THE FINAL SCHEDULE and PLAYOFF DETAILS

Where do we go from here?

That crazy sign post sure doesn't give us much direction, does it? That's why I blog. I'm the sensible sign post that says, "Hey! Look at all this neat stuff over here!" Well buckle-up because it's a bumpy road ahead. There is good news, there is bad news and there is administrative news that falls in a grey area.  Let's talk about the good news first.


The schedule is finally finished and is updated to reflect all the final games of the season. It can be found here:

http://pleasantviewsoftballleague.blogspot.ca/p/schedule-2012.html

It is significantly different from the schedules posted at the beginning of the year, so make sure that you update whatever copy you might have and use this as the final say on when you play. As well as updating the remaining schedule, there is now also a playoff schedule posted here:

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1yoOROQEgZLHT51jnB8FpP2zDxfBlVpL_3yqC9hZ4-1M

Right about now you might be saying to yourself, "Well that sounds like great news! What's the catch?"
There is a big catch. It's like the kind of heartbreaking catch that you knew was coming but you avoided getting it checked out for two months and then you finally go to the doctor but you have to wait another week for test results and then it turns out, yeah, you did catch that. But I digress.
The combination of having a delayed start to the season and more rain that usual has resulted in a big time crunch at the end of the season. Too big of a crunch to make up all of the games that are needed. As a result, the total number of games that each team plays has been reduced from 17 to 15. I know this makes everyone itchy and uncomfortable on the inside but it has to be this way. We only have the diamond contracted until a certain date and it is better to curtail the season as opposed to shortening the playoffs.
Playing 15 games is going to result into a few significant changes to the playoffs and the league in general, so pay attention to the next few points.
Having only 15 games means that the requisite number of games played for someone to be eligible for the playoffs has been reduced from seven to five.
The divisional structure that we were using is out the window. In order play an equal number of games, it works out that you play each team in your own division three times and teams in the other division only twice. This has an impact on the playoff rankings so divisions are no longer relevant. Teams will be seeded from 1-8 overall, not ranked by division.
With all teams  playing 15 regular season games, there is one team that is the odd man out and would only have played 14 games. In order to make sure each team plays AT LEAST 15 games, the last place team was offered an extra game to make everything work. Mitts and Balls declined the opportunity but Jack Astors accepted and will play an extra game to make the schedule work. That decision is final regardless of what happens in the standings from here on in.

So that is how things need to happen in order to complete the regular season on time and with fairness to all teams.  We can't cure it, we can only treat the symptoms. It sucks that we lose two games but it is what it is.

I know some of you will be upset and many of you will want to vent your frustration. You can do so in the comment section of the website but don't expect this schedule to change because it has to be this way. Let's all eat the red pill, get on board with reality and play hard for the remainder of the season.

I will leave you all with this inspiring image, which I hope will preempt much of the discussion ahead.

 If you have any questions, post them in the comment section or email the league administration directly.