Ahh, tournaments. They are the backbone of the bowling universe. Head to head competitions go on daily around the globe with all sorts of incredible rewards to those skilled and determined enough to reach the top. We figured it was high time to create our own tournament...with a cash prize for the 1st and 2nd place finisher.
"But won't the tournament be won by the people with the highest averages in the league?" Not the way we've set it up. Everyone is on a level playing field. Interested? Read on...
We here at GutterAlley put our bowling obsessed minds together and came up with our very own tournament – the Tournament of Champions! Knowing that it would be nearly impossible to garner enough interest to include the majority of the league in an off-site tournament, we decided to simply use each person's weekly scores rolled in our league in the tournament which runs the length of the season.
Here's how it'll work: at the beginning of each 16-week season, we'll let roster bowlers (no subs!) qualify for a spot on the tournament's brackets by simply setting their average. At the end of Week #3, no matter how many games you have bowled during that time – at least 3 games, at the most 9 – the top 32 bowlers will be ranked according to their average and then seeded in one of four divisions.
Starting Week #4, head to head battles will commence using the scores thrown during regular league play. To put everyone on a level playing field we will include a 100% handicap, meaning that someone whose average is 120 will get 80 pins automatically added to his or her score when facing someone whose average is 200 to make it even.
Example: Division 1's #8 seed Angela Bradford's average is 172 and she's facing #1 seed Jason Carpio, who is carrying a 206 average. AB shoots a 174 to Carpio's 200 even. Since there is a difference of 34 pins between their averages (206-172) and since we're using 100% handicap, Angela's score for her matchup in the tournament would be 208 (174+34) to Carpio's 200. AB wins and advances to the next matchup! Suck it, Carpio.
Each week, your scores will be used across three rounds – one round per game. If you win your matchup in Game #1 you will earn one point and move onto the matchup in Game #2 to face another opponent. Win that game and you'll earn two points and advance to round three. Win that one and, you'll never guess how many points you win...that's right, three! Big shock, huh?
If your opponent doesn't happen to be there on any given week, don't worry. We will simply have you bowl against yourself in order to advance. Beat your own average and you win, bowl at or below it and you're out.
But why do you want to earn points? Well, that's how you earn a berth in the championship round of the Tournament which takes place during the week of the league's Finals. The top two point getters in each of the four divisions will be seeded accordingly and pitted against one another for the crown.
We've managed to retroactively extract the matchups and winners of the Tournament of Champions all the way back, with one exception, to our Spring 2003 season. In doing so, we've learned one thing – ANYONE can truly win the tournament, which was our goal when we set out to create this. As of this writing (January, 2012), only three of the Top 25 Bowlers in our league's history have come away with winning the Tournament of Champions over the span of 17 seasons. Truth be told, no one in Division 1 has ever won the Tournament!
Now, to make it fun, we figured that we would ask people to contribute a mere $2 to enter the tournament. It's by no means necessary, but you have to enter to win a cash prize. The prize money will be paid out to the entrants that finish in 1st and 2nd place (ties would split their respective payouts)...provided they paid to enter. In the event that the finishers in 1st and 2nd have not paid to enter, the prize money will be awarded to the highest finishers that did pay to enter. In a perfect world where everyone enters, there would be $64 dollars in the prize pool to be paid out to the two two finishers. First place would receive $42 while second place would go home with $22. So, that's the Tournament of Champions. We hope it provides a new realm of fun in every season going forward!
NOTE: Starting with the Fall 2012 Season, weeks 5-15 are seeded within each division based upon each bowler's performance the previous week. This change was made to increase the variety of opponents throughout the season. Prior to Fall 2012 weekly matchups were seeded based upon average.
Back to the Tournament of Champions...
