Natty Wiff Talk Episode 2
Hey nattyyyyyyy peeps! I'm back and better than ever with another article about changing rules. First, I want all umpires to have a mandatory 0.12 blood alcohol level. Second, I want to incorporate a season to the tournament with teams traveling week to week against other leagues. Finally, I want you to check out Justin's great article called "How to Throw a Strike". Not only does he diagram a process of how to throw a strike, he shows what to do when you can't, a process that would be mandatory in the rule I proposed.
Before Trent starts lighting up Twitter in a complete uproar this article isn't about rules. After I supposedly embarrassed Leroy by not being able to be on the rules call, I am ending rules talk for awhile. No one seems to get the rule and I don't feel like arguing, yet I also don't think its the right time to incorporate the pitching tier anyway. Side note, for all those who think i hate fast pitch, I don't. I would rather have fast pitch than slow pitch, end side note. So, what is this article about? Luck. I had the honor of being a part of the almighty Two Wiffle Dudes Podcast as the 47th guest. Check it out here: Episode 47. One of the questions was did Leroy get Lucky? So I was intrigued to find out if we got "lucky" or not. This article will rank each of the 16 team's strength of schedule for not only pool play and double elimination games, but also rank them based on just double elimination opponents. The formula is simple: ((Opponents Record * 2) + Opponents' Opponent Record) / 3. So Let's check it out!
Home Run League: 4-2
All: #16 - 0.420 Rating
DE: #16 - 0.393 Rating
This team played 4 teams that finished the tournament with only 1 win. They beat a great Tampa Bay team, but lost to WWF in the double elimination tournament. Yes the game went 35 innings, yes Artim is a badass, but after years of experience at this tournament i have learned one critical thing: bring more pitchers. The heavy reliance on Flakne doomed them against the Leroy Train.
Kalamazoo Wiffleball League: 5-3
All: #15 - 0.474 Rating
DE: #14 - 0.519 Rating
This team ruined my dreams last year finally stopping the train in a 1-0 win over the never talked about 7th place finishing Leroy Legends. They beat teams they should have, but lost to teams that were equal or slightly better than them. They beat PWL 10-0 in pool play, then lost to them 20-4 in double elimination. TWENTY RUNS to FOUR RUNS. the other three opponents were LWA, MNWA, and GAWL. I mean they were basically handed a top 8 finish, congrats.
Griffleball League: 2-3
All: #14 - 0.490 Rating
DE: #15 - 0.490 Rating
In the podcast I talked about my 8 year old neighbors being better than Rat's club. If they have another year like 2016 it might have some truth to it. They went 2-1 in pool play which they should have. By my standards they should have beat PWL, but losing to GAWL... really. You are an original 8 team playing against some new guys and you get 1 hit shut out against them. Your better than this, Tyler get this team going already.
Wild Wiffleball Federation: 1-5
All: #13 - 0.498
DE: #12 - 0.526
Zach Artim wants you to know he is coming for everybody's soul in the 2017 tournament. The beard itself will probably get 3 to 4 k's a game when he's pitching. They played some decent teams, but had one signature win against HRL. All i know is we need to find away to get Gigi to Morenci because them wings sound hella good.
Tampa Bay Wiffleball: 5-3
All: #12 - 0.524
DE: #6 - 0.630
They had an overall easy schedule, but got ransacked by OCWA and SWBL in double elimination causing an exit. They have a great hatred for ORWBL and i don't like it. They also found a way to win our March Madness Bracket Challenge with absolutely no effort in spreading the word. Impressive.
Hess Field Wiffle Ball 3-3
All: #11 - 0.530
DE: #10 - 0.545
To the team that called us "fucking scrubs". Thanks for giving us motivation to get the train rolling. The guys from this team are great, I mean you just lose to a bunch of nobodies and they still gave us handshakes. They played BCW and a washed up WWF after Artim's performance to get a top 8 though.
Hudson Valley Wiffle Ball: 1-4
All: #10 - 0.533
DE: #13 - 0.521
This team played 3 teams that weekend. After destoying MNWA in pool play they lost to TBW and HRL. They went into the double elimination tournament and played TBW and HRL yet again to go 0-2 and get sent home packing. Rumor has it Jimmy Cole sued the league for what its worth causing the collapse. Shoutout to Kris Morse for shitty managing in 2016, its a disgrace that we don't talk about that mor(s)e.
Ontario County Wiffleball League 0-8
All: #9 - 0.539
DE: #1 - 0.652
This team's first four games had a combined 5-17. This team's next four games have all won a Championship. They beat the best to win, did they have the easiest road getting there, yes. The golfer turned gopher Justin Tomkins gets another trophy, wooooo get out the sponge meme. Shoutout to my team the Eskimo Bro's. #Let'sgo!!
Wiffle In somepart of Michigan 6-2
All: #8 - 0.546
DE: #4 - 0.638
The Evil Empire played BCW twice. Lost to OCWA and SWBL, with Farkas going to play for BWACS next year things could get interesting. Love the league, they set many standards. If you don't know what those standards are talk to Carl he will let you know, then he remind you in a week. Then he will remind you once again in a picture on your facebook dated August 4, 2008. Stop cornholing me.
Backyard Wiffle Ball League: 1-4
All: #7 - 0.564
DE: #3 - 0.639
This team's only win came against a 90 year old man. I hear he's a legend though so who knows. They have a sweet field, so I guess there's that.
Minnesota Wiffleball Association 1-5
All: #6 - 0.564
DE: #2 - 0.642
This team played six games and 4 of them finished top 8. Trent's dream is to come onto the scene with everyone picking them as 15th or 16th. Then have his team make a Cinderella run to a 7th place finish. Let's all vote him 15th next year so he can make a run. In all seriousness Trent is one of the first guys who got me in the scene. The guy came on our shitty podcast before it was a podcast and shot the shit. Great dude who loves the sport, I respect you even if you now hate me and my league.
Leroy Wiffleball Association: 3-4
All: #5 - 0.571
DE: #11 - 0.529
Were we lucky, I don't know, don't really care. We upset Hess, Skippy, and HRL. Two of those coming in DE, we had the 5th hardest strength of schedule. If my ass would have thrown Brett against WSEM we would have won that game to. Since I love collusion, Carl offered my a month's worth of TWD advertising if i threw Kevin, and i couldn't turn the offer down.
Potomac Wiffleball League 3-4
All: #4 - 0.573
DE: #7 - 0.595
Chris Galloway's team, had a tough schedule and still won some games. Whoever runs this team next year better wake up early grab a cup of Coffee and get down to work getting a number 2 pitcher.
Skippy Wiffleball League 8-3
All: #3 - 0.580
DE: #5 - 0.636
This team played 11 games in 2 days. They didn't take the easy way to the Championship, but they got there behind guys like the pitching of Spencer Gonad, the fielding of Chris Roeder, and the bats of Sam and my fav, Gus. They colluded their way to a #1 team in the preseason power rankings and look to take 2017 by storm.
Brew City Wiffleball 0-5
All: #2 - 0.587
DE: #9 - 0.570
This team played five games in pool play and double elimination. All five games were against top 8 teams. Would they have won against anyone else? I'll give you a hint, it's the same answer to the question: Is Chris happy about not getting drafted in SWBL this year?
Greater Auburn Wiffleball League 1-5
All: #1 - 0.595
DE: #8 - 0.586
That's right this team had the hardest strength of schedule in the tournament. They played six games, 5 of them coming against top 8 teams. The other was a win against GBL. Is this team bad, or were they thrown the gauntlet in their first tournament. I guess we will find out in a couple weeks.
So what did this teach us, probably nothing. Early next month I'll give my insight on the 14 shitty teams who couldn't qualify last year. Till then check out our league its awesome.
