Power Rankings And The Struggle To Understand The Last Year Was Last Year
Written by Josh Smith
Like everyone else who is organizing their NWLA Tournament team I am feeling the heat from Gallaway to get everything in to Skibbe. It's a labor of love for Gallaway but if you drag your feet you will know it. I woke up this morning with dead blue jays in my bed. Chris Gallaway does not play! Last week I answered the door and had to stomp out a bag of shit that had been lit on fire. I have received several emails from Gallaway or Skibbe over the past couple of weeks. I work a lot and I don't always have time to respond to get things taken off of the checklist. There were a couple times last week that I was relaxing watching Netflix and I saw someone looking through my window. It could have been Chris but it also could have been the neighborhood pervert. Either way I made time to get all my stuff in to Chris because he knows how to send a message. The only thing left to do is write a second pre-tournament article and I might be able to go outside free from fear. I even check underneath my car for explosives before I start it these days.
So what can I say about the 3rd Annual NWLA Tournament? Do I expect it to kick ass? Absolutely. Anything Gallaway plans will definitely be thorough, well-planned, and unforgettable. I have been to the first two NWLA tournaments and he somehow always finds a way to blow me away year after year. I don't know if he has anything special planned for this year. Last year he had a jumbotron so who knows how he'll top himself this year. But as resourceful as Gallaway is, I'm sure he'll figure something out.
I am really looking forward to this year's tournament. Greg Sowards and I have been building our team since Opening Day. We consulted with our first base coach Patrick Rayl to pick the team in early June. Since then we've added a pitching coach (Jacob Fischer) and held several team practices. We haven't been very forthcoming with our proceedings of our NWLA team because I don't really feel anyone really wants to know. Our team made a "splash" at last year's tournament and seemed to create some hard feelings by [gasp] following the rules and our good time was cut short not by the loss to the PWL in the tournament but by the hostility of those who felt we betrayed the tournament by wrongfully taking a forfeit. We "screwed" over a team that ultimately would lose in the Dangerfield tournament. I talked with Jeremy Ratajczyk and buried the hatchet not long after last year's tournament came to a close and I look forward to seeing them again this year and laughing last year's fiasco off and maybe share a few drinks if they are open to it.
The forfeit, however, gave our team and league a black eye and ever since that point we have found ourselves on the bottom of many lists of power rankings. Good. Keep thinking that. I get it though. You have to come up with a second article before the tournament and there really isn't a lot to talk about after announcing your team. So you want to get the hype machine and trash talk started early with some power rankings. You realize with these types of articles most leagues pay attention and at least read it. So it's an easy way to write an article with minimal effort that appeals the attention of the entire tournament. It's a solid idea and I understand why some leagues have chosen to go that route for their second article. But I also feel that it's sort of an easy way out to wiggle out of the possibility of writing a more detailed or worthwhile article but I might be old-fashioned. It gets old after a while and everyone's rankings are more-or-less the same, their team towards the top and the same otherwise, which includes our league in last place. Pretty groundbreaking and original.
This year is not the same as last year. My team, other than Greg and I being at the helm, is nothing like last year. Many teams this year are better versions of themselves this year as compared to last. Aside from the WSEM's podcast with rankings, I doubt any other articles featuring power rankings are rooted in anything of substance. Because what team do we know the most about? Our own. Keep it that way and tell me why you think your team will or will not do well. Power Rankings are speculative and rarely accurate and most of all...they are boring when over-used. So I challenge all teams next year to make their second article something other than power rankings. Do the harder thing, make it interesting, mix it up, and get our attention.
I realize this probably won't be a popular article and I also realize my league is probably not that popular as well. But it is something that definitely needed to be said. When there are so many power rankings articles out there that the temptation to have power rankings article of people's power rankings (and yes, I felt that temptation) then something needs to change. Gallaway puts a lot of effort into the tournament and it's high time we try to match him. In fact I'm going to exceed his expectation and write a third article before the tournament begins.
In closing, I realize my team might have rubbed some people the wrong way last year. But as many of you will know, building a team for that first year is a challenge and the people you end up bringing are the only people willing to go and not necessarily the best fit for the tournament. We had the same issue last year. But this year we put a lot of thought into our roster and are brining some good players and fun guys. So give them the benefit of the doubt and leave any issues you may have with our team in the past because we have a whole new team.
Oh, and don't be late for any games you have with us.
