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Date: Thu, 09 Jul 1998 09:54:56 +0000
From: Raf Freire <Raf.Freire@Bristol.ac.uk>
Reply-To: Raf.Freire@Bristol.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Handicapping
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On Thu, 9 Jul 1998 09:49:15 +0100  CHughes@chelt.ac.uk (HUGHES, Chris) wrote:

Ok, this bit of bait has to be more interesting than theorising with a
hangover about mental representations in animals.

>So far the most simple strategy seems to be the most effective, in
>giving the lower seeded team in any game a head start dependant on how
>many seeding points they are behind their opposition.

this only affects the end result- i.e. the game is still the same its just
that you've increased the chances of the weaker team winning. This is
basically what happens in racing and golf- it works in those two "pastimes"
because individuals compete against a clock or scorecard. It (or any similar
strategy, e.g. points scored by weaker team count double) would work fine in
ensuring "tight SCORING games all week-end".

What would be really clever is to level the playing field so that games are
TRUELLY tight, rather than just the score being close. HOW? By making it
relatively easier for the weaker team to score.

For example, you could have two endzone lines, such that the weaker team play
on a 25-70-25yds pitch, whereas the stronger team play on a 10-100-10yds
pitch. I'm sure there are other (probably better) possibilities, but I can't
be bothered to come up with them.

Rafi (22)