there, i feel better now. and i couldnt make book to save my life. i am a horrid gambler. hell, im still a giants fan all these years later.
but back to your comments. one thing to keep in mind about vlads appearances in, or near, the finals. in almost every one (and i think it has been every one) it can not be overlooked that the list was skewed to force the senior fighter to match the junior fighters weapons form. really silly i think but the way things unfortunately are done. if left to the individual fighters choice the pole fighter is at a big disadvantage against the w/s fighter. not to take anything away from vlad mind you. he is a great pole fighter and probably the best one in atlantia (i think brand might be the best overall in the sca). but i think the format must be factored into the equation.
regards
logan
ps, and im not fighting for much bigger reasons than my injury.
DarkApprentice wrote:dukelogan wrote:i disagree with your contention godfried. while i applaud vlad as a fighter i must say that jonathan is a better fighter in the sca sense of the list. in all weapons forms except, maybe, pole arm jonathan is a superior fighter. i have to hit both individuals just as hard and well within the acceptable range. i have fought both in several weapons forms and have dominated the fights, but, jonathan has presented a more skilled fight.
he could win a crown one day. i find the idea to be exciting and appalling at the same time. but it will be won by his skill, courage, prowess, and heart and not by anything else. ive got a keen eye for this game and i know this to be true.
regards
logan
ps the odds were silly and surely was nothing more than a troll attempt. if you truly want odds ask me.
Logan, you and your Brooklyn ways wouldn't know how to make book if you walked into a print shop. I do agree with you about Jonathon's skill though.
Vlad has finalled before, and with pole arms there are only a few people in his class- Maynard from Aethelmarc (He's the guy who did really well in the Best of the Best 2 years ago) just won their Crown I heard, (just made) Master Revlin from the East, and Sir Brand from the West. The problem he will face is in the finals against a top flight fighter like a Cuan or a Logan, who in best of 3 or 5 should be able to beat any pole arm more often than they lose to it. He is a superlative fighter though, and near the top of Atlantia's Crown contenders at the moment.
There is a tendancy in Crown, and other sporting types events for "hot" participants to be rated higher than long running contenders. Also, in sports with regular "tree based" tournament formats and ranking systems (although the SCA doesn't have a ranking system, there is a kind of unspoken ladder out there), generally the number one seed in a tournament wins. If it is not him, then someone in the top five wins. If someone has won several tournaments in a row, they will generally win. Rarely does someone outside of the top five win. If they do, it is largely because other people got injured, knocked out in a tough match, or they did not enter the tournament at all. Crowns and SCA tournaments follow this model (in Atlantia if Cuan or Logan is in a tournament and uninjured, they will 90% of the time get to the final). Let sum up:
1) There is a de-facto ranking system in the SCA- Dukes, Counts, Knights, etc.
2) The number one seed in the tournament is Janos. He just won Ymir- again. He is no longer burdened by being Baron of Nottinghill Coill, and he looks hot right now. The guys who would usually beat him aren't in the tourney right now.
3) For whatever reason a few of the top level fighters are not in this Crown- Dagonet is in School, Halvordh is in England, Rags just stepped down, Logan is still injured, and I don't know why but Robert, Michael, and Keegan are all not fighting. That leaves the tournament kind of open for a "new" winner.
4)There are many up and coming fighters who are kept at a lower level on the ranking system because they cannot overcome one or more of the top level fighters on a regular basis. If Andrew of Wiggan cannot beat Cuan because he has a mental block against him, then he isn't suddenly going to be able to beat him, and even though he is a great fighter, he won't suddenly be a Duke because he cannot win Crown under his given circumstances. Andrew's odds might be good if Cuan is not in the tournament, but with Cuan in his odds would change- Andrew moved out of Kingdom, and Bang! he won Crown. Anton and others used to muse about how many of the other guys in the Kingdom would be Dukes if he and Cuan, and Michael didn't fight in Crown anymore. Look what happened, Anton and Michael stopped fighting, so Amalric and Halvordh and Rags all won Crowns. That never would have happened in the early nineties- with the exception of Galmr winning that Desert War depleted Crown.
5) Unbelts who win Crown either become unbelted Dukes, or get knighted very soon thereafter- Morgan (East), Kynan (Outlands), Direk (Caid) Gaston (Trimaris- I think you were an unbelted Duke) were all unbelted Dukes (Morgan and Gaston did get knighted), Galmr and Logan both got Knighted soon after winning Crown (yes Logan they were going to Knight you anyway, but the timing supports the evidence that you were a "hot" stick at the time). Unbelts who win Crown are either the hottest sticks out there, or the luckiest guys out there "list" wise.
If you are the number 20 guy in the Kingdom, you get number 20 guy odds. If you are the number 20 guy, and you just won Ymir or the Squire's Tourney at Gulf Wars, you get better odds because you are hot, and been training once a week with Michael of Bedford for the last six months, or maybe you are coming into your own right now.
The numbers were meant to be fun, but as you can see, there was some thought put into them. If they offended, I apologize.
Good luck to all the combattants
DA
