I’ve said it before, but one of the things (aside from fur and claws) that really sets me apart from most people is that I enjoy being proven (PROVEN…with a *P*) wrong. To go to bed better than I woke up is a great thing in my opinion. As an added bonus, being “proven” wrong on something feels like winning a game against the team in first place because not only did I “learn” something (which is +1/2), but I also no longer have something “wrong” (that’s another +1/2!).
I emphasized the word proven above because it seems to be the major sticking point in many discussions I’ve had of late. Some people believe they can simply say, “YOUR WRONG!!!” (spelling intended for extra irony…if I spelled it right and made this comment in error, then there is the extra irony!) and that will suffice.
Others think they can say something, be proven wrong, and just keep saying it. In real life it’s even worse because people tend to just say the same exact thing, but ~L~O~U~D~E~R~~! because obviously the reason I didn’t agree the earth was flat is because I have an acorn in my ear and couldn’t hear their detailed analysis (IT’S FUCKING FLAT MOTHER FUCKER~!!!!). Ah yes, it’s flat, that explains it, answers my questions, rebuts my facts and wittily attacks my Oedipus issues, well played!
As silly as it might seem to dedicate an entire rant to the audience least likely to read (understand? accept?) it, I’m going to give it a go.
1) Talk to me…here
The front page of the site has a blurb of text that says,
“Please go here if you have any questions and/or suggestions.”
That same message appears on almost every single page. To my knowledge the only pages where that message does not appear is on the forums and in the rants section. Despite this (and having posted my e-mail on more than one occasion) I keep having people direct me to other sites where people are asking questions about the site.
As it stands I don’t even have enough time for this site, I certainly don’t have time to scour the web and answer questions across other sites/forums. If you have a genuine question, then ask it here. If all you want to do is complain mindlessly like you would at another random top 10 list, then by all means continue on as you have been. Just realize that it doesn’t reflect poorly on the site or me when you do it.
2) The site works
I think one of my “favorite” things to see is a thread 4 pages long and someone randomly going, “The site doesn’t work”. Now let’s be clear, the site isn’t “perfect”. The site can and will improve, but the site *DOES* work. Here are some facts…
- Raw Prediction Percentage about 33% better than flipping a “fair” coin.
- Overall system integrity above 95%
Those are facts. If you want to say the raw prediction percentage should be higher, go for it…and explain how. If you want to say the system integrity needs to be higher (it really is, but I’m a sandbagging piece of shit), then go for it and let us *DISCUSS* it.
However, until you can show that the numbers are wrong (they aren’t), can show they are too low to be considered “working” (got news for ya, most of your doctors and lawyers didn’t score 95%+ across the board), or some other *SYSTEM* level issue, please stop posting blatantly wrong information.
Again, if you want to discuss this point, lets do it. If all you want to do is post one or two line, “It doesn’t work” bullshit, just please don’t. You are wrong, you look bad, and you waste people’s time. Flush out the idea a bit, explain the issue at a deep system level and I will gladly discuss it and implement any reasonable change.
3) Why blame me!?
This is the mini-rant intermission. Let’s explain the basic parts of a “ranking” system.
1) The matchmaker (they determine the two fighters)
2) The fighters (they determine who wins/loses)
3) The ranking system (tries to make sense of it all)
Those are the three main parts. I could easily add in the commission in terms of judging/appeals, but lots of fights don’t go to decision/petition so that step is only sometimes present. The above three steps are always there.
Now armed with that knowledge lets take a look at some of this week’s “OMFG BOB IS RANKED TOO HIGH AND IT PROVES ELO SUCKS” fighters. I say this week’s because it always changes. A year ago people bashed the site because of how high Lyoto was ranked. Two years ago it was Miguel Torres. I still have hate mail in my inbox because of Jon Jones (shockingly he joined the UFC and everything was ok). In much the same vein, Rothwell hate has slowed considerably as he signed with the UFC, then got matched up with Cain…just a coincidence I’m sure.
Fighter 1 – Chris Tuchscherer
Chris is currently ranked 11th at HW. Some think he is too high, let’s look at the stats:
Wins – 17
Loses – 1
Wow, that’s a pretty insane record. People think he’s ranked too high though because of who he’s fought. Let’s again look deeper:
Strength of Schedule – 1572.
Wow that is pretty low. There’s no doubt he’s fought (on average) lower ranked fighters at this point. This is also obvious because we notice how the system has adjusted and rewarded him fewer and fewer points for many of his wins.
Now let’s go back to our three parts of “rankings” and work from bottom to top.
The ranking system – (that’s me) some people want to blame the ranking system because he’s highly ranked. The system showed him moving up the list very slowly. We had him top 25 awhile ago and he just keeps moving up. The system has acknowledged his lack of major competition and adjusted itself by giving less points. What kind of mystical ceiling do people think the system should set? (and where is the proof it should even exist?)
The Fighter – The dude is winning. Certainly we shouldn’t blame him. He gets in the ring and he wins. That’s really all we can ask of him. Sure he had a string of decisions right around Yamma, but he’s also finished a lot of people previously and since.
The matchmaker – So we have a fighter on a win streak. A fighter that is clearly moving up the rankings, a fighter that is beating the competition at one “level”, and our response is to…not give him harder competition. Suddenly the matchmakers have caught on and given him a step up in competition, but why now? Why not give this guy a step up (and I’m not talking top 5 level competition here either) a year ago?
You see, the fighter in this case did their job. The fighter got in the ring, and they won.
The ranking system did its job. It literally said, “hey pay attention to this guy and put someone in front of him that will beat him”. In the absence of that it rewarded fewer and fewer points for the wins they did incur.
The matchmaker continued to make matches that were not compelling. They made matches that didn’t fit from a risk/reward point of view. Given the bad matchu-ups the fighter did their job and won. The ranking system did it’s job and adjusted and continued to cry for a fix.
As an honest question, why are people so quick to blame the ranking system here?
Realize that all Gonzaga has to do is win. If Gonzaga wins, he’ll be higher ranked than Chris and Chris will be outside the top 10. Is that not what people want/expect? If Chris wins though…what are the odds his name shows up in a top 10 list somewhere other than here?
It amazes me that some people would look at this situation and think it shows how the system is “flawed”, when it seems like a pretty obvious case of the system working very well (especially given the circumstances it had no control over).
Fighter 2 – Jake Shields
Jake is another name that has come up recently because of his position on the p4p list. Some of the issues I discussed with Chris above apply to Jake as well. However, some of it just seems like biased hate. (please prove me wrong)
Jake Shields has won 12 fights in a row.
Jake Shields has won fights across multiple weights.
Jake Shields has won fights against multiple top 10 (top 5ish) level fighters.
Those are all facts. If you think one is wrong, then call me on it and we can discuss it further. Given the above though and the recent performance of some other fighters, what is it that makes Shields’ ranking so outlandish?
Has Shields fought a few weaker fighters? Sure, but almost everyone has. People seem to bash Fedor for fighting Zulu, and yet they never mention that Nog did too. In addition to weaker fighters he’s also beaten people like Okami and Lawler.
Honestly, if your son or husband or boyfriend or whatever had done what Shields has done lately (and throughout his career) wouldn’t you be a bit upset if he wasn’t ranked fairly high? (not tops, but I mean honestly, doesn’t the above warrant some attention!?)
Just like Chris though, if he’s too high, have someone beat him.
It won’t help
I know in most cases this won’t help at all. Some people hate for the sake of hating and they don’t have a reason for it.
“I hate this it’s made with eggbeaters instead of real eggs”
-”Uhh I used real eggs for yours”
“I hate that they are store eggs, you can tell they aren’t as good as free range chicken eggs”
- “Uhh I went next door and got them myself from the farmer 20 minutes before you woke up”
“I hate that this tastes cold”
- “Uhh maybe if you’d shut your yap and eaten to start with it wouldn’t be”
*shrugs*
The point is, some people want to complain and so be it. They will complain when they are wrong, and they’ll relish when they think they can complain in a way that shows someone else is wrong. The real haters aren’t going to say they’re sorry, they won’t admit they are wrong, and they won’t listen to reason or common sense. So be it…
Just understand that this site is different. The rankings are different, and the author here certainly is different. Some sites it feels like your only option is to go elsewhere and mindlessly complain. That isn’t the case here. I give up a lot of hibernation time to make sure it’s different here.
To those that want a different kind of site, that are willing to listen, to think, to discuss…I welcome you. I am a highly flawed person that knows I’m wrong on a lot of things and I welcome you…I implore you…I hope you will *PROVE* to me how I’m wrong. The only requirement is that you are also willing to open your ears as well as your mouth and risk that you might actually be proven wrong as well. I know it’s a risk, but I think it’s one worth taking…feel free to prove me wrong. 8)