Team bias

[Daryl Collins]

Ok. This has probably been covered before, but now that I’m back to playing solitaire, I find myself struggling with being biased towards one team over the other. I try not to let this affect the outcome of the game, but I also try not to over compensate as well. Any thoughts from our solitaire coaches? I would appreciate it.

[Terry43]

Bias happens and it is a good thing I believe. It shows you have empathy.

If you read my post on the Thunderbirds vs the Christmas Spirit then you saw got a big, sappy dose of team bias from me.

Don't give your favorites a do-over. That's my only advice. 

Enjoy the Journey  T43 ⚡🏈♾️

[Daryl Collins]

My inner referee would never allow a do over. I am almost overly strict on teams in “tie goes to the runner situations”. I had one play where the 75 Cardinals were playing the vintage Browns, and I had a Cardinal receiver break open just as a Browns defender delivered the most viscous electric football sack I’ve ever witnessed! It was impressive. Now, did the Cardinal receiver break open in time? In the spirit of the game, the sack stood.

[Curt]

Good morning. I do not allow do-overs either but my system to eliminate bias is fairly long and involved. I cannot find where I posted it before, sorry. Right now, I have to go to work but I promise I'll explain my system asap if I cannot find it to copy and paste as a response here.

[Curt]

Ok, here is most of what I was looking for about reducing bias from a previous entry called "My Full Weird Solo-ness or Solo Weird-ness. What is yours...?". I have 33 teams for both home and away but only have a little over 70 rookie bases. They are all shuffled in a bag and made to run as far and as straight as possible but allow tweaks with timeouts. I load my 1st 3 games randomly [[33 vs 32, then 30 vs 29, then 27 vs 26]. Any remaining bases that are unused go back into the bag. After game 1, those 2 teams' bases are removed and put in the bag. Then game 4 [24 vs 23] is loaded, remaining bases are left in the bag. This is all purposed to remove as much personally biased control from my games as possible. 11 divisions of 3 teams each with a season consisting of 2 home games and 2 away games for each team allow for a complete shuffling of all the bases in the bag for all 4 rounds. Then games 1, 2, and 3 of round 2 are loaded and follow the same "shuffling schedule" until round 3 is done then game 4 is loaded after game 1. The bases are then shuffled through each playoff game, especially the Superbowl. 
Ok, I think that covers bases. A coin toss of heads has the home team receiving the kickoff whereas tails has the visiting team getting the ball, no exceptions. Two decks of poker cards determine offensive plays and are shuffled for each drive: Aces through 7's are running plays. Black and red 8's are 5 yard penalties against the defense and offense. 9's through queens are passing plays. Black and red kings are respectively 10 yard penalties, one each of the black and red jokers are 15 yard penalties against the defense and offense. The other jokers are a 5 yard penalty with automatic first down in favor of the offense and a turnover to the defense at the line of scrimmage. The last 2 cards, [designed to keep a deck in play], are automatic touchdowns for offense or defense. I use a single regular dice to determine which of my 6 defensive formations meets the drawn offense play. Hope this makes sense and that I didn't waste anyone's time. Blessings, Curt

[Daryl Collins]

Excellent! Thanks Coach Curt!

[Terry43]

This is such a good question it is making my head hurt. 🤪  When I was the watching the AEFL videos the fourth value of the AEFL is to make the Coach's skill set a non-factor in the game. So, minimizing bias is an important value.

1 hour ago, Curt said:

Two decks of poker cards determine offensive plays and are shuffled for each drive

I think randomization is an important way to prevent bias. Curt uses a deck of cards to randomize the game flow which is a superb idea. I use dice. Randomization makes each game outcome different.

Enjoy the Journey T43. ⚡🏈♾️

 

[Bob Davis]

I agree that randomness would limit and quite possibly eliminate bias. I had a situation in this past season's NFC Championship Game where the Saints QB, trailing 7-3, threw a pass and the 3rd and long precision football looked as if it hit the defender last, thus being an interception. This was in the fourth quarter with only a couple plays left in the game. I was 90% sure of the call, but not positive. If the Bronco defender intercepts, the game is basically over. I decided not to count the pass but leave the play intact and give the QB another try at the pass. This time of course, the ball clearly hits a receiver in the endzone which would have given the Saints the TD and with the PAT a three point lead with just a couple plays left in the game. It would have been tough for the Broncos to come back. So now I'm really conflicted. So, I ultimately decided that it wasn't fair to the Broncos for the TD to stand, and decided to call off-setting penalties, meaning the entire play is scratched and needed to be done over from the jump. The next pass ultimately fell incomplete giving the Broncos the ball and only needing to assume the victory formation for a couple plays. In retrospect, my only regret is not having called the off-setting penalties from the start instead of giving the Saints another attempt at the pass. Bias? I think more indecision and not wanting to see such an important game end, but eh? It ain't easy being an EF Coach, Ref, and Commissioner all at the same time, right?

[Daryl Collins]

Exactly! As a N.O. fan I would have ended up with this exact conflict. Then, just as you described, I would have struggled with the resolution of said play. By the time you go down that rabbit hole, the game feels tainted. Not all of us want to video the games and plays. There are some great ideas posted here to avoid bias circumstances. It just depends on what part/s of the game you want to play with. I have adopted Coach T43’s model of play because it flows so smoothly and I ENJOY using that model. I still enjoy reading about models of play other coaches employ and if I see something I would enjoy using, I can choose to. Those models that avoid bias, flow smoothly, and are fun will always command my attention .

[Greg F]

I tend to overcompensate I think.  I’ve thought about going to a dice or card system, but I would want to do it in a way that let a team keep its own personality,  

In my first season back after 35 years, I found that my initial gut feeling is what I felt best going with on those indecisive outcomes.