New Scaratings

Danny K's, the 2016 McCarthy Cup Champion, is pleased to announce the 19th Annual McCarthy Cup Tournament. Having approved the following rules, the team has elected to invite ANON to be guest commissioner for the tournament this year. He will be running the week-to-week administration of the tournament; but if there are any issues over the interpretation of the rules or other disputes, they will adjudicated/decided by Danny K's.

Without further ado, here are the

OFFICIAL RULES:
As has become customary for this tournament, it is for wetware teams only. This means no computers and no references of any kind are to be used during gameplay, either paper or electronic (or telecommunication from outside the location). Using the Buzztime Playmaker app on electronic devices such as iPhones, iPads, or Droid phones is fine, of course, as long as this is the only purpose for which the device is being used, and it is being used in and for the location of the team. Just to be clear, if a team engages in these activities or any form of cheating, it is a disqualifying offense.

All teams that abide by this primary rule are welcome to play, either by signing up on ScaRatings or BadBart or otherwise contacting ANON. All teams must register no later than MIDNIGHT (EST) ON SUNDAY, March 19. We reserve the right to personally invite additional qualified teams after the deadline to round out the field. Play will commence on March 21 and will continue weekly until the end of the tournament, which, barring unforeseen events, should be no later than May 9.

There will be two phases to the tournament. First, a four-week qualifying phase will start on March 21 in which the total points for each team will be tracked. Each team will be able to drop one low score for the final cumulative total after the April 11 game. The top teams thus calculated will advance to the knockout phase of competition. This will give teams the ability to stay in the competition even if a glitch or system crash knocks them out one week (this seems to have happened to at least one team in almost every past tournament). In such cases, the week of the glitch/crash will serve as the dropped score for those teams.

The second phase will be a standard bracketed elimination phase. The number of teams in the knockout round will depend on how many teams sign up (for example, if only 18 teams sign up, we would be more likely to have 8 rather than 16 in the final round). Seedings for the brackets will be determined by the cumulative score described above.

Should Buzztime have a system-wide repeat game during the tournament, that week’s scores will be ignored and the tournament will be extended by a week. Teams faced with a sudden close or loss of Buzztime at their home location may play at another location as long as they notify ANON in advance of the game and continue to follow contest rules in the new location. In general, we take no responsibility for and offer no solution nor redress for localized problems (i.e. power outages, lack of players due to illness or vacation, etc.) with one possible exception: If a team in the semi-finals or finals suffers a documentable and unavoidable mid-game crash, its victorious opponent may invite that team to a rematch, but is under no obligation to do so.

The winning team will receive not just the glory of being the brainiest bunch out there, but also the custody for one year of the beautif...er...majesti...um...DISTINCTIVE McCarthy Cup Trophy, the right to have a plaque with its team name and date inscribed on it placed on the base, and the responsibility of hosting the 20th annual tournament next spring.

Let the sign-ups begin!

Danny K's is officially in.
So is The Fellowship (BWW-Kent, OH)

_________________
Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

The Kzoo Krew (BWW-Kalamazoo) will participate.

Here is the list of teams that have signed up, to be updated periodically until registration closes:

Danny K's (Orange, CA)
The Fellowship (BWW-Kent, OH)
Kzoo Krew (BWW-Kalamazoo)
Four Corners (Chapel Hill, NC)
Big Guys (Winnipeg, MB)
Teaser's (Chicago, IL)
Mad River (New York, NY)
Stadium Cafe (Addison, TX)
Tailgate Sports Cafe (Minneapolis, MN)
BWW-Tallahassee, FL
Humperdink's (Dallas, TX)
Tilted Kilt-Scottsdale, AZ
Bilmar Station (Tampa, FL)
BWW-Blacksburg, VA
809 Sports Bar (Oklahoma City, OK)
Old Barn (Portland, OR)
BWW-Bloomingdale, IL
Coaches Pub (Houston, TX)
Wallaby's (Lenexa, KS)
Adam's Mill (Manchester, CT)
BWW-Albuquerque, NM
BWW-Arlington, VA
Blue Goose, Cincinnati, OH
Scooters, Las Vegas, NV
End Zone, Ironton, OH
Houlihan's-Westbury, NY
Broadway Bar and Grill (Nepean, ON)
Sonoma's (Columbia, MD)
K.C.'s Time Out (Evansville, IN)
Meriden AOH (Meriden, CT)
Moose McGuires (Ottawa, ON)
Cedar Cottage (Vancouver, BC)
West Park Station (Cleveland, OH)

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

Teaser's in I guess (said in an Eeyore voice).

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Merkin

Mad River will play, although once again you're having it during Passover (two Tuesdays this year), and some of our players will sit that out.
XT

Stadium Cafe will play. Although these days we're lucky to field 4 or more players on any given Tuesday. The times they are a changing.

And please, if this is the schedule then stick to it. Teams know what the schedule is when they sign up, if they then choose not to play one or more weeks then that's on them. Not the rest of the field. Thanks.

Please include Buffalo Wild Wings from Tallahassee, FL in the McCarthy Cup.

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KENDO

Consideration for Passover would be appropriate and appreciated.

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Merkin

Mad River agrees with Merkin.

The decision is not mine to make, of course, but I will alert the folks at Danny K's to the issue and report back on their decision.

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

ANON, Point out (to Danny K's) that with the rash of bomb threats to Jewish Community Centers, even Trump has condemned anti-Semitism. It would be appropriate not to penalize any teams because some of their members are observing their religious traditions.
XT

This has nothing to do with yours or any others religious beliefs, I respect them all even if I may or may not understand them. This has to do with the fact that a small number of teams will be at less than full strength because of the beliefs of one or more of their team members. This does not mean the team will be unable to compete however. It's no different than if a team member has to be out of town on business, or if a team member has family duties to attend to. It's frustrating to have to miss, but life goes on.

When game 1 of the 1965 World Series fell on Yom Kippur and Sandy Koufax declined to pitch, did MLB put the series on hold? No, they held the game as scheduled because Koufax was part of a team and he was replaceable. This situation is no different.

In my opinion, it's not fair to the tournament as a whole to postpone the whole thing because some teams may or may not be at full strength. If this postponement is granted, any team can then request a postponement because a team member is missing for any reason.

I'm largely in your camp, BO, but these closing lines weaken rather than strengthen your argument. The merit of the request depends on multiple teams seeking lenience, all for more or less the same reason. Didn't this question (Jewish holidays) come up last autumn?

Is there any particular reason why we need to hasten to the end of this tournament? If not, a viable compromise (viable in my estimation, because I'm suggesting it) would be to extend the qualifying round from 4 sessions (with one drop) to 5 sessions (still with one drop). This could be done on an ad hoc basis, depending on the timing of the tournaments vs religious or community celebrations.

Whether Danny K's is willing to entertain this suggestion, the Tailgate, with less wobbly equipment and better attendance, is in.

I assume that, unlike major league baseball, the organizers of the McCarthy Cup have no television contract to fulfill.
XT

I'll be at Danny K's tonight for a while. If I see any of the players, I will ask them. Also, I will ask them to reply here. I'm not trying to get in the middle of this, just trying to speed it up in case they don't reply.

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Middle age is when a broad mind and a slim waist exchange places.

Thanks, GOGETEM! Just for everyone's information, I have been forwarding all comments on this issue to the Danny K's team rep via email to keep the team fully apprised of the arguments being made here. It would probably be more efficient, though, if someone from the team could be persuaded to check in here.

Thanks again!

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

Bilmar is in subject to confirmation from the team. (sent from Trinidad/Tobago)

BLUMAX

The Blacksburg crew will play.

We are now playing out of the local Buffalo Wild Wings, as Hokie House has dropped Buzztime, as has Big Al's, our previous second option.

Thanks.
Bill AKA VIKING

So the Danny K's crew has discussed the Great Passover Debate of 2017 and we've decided on a small compromise. The start date of the McCarthy Cup will be postponed one week; it will now commence on March 21st. Barring any network glitches, this will place the final game of the qualifying round on April 11th, hopefully mitigating the effects of low player turnout for one of the weeks. Unfortunately, we must insist that the game on April 18th, the first of the knockout phase, be played as normal. No matter what the issue, the Danny K's crew will always endeavor to make adjustments for the benefit of the Cup. It just so happens that our own schedules demand that this year's final be no later than May 9th (earlier start dates also don't work).

Dave (FSPLIT/TIMMAY)

An elegant solution, YOTCHO.

Sign up BWW-Bloomingdale.

Reb

Coaches Pub (Houston, TX) requests to be included.

Brooke/AARDVK/KRIEM/LGLPRO/SFPRO

Count Adams Mill in

Bilmar is in, affirmed.

BLUMAX

BWW-Albuquerque is in!