Previously, the playoff tiebreaker was ERA. This year, however, it's different.
In the event that a playoff game ends in a tie, the deadlock will be broken using the following system:
1. Winning percentage against this opponent during the regular season.
2. Playoff seed.
Ridiculous, right? They also note that custom leagues cannot set their own tiebreakers. Looking for answers, I took the liberty of e-mailing Yahoo!.
I wrote:
Hello - as a longtime Y! fantasy customer, I was curious as to
your decision to change the playoff-matchup tiebreakers. Can you explain
the reasoning for switching to a tiebreak system of regular season
head-to-head followed by overall seed?
Why was an option not provided for custom leagues to keep the classic
way that Y! had used in the past?
They replied:
Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.
I understand you would like the option of customizing the playoff
tiebreakers.
I apologize for any inconvenience, regretfully, the feature you're
requesting is not currently available. However, we'll be happy to
forward this feature to the product team as an enhancement request. We
appreciate your suggestion and we will give it consideration when we
prioritize new features for Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.
No, Yahoo!, I didn't write to you because I wanted the option. I wrote to you because I wanted answers as to why you made this absurd change that makes no sense.
Thanks for nothing.
Posts
I disagree. I didn't understand why it was era as the tiebreaker. Last year my brother (1 seed) tied a friend (obvs a lower seed) in the semis, and my brother lost cause of era.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think era is a better tiebreaker then head to head matchups or playoff seed?
In many leagues, especially like the one we run, its all about balance hitting and pitching. So why does the better pitching team get the benefit over any hitting category?
Obviously if they add the custom tiebreaker choice for next year we would have a vote. But I like the change.
I agree with Mike, I also like the change. Didn't make sense for it to be ERA because its one category out of like 20 something, why should it be ERA and not average or wins or homeruns, you get the point. It makes more sense for it to go to head2head first, i don't know if i like that seeding plays a role, but I like the h2h change. Of course, I think we would all like it if we had the option to pick what it is though.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you guys. In my mind it makes no sense for the tiebreaker to be something that is out of the control of both managers when it actually comes playoff time. Sure you will reply, well it does matter when you play that team, just beat them. Well then to ensure that you are never disadvantaged in the event of a tie we should all just have perfect seasons right? Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteThe reason for having one of the categories be the tiebreaker is because during the matchup, both managers can manage to get that crucial tiebreaking category. You should be able, during the playoffs, to have some power to win the matchup in the event of a tie. With the H2H tiebreaking rule, you have no such power. You are helpless as a lower seed and need to beat the higher seed outright. One the one hand I hear the argument you guys will make that, "well if you are lower, then you should have to take more categories than a higher seed." However, at the same time, what if the scenario arises where:
- Division A: Team 1 has the best record in league, team 2 2nd best record in league
- Division B: Team 1 has the best record in this division, however, a worse record than team 2 in Division A
Now take that scenario and put it in the playoffs as our league works, Division A Team 1 is the #1 seed, Division B Team 1 is the #2 seed. Even though Team 2 from Division A has a BETTER record and OUTPERFORMED Division B Team 1, they have a lower ranking. Thus in the playoffs, if these teams met and tied, the team that actually is WORSE would wind up winning the matchup. To respond to someone saying "this sort of scenario is far fetched," well 2 years ago Ricky finished 2nd in my division (behind me) yet he had a better record than the other division's winner. He went on to meet the other division's winner in the playoffs, even though the result wasn't a tie, it certainly could have turned out that way. Had that happened, under the new rules, Ricky (even though the better team record wise) loses.
This one example goes to highlight why something that was determined in the regular season should not hold all bearing come playoff time. ERA is a sensible category as it affects all of pitching and which categories you go after, which players etc. While certainly another category could be used, as Bob suggests, it still nonetheless should remain that a category from the actual matchup in the playoffs determines the tiebreaker.
That is my two cents even though it doesn't matter b/c Y! is gay and came up with this dumb ass rule.
- Defending World Champs BITCHESSSSSS
A playoff matchup shouldn't be decided by something that happened during the regular season. That's my biggest issue.
ReplyDeleteI'd even be understanding if playoff seed was the first tiebreaker, but not regular season head-to-head. I think that's just silly.
Let me edit something I said: A playoff matchup shouldn't be decided by something that happened during the regular season (with such a small sample size).
ReplyDelete