Loyola Ultima (Wilmette, IL) - 1/21/12

[mlaird]

Loyola Academy in Wilmette, IL will be hosting the annual Loyola Ultima on January 21, 2012. This tournament will be mirroring the LIST II set produced by Max Schindler, et al. This tournament is consistently one of the most competitive in Illinois each year. It has traditionally been invitation only, but this year will be open to any team. We especially encourage out-of-state teams to consider attending. It is important to note that this tournament is being run opposite the Fremd tournament, a traditionally large IHSA-format tournament. This was the case last year as well and Ultima was a major success, with a very high concentration of highly competitive teams in attendance.

The cost to teams will be $70 (prior to discounts) per team and will include lunch for all players and coaches: a smorgasbord of Lou Malnati's pizza.

Discounts:
-$10 per working buzzer system
-$10 per experienced staffer
-$20 for travelling greater than 100 mi.

Following the conclusion of this tournament, Donald Taylor will be hosting a pop culture side event, the proceeds of which will benefit Matt's Buzzers. The event will be open to anyone including but not limited to players, coaches, siblings, and pets. Details can be found here. Please consider signing up; it will be a lot of fun and it goes to a good cause!

[mlaird]

This field is obsolete. Look at the post farther down for more details.


Staff:
Laird
Egan
Greenthal
Fenton (1)
Wheaton Warrenville South (1)
Belvidere North (1)
Perovanovic
Prince
Peterson
Bergeon
Riley
Long
Fischer
Strey
DCC (1)
Nagib

[in on these shenanigans]

IMSA will be there; Dr. Prince will let you know how many teams and will do the actual, you know, registering. We'll have at least one staffer.

[Golden-bellied Starfrontlet]

How large do you plan on the field being?

[mlaird]

How large do you plan on the field being?

We're shooting for between 16-24 teams, as long as we have enough readers.

[MissIrene]

This is one that Wauconda is interested in attending! I have to wait for confirmation from my AD. . .

[mr_basque]

Belvidere North will bring 2 teams, 2 buzzers, and 1 moderator.

[mlaird]

It looks like interest is going to far outstrip my original 16-24 teams estimate, so I might reconsider how this tournament is being run. Please keep signing up! We will make things work! If you would like to staff and be paid and get delicious pizza, let me know/make a post here!

[Edward Elric]

Matt,

I should be able to staff this barring unforseen circumstances.

[mlaird]

Field update.

[mlaird]

We are working out a possible side event for this tournament.

[mlaird]

Also, this tournament is definitely going to need staffers. One should remember that there is precedent for Loyola Academy paying pretty handsome sums for a day's worth of reading.

[cornfused]

Also, this tournament is definitely going to need staffers. One should remember that there is precedent for Loyola Academy paying pretty handsome sums for a day's worth of reading.

Hel-LO sir.

[dtaylor4]

For those interested in the side event, see viewtopic.php?f=19&p=227894#p227894.

[mlaird]

Field update. I am getting interest from teams based on the announced question provider for other tournaments that day, so there should be plenty more teams signing up.

[the return of AHAN]

Barrington would like to enter 2 teams... Otherwise, we'll sign up for Fremd...

[mlaird]

No No No don't do that! You are signed up!

[the return of AHAN]

Thanks, Matt. I wasn't sure if you still had room since you had a waitlist and Fremd is trying to firm up their field.

[in on these shenanigans]

Thanks, Matt. I wasn't sure if you still had room since you had a waitlist and Fremd is trying to firm up their field.

The waitlist appears to be C teams, thereby allowing other schools in. (Laird, if I'm right, edit that into the post so that it's clear that schools can still register and say nyah-nyah to the waitlisted C-teams.)

[mlaird]

That has been done. I still need more readers for this tournament, so please let me know if you like being paid and you like free pizza.

[Colby Burnett]

Fenwick wants in with 1 team. We'll gauge interest for a B-team later.

[mlaird]

We are up to 32 teams with 4 on the waitlist, which means that after December 26th, we will only have no spots left! If you plan on signing up, please hurry!

[cornfused]

What's the deal with the possible side event?

[Colby Burnett]

Fenwick would like to sign up a B team for this, as well.

[dtaylor4]

What's the deal with the possible side event?

Check the Trash thread, under Sir Dupre Memorial.

[jjones]

DCC would like to register an A team with a B team waitlisted. We can also offer 1-2 experienced moderators.

[mlaird]

Last chance to get a team into this tournament! There are only six days left before this tournament will officially be filled to capacity. Buffalo Grove, Stevenson people? If you want to come independent of your school, you can email me and we can make that happen.

[Wilberbeast]

This is Buffalo Grove A expressing interest. Must convince coach. Working on it.

[in on these shenanigans]

Must convince coach. Working on it.

That's optional.

[the return of AHAN]

Is it possible the BG and Stevenson coaches are making plans to attend Fremd instead? Or taking the weekend off? I, for one, have a Cubs Scout camping trip with my son and won't be around. Luckily, Mr. Baker IS available to command the BHS Red Army on 1/21.

[mlaird]

Is it possible the BG and Stevenson coaches are making plans to attend Fremd instead?

Yes, this is probable, but if that's not what the kids want to do, I don't want them to have limited options.

[mleung]

I have a strong feeling that Buffalo Grove's team at the Fremd tourney will not be getting anywhere close to where they placed last year...partially due to this event. :)

[mlaird]

We have a full tournament of 36 teams. Details will go out to coaches and moderators tomorrow with rules and instructions. Those who have asked for invoices will get them then.

[mlaird]

I am still in need of two or three more moderators, so if you know anyone who likes pizza and remuneration, please have them contact me or post here!

[mlaird]

Before we get to the nitty gritty, I would like a response from coaches about a concern that has arisen. I continue to get interest from more and more teams as we get closer to the date of the event. Would teams prefer that we split this tournament into two divisions (Uber-competitive and standard, similar to what Wheaton North Kickoff and New Trier Varsity do)? If we did this, we could potentially accommodate more teams, and give each team more meaningful matches. If teams were interested in this, I would ask each coach to choose where they would like their teams to be placed.

All teams will be expected to stay for all ten (or eleven, for teams in the top 12) of their matches. This will be a 4-on-4 tournament run on typical ACF rules with the exception that there will be powers (15-points for answering a tossup correctly before a certain point). There will also be negs. Substitution will only be allowed at the half and before tiebreakers. There will be no bouncebacks on bonuses. Please limit each of your teams to no more than six players.

Tournament structure will be as follows (if we have 36 teams):
We will have six pools of six in the morning, where each team will play five matches. Teams will then be rebracketed for the afternoon matches based on their placement (based on record, then points per game) within their pool, with pool winners and runners-up advancing into two parallel playoff brackets (seeded 1-12 based on points per bonus, then snake drafted into pools, with seeds 1,4,5,8,9,12 in one pool and 2,3,6,7,10,11 in the other). Third place teams in their brackets will be placed in another bracket, fourth in another bracket, fifth in another, and sixth in another. Each team will play another five games, and each team in the top brackets will play one additional game for final placement against the team with the same final placement in the bracket parallel to theirs.

[Boeing X-20, Please!]

Tournament structure will be as follows (if we have 36 teams):
We will have six pools of six in the morning, where each team will play five matches. Teams will then be rebracketed for the afternoon matches based on their placement (based on record, then points per game) within their pool, with pool winners and runners-up advancing into two parallel playoff brackets (seeded 1-12 based on points per bonus, then snake drafted into pools, with seeds 1,4,5,8,9,12 in one pool and 2,3,6,7,10,11 in the other). Third place teams in their brackets will be placed in another bracket, fourth in another bracket, fifth in another, and sixth in another. Each team will play another five games, and each team in the top brackets will play one additional game for final placement against the team with the same final placement in the bracket parallel to theirs.

What about tiebreakers intra-bracket to determine cross-over game between paralell brackets? Will you have to resort to ppg or do you have enough packets to do a full game tiebreaker between two teams tied for a spot (and thus half-packets between a circle of death) and do you have enough to/would you want to do full packet tiebreakers for a circle of death to determine the cross-over games?

EDIT: LIST apparently has 15 packets, so really just your choice vis-a-vis circle of death matters given this information.

[mlaird]

Nolan: That's all probably moot, because it looks like there's a strong preference for splitting into two divisions anyways.

Others: Auburn A and B have pulled out, so there are now two openings in the field. Chicago Christian has expressed interest and Loyola C is available to round it out if no one else enters. Granted, if we split the fields, we could accommodate some more teams depending on how many more readers I get.

[Mewto55555]

Tournament structure will be as follows (if we have 36 teams):
We will have six pools of six in the morning, where each team will play five matches. Teams will then be rebracketed for the afternoon matches based on their placement (based on record, then points per game) within their pool, with pool winners and runners-up advancing into two parallel playoff brackets (seeded 1-12 based on points per bonus, then snake drafted into pools, with seeds 1,4,5,8,9,12 in one pool and 2,3,6,7,10,11 in the other). Third place teams in their brackets will be placed in another bracket, fourth in another bracket, fifth in another, and sixth in another. Each team will play another five games, and each team in the top brackets will play one additional game for final placement against the team with the same final placement in the bracket parallel to theirs.

What about tiebreakers intra-bracket to determine cross-over game between paralell brackets? Will you have to resort to ppg or do you have enough packets to do a full game tiebreaker between two teams tied for a spot (and thus half-packets between a circle of death) and do you have enough to/would you want to do full packet tiebreakers for a circle of death to determine the cross-over games?

EDIT: LIST apparently has 15 packets, so really just your choice vis-a-vis circle of death matters given this information.

LIST actually has 16 packets.

[mlaird]

OPRF has dropped from the field. Three spots are available.

[mlaird]

DCC B is out of the field now, as well. Since we probably won't get back up to 36 teams, I'm going to work on seperating teams into two divisions, unless someone has other ideas.

[mlaird]

OK, I am still trying to get other teams to come, but it is not looking great. As it stands, I think we will have an Uber division of 12, which will play a full round robin. I have 22 Standard teams, so I'm looking for ideas other than trying to get two scab teams together. Here are the divisions that I've come up with, given what I've heard back from teams:

Uber(12):
Belvidere North A, Carbondale A, Culver A, DCC A, IMSA A, IMSA B, Loyola A, Loyola B, New Trier, Latin, Wheaton Warrenville South A, Zerg Rush

Standard (22):
Barrington A, Barrington B, Belvidere North B, Brother Rice A, Brother Rice B, Carbondale B, Chicago Christian, Culver B, Culver C, Fenton, Fenwick A, Fenwick B, IMSA C, Loyola C, Maine South A, Maine South B, St. Viator A, St. Viator B, Wauconda A, Wauconda B, Wheaton Warrenville South B, Whitney Young

[Dominator]

For the standard division, have you tried contacting Lisle and Westmont? Both of them got shut out of TRIUMVIR and may be looking for a tournament soon.

[Ben Dillon]

Longshot, but I'll check with my team tomorrow and see if they're interested. It'd be short notice, but it might happen; probably depends on my #1 player's hockey schedule.

[Colby Burnett]

Fenwick could possibly scrape together a C team. Would the costs be the same?

[mlaird]

Yeah, any emergency teams from here on out would play for free.

Ben, we'd love to have you guys come out! Let me know if there's anything I can do to make it happen!

[Ben Dillon]

Longshot too long. Sorry, we're out :(

[mlaird]

Email I sent out a couple minutes ago:

Thanks for signing up for Loyola's annual Ultima tournament this weekend!

I ask that all teams reply to this email with a cell phone number of a coach or other representative that can be contacted in the case of inclement weather or other emergencies.

Please plan to arrive at Loyola by 8:30am. We plan to do a coaches' meeting shortly after that and we want to begin play by 9am.

Due to overwhelming demand, teams have been split into two divisions: Uber-Competitive and Standard. The fields as they stand are as follow:

Uber-Competitive (12):
Belvidere North A, Carbondale A, Culver A, DCC A, IMSA A, IMSA B, Loyola A, Loyola B, New Trier, Latin, Wheaton Warrenville South A, Zerg Rush

Standard (23):
Barrington A, Barrington B, Belvidere North B, Brother Rice A, Brother Rice B, Carbondale B, Chicago Christian, Culver B, Culver C, Fenton, Fenwick A, Fenwick B, IMSA C, Loyola C, Loyola D, Maine South A, Maine South B, St. Viator A, St. Viator B, Wauconda A, Wauconda B, Wheaton Warrenville South B, Whitney Young

If your team differs from who would normally be playing for you, please let me know for seeding purposes. Please remember that this is a four-on-four tournament.

The Uber-competitive division will play a full round robin followed by advantaged finals if necessary. If two teams are tied for 1st place, a one game final will be played, winner take all. If three or more teams are tied, then they will be seeded by PPG, then play a single elimination tournament on half packets until two teams remain, who will then play a one game, winner take all final.

The Standard division will hopefully feature 24 teams by this Saturday, and will be split into four pools of six. If we do not get a 24th team by Saturday, we will create a chimera team of alternates from various teams. All teams will be expected to play all ten rounds.
The four pools of six will play a round robin to seed afternoon play. The morning divisions will be ranked by W-L record, then points per game. The top afternoon bracket will feature the four division winners, plus two wildcards taken from the 2nd place team in each division. The wildcard teams will be taken from among the four teams that placed second in their respective divisions. They will be ranked based on points per bonus and the top two will be placed in the top bracket, and the latter two, the first consolation bracket. Those two teams will be joined by all of the third place teams from each division in that bracket. The third and fourth consolation brackets will be assigned in a manner similar to what was mentioned above. Afternoon play will involve another five rounds; a full round robin within your reassigned pool. Morning records will not carry over to the afternoon rounds. Advantaged finals will be played in the top bracket if a team has not cleared the field by two games. If two teams are tied for 1st place in the top bracket, a one game final will be played, winner take all. If three or more teams are tied, then they will be seeded by PPG, then play a single elimination tournament on half packets until two teams remain, who will then play a one game winner take all final.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to email me or call me!

[the return of AHAN]

I thought Rob requested that Barrington A be bumped up to Uber...
:-?

[Colby Burnett]

Fenwick can make a C team to round out the field.

[mlaird]

Jeff, you are right. The email slipped through the cracks. I will pull Loyola B from the Über division and split my players into a couple of teams in the standard division so they aren't as strong. Colby, Fenwick C is in if you want them to be, otherwise we will have a couple Loyola split squads from the B, C, and D teams.