National Ranking Update
The afternoon edition of the National Ranking Update is in. Major shake-up in the standings this week as a slew of great scores were submitted to the BFA's system from Longview and Canton. Note that Nick Donner returned to his usual spot atop the rankings and hold's the first place designation in all three rankings. Also, welcome Cory Bloom and Johnny Petrehn to the top 5 after their superb performances at the Great Texas Balloon Race in Longview, TX. We'll continue to keep you updated as the BFA adds tasks to their system. For the source of all of our task data check out the BFA's page here.
rankings08172010.xls | |
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National Ranking Update
The National Ranking report has again been updated. As we noted earlier there are just too many pilots in the system at this point to rank them all, so we have decided to stick with the top 25 BFA pilots for now. As always we will continue to use this report to try and get a better picture of who is flying the best at events across the country. The biggest mover in this week's rankings is David Troutman who jumped all the way up to 8th in the BFA rankings after his win in Middletown, OH two weeks ago. The rankings will be significantly different when the Longview, Canton, and Indianola scores are concluded because several pilots put on awesome performances. Check back here next week for another update.
As always all of our data was retrieved from the BFA site and can be accessed here.
As always all of our data was retrieved from the BFA site and can be accessed here.
ranking08032010.xls | |
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National Ranking Update
After a few weeks off, the ranking updates return with new data. Gary Haynes continues to have his stranglehold on first place in all three rankings, but after that the shuffle begins depending on which ranking you look at. The biggest discrepancies continues to be among pilots with just barely enough tasks to qualify for the BFA ranking system (4). It makes sense that this would occur as dropping one task, or including one that would have dropped under an alternate system is magnified because of the few scores. As the BFA continues to compile scores and make available on their website we'll scale back our analysis to just the top 25 BFA ranked pilots. Given the current setup of the way the scores are housed it is just too laborious to analyze all scores.
Again should you have any comments or questions feel free to voice those on the blog or send us an email directly.
Again should you have any comments or questions feel free to voice those on the blog or send us an email directly.
072310_rankings.xls | |
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National Ranking Update
When an event submits scores to the BFA for inclusion in the BFA's National Ranking system often times the scores must be re-worked to fit under the applicable rules the HACD has published for the year. That being said it can be a laborious process to go back and research individual scores, penalties, or other conditions where scores might have to be adjusted. All of this takes time and is the reason we don't have a new update for you this week in regards to rankings.
We understand the time it takes by the volunteers of the HACD, and appreciate the investment they have made to competition ballooning. We will continue to work with them in obtaining these scores for analysis and sharing ideas of possible ways to make the system better.
We understand the time it takes by the volunteers of the HACD, and appreciate the investment they have made to competition ballooning. We will continue to work with them in obtaining these scores for analysis and sharing ideas of possible ways to make the system better.
National Ranking Update
Unfortunately there have been no new updates to the BFA ranking system over the past week - so our ranking analysis will be the same for this edition of our last ranking update. It is likely over the course of the next week that the scores from Battle Creek, MI will be entered into the system and should provide for an interesting shake up in the standings.
Below are the results from the poll we started a couple of weeks ago regarding which ranking system our readers thought was MOST accurate in determining the top pilots based on performance.
1) True Average - 13 Votes (48.1%)
2) Drop 1 Task Every 5 - 9 Votes (33.3%)
3) Other - 3 Votes (11.1%)
4) BFA Ranking - 2 Votes (7.4%)
For the "Other" responses one of the ideas we received was to create an average of all three systems, and twice we received a response wanting a True average and then to add points for the number of tasks flown.
Our take: This is about how we anticipated the poll going. The top two systems allow for a moving average and it seems to be what the majority of those who responded want to see.
We're continuing to work with the BFA to obtain scores directly from them in order to use for our own rankings, but to this point have been unsuccessful - this is important as it will aid in our ability to update, create, and modify a ranking system. Everything we've used is available directly from their webiste here.
Stay tuned for what should be significant changes to the rankings in the next week.
Below are the results from the poll we started a couple of weeks ago regarding which ranking system our readers thought was MOST accurate in determining the top pilots based on performance.
1) True Average - 13 Votes (48.1%)
2) Drop 1 Task Every 5 - 9 Votes (33.3%)
3) Other - 3 Votes (11.1%)
4) BFA Ranking - 2 Votes (7.4%)
For the "Other" responses one of the ideas we received was to create an average of all three systems, and twice we received a response wanting a True average and then to add points for the number of tasks flown.
Our take: This is about how we anticipated the poll going. The top two systems allow for a moving average and it seems to be what the majority of those who responded want to see.
We're continuing to work with the BFA to obtain scores directly from them in order to use for our own rankings, but to this point have been unsuccessful - this is important as it will aid in our ability to update, create, and modify a ranking system. Everything we've used is available directly from their webiste here.
Stay tuned for what should be significant changes to the rankings in the next week.
National Ranking Update
We apologize for the delay on this weekly post. We are little behind due to the holiday weekend. We have the Vholdr Camera review in hand and it will appear here tomorrow.
The ranking list below continues our theme of comparing pilot's scores using different ranking formulas. Pilots are listed in order of their BFA average which is then compared with our other case study formulas. The document is updated with all the current scores that have been submitted to the BFA. Please encourage your next event to send the scores to the BFA promptly so this document will stay up to date. And while you're at it, have the event copy [email protected] on those scores so we can post them here.
All data used to compile these ranking lists can be found on the BFA's website here.
The ranking list below continues our theme of comparing pilot's scores using different ranking formulas. Pilots are listed in order of their BFA average which is then compared with our other case study formulas. The document is updated with all the current scores that have been submitted to the BFA. Please encourage your next event to send the scores to the BFA promptly so this document will stay up to date. And while you're at it, have the event copy [email protected] on those scores so we can post them here.
All data used to compile these ranking lists can be found on the BFA's website here.
rank_07072010.xls | |
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National Ranking Update
A quick note on the National Ranking System and our discussions surrounding rankings: The BFA system is very accurate and designed to serve a specific purpose - rank pilots for qualification for our National Championship. In this light the system performs very well. In no way is BalloonPong saying that the BFA system should not be used or is inaccurate. The system does what it was designed to do. What BalloonPong is advocating is there is significant interest in a ranking system that attempts to look at how pilots perform throughout the competition year and rank them accordingly based on performance. That is why we are posting ranking updates and hope to generate some discussion on how best to rank pilots.
Below you'll find an updated ranking summary using a few different methods. We've taken the BFA average, true average, and a system that drops 1 task per every 5 tasks flown and recalculates the average. The averages are all shown under the "summary" tab and the rankings are under the ranking tab. These lists do not reflect this past weekend's events in Ottumwa and Howell as scores typically take about a week to publish.
All scores are available on the BFA's website here.
Once you have a chance to check out the rankings head on over to the BalloonPong Blog to let us know which system you think is the best and why.
Updated 6/29 at 12:05 pm
Below you'll find an updated ranking summary using a few different methods. We've taken the BFA average, true average, and a system that drops 1 task per every 5 tasks flown and recalculates the average. The averages are all shown under the "summary" tab and the rankings are under the ranking tab. These lists do not reflect this past weekend's events in Ottumwa and Howell as scores typically take about a week to publish.
All scores are available on the BFA's website here.
Once you have a chance to check out the rankings head on over to the BalloonPong Blog to let us know which system you think is the best and why.
Updated 6/29 at 12:05 pm
rank_062910.xls | |
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BFA National Ranking Update
In an effort to fill the void during the middle of the week as pilots are looking forward to their next competition BalloonPong will begin updating you on the BFA's National Ranking system. The first results have already been posted to the site and you can view them here. We'll do our best to notify you of updates as they become available, but expect this column to run on Tuesdays. Also, check out the spreadsheet below. We've been having a good debate on issues involved with a ranking system and have put together a comparison between the true average (total points divided by total tasks flown) and compared it to the BFA rank/ score. Some interesting results. Check it out and then head on over to the BalloonPongBlog to let us know which one you feel is more accurate.
average_1.xls | |
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