2013 Fantasy Track Letsrun League

I don't like the fact that you can see other people's teams, that's kinda bush league. After seeing the teams however, it seems like not many people understand the point system.

Haha just looked through the names of people entered. It looks like the Mitch guy from flotrack registered. If you lose to him you should give up on life.

rudisha or perkovic should be captins. they are basicaly locks.

i imagine most people picked rudisha because 1) more people know who he is and 2) he is more likely to set a meet record which doubles the points.

if most people picked those people they are probably not going to do very well. those are all top athletes but they are in races that are filled with top athletes and that could be won by any of them.

here are my picks. (subject to change)

rudisha as team captin 800m (lock for a win and maybe a meet record will fall also)

justin gatlin 100m(may lose to nesta carter but he won most of the races last year and i cant help but to think he is in better shape than a 10.02)

hagos gebrihwet 3000m( also a toss up pick of mine. he is in a field of studs and who know s who will win in a kickers race. however he did just win world jr xc. and destroyed rupp indoors over 3000 who ran a 7:30 a couple weeks later)

vesely vitezslav javelin( pretty consistent winner win i picked him last year so im sure he will do the same for me this year)

shelly-ann fraser-price 100m (won a lot last year and she doesnt have to run against jeter or felix so she is almost a lock)

milcah chemos 3000m SC (wins every race ive ever seen in a diamond league event. very fast and consistent. a lock for the win and could get a meet record)

perkovic sandra discus (wins just about everything last year. and is way above everyone in this field. a lock for the win and maybe a meet record)

abeba Aregawi 1500 (its a toss up between her an debaba but i was running out of solid choices at the time so i put my faith in her.. good thing is though that if she wins she is likely to set a meet record seeing as how she always runs really fast)

bershawn jackson 400 hurdles( won a lot last year. i expect he should do the same here)

notes: may change one of my toss up picks for christian taylor. or otto bjorn.

HS entitled wrote:

runner85 wrote:

Because the diamond league didn't start yet.

But, starting at zero is so negative. Couldn't we all start at 100 pts so no matter what we all succeed?

I guess this works differently. Don't competitors usually have point values so you don't go picking something like Farah, Bolt, Gebremeskel, Rudisha, James, etc.?

It seemed I could pick whoever I wanted on my team for this first meet, which is a little atypical for fantasy.

Is that Caribbean javelin guy a choice? I think he's better than the scandinavians. Total sleeper right there.

Dude, you're picking two guys in the same event. That seriously limits your points. You should only do that if you are really sure those guys are going to go 1-2 and if you are sure than any other person you pick has no chance of finishing 2nd or higher.

Here are my rules for successful fantasy picks. (btw, I finished 3rd in the letsrun league last year)

1. Pick your captain carefully. Nothing kills your point total like a no show captain. You have to get points there. The best captain is a dominant athlete in an event with a soft meet record. Rudisha is almost always going to win or be close but he has been so dominant recently that a lot of his own meet records will be tough to beat.

2. Pick your Kenyans and Americans carefully. You can only have 2 from each country. Because Americans are really good in the sprints and field events and Kenyans in the middle and long distances your team will almost always have two of each.

3. Look at the meet records:

http://www.diamondleague-doha.com/Live-StartlistsResults/Statistics/

Occasionally there is a soft meet record because an event is rarely contested at that meet. Sometimes the WR was set at that meet. Men's pole vault has a comparatively lower chance of setting a MR than say Women's shot. That certainly comes into play when your pick your captain.

4. Make your picks early so you at least have someone in. Then check the start lists and news to see if anyone has pulled out. Some athletes are just more inconsistent in terms of showing up for meets so they should be avoided.

5. Pick field events first. Field event athletes seem to stay near the top of their event, even if they have a bad meet. Middle and long distance people are more inconsistent. As are hurdlers. You should be thinking of Valerie Adams, Sandra Percovic and Renaud Lavillinie as the foundation of your team. In any given meet Bolt, Rudisha or Aries Merrit are more likely to be DNS or DNF (especially the early meets). Plus, everyone picks the big names.

Looking forward to this year! Someone should start a thread before each meet.

marathon on a track?

categorically wrote:

blah blah blah 2 guys in same event, I came in third, etc etc.

Wrong, you mangy, demented, pus-oozing weasel. I pick my team based on how many points they're likely to score, not how they did last year. Pitkämäki has been training with Zelezny and is gonna be throwing 90+ routinely. Thorki will do great simply because he did crappy last year and must make amends. They'll both be top 4 for sure most of the time, while most of the other names are 50/50 to score at all.

You're also wrong about Percovic, she's a very risky choice. She might win a lot, but she might get busted again and lose all her points, too. Your crude system doesn't seem to account for dopers. I drafted Percovic, but very reluctantly.

Soprano wrote:

I'm in. Had a lot of fun with it last year until I forgot to pick my team for a meet or two and then there was no coming back from that.

I'll post a link on the homepage.

Wrong Soprano, every meet didn't count. Only your best 80% meets (forgot how many meets there were) was used in the final score.

Therefore, missing one meet didn't do anything to your final position on the list.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Wrong, you mangy, demented, pus-oozing weasel. I pick my team based on how many points they're likely to score, not how they did last year. Pitkämäki has been training with Zelezny and is gonna be throwing 90+ routinely. Thorki will do great simply because he did crappy last year and must make amends. They'll both be top 4 for sure most of the time, while most of the other names are 50/50 to score at all.

You're also wrong about Percovic, she's a very risky choice. She might win a lot, but she might get busted again and lose all her points, too. Your crude system doesn't seem to account for dopers. I drafted Percovic, but very reluctantly.

You are overestimating the weak minded Pitkämäki and Thorkildsen is a lazy b@stard who will do good but at the same time is a somewhat risky choice.

Bad Wigins wrote:

I joined up as Albert Einstein to confuse and demoralize the rest of you.

Here is my mighty team:

Exalted Captain: David Rudisha

distance guys: Gebrhiwet, I.K. Koech

spearmen: Pitkämäki and Thorkildsen

flat sprinters: Fraser-Pryce, Felix.

hurdler: Dawn Harper

lead frisbee thrower: Sandra Perkovic

After looking at all the other teams I see they are mostly the same, everybody picked Gebrhiwet, and Rudisha is captain of every team. I'm afraid this league is kind of stupid.

well it worked I am confused, by your picks.

Pitkämäki was second only to Vesely last year and won Zurich. He is gonna throw over 93 meters this year. Zelezny taught him all his clever tricks.

Thorkildsen is not as risky as the top sprinters and weight throwers who could all get busted and/or injured at any moment.

question: can you change your team for each meet? because otherwise half of your team wouldnt show to many of the meets. rudisha said he was only doing a few races this year before worlds.

i ask because i dont want rudisha as captain if he is only going to s couple of these events. can i sub him out after doha?

All the information is on the website.. but yes you change your picks every meet.

deytookourjerbs wrote:

question: can you change your team for each meet? because otherwise half of your team wouldnt show to many of the meets. rudisha said he was only doing a few races this year before worlds.

i ask because i dont want rudisha as captain if he is only going to s couple of these events. can i sub him out after doha?

Barakus Obama wrote:

Wrong Soprano, every meet didn't count. Only your best 80% meets (forgot how many meets there were) was used in the final score.

Therefore, missing one meet didn't do anything to your final position on the list.

Are you sure? It doesn't say anything about that in the rules. I missed two meets last year. If this is true I wish I had known; I never even bothered to check my final position.

yes only your 10 best meets were counted last year.

DARNIT should have kept Aregawi as my captain. I switched to Rudisha so I still got the win by not a meet record.

some results are up btw

aregawi 3:56, rudisha 1:43, kiprop 3:31

All those Captain Perkovic people got lucky. But I will catch up, it's only 30 points.

The rules don't say what happens to your points if someone gives her another energy drink.

Pitkämäki and Thorki vindicated themselves, they didn't win but they didn't fail like useless I.K. Koech. Both top 3.