Nationals Series Prediction Game

[CaroLiza_fan]

***THESE ARE THE FINAL RULES***

As you may have picked up from the discussion in the GP Predictions Game thread over the last few days, we have decided to start up a new Predictions Game for National Championships!!!

The rules for the National Series Predictions Game are the same as the rules for the majority of the GP Predictions Game. In fact, there are only 2 changes.

The first is that we are going to have a dedicated Predictions thread for each National Championship.

The second is that, because there are certain categories (usually Pairs and Dance) that have low entries at some National Championships, we will only be including them in the Predictions Game if they have FIVE OR MORE ENTRIES.

Although they will not count towards the results of the Predictions Game, I would ask that players make predictions for these categories anyway, just for fun. That way, at the end of the Game, it will help us organisers understand whether we were right to exclude these categories in these events.

tulosai spelt out the rules very clearly at the start of the GP Game, so the only change I have made to the original post is to re-word Rule 1 to reflect the 2 rule changes, and to remove references to "Grand Prix"! To make my changes to the original clear, I have italicised them:

First, huge thank you to Macassar88 who came up with this idea last year!!

Rules (pretty much the same as last year):

1. Guess the top 6 finisher in each discipline at each National Championship.
Each event will have it's own dedicated thread in which to make predictions. For handiness, I will provide a list of the entries in the first post in each of these threads.

2. Only the top 5 guesses of each person will be scored. The 6th person you guess will be an alternate in case one of the 5 skaters you pick withdraws or can't compete at the last minute.

3. You can change or make your predictions until one hour before the first event at each National Championship starts. If the pairs are first and they start at 7pm EST, you have until 6pm EST to make ALL predictions

Scoring

Scoring is going to be different than last year. Please note I'm still open to input on this and let me know if you have questions/ it is not clear.

What I propose that that each correct guess is worth 15 points. If you guess Mao will be first and she is first, that is 15 points. If you guess Mirai is 5th and she is 5th, that is 15 points.

Each guess that is one placement off is worth 10 points. If you guess Ashley is 2nd and she is 1st, you get 10 points. If you guess Gracie is 5th and she is 6th, you get 10 points.

Each guess that is two placements off is worth 5 points. If you guess Akiko is 4th and she in 2nd, you get 5 points. If you guess Tukt is 3rd and she is 5th you get 5 points.

I hope this will accomplish several good things: It will hopefully ensure that each discipline and each event have equal weight in your final score. Men won't be more important than ladies because they are worth more points, and American Nationals won't be more important than Canadian Nationals because the judges are scoring higher (for example). It will make it so that each guess everyone makes is equally important and can be equally harmful. It will also hopefully make the scoring easier for the scorers.

Now, after a lot of discussion, we have decided that the following Senior National Championships will be included in the Predictions Game:

National Championships Game

Round 1: Italian Nationals (19[SUP]th[/SUP] – 21[SUP]st[/SUP] December 2013)
Round 2: Japanese Nationals (21[SUP]st[/SUP] – 24[SUP]th[/SUP] December 2013)
Round 3: Russian Nationals (24[SUP]th[/SUP] – 26[SUP]th[/SUP] December 2013)
Round 4: Chinese Nationals (28[SUP]th[/SUP] – 29[SUP]th[/SUP] December 2013)
Round 5: American Nationals (5[SUP]th[/SUP] – 12[SUP]th[/SUP] January 2014)
Round 6: Canadian Nationals (9[SUP]th[/SUP] – 15[SUP]th[/SUP] January 2014)

Also, be aware that the Senior Competitions at American and Canadian Nationals are on the same days, so you have to make extra sure you get your predictions for both in on time!


This thread will be available for general discussion about the game, and for analysing how the game is progressing. But, please keep the predictions and subsequent discussion about each event in the specific thread for that event:

Italian Championships: Predictions Game Round 1
Japanese Championships: Predictions Game Round 2
Russian Championships: Predictions Game Round 3
Chinese Championships: Predictions Game Round 4
American Championships: Predictions Game Round 5
Canadian Championships: Predictions Game Round 6

Thank you so much to tulosai and the scorers of the GP Game for making it such a success. This new game would not have been possible without you!

Good luck everybody!

CaroLiza_fan

EDIT: The Google spreadsheet can be found here (Thank you so much for your hard work setting it up pitterpatter!): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Avmfh8nvif_kdDYyR2dxWmtad2JrQ05MTFQ2UFlDaEE&usp=sharing

EDIT 2: In light of the number of late predictions that are coming in for Japanese Nationals, I have had a discussion with the scorers, and we have reached the following decision:

In the event of predictions being submitted late, only those predictions for competitions that have not yet started will count.

So, using the Japanese SP timetable (Dance, then Pairs, then Men's and finally Ladies) as an example:

If you submit your predictions in between Pairs and Men's, then your predictions for BOTH Men's and Ladies will count towards the Game.​

If you submit your predictions during the Men's competition (even if your skaters have not yet taken to the ice), then ONLY your predictions for Ladies will count towards the Game.​

I hope this clears everything up.

CaroLiza_fan