Mercy Rule

[teamcarramrod]

It seems stupid that every region doesn't follows the same set of rules. Is this honestly necessary, http://www.ncrha.org/game.php?game_id=80569?

Why isn't a mercy rule used? Just doesn't make any sense. But what do i know, I'm sitting at home.

[Leaferguy]

Sometimes you need to test if the "1" on the left of the scoreboard works. Just in case, ya know?

[RichardGraham]

Hi Alex,

The NCRHA's changes the clock to running time after a team takes an eight-goal lead. I mentioned your question to Rob Coggin, the NCRHA's director of league operations and officiating, and he said, "This is collegiate athletics, we don't truncate games. There are very few, if any, college sports that end games early."

[GoRangrHky]

Softball I know for sure does. 8 runs after 5 innings. I don't think it's necessary in college roller hockey, however. In regional play, if you're a bad team, you're never going to get better playing games that don't go past the midway part. You've come all that way to play- you don't want to get 14 minutes of hockey and stop each time.

And there are plenty of college conferences that play by different sets of scoring rules.

[Seven]

I mentioned your question to Rob Coggin, the NCRHA's director of league operations and officiating, and he said, "This is collegiate athletics, we don't truncate games. There are very few, if any, college sports that end games early."

What's sad is that Rob and the rest of the NCRHA brass don't get the point of the question. The question, truly, isn't: "Why isn't there a National mercy rule?" but rather, "Why is there so much of an inequality between teams that a mercy rule is necessary?"

Other college sports don't have mercy rules because it isn't necessary. Teams are well organized, have talent, and the divisions are appropriate. In the NCRHA, however, divisions are politically-motivated cop-outs to get the most wins for your team and make your region look strong. The simple fact that teams with such horrible talent are even invited to Nationals says something about the NCRHA and inline hockey as a whole.

[MBurke]

What's sad is that Rob and the rest of the NCRHA brass don't get the point of the question. The question, truly, isn't: "Why isn't there a National mercy rule?" but rather, "Why is there so much of an inequality between teams that a mercy rule is necessary?"

Other college sports don't have mercy rules because it isn't necessary. Teams are well organized, have talent, and the divisions are appropriate. In the NCRHA, however, divisions are politically-motivated cop-outs to get the most wins for your team and make your region look strong. The simple fact that teams with such horrible talent are even invited to Nationals says something about the NCRHA and inline hockey as a whole.

http://www.achahockey.org/game_detai...edule_id=19484

By this line of reasoning, I guess ice hockey and the ACHA are a joke, too. Shall I post some first-round NCAA basketball routs as well?

UT - Arlington was the only selection from their respective region for that division. It's a club sport and this was a B-division game.

Please do elaborate on how the divisions are "politically-motivated cop-outs" - which regions are unfairly benefiting from the divisional structure?

Better yet, how do you propose we bring more parity to the league?

[RichardGraham]

Hi Mike,

A quick Google search shows me this:

"The biggest NBA blowout was on December 19, 1991. The Heat lost to the Cavaliers by the score of 148-80, a 68-point deficit."

Would add more, but my ride's leaving!

[Leaferguy]

It's a trap.

[Seven]

By this line of reasoning, I guess ice hockey and the ACHA are a joke, too. Shall I post some first-round NCAA basketball routs as well?

Nice cherry picking a statistic, Mike.

Games from the ACHA M1 National Tournament that that had scores that were grossly disproportionate (which I would define as +6): 1 (out of 16 games). (Even if you said +5, it would only be 2 games.)

Games from the NCRHA National Championship Tournament D1 that had scores that were disproportionate (which I would define as +7 for inline hockey): 3 in the first round (out of 8). (As an aside, the three games were +10, not the minimum +7 for my definition.)

Please do elaborate on how the divisions are "politically-motivated cop-outs" - which regions are unfairly benefiting from the divisional structure?

Mike, you've been around long enough to see this as plain as day. DII has always been the ECRHA's golden child. And it doesn't help with the ECRHA doesn't suggest/require/budge teams like Neumann into DI, regardless of their tired excuses.

Better yet, how do you propose we bring more parity to the league?

National standards for divisions that are mandated and perks to being in higher divisions. You figure out the details.

[GoRangrHky]

Naturally, because of the high scoring nature of roller hockey compared to ice hockey, it is easier to have what you could blow out scores by a team that is significantly better. Any time you put together any group of teams, there are naturally going to be teams that are stronger than others

http://www.iihf.com/channels0809/ww/...ener/2068.html

What do you suggest they do there? Limit the tournament to the US, Canada, Finland, and Sweden?

The ECRHA has no grounds to force any team into any division. Divisional classification is done on a national level. While I agree that they should move, there is nothing that a region can do to make that happen. Regardless, I do not see how divisions are politically motivated cop-outs, especially when the criteria for Division I continues to maintain that it is not about skill level.

Also, a quick look at the 2008 NCAA men's basketball tournament bracket shows quite a disparity in scores http://www.extreme-sportsbetting.com...e_men_ncaa.gif Mississippi Valley scored 29 points against UCLA. There were blowouts all over the place, including in the regional finals (UCLA over Xavier and Memphis over Texas). Clearly the NCAA has done nothing in developing their tournament, and fan outrage is mounting (as was made clear by the only 72,456 showing up this evening at Ford Field).

[MBurke]

Nice cherry picking a statistic, Mike.

Games from the ACHA M1 National Tournament that that had scores that were grossly disproportionate (which I would define as +6): 1 (out of 16 games). (Even if you said +5, it would only be 2 games.)

Games from the NCRHA National Championship Tournament D1 that had scores that were disproportionate (which I would define as +7 for inline hockey): 3 in the first round (out of 8). (As an aside, the three games were +10, not the minimum +7 for my definition.)

You chose to pick a 17-0 game from the B division as your "cherry-picked" statistic. If the case you were trying to make was DI, fair enough - there have been some lopsided games, but also remember that the number of divisional bids (24) was set back in June as part of the incentive/perk program you're recommending. Apparently that wasn't enough for teams - as a result, teams that might not have been invited otherwise are out here.

Mike, you've been around long enough to see this as plain as day. DII has always been the ECRHA's golden child. And it doesn't help with the ECRHA doesn't suggest/require/budge teams like Neumann into DI, regardless of their tired excuses.

So you picked a B game score and are now talking about lopsided scores in DI as a justification that ECRHA DII teams should move up? Judging by this year's bracket, Neumann is the only one to win by your definition of lopsided above, but Central Michigan and UCSD put big thumpings on opponents, too.

And are you serious about ECRHA not nudging/suggesting that Neumann move up? We've been doing that for four years running. Ask Neumann. Ask any other team in the ECRHA that attends our ACC meetings. Many of the changes we made via the link I'm about to post (NCRHA divisional restructuring) were made to try to spur teams to make the move.

National standards for divisions that are mandated and perks to being in higher divisions. You figure out the details.

http://www.ncrha.org/article.php?article_id=52705

Now please address specifically what we're missing here, short of being able to MANDATE that teams change divisions.

If it's Neumann specifically you're complaining about, don't blame the region or NCRHA - short of actually mandating that they move, we've done just about everything in our power to try to facilitate that.

[DGlass]

UTA was under no requirement to attend Nationals. As B Division champions, they were extended an automatic bid and accepted.


Blowouts occur in every sport. I believe Chattanooga lost to UConn by 50+ points in the first round of the NCAA tournament this year. Chattanooga was there because they won their conference. A rather similar situation to UTA if you ask me.


To beat a dead horse, the staff and BOD of the ECRHA have no direct influence on divisional placement. As a BOD member, I would love to see Neumann advance to DI because I feel they are more than organized enough and more than talented enough to compete. They, however, do not feel the same for one reason or another. That is their decision until something changes and takes the decision away from them...

[Seven]

You chose to pick a 17-0 game from the B division as your "cherry-picked" statistic.

So you picked a B game score and are now talking about lopsided scores in DI as a justification that ECRHA DII teams should move up?

I didn't choose any such game. I'll wait for you to reread who did choose that game and await your apology to me before responding to the rest of your post.

[DCbullets14]

I think its important to keep in mind how easy it can be to come back in inline hockey. I know this season my Aihl team came back from being down 4 or 5 in the last 4 minutes of the game. I am not very familiar with the ncrha but wasnt there a really big come back involving UCI last year? I could be completly wrong about this and I am sorry if i am.

My thought is that there should never be a mercy rule because it prevents teams from playing the game. Even if a team is seriously out matched they still improve by simply being on the rink with a better team. Why make a rule that prevents less skilled players from being able to play a full game.

[MBurke]

Nice cherry picking a statistic, Mike.

Games from the ACHA M1 National Tournament that that had scores that were grossly disproportionate (which I would define as +6): 1 (out of 16 games). (Even if you said +5, it would only be 2 games.)

Games from the NCRHA National Championship Tournament D1 that had scores that were disproportionate (which I would define as +7 for inline hockey): 3 in the first round (out of 8). (As an aside, the three games were +10, not the minimum +7 for my definition.)

...

Mike, you've been around long enough to see this as plain as day. DII has always been the ECRHA's golden child. And it doesn't help with the ECRHA doesn't suggest/require/budge teams like Neumann into DI, regardless of their tired excuses.

...

National standards for divisions that are mandated and perks to being in higher divisions. You figure out the details.

I didn't choose any such game. I'll wait for you to reread who did choose that game and await your apology to me before responding to the rest of your post.

Sorry, one out of two. I'll take back the B-game comment, but the rest still stands. You're still mentioning lopsided DI scores, and I'm not sure how moving Neumann up (though I am certainly in support of them doing so) would solve that with the current field size, something we couldn't ratchet back down after it was announced.

We just restructured the divisions under a year ago - how quick (I'm not being facetious here) are people expecting things to shake out? One season isn't a lot of time.