Grading on a scale....

Tdc_worm
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Austin, TX US
8/4/2019 10:39am
i got to thinking that an SX/MX series gets king of boring when a rider has a decisive points advantage and elects to "manage" the series by playing it safe....they put themselves in that position because of consistency and they deserve to have that luxury. they end up playing to not lose rather than playing to win.

that said, imagine a series where the points paying positions are graded on a scale where #1 gets 100 pts (arbitrary), and #20 gets 1 pt, and everyone in between gets points based off of their time between the two.

not only would the riders be racing the other racers, but they would now also be racing the clock. it would potentially nullify some "bad beats," like a broken chain or brake failure due to a bent rotor or a rider that was taken out by another rider. it would reward dominance in speed. rather than entering the last handful of races in a series with a mindset of finish no worse than say 4th (arbitrary) to maintain the points lead, the points leader would now have to actually race regardless of position.

i guess, in theory, bonuses for podiums offset that to some degree, but the big prize is still the championship.
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soggy
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8/4/2019 10:42am
meh.
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bama205
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8/4/2019 8:20pm
Too hard to follow actively during the races.

Neat idea though.
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philG
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8/5/2019 3:27am
Series gets decided by DNF's and not wins... you can never make the points up.
Tdc_worm
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8/5/2019 5:34am Edited Date/Time 8/5/2019 5:34am
philG wrote:
Series gets decided by DNF's and not wins... you can never make the points up.
2017 SX: Dungey had 3 wins. Tomac had 9 wins and no DNFs. Tomac's wins did not decide the championship. Tomac's 15th place finish at round 6 where they had to cut his front brake line decided the championship. He was running in 4th and finished in 15th...it may as well have been a DNF.

Hypothetically, if there were a point differential for raw speed, Tomac may have had another tool in his tool kit to win the championship. The only tool he had in the 2017 finals in Vegas was to try force Dungey to have a bad loss. All things considered, I think the only way you can execute that strategy flawlessly is with contact, which opens the debate for dirty riding.

For the record, I really don't care who wins. I'd just prefer the racing to peak towards the end. In 2017 it did. In 2018 when Anderson finished by laying up a 17 and 5, he was racing to not lose...
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The Shop

Motoxdoc
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8/5/2019 5:51am
I know the GP series used to use the racers combined overall time for both motos as a tie breaker rather than who did better the second moto.
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Forty
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8/5/2019 6:10am
Managing a series is a race strategy.
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Tdc_worm
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8/5/2019 6:24am Edited Date/Time 8/5/2019 6:26am
Forty wrote:
Managing a series is a race strategy.
I acknowledged in the original post:

"elects to "manage" the series by playing it safe....they put themselves in that position because of consistency and they deserve to have that luxury. "

to premise of the idea is to keep more eyes glued to the TV set. an idea similar to this might keep the racing closer. if it did, the series could get more exciting. thats good for the fans. the more eyeballs on the TV, the more revenue the sport generates.

everyone would still have to manage the series. not unlike a pro sports team has to manage its regular season and peak during the post season.
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Tarz483
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8/5/2019 8:16pm
I Dont really like the idea , but I agree it gets boring when it's pretty much over towards the end, Not to mention people have a pretty short Attention span these days ,
What about just having 2 SX Series per year instead of 1 long one , have 2 eight Round series , And Crown a champ after each one.
Hoks
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8/6/2019 6:55am
Right now there is zero recognition of the guys that finish 2nd and 3rd in the series. Change that and it will have less of a boring feeling. How many years did the champion check out and you found yourself wondering who was gonna finish 2-5th? Look at other sports, the champ is the champ but damn they still recognize the guys that could finish on the podium after a long series of the fastest possible riders we have.
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Tdc_worm
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8/6/2019 8:57am
It does just seem weird that the current format allows for the season to become rather anti climactic towards the finale under certain circumstances. From a spectator's stand point, a forgone conclusion is boring, and many will invest their time (eye balls) else where. From a promoter's stand point, lost eye balls is lost revenue. More revenue into the sport benefits everyone.

Team sports has figured out a way to do this: consistency gets an advantage at the end of the season (i.e homefield), but you cannot lay up when you should be peaking. The 2007 Patriots failed to peak when it was most important.

Perhaps, for the finale, consistency (i.e points standings) could determine your gate pick (home field advantage), rather than qualifying. Then for the race itself, maybe a Triple Crown type derivative that somehow promotes a "sudden death" feel and has larger point pay outs...
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FreshTopEnd
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8/6/2019 10:56am Edited Date/Time 8/6/2019 10:58am
If you want points to be closer toward the end of the season, you need to: (a) reduce the points differential in the finishing order (i.e., use 25 points to first and 24 to second, not 25 points for first and then 22 to second), and (b) allow riders to drop one moto score (GP's did this in early 70's).

A dominant rider will still win, but the current system allows a dominant rider to stretch it out.
Tdc_worm
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8/17/2019 6:48pm Edited Date/Time 8/17/2019 6:52pm
stoked for Tomac....a DOMINANT closure to this season! No need to watch next weekend....which means revenue lost for all parties.

Will Christen interviewed Jason Anderson by saying "how does it feel to close out the season...."
bvm111
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8/17/2019 7:00pm
I know it wasn’t fair to the others that Eli had the most points... lets change it so they all have a chance to win. That weekend that someone didn’t ride well, that wasn’t fair let them drop that bad performance so they can still have a “fair” shot at winning the most points at the end of the series... because that will be “fair” to the guy that actually earned the most points in the end.

Every year the same nonsense... the fact is the guy that earned the most points won the championship just like Webb did in SX.
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Tdc_worm
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Austin, TX US
8/17/2019 7:32pm
it's not a fairness argument princess. its a money argument. you can write the rules a million different ways to make the snowflakes happy. the bottom line is that the way it scored right now, everyone will lose money next weekend because eyeballs will be pointed elsewhere. whether we like to admit it or not, the season is reality TV for us MX nerds. when the "bachelor" finds his season trophy, that is the "grande finale"
Drtbykr
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Fredericton CA
8/17/2019 7:54pm
I agree winning should be rewarded more, 5 more points than second.

Get a bunch of checkered flags, win a championship.
Behind a bit, just win baby.
5280mx
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Lakewood, CO US
8/17/2019 9:41pm
Hoks wrote:
Right now there is zero recognition of the guys that finish 2nd and 3rd in the series. Change that and it will have less of a...
Right now there is zero recognition of the guys that finish 2nd and 3rd in the series. Change that and it will have less of a boring feeling. How many years did the champion check out and you found yourself wondering who was gonna finish 2-5th? Look at other sports, the champ is the champ but damn they still recognize the guys that could finish on the podium after a long series of the fastest possible riders we have.
Great point... I never miss a race and was a little surprised when the broadcast mentioned this was the third year in a row that MM25 finished second in points. That is quite an accomplishment in its self.
cody331
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8/17/2019 10:45pm
Something I never understood about the argument for a rider dropping a race and maybe someone can explain it to me: Go to 2017 SX as mentioned above, Tomac's worst finish that year was 15, I don't remember what the points paid that year but say he got 5 points for that. Dungey's worst finish that year was a 4-5? So if he's forced to drop that and the 18 points he got for that finish isn't that penalizing his consistency?
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