News and Views: 2006–7 Season

Fixtures and Results:

Question Balance

The following table shows the number of games won each week by the teams going first and second, respectively, in the Specialist rounds.

It is not an exact science that there should be a precise balance between teams going first or second winning equally – there are games when (if you were inclined to bet on the outcome) you would expect one team to beat another whichever way around they played – but it gives another indication of "balance".

Week 2: there were some very close scores though that would have altered the balance, three games only being won by less than ten points (and in one instance just one point). If those results were reversed, the balance score would have been 4–6 rather than 3–7.

Week 3: five of the eight games won by the team going first were won by less than ten points, which indicates that a large number of games were very close this week. The five games I mention were won by margins of 2 points, 4 points (twice), 7 points and 8 points to be precise. One of the two games won by teams going second was also won by over 50 points, so many variables come into play.

Week 4: three of the games won by the team going second were won by less than ten points (4, 6 and 7 points in fact). If those results had been reversed, it would have meant a 7–4 balance for teams going "first first".

Week 11: the Specialist Round was won by the team going first in nine of the ten games whilst the GK round was split 5–5. Some comments were also received about too many "date–related" questions as well as an early return for some questions which have been asked already this season.

Week 12: the Specialist round was won by every single team who went first, mostly by quite reasonable margins. The same team then won eight out of the ten General Knowledge rounds going second (usually by much closer margins – by only one point in two games, and two points in another).

Week 13: the two teams who were going "first first" were the Ox–fford and the Sutton Club (winning by 8 and 10 points respectively) Some of the nine teams who won going "second first" also did so by narrow margins – one game was won by two points, two games by six points and another by seven points – whilst the remainder of the games were won by wider margins.

In Week 14 there was also one drawn game.

Week 16: the Ox–fford 'C' were the only team to win going "first first", beating the Dolphin by just 6 points.

Week 17: the Dolphin, Ox–fford 'C' and the Plough Taverners were the three teams to win going "second first".

Week 1: 31 October 2006

Respect is Due

... to the mighty Alan Hodgson from the Dolphin for hitting the magic "full house", top of the shop: 60 out of 60. 20 questions, all answered correctly. I can remember the odd 57 in the mists of time (and a good many 54s) but never anyone getting all the lot right. If anyone can remember it being done before, let me know. It certainly hasn't been done in the "modern era". Alan – many congratulations, we are not worthy ...

Questions

Thanks to all teams for scoring the questions in terms of "5 for content / 5 for balance" to give the total mark out of 10. Whilst I am not sure which way around some teams put the figures down, adding together what I think were content and balance scores came to the same total – 155 marks in each category out of a total of 310 marks awarded. 

Week 2: 7 November 2006

I mentioned it in last week's email, but Nick Peck from the Waters Green Wonderers has an interesting on line "blog" you might care to look at. You can find it all at http://nicksquiz.blogspot.com.

Three of the ten games this week were won by the teams going first in the Specialist round whilst the other seven were won by the team going second.

Week 3: 14 November 2006

I have a fair bit of feedback saying you like to hear the "question balance" information, so I will keep providing it ...

Week 4: 21 November 2006

Congratulations to Caroline and Tim Massey from the Ox–fford 'C', new proud parents of their second small person – William George Simpson Massey who started to absorb facts for later Quiz League usage shortly after 5.35pm on Sunday the 26th November. I suspect we are looking at an A League champion of 20 years from now, when most of us will be sat in a corner annoying our relatives who think we smell a bit funny ...

Click on the thumbnail for a bigger picture!

Week 6: 12 December 2006

Normal Service Resumed ...

Best wishes to you all for 2007, and can I offer both mine and my wife Jo's thanks for your many kind messages after her pre–Christmas accident. She is now much better and pretty glad to see the back of 2006 all told!

Cup & Plate: 16 January 2007

One or two comments were made about the question balance. Of the nine games, seven were won by the team going second and just two by the team going first. Rounds 2 and 3 (questions 21–40 and 41–60) were won by the team going second in every game whilst the rest of the rounds were evenly spread.

Week 13: 27 February 2007

Congratulations to the Waters Green Wonderers and Waters Green Rams who both recorded their first league wins of the season, thus formally scuppering the potential record breaking achievement of 2 teams from the same pub going through the whole league season without gathering a single league point. Nick from the Wonderers alludes to this trampling of tradition in his excellent blog, which I commend to you if you haven't read it already (shame on you!) ...

... and More Questions

Haydn Thompson from the Ox–fford 'C' has done some very interesting analysis on last weeks results (when all ten games were won by teams who had the same questions) and the whole matter of question balance / scoring in general.

I will be providing Haydn with all the score information for the rest of the season played thus far so he can look at the complete picture. I think the results will be interesting and may throw up some suggestions for alternative approaches next season.

Watch this space for an update as soon as Haydn has had the chance to examine the data.

Week 14: 6 March 2007

Question Round Up

Another first this week: the first drawn game of the season, between the Three Crowns and the Church House Bollington.

Personal Scores

We are now at the stage of the season when either the best 11 (A & B Leagues) or 12 (C League) individual scores from however many games you have played are counted. Several players have now played more games than these numbers. Just in case anyone was wondering why their totals had not increased as much as they thought they should have ...

Questions for Cup and Plate Finals

Attached to the News and Views this week is a sheet of paper and an envelope for all teams to write 20 questions for use in the Cup and Plate finals.

You don't need to handwrite the questions on this sheet if you don't want to, but 20 questions from everyone are required!

Even if you are still in either the Cup or the Plate, you should still supply the questions as they can be used for the other competition.

Week 17: 6 March 2007

All the relegation places are filled [as we approach Week 18], but the promotion race goes down to the wire!

The B League title (and indeed promotion of any sort) is all to be decided [in Week 18]. In the C League the Sutton Club are assured of going up, but as in the B League, everything else is still to play for. There are also lots of people in all three Leagues who could still get into the "Top 10" individual places depending upon [their] performances [in Week 18].

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