some support for me to continue in the league (and I thank those for your support) as that is my wish as well.  It certainly seems to be the fairest solution to my teammates and opponents and one which does not compromise the integrity of the league.

In exchange for allowing me to finish out what I started at the end of the session I will withdraw myself from any further Team League events.  I would not want to be a part of something that I'm not welcome at.  Whatever differences we have there is one thing we do have in common, that  is we both love to play backgammon.  I would like to finish out the session and then we can part ways amicably.  I look forward to your decision.

KDP

I too think KDP's apology here sincere. Let's move on. KDP's a very fine player and ideally I'd prefer him to stay in teamleague  - soupie could tell him it's his last chance? Even if that's not possible, or KDP (as he states) wants to quit, he should be allowed to finish the session.

i just heard from souptree yesterday via email, but just read it a few minutes ago .. essentially, there is still no word regarding a replacement for KDP

if you have a suggestion please communicate it directly with souptree about it, asap


A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is visible labour and there is invisible labour.
-- Victor Hugo French dramatist, novelist, & poet (1802 - 1885)

Everybody?
Ask Z where mine is.

including that one?

Well we can't be certain of course, but actually I don't think that the completion bonus is the factor in more matches being played. I think its the playoffs that have kept more teams interested. The completion bonus sucks IMO, but its another of these rules introduced without the procedure for a new rule being followed. If you are going to give additional points to encourage more play, a bonus point for a 3-0 win would make more sense.

clearly "clearly" may have been the wrong choice of words and my vision may have been blurred and myoptic due to our teams position .. of course, the playoffs have contributed to the motivation as more teams remain competitive for a shot at the playoffs .. for me, with our team on the wrong side of the bubble for making the playoffs, the completion bonus was the big incentive for finding my last two matches (our last two) .. i have been hawklike looking for either player for over two weeks and was most relieved to get those matches played just before making my last predictions post .. the completion bonus remains our teams only chance at making the playoffs, i was "clearly" focusing on that

regarding the completion and other bonuses, in general, i'm still not sure i like the idea of bonuses at all .. for example, i'd hate to see a season decided on a bonus or any other rule technicality .. i'd rather see it decided with just across the board matches .. but even in face-to-face play during a live tourney, unless we locked everyone in a room until everyone finished, we'd have the issue of players leaving once their team is out of contention .. in bowling leagues, softball leagues, and other team leagues the social pressures for completing the season are severe and substitutes or alternates are always in place .. we really don't have the same situation with on-line leagues, although having alternates in place from opening day might not be a bad idea for future seasons

in on-line events with international time differences the complexities of finding opponents can be maddening .. just meeting the scheduled 3 matches a week in the Fibs-o-nacci tournament is often quite challenging for many players .. this season's TL event seems to have hit just the right balance in terms of time and matches to be played - 44 days for 19 teams or 2-3 matches per week per player

regardless, i'm still surprised at the completion rate this season .. currently, with 3 full days of regular season play remeining, 39 of 54 players or 72% of all players have played 100% of their matches (compare this to 33 of 54 or 61% last season) .. currently, only 12 matches of 513 remain unplayed .. over half of those 12 are with players involved, directly or indirectly, in the banning, withdrawals, and replacement of players .. all players with the exception of one who is probably unavailable for the remainder of the season are now making progress at getting their matches finished .. it would not surprise me if we have 100% completion except for that one unavailable player .. compare this to previous TL seasons:

Season	Teams	Played	Unplayed	% Complete
TL1	13	210	24	89.7%
TL2	19	481	32	93.8%
TL3	14	226	47	82.8%
TL4	19	493	20	96.1%
TL5*	19	501	12	97.7%

* 3 days remaining

with playoffs alone, i don't think this would have happened .. thus, the combination of playoffs and the completion bonus seem to have combined to yield a much higher than usual completion rate .. frankly, it appears the highest for any Team League or Fibsleagammon i can recall .. thus, despite the possibility of bounses determing the outcome, it appears after careful thought and analysis to be a damned good idea

so, here's a deserved and belated tip of the hat to souptree for implementing the two new changes this season .. yes, it could have been handled better and will be, i trust, next season
all things considered, i think soupy deserves a round of applause  but, just last week, frankly, i was considering forming a posse and getting a rope

in my opinion, before next season opens we need to start with the formal creation and adoption of a Rules Committee, not just a Dispute Resolution Committee .. the Rules Committee would supercede and replace the former "godmin" and uber-admin functions held by zyxtcba and souptree, respectively, and monitor all rule related issues before the season starts and throughout the season .. zyxtcba and souptree served well during the "growing pains" of the first few seasons in getting TL off the ground again, but, imho, the time has past for unilateral rule changes and unilateral rulings from on high .. if not, then we just need to accept souptree as lord and master and move on

regardless, it's been another great Team League season .. thanks again, soupy
i, for one, am looking forward to TL6 .. but before it opens let's get the agreed on

I think you should start a new thread, sixty.  The topic of this thread is what I was discussing in shouts when souptree booted me off of team league.  I was "discussing" with Mort his failure to complete a TL match and TL's failure to register it in spite of the fact that I'd used soupie-mail to legitimately request the forfeit.

--
don