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Tdc_worm
8/4/2019 10:39am
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.
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.
Neat idea though.
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...
The Shop
"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.
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.
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...
A dominant rider will still win, but the current system allows a dominant rider to stretch it out.
Will Christen interviewed Jason Anderson by saying "how does it feel to close out the season...."
Every year the same nonsense... the fact is the guy that earned the most points won the championship just like Webb did in SX.
Get a bunch of checkered flags, win a championship.
Behind a bit, just win baby.
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