UK North (Most Competitive League 2008?) Week19
With three weeks left I know that most leagues will still have teams in contention for the lead and playoff positions, but I don't think there can be any where the competition is as tight as the UK North.
Last weeks results saw the top three teams in the league lose, whilst the teams just below them scored some good wins. This has left just 2 games between first and fourth and even seventh place (and therefore not even in the playoffs) is only 5.5 games out of first place. The team in 10th is only 13.5 games out from the top spot (8.5 games from the playoffs) and could still challenge with three strong weeks - though on a personal level I have to hope that they don't have too strong a time of it this week as they are playing my Tigers.
The trade deadline passed without any further deals taking place, but as ever several players have hit the waiver wire the most notable of which have been Jason Isringhausen lasting only 8 days on the Rainow roster, Bronson Arroyo who only lasted a day with the Dice K's and early season stud Johnny Cueto who was also dropped from the Dice K roster. Notable pick-ups have been Billy Butler going to the Northampton Squirrels and Ryan Theriot to the Redditch Redskins.
Results.
- Birminghams Raven 8 , Rainow Ravens 3
- Edinburgh Dukes 8 , Northampton Squirels 3
- Norwich No 8 , Redditch Redskins 4
- Sheffield Rox 7 , Earlham Ewoks 4
- Leicester Tigers 4 , Darlington Dice K's 6
- South Shields Yankee 4 , Norwich NightWizards 8
- MK Magic 4 , Birmingham Redbirds 8
Standings
| Rank | Team | W-L-T | Pct | GB | Last Week | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | South Shields Yankee | 115-95-18 | .544 | - | 4-8-0 | |||
| 2. | Redditch Redskins | 114-95-19 | .542 | 0.5 | 4-8-0 | |||
| 3. | Norwich No | 114-96-18 | .539 | 1 | 8-4-0 | |||
| 4. | Leicester Tigers | 111-95-22 | .535 | 2 | 4-6-2 | |||
| 5. | Birminghams Raven | 113-99-16 | .531 | 3 | 8-3-1 | |||
| 6. | Sheffield Rox | 106-96-26 | .522 | 5 | 7-4-1 | |||
| 7. | Edinburgh Dukes | 108-99-21 | .520 | 5.5 | 8-3-1 | |||
| 8. | Darlington Dice K's | 104-101-23 | .507 | 8.5 | 6-4-2 | |||
| 9. | Northampton Squirels | 102-106-20 | .491 | 12 | 3-8-1 | |||
| 10. | Norwich NightWizards | 107-114-7 | .485 | 13.5 | 8-4-0 | |||
| 11. | Birmingham Redbirds | 97-110-21 | .471 | 16.5 | 8-4-0 | |||
| 12. | MK Magic | 97-114-17 | .463 | 18.5 | 4-8-0 | |||
| 13. | Rainow Ravens | 94-122-12 | .439 | 24 | 3-8-1 | |||
| 14. | Earlham Ewoks | 86-126-16 | .412 | 30 | 4-7-1 |
Parity-wise, it probably is. The gaps from 6th to 1st aren't all that noticeable.
Not sure if the UK North will have as exciting a playoff race as California South or USA West, the latter of which is the one with the most turnover IMO.
WR should have some kind of metric to determine parity/competitiveness. Don't know if one exists though.