Flag Football's Great Debate

 

Double Elimination or Pool Play?  This question has sparked more on-line debating and formulated more opinions than the US Bailout Package.  But before we discuss which format is “actually” better, lets look into why this is such an important topic to begin with and why formats actually dictate why some teams even play or not! 

The reason a tournament format holds so much weight to a teams’ mental preparation is that they actually believe one format gives them an advantage over the other to win!  Yeah, I thought it was crazy as hell when I first heard it, but that fear of a format is real!  Time to add another “phobia” to the ever-growing list of “Flag Phobia’s”.  Let’s just call this one, “Format-a-phobia” - the fear of formats (Psycho chick in shower screams here).  

 

But lets simplify this just a little bit and discuss the REAL difference between the two and see what has so many players bent out of shape.  The ONLY real difference between the two formats is when the actual pressure of losing is applied to the teams!  There you go!  That’s it!  Nothing else needs to be said! 

But I will continue just for argument sake…..

So what does that mean (when pressure is applied)?  It’s this simple; in DE the pressure is applied early in the tournament because if you lose your first game in a DE tournament, especially with 20+ teams, your tournament is officially over.  You are just playing for respect now.  And when you think about it, after the 1st round that applies to HALF of the tournament participants!

Now you can come back and win you say.  Of course, if you have a roster of 40-50 players, and you can play all day and night, which is often the case in Orlando.  They pack the hell out of some rosters!  What team can REALLY bring a 40-man roster to any tournament, especially across the country?  Once you lose your first game with 16 players, it’s on to the nearest seafood buffetl.

Pool Play, on the other hand, applies pressure late in the tournament.  After you have competed in your pool (2 or 3 games) you enter the single-elimination round on Sunday, where you win or go home.  Hence, late pressure is applied.  So the question is, “Would you like your pressure now or later”?

Now people that are against PP will argue that the early games don’t mean anything, so why play them?  What Pool Play offers that DE does not is flexibility!  You can set up your format to where only so many teams advance to the single-elimination round, which gives meaning to all the games and applies both early and late pressure!  Double whammy!

You can also guarantee more games and first time match-ups with PP.  Teams also can spend less time at the fields (play their bracket and leave) and more time actually visiting the city, which are the two main reasons why most people attend major tournaments in the first place - lots of football and a mini-vacation. 

DE does however, allow you to see when you play next, but that depends on if you win or lose and even then the time between games can be excruciating!   In large tournaments, you can have anywhere between 3 to 6 hour wait times! 

Your time will say 3PM but kickoff is at 6:38PM.  At this point, all you see are delirious grown men with shirts tied around their heads and flip-flops walking around aimlessly asking anyone who will listen if the game is over.  You think a tournament is tough?  Please, you ain’t lived until you have spent 12-14 hours at a field to play 3 games, all the while maintaining your sanity!

Biggest myth?  DE actually determines the better team.  That’s crazy.  The result of multiple games and the last team that survives the early pressure, late pressure or both determines who the better team is. 

But in reality, there are pros and cons to both, however for a major tournament that is designed to attract more teams, Pool Play is more of an incentive to travel great distances and it also offers a better balance in games so that teams are equal when facing one another in later rounds.  Where as with DE, a team fighting through the losers bracket can find themselves at a huge disadvantage fatigue-wise. 

 

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