In the year 2000 Acclaim Entertainment published a video game called HBO Boxing. As a boxing fan I loved this game and played it all the time. At least until I found a flaw, a loophole. If you had your character squat down and throw nothing but long body shots, no one could hit you back. Better yet, the body shots could not be blocked. Staying in that position you could easily beat the entire game. It was the ultimate Super Punch! After learning that secret it was almost impossible not to use it. It guaranteed victory.
Most systems work great until someone finds a loophole. Once that loophole is discovered it becomes the secret to winning. Eventually everyone finds out about the loophole and it becomes common practice. It is at this point that the system falls apart. I believe that the WATL League system has a loophole that is being exploited and it might hurt the sport.
The World Axe Throwing League has four seasons, each with their own league - Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Each League is made up of 8 weeks of play. The first seven weeks allow players to accumulate official points that might land them at the World Championships. Those seven weeks also determine the seeding for week eight. The eighth week is a fun, unofficial tournament to determine the league champion.
What is the problem? The problem is that the seven weeks don't have anything to do with winning the League Championship. If a veteran thrower wants to win the venue title all they have to do is sign up and throw 4 games a night for seven weeks. They don't have to win anything or earn any points. Then they step in on the last week and wipe the floor with everyone in the tournament to take the title. It's a ringer loophole, it's the ultimate Super Punch!
Why is this a problem? If you want the sport to grow, you can't tell people to focus on their league battles only to have the rug pulled out on week eight. Yes you worked hard for seven weeks but really it was an illusion that will be shattered. The seeding is irrelevant if a veteran can beat everyone. The person who is officially on top of the WATL leader board for that venue might not be the champion. They might not be acknowledged as having done anything at all.
This is a big problem in the sport of Mountain Biking. There are high level road cyclists (Not officially Professionals) who train five days a week accumulating hundreds of miles on the road. Some have specialized diets and professional trainers. These cyclists show up at one or two beginner mountain bike races that qualify them for the MTB State Championships. They compete at the championships and blow away a bunch of actual beginners. These sandbaggers walk away with the Beginner MTB Title. It's a crazy loophole that remains untouched. It is one of the reasons that scores of riders never make it out of the beginner category and why the sport of mountain biking has been stagnant for the last 20 years.
There are many ways to fix this problem in Axe Throwing. One example comes from the world of BMX Racing. In Florida's SSA State Championships there are two titles given at the end of the season. One title is for the rider who accumulated the most points throughout the season, this is the Season Champion. The other title goes to the person who wins the State Championship race, this is the State Champion. It's a dual champion system that acknowledges the hard work and skills of both winners.
I know what you are thinking. Every kid wants a trophy? That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a prime Mike Tyson stepping into an amateur boxing tournament at the last moment and knocking everyone out cold. That is the equivalent of what can happen at League right now. League is supposed to be an entry level competition for new throwers but it can be used by veterans to crush rookies and take unlimited titles. Do you think those rookies are coming back next season?
Don't like the dual champion idea? No problem, another fix would be status levels. WATL tracks the number of wins by any given thrower and gives them a Label. From what I can tell the labels are based on accumulated matches played and accumulated wins. They are - Rookie, Junior, Senior, Veteran, Elder and Legend. The problem here is that these status labels hold no responsibilities or separations. Right now a Rookie with no wins could spend seven weeks building up wins/points during league and through blood, sweat and tears pull into the number one spot only to get shut out on the eighth week by a Legend who has 1000 wins under their belt. The Legend scores the brutal knockout!
Here is the best idea I can think of and it would be easy to implement. Two categories - Standard and Veteran. We already know who the veterans are. Keep everything about league the same except at the end of seven weeks there would be two league champions - highest ranked standard and highest ranked veteran. On the eighth week there would still be a tournament for League Tournament Champion. This would provide a stepping stone for newcomers while also providing a reason for everyone to give their best during league play. Most importantly it closes the ringer loophole.
Right now Axe Throwing is an open weight class and it's the newbies who are being crushed. If we lose all the newbies we end up with no competitors. If nothing is done to establish levels before November then the Amateur Championships will be dominated by throwers with "Legend" Status. These people who are technically "Not Advanced" because they didn't click a button, will wipe the floor with all of the actual amateurs. That is when you will see the outrage that I'm trying to help us avoid.
It seems like public discussion of these issues needs to continue. We all want the sport to succeed, it's time to talk about best practices. I look forward to hearing from the community.
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