Van Slam Team Play-offs: Standings & Scores for 2008-09

[ms_spelt]

before i post any further on this subject i will be discussing it with lisa.
as she is a)the psi slammaster of record and b)my co chair in regards to the formation of the rules committee and this case makes it clear that we have a blind spot (or two) that the rules committee will have to be equipped to deal with.
i will say this ,at this point tho'
i agree with randy about the need for transparency of process.
should the rules committee become empowered to act as an appeals or protest body it would have likely been convened to hear this case.and as noted justice oliver wendell holmes once remarked "justice must not only be done-it must be seen to be done"
we must not only ensure that we deliver just rulings but that the entire slam family understand that whenever concerns are raised that they are properly addressed and explained.
while i may have my disagreements over this ruling,i heartily agree in the need for transparency and thank lisa for providing it.

[spillious]

I just want to apologise for my part in the mistake. Having only met Lucia once before I to be honest didn't even recognize her at all at first. I know about asking the judges about whether they know any of the poets but usually it is obvious and after doing it for a while now I got a bit lazy, sorry. I did notice it early on and talked with Sean as to what to do. WE, and I stress WE not HE decided to let it go. In retrospect this was a mistake obviously.
I must say I agree with Lisa that all of Lucias scores were high and thus I don't feel that these judges affected the end result that much. This is not to make any excuses, I made a mistake and I apologize for that.
I do however question the tenor of this statement, "3) What will make this competitor (who is young, new to Vancouver, and talented) continue to come out and participate at the slam, thereby enriching and diversifying our scene?" It seems to me that we should be trying to encourage anyone to come out and continue to participate in the scene whether they are young, new, or talented. Old, regular, talentless or boring all should get the chance to have their say on the slam stage. In my eyes no one gets special treatment. If I am doing this in anyway then I hope someone tells me what is up and I will change. While we as hosts and organizers may hope that everyone is the next coming of Britney Spears sometimes we have to settle for a few John Lennons now and then. Seriously though it is important that we don't give special treatment in any way. As anyone who has attended any of my events will know this is the principle that I try to abide by.
In the end while I am educated and informed and experienced at hosting I still like anyone make mistakes here and there. Sorry for any hurt feelings folks!
Cheers
Trev

PS  As I have maintained all along, I think the rules committee is a great idea

PPS  We should all remember that slam judging is always a crap shoot no matter what you do and we should all try to not take this thing too seriously. I forget this as much as anyone but I'm striving to remember it. Fun is the goal.
     

[Lisa]

Thanks to Trevor for offering this.
And while I am always looking for Celine Dions, I will settle for some Ani Difrancos. And Trevor's right - we want everyone to continue coming out to the slam, whether we (subjective jerks that we are!) think they're talented or not.

Also - does Lucia know that any of these conversations have taken place? Does anyone have her email? It might be a good idea to give her a heads-up, summarize the discussion, and then move forward.

[Shannon]

I'm with the Goose on this one.  I remember someone suggesting that each poet could be assigned a number, and than the numbers are announced.

I would be in favour of this.

[Shannon]

I totally support Sean's approach with dealing with this!

The other thing to think about is that we don't do anything about the individual competitors smoozing with judges if they are sitting at their tables, so really how is Lucia's situation any different.

And besides, I am certain that there will be many instances where judges might not personally know a poet but they love love love love them or converserly hate them.

Long live 'drop the high score, drop the low score'!

[Sean]

I spoke to Lucia last Saturday/Sunday about this matter.

And I'm glad general consensus is with mine and Lisa's decision on this. There will be times in which Lisa or myself are going to make decisions that are going to go against the grain with what some members of the community want. Know that we are trying the take into consideration the majority when we make a call and that we're putting in all this time for the love of the art form and the community.

Sean

[ms_spelt]

first up-thanks to trevor for his comments on this.
i agree with trevor that there shouldn't be any extra weight given to any competitor over the other.either during the process or in the process of deciding how to arbitrate a dispute-and while i also agree that we need to remember the inherent random sample that judges are and that fun is important,ultimately i feel strongly that of paramount important is the integrity of the process-to ensure as fair a chance to all to have fun and to do well.an unfair system very quickly becomes one that isn't fun.
and while i have yet to hear an argument that convinces me that this was handled correctly in the short term i am willing to agree to disagree on that and let it be water under the bridge-providing that we all agree that it can't happen again and that we need to take steps to make the rules committee a reality.
and towards that end i will be starting a seperate thread on that so we can return this thread to it's actual stated topic-the standings.thanks to the moderator-chris gilpin- for allowing us this latitude thus far.but now i entreat us to pursue an effective rules committee and protest process to ensure that we are better equipped to handle such matters in the future.
thanks
spelt

[admin]

The first number shows the order that poets performed in the first round. After their name is the first round score. After that is the position that they performed in the second round. Then their second round score, and finally their total score for the evening.

20 October 2008

1)  Sue McIntyre – 22.9                 
2)  Father Goose – 26.9 (5) – 28.8 = 55.7 Second!
3)  Adrick – 26.7 (3) – 25.6 = 52.3 Fifth!
4)  Duncan Shields – 28.9 (1) – 27.2 = 56.1 First!
5)  Spelt – 27.5 (2) – 26.9 = 54.4 Third!
6)  T.L. Groves – 26.3              
7)  Spillious – 26              
8 )  Julie Peters – 26.8 (4) – 26.6 = 53.4 Fourth!
9)  Janine Williams – 23.7              
10) Martin – 26.1              
11) Isabelle Ram – 23.6              
12) Tim Slum – 24.5    

Updated Standings for the 2008-09 Van Slam Poetry Team Play-offs
The top 16 poets qualify for semi-finals

Note: Clint already has a higher scoring second place finish, so his result his week is not included in the standings.

First Place finishers
Lisa Slater 59.0
Sasha Langford 58.3
RC Weslowski   57.7
Duncan Shields 56.1

Second Place finishers
Ed Word 58.0
Lucia 57.5
Clint "Father Goose" Wilson  57.1

Third Place finishers
Scruffmouth  56.6
Omarie 56.1
Farrida 56
The Svelte Ms. Spelt 54.4

[admin]

After the poet's name is the order that they performed in the first round, then, their first round score. After that is the position that they performed in the second round. Then their second round score, and finally their total score for the evening. (I've been fiddling with the format for presenting these scores, but I believe this works the best.)

3 November 2008

T.L. Groves (1) 23.9                 
Richard Lett (2) 12.3              
Spillious (3) 23.2              
Shannon Rayne (4) 26.2 (5) 28.5 = 54.7 Second!
RC Weslowski (5) 24.2 (1) 24.2 = 47.9 Fifth!
Jill Binder (6) 20              
Ms. Spelt (7) 27.1 (4) 27.4 = 54.5 Third!
Paco the Charm (8 ) 25.2 (2) 22.8 = 48.0 Fourth!
Scruffmouth (9)   28 (3) 28 = 56.0 First!
Julie Peters (10) 20.8              
The Candyman (11) 23.9

Updated Standings for the 2008-09 Van Slam Poetry Team Play-offs
The top 16 poets qualify for semi-finals

First Place finishers
Lisa Slater 59.0
Sasha Langford 58.3
RC Weslowski   57.7
Duncan Shields 56.1
Scruffmouth 56.0

Second Place finishers
Ed Word 58.0
Lucia 57.5
Clint "Father Goose" Wilson  57.1
Shannon Rayne 54.7

Third Place finishers
Omarie 56.1
Farrida 56
The Svelte Ms. Spelt 54.5

[admin]

No, Shannon, I will not create a seperate category for scores and standings. The titles to each of the threads make it perfectly clear where these are. Sometimes people need to comment on the scores and standings and I highly encourage everyone to do so.

[admin]

After the poet's name is the order that they performed in the first round, then their first round score. After that is the position that they performed in the second round, then their second round score, and finally their total score for the evening.

17 Nov 2008     

Shannon Rayne (1) 26.1                 
Candyman (2) 26.7 + (2) 24.3 =  51 Fifth!
Dave Morris (3)   28.2 + (4) 28.2 = 56.4 First!
Svelte Ms. Spelt (4) 26.8 +   (3) 26.8 =   53.9 Fourth!
Apollo Reid (5) 25.2              
Duncan Shields (6) 25.6              
Tim Slum (7) 27.9 + (1) 27.4 = 55.3 Third!
White Bread ( 8 ) 23              
Just Right (9) 25.4              
Run (10) 14.3              
Julie Peters (11)   24.6              
Sean Mcgarragle (12)   26.6 + (5) 28.8 = 55.4 Second!


Updated Standings for the 2008-09 Van Slam Poetry Team Play-offs
The top 16 poets qualify for semi-finals

First Place Finishers

Lisa Slater        59
Sasha Langford    58.3
RC Weslowski    57.7
Dave Morris    56.4
Duncan Shields    56.1
Scruffmouth    56

Second Place Finishers    
Ed Word    58
Lucia Minch    57.5
Father Goose    57.1
Sean McGarragle    55.4
Shannon Rayne    54.7

Third Place Finishers   
Omarie    56.1
Farrinda    56
Tim Slum    55.3
The Svelte Ms. Spelt    54.5

[Shannon]

No, Shannon, I will not create a seperate category for scores and standings. The titles to each of the threads make it perfectly clear where these are. Sometimes people need to comment on the scores and standings and I highly encourage everyone to do so.

Oops, that was me reading a different category and clicking on this one.
Yes, yes its clear.
Awesome.  Thanks for posting these!  Makes life easy.

[admin]

After the poet's name is the order that they performed in the first round, then their first round score. After that is the position that they performed in the second round, then their second round score, and finally their total score for the evening.

Dec 1 2008    

Duncan Shields (1) 25.3                 
Paul F (2) 26.8              
Rayne (3) 23.7              
Warren Dean Fulton (4) 25.7    
Jus Right (5) 27.8 + (5) 27.8 = 55.6 Fifth!
Johnny McCrae (6) 29.1 + (2) 28.1 = 57.2 First!
Tony D (7) 27.5              
Candy Man (8 ) 25.9              
Dave Morris (9)   27.5              
Svelt Ms. Spelt (10) 28.9 + (4) 27.1 = 56 Fourth!
Barbara Adler (11) 29 + (1) 27.9 = 56.9 Second!
Father Goose (12) 29.3 + (3) 27.1 = 56.4 Third!
   
   
Updated Standings for the 2008-09 Van Slam Poetry Team Play-offs
The top 16 poets qualify for semi-finals

First Place Finishers
Lisa Slater        59
Sasha Langford    58.3
RC Weslowski    57.7
Johnny McCrae 57.2
Dave Morris    56.4
Duncan Shields    56.1
Scruffmouth    56

Second Place Finishers   
Ed Word    58
Lucia Misch    57.5
Father Goose    57.1
Barbara Adler 56.9
Sean McGarragle    55.4
Shannon Rayne    54.7

Third Place Finishers 
Omarie    56.1
Farrinda    56
Tim Slum    55.3
The Svelte Ms. Spelt    54.5

[admin]

Just a quick head's up on the results of last night's slam. Scruffmouth became this season's first repeat winner, taking first place handily. Second place went to visiting poet, David Perez, from San Jose. Julie Peters took third place.

I'll post the details results when I get them, but this won't change the overall standing much, as Scruffmouth has already qualified, and David Perez won't be competing in Vancouver for the team.

Taking a look at the calendar, I notice that there are only 6 slams left to qualify for the Van Slam team playoffs, and a chance to shine on Finals Night at the Rio Theatre!

[admin]

After the poet's name is the order that they performed in the first round, then their first round score. After that is the position that they performed in the second round, then their second round score, and finally their total score for the evening.

Dec 15 2008

Kat (1) 24.0              
David Perez (2)    26.9 + (1) 29 =   55.9 Second!
Ms. Spelt (3) 24.9              
Scruffmouth (4)   28.8 + (2) 27.7 = 56.5 First!
Conrad (5) 23.0              
Anna-lisa (6) 25.7              
Julie Peters (7) 28 + (3) 27.2 = 55.2 Third!
Candyman ( 8 ) 27 + (4) 26.3 = 53.3 Sixth!
Spillious (9) 25.6              
Duncan Shields (10) 26.7              
Paul Fisher (11)   26.9 + (6) 26.9 = 53.8 Fifth!
Babyface (12) 27.9 +   (5) 26.6 =   54.5 Fourth!

Updated Standings for the 2008-09 Van Slam Poetry Team Play-offs
The top 16 poets qualify for semi-finals

First Place Finishers   
Lisa Slater        59
Sasha Langford    58.3
RC Weslowski    57.7
Johnny McCrae    57.2
Scruffmouth    56.5
Dave Morris    56.4
Duncan Shields    56.1

Second Place Finishers
Ed Word             58.0
Lucia Misch     57.5
Father Goose     57.1
Barbara Adler     56.9
David Perez        55.9
Sean McGarragle 55.4
Shannon Rayne     54.7

Third Place Finishers
Omarie     56.1
Farrinda     56
Tim Slum     55.3
Julie Peters 55.2
The Svelte Ms. Spelt      54.5

Fourth Place Finishers
Relevant    55.6
C.R. Avery    55.4
Spillious    55.2
Babyface    54.5
Paco the Charm              48

NB: so far Johnny McCrae, Dave Morris, Barbara Adler, and David Perez have indicated that they will NOT participate in the Van Slam Team Playoffs, which means their names will probably be removed from these standings when determining the top 16. I've kept them in for now because, for one thing, they could change their minds, and for another, I like completeness.

There are SIX regular season slams left to qualify poets for Van Slam team playoffs! They are: Dec 29, Jan 19, Feb 2, Feb 16, Mar 2, & Mar 16.