From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer


Season 66 tiers:

Tier 1:
--------
Jesus
Lleo
Mark
Werner Pichler


Tier 2:
-------
The Doctor
Jesper Lauridsen
Blueshirt
Futbolmetrix


Tier 3
------
MH
milivella
Homer Simmpson


Questions:
1) Do we start Season 66 right away, or do we wait until the beginning
of the 2026-2027 season? We will only have a few matches of the
traditional leagues, but then we will have to switch the the World
Cup.

2) Unfortunately Silver Skull disappeared, so he has forfeited his
spot in UPT. Assuming nobody else joins, do we stick with an 11-team
format, with only three teams in Tier 3? Drop Homer and move to 10
teams (two tiers of 5?)? Add another bot (assuming no humans want to
join) and stay with 12 teams?

3) Lleo: pick two leagues.

--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

In article <fq0gvk51qtfr4nr7r8dmmu4k6li4ck1df4@4ax.com>,
Futbolmetrix <futbolmetrix@yahoo.com> wrote:

Season 66 tiers:

Tier 1:
--------
Jesus
Lleo
Mark
Werner Pichler

Tier 2:
-------
The Doctor
Jesper Lauridsen
Blueshirt
Futbolmetrix

Tier 3
------
MH
milivella
Homer Simmpson

Questions:
1) Do we start Season 66 right away, or do we wait until the beginning
of the 2026-2027 season? We will only have a few matches of the
traditional leagues, but then we will have to switch the the World
Cup.

2) Unfortunately Silver Skull disappeared, so he has forfeited his
spot in UPT. Assuming nobody else joins, do we stick with an 11-team
format, with only three teams in Tier 3? Drop Homer and move to 10
teams (two tiers of 5?)? Add another bot (assuming no humans want to
join) and stay with 12 teams?

3) Lleo: pick two leagues.

Let us go World Cup!
Also UEFA has 3 trophies we can all go for in the mean time.
--
Member - Liberal International This is doctor@nk.ca Ici doctor@nk.ca
Yahweh, King & country!Never Satan President Republic!Beware AntiChrist rising! Look at Psalms 14 and 53 on Atheism ;
All I want to hear from Jesus is WEll Done Good and Faithful Servant.
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

On 03/05/2026 23:31, Futbolmetrix wrote:

Season 66 tiers:

Tier 1:
--------
Jesus
Lleo
Mark
Werner Pichler

Tier 2:
-------
The Doctor
Jesper Lauridsen
Blueshirt
Futbolmetrix

Tier 3
------
MH
milivella
Homer Simmpson

Questions:
1) Do we start Season 66 right away, or do we wait until the beginning
of the 2026-2027 season? We will only have a few matches of the
traditional leagues, but then we will have to switch the the World
Cup.

I would be ok with either option, but the choice conditions my next answer.

2) Unfortunately Silver Skull disappeared, so he has forfeited his
spot in UPT. Assuming nobody else joins, do we stick with an 11-team
format, with only three teams in Tier 3? Drop Homer and move to 10
teams (two tiers of 5?)? Add another bot (assuming no humans want to
join) and stay with 12 teams?

Two tiers of five teams would mean 10 matchdays, which would probably
work better if we wait for the 2026/27 season (or else you'd need to go
a little deep into the WC, using its matches for about five or six UPT rounds). If we're starting Season 66 right away, perhaps it's better to
either stick with 11 teams for now (if no one else joins, that is) or
add a bot (though that's a bit more work for you as gamemaster), and for
the next season we see what happens.

3) Lleo: pick two leagues.

I pick Spain and Italy.


Best regards,

Ll|-o
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

On 2026-05-03 20:31, Futbolmetrix wrote:

Season 66 tiers:

Tier 1:
--------
Jesus
Lleo
Mark
Werner Pichler

Tier 2:
-------
The Doctor
Jesper Lauridsen
Blueshirt
Futbolmetrix

Tier 3
------
MH
milivella
Homer Simmpson

Questions:
1) Do we start Season 66 right away, or do we wait until the beginning
of the 2026-2027 season? We will only have a few matches of the
traditional leagues, but then we will have to switch the the World
Cup.

What leagues are continuing play during the world cup? There must be a
few. There will be pre-world cup friendlies too

2) Unfortunately Silver Skull disappeared, so he has forfeited his
spot in UPT. Assuming nobody else joins, do we stick with an 11-team
format, with only three teams in Tier 3? Drop Homer and move to 10
teams (two tiers of 5?)? Add another bot (assuming no humans want to
join) and stay with 12 teams?

Stay with 12 teams, priority to new humans, bots if necessary but not necessarily bots.

3) Lleo: pick two leagues.

--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

MH wrote:

On 2026-05-03 20:31, Futbolmetrix wrote:

2) Unfortunately Silver Skull disappeared, so he has
forfeited his spot in UPT. Assuming nobody else joins, do
we stick with an 11-team format, with only three teams in
Tier 3? Drop Homer and move to 10 teams (two tiers of 5?)?
Add another bot (assuming no humans want to join) and stay
with 12 teams?

Stay with 12 teams, priority to new humans, bots if necessary
but not necessarily bots.

I'll go with two tiers of five. (If nobody else has looked to
join obviously)

It could be like an Eastern/Western conference thing then... the
top four teams of each tier can then "play-off" after the
"regular season" has finished!

:)
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

On Sun, 03 May 2026 22:31:50 -0400, Futbolmetrix
<futbolmetrix@yahoo.com> wrote:

Questions:
1) Do we start Season 66 right away, or do we wait until the beginning
of the 2026-2027 season? We will only have a few matches of the
traditional leagues, but then we will have to switch the the World
Cup.

To give a bit more context on this, if we start next weekend (May
16-17), the schedule will be something like this:

Match Day 1: May 16-17 (all top leagues available)
MD2 : May 23-24 (all top leagues available)
MD3 : May 30-31 (Brasileirao, NWSL, UCL final, maybe some
promotion/relegation playoffs?)
MD4 : June 6-7 ??? (Maybe some pre-WC friendlies)
MD5 : June 13-14 WC Round 1. Only one vaguely balanced match on the
weekend (CIV-ECU), all the others very unbalanced. KOR-CZE on Thursday
June 11 is probably the most balanced of the R1 matches
MD6: June 20-21 WC Round 2. Same as above.

It's not looking that good for MD5 and MD6, unless one does something
like:

Qatar - Switzerland

1 (GD>=-1) if Qatar wins, draws or loses by no more than 1 goal
X (GD=-2) Switzerland wins by exactly 2 goals
2 (GD<=-3) Switzerland wins by 3 goals or more

(Where you put the bar depends on the match, of course. And even in
the above case I'm not sure whether the draw should be GD=-2 or GD=-1)

2) Unfortunately Silver Skull disappeared, so he has forfeited his
spot in UPT. Assuming nobody else joins, do we stick with an 11-team
format, with only three teams in Tier 3? Drop Homer and move to 10
teams (two tiers of 5?)? Add another bot (assuming no humans want to
join) and stay with 12 teams?

For reference, in seasons 59 and 60 we had 10 players, one tier with 4
teams and two tiers with 3, and inter-tier matches. It kind of worked
OK.

3) Lleo: pick two leagues.

--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

Futbolmetrix:

1) Do we start Season 66 right away, or do we wait until the beginning
of the 2026-2027 season? We will only have a few matches of the
traditional leagues, but then we will have to switch the the World
Cup.

Either are fine to me. Light preference (let's say 0.5 vote) for waiting
the beginning of next season.

2) Unfortunately Silver Skull disappeared, so he has forfeited his
spot in UPT. Assuming nobody else joins, do we stick with an 11-team
format, with only three teams in Tier 3? Drop Homer and move to 10
teams (two tiers of 5?)? Add another bot (assuming no humans want to
join) and stay with 12 teams?

How would a three-team Tier 3 work? One player rests each matchday? Or
one plays two matches?

Anyway, all options you listed are fine to me. No real preference.

Thanks for managing the game!

--
Cheers
milivella


--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

MH:

There will be pre-world cup friendlies too

For what it's worth, I'm against using friendlies (or even end-of-season matches involving unmotivated clubs).

--
Cheers
milivella
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

Futbolmetrix:

It's not looking that good for MD5 and MD6, unless one does something
like:

Qatar - Switzerland

1 (GD>=-1) if Qatar wins, draws or loses by no more than 1 goal
X (GD=-2) Switzerland wins by exactly 2 goals
2 (GD<=-3) Switzerland wins by 3 goals or more

I am against this. Again, just my personal vote, but even without going
full Mark, I think that the result of the team you pick should be your
result. If they win, you win; if they draw, you draw; (would it be
better to write "etc." or to spell the last option here?)

I'd rather do something like:
- three (equally) unbalanced matches
- home player picks one team from the six (likely one of the three
favorites)
- away player pick one team (likely one of the remaining two favorites)
- the valid match is the one with the highest goal difference for the
picked team
E.g.
- Brazil-Oman; France-French Polynesia; Argentina-It... ehm, San Marino
- Futbolmetrix picks France
- milivella plays Brazil
- Results: France 0-1 French Polynesia (GD -1); Brazil 0-0 Oman (GD 0)
- The valid match is Brazil-Oman, so the final result is 0-0.
Just an idea thought on the spot.

--
Cheers
milivella
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

On 05/05/2026 11:51, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Sun, 03 May 2026 22:31:50 -0400, Futbolmetrix
<futbolmetrix@yahoo.com> wrote:

Questions:
1) Do we start Season 66 right away, or do we wait until the beginning
of the 2026-2027 season? We will only have a few matches of the
traditional leagues, but then we will have to switch the the World
Cup.

To give a bit more context on this, if we start next weekend (May
16-17), the schedule will be something like this:

Match Day 1: May 16-17 (all top leagues available)
MD2 : May 23-24 (all top leagues available)
MD3 : May 30-31 (Brasileirao, NWSL, UCL final, maybe some promotion/relegation playoffs?)
MD4 : June 6-7 ??? (Maybe some pre-WC friendlies)
MD5 : June 13-14 WC Round 1. Only one vaguely balanced match on the
weekend (CIV-ECU), all the others very unbalanced. KOR-CZE on Thursday
June 11 is probably the most balanced of the R1 matches
MD6: June 20-21 WC Round 2. Same as above.

Yeah, it looks quite tight indeed. I'm ok with waiting for next season,
it's indeed looking like the better option I think. And who knows, if
anyone actually joins the group during the WC we may eventually find the player we're missing for Tier 3 ->\_(paa)_/->


Best regards,

Ll|-o
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

On Tue, 5 May 2026 21:36:50 +0200, milivella <milivella@gmail.com>
wrote:

Futbolmetrix:

It's not looking that good for MD5 and MD6, unless one does something
like:

Qatar - Switzerland

1 (GD>=-1) if Qatar wins, draws or loses by no more than 1 goal
X (GD=-2) Switzerland wins by exactly 2 goals
2 (GD<=-3) Switzerland wins by 3 goals or more

I am against this. Again, just my personal vote, but even without going
full Mark, I think that the result of the team you pick should be your >result. If they win, you win; if they draw, you draw; (would it be
better to write "etc." or to spell the last option here?)

OK, but my proposal is essentially handicapping, which is a very
common thing in this context
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

milivella wrote:

Futbolmetrix:

It's not looking that good for MD5 and MD6, unless one does
something like:

Qatar - Switzerland

1 (GD>=-1) if Qatar wins, draws or loses by no more than 1
goal X (GD=-2) Switzerland wins by exactly 2 goals
2 (GD<=-3) Switzerland wins by 3 goals or more

I am against this. Again, just my personal vote, but even
without going full Mark, I think that the result of the team
you pick should be your result. If they win, you win; if they
draw, you draw;

Yeah, I think so... using a handicap system for an outright
prediction competition seems a bit unfair.

Imagine predicting a team to win, and they win, but you lose
really as your team (that you predicted to win) didn't win by
more than two goals! That's just stupid.
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

Futbolmetrix wrote:

Questions:
1) Do we start Season 66 right away, or do we wait until the beginning
of the 2026-2027 season? We will only have a few matches of the
traditional leagues, but then we will have to switch the the World
Cup.

I don't want to wait until the beginning of the 2026-2027 season.
Having said that, I'm on holiday for the next 2 weeks from May 9, which complicates things for me as I've got no web-based way of accessing rss.

I vote for starting the season in 2 weeeks time. (Or right away if
that's not an option.) We don't have to have matches every week anyway;
we can have some weeks off if necessary.

2) Unfortunately Silver Skull disappeared, so he has forfeited his
spot in UPT. Assuming nobody else joins, do we stick with an 11-team
format, with only three teams in Tier 3? Drop Homer and move to 10
teams (two tiers of 5?)? Add another bot (assuming no humans want to
join) and stay with 12 teams?

I vote for 2 tiers of 5.
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

Mark wrote:

Futbolmetrix wrote:

Questions:
1) Do we start Season 66 right away, or do we wait until the
beginning of the 2026-2027 season? We will only have a few
matches of the traditional leagues, but then we will have to
switch the the World Cup.

I don't want to wait until the beginning of the 2026-2027
season.

I reckon we should start next week.

Having said that, I'm on holiday for the next 2 weeks
from May 9, which complicates things for me as I've got
no web-based way of accessing rss.

Really? Oh, that's unfortunate.

I vote for starting the season in 2 weeeks time. (Or right
away if that's not an option.) We don't have to have matches
every week anyway; we can have some weeks off if necessary.

We're doing the vote thing again here?

Damn! I can't even remember the result of the last one!

2) Unfortunately Silver Skull disappeared, so he has
forfeited his spot in UPT. Assuming nobody else joins, do we
stick with an 11-team format, with only three teams in Tier
3? Drop Homer and move to 10 teams (two tiers of 5?)? Add
another bot (assuming no humans want to join) and stay with
12 teams?

I vote for 2 tiers of 5.

Two tiers of five makes sense to me, as I already said.
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

Futbolmetrix wrote:

1) Do we start Season 66 right away, or do we wait until the beginning
of the 2026-2027 season? We will only have a few matches of the
traditional leagues, but then we will have to switch the the World
Cup.

Just in case, here's my default picks for the first 2 weeks of the
season while I'm not here:

I pick whichever teams are highest in the League of the 2 teams in each
match; and if they're not available or whatever, I pick the home team.
I haven't thought it through any more than that as I don't know for
sure that we will be starting next week.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

On 05/05/2026 16:51, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Sun, 03 May 2026 22:31:50 -0400, Futbolmetrix
<futbolmetrix@yahoo.com> wrote:

2) Unfortunately Silver Skull disappeared, so he has forfeited his
spot in UPT. Assuming nobody else joins, do we stick with an 11-team
format, with only three teams in Tier 3? Drop Homer and move to 10
teams (two tiers of 5?)? Add another bot (assuming no humans want to
join) and stay with 12 teams?

For reference, in seasons 59 and 60 we had 10 players, one tier with 4
teams and two tiers with 3, and inter-tier matches. It kind of worked
OK.

For the record, I wouldn't mind this at all, I agree that it worked
quite well.


Ciao,
Werner
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

On Sun, 03 May 2026 22:31:50 -0400, Futbolmetrix
<futbolmetrix@yahoo.com> wrote:

Questions:
1) Do we start Season 66 right away, or do we wait until the beginning
of the 2026-2027 season? We will only have a few matches of the
traditional leagues, but then we will have to switch the the World
Cup.

There was mixed support for starting Season 66 right away. Given the
likely lack of matches during the WC period, I've decided that we will
resume UPT after the WC.

2) Unfortunately Silver Skull disappeared, so he has forfeited his
spot in UPT. Assuming nobody else joins, do we stick with an 11-team
format, with only three teams in Tier 3? Drop Homer and move to 10
teams (two tiers of 5?)? Add another bot (assuming no humans want to
join) and stay with 12 teams?

Unless another human joins, we will kick out Homer, and have 10
players. (Even though I'm tempted by the alternative to give ChatGPT a
try: we can prompt him to pick teams in part based on actual
probabilities of winning, and in part based on other factors (team
colors, something interesting in the crest, famous past players, etc.)

3) Lleo: pick two leagues.

Currently, it's Italy and Spain. Depending on when we start, Lleo has
the option to revise his picks.




--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

On 2026-05-10 12:48, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Sun, 03 May 2026 22:31:50 -0400, Futbolmetrix
<futbolmetrix@yahoo.com> wrote:

Questions:
1) Do we start Season 66 right away, or do we wait until the beginning
of the 2026-2027 season? We will only have a few matches of the
traditional leagues, but then we will have to switch the the World
Cup.

There was mixed support for starting Season 66 right away. Given the
likely lack of matches during the WC period, I've decided that we will
resume UPT after the WC.

Good decision, O Wise and venerable gamemaster.

2) Unfortunately Silver Skull disappeared, so he has forfeited his
spot in UPT. Assuming nobody else joins, do we stick with an 11-team
format, with only three teams in Tier 3? Drop Homer and move to 10
teams (two tiers of 5?)? Add another bot (assuming no humans want to
join) and stay with 12 teams?

Unless another human joins, we will kick out Homer, and have 10
players. (Even though I'm tempted by the alternative to give ChatGPT a
try: we can prompt him to pick teams in part based on actual
probabilities of winning, and in part based on other factors (team
colors, something interesting in the crest, famous past players, etc.)

With two tiers will we have cross-over matches (one per week for those
who don't have an opponent within their tier) ?

3) Lleo: pick two leagues.

Currently, it's Italy and Spain. Depending on when we start, Lleo has
the option to revise his picks.

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

Mark:

Just in case, here's my default picks for the first 2 weeks of the
season while I'm not here:

I pick whichever teams are highest in the League of the 2 teams in each match; and if they're not available or whatever, I pick the home team.
I haven't thought it through any more than that as I don't know for
sure that we will be starting next week.

Instructions for the assistant manager?

--
Cheers
milivella
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

MH:

With two tiers will we have cross-over matches (one per week for those
who don't have an opponent within their tier) ?

You mean I will play against a Tier 1 club?! I'm practically a Tier 1 player!!!

--
Cheers
milivella
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2