2015 Centurion BallOfSpray Cash Prize

[Horton]

http://www.ballofspray.com/images/2015/CBOSCP.gif

BallOfSpray is proud to announce the inaugural Centurion BallOfSpray Cash Prize tournament. The event will take place at Aquaplex in Austin, TX on October 10th and 11th. Competitive skiers of all levels will compete for $6,000 in prize money. After two rounds of qualifying the top 16 skiers will compete in a head to head format for $3,000 and the remaining skiers will compete in a single handicapped round for $3,000.

 

Specific tournament rules

• All scores will go into the USAWS official score book. Saturday as Class L and Sunday as Class C

• All scores will also go into a separate Score Book to accommodate the rules of the event

• To be eligible for the handicap round, a skier must have scores from 5 or more different USAWS tournaments between 9/17/14 and 9/17/15

• All scores will be entered into the Cash Prize Score Book without regard to boat speed. The values for 34 MPH scores will be used for 36 mph and 32 mph skiers. Example: 4 @38 off = 100 buoys at 34mph and at 36 mph

• Any male skier who has ever been ranked in the top ten of the IWSF Elite List or the IWSF Ranking List will be required to ski at 36 mph

• Handles will be checked at dock after skiing. If your handle becomes out of tolerance, your score will zeroed

 

The entry fee is $200

Entry Limit 40 skiers

 

Send entries to

John Horton

2412 Lomita Verde Drive

Bakersfield CA

93305

 

Make entry fee checks out to BallOfSpray

 

 

 

 

[Horton]

A few explanations:

I designed this event with the hope that it would appeal to both the elite 34 mph skier and the local tournament skier. After the first two round the guys who run into 39 and 41 will go on to do their thing in the head to head. The 24 guys that are left will all be chasing the same amount of cash in the handicap round. I am sure this format does not appeal to everyone but I believe it will be fun for a wider variety of skiers than any current option.

 

What about 36 mph skiers? All scores go into the USAWS score book normally. For the cash prize scoring all scores will be recorded as if the boat speed is 34 mph. So if Nate Smith shows up and runs 1 @ 43 at 36 mph and Ward McLain runs 1 @ 43 at 34mph it will be a tie. The Pros are welcome but it is not going to be easy.

 

What about the past pros who now ski 34 mph? I added the following rule to ensure the event will not be dominated by past pro skiers “Any male skier who has ever been ranked in the top ten of the IWSF Elite List or the IWSF Ranking List will be required to ski at 36 mph”.

 

Sportsman like conduct? I did not put this in the announcement but I will add some text to the final rules that basically states that this event will have a very low tolerance for un-sportsman like conduct.

 

I am sure there will be questions and additional rules written between now and October 17.

 

[drewski32]

I feel like 36 mph skiers will have an unfair disadvantage. These tournaments being catered towards 34 mph skiers strike me as odd but whatever, they're the majority of the skiing population it seems. And God forbid a pro shows up and rains on anyone'a parade.. making a retired pro ski at 36 and then scoring him for 34 is just trying to knock him down

[LZywicki1]

May need to plan a long vacation, was planning to go down to Austin the week before the tournament to watch the F1 race.

[jdarwin]

@drewski - host your own pro event. Then, you can compare notes. The whole point of this event is to crown a "king of the pond" - similar to what the Big Dawg used to be. Not be another "Senior PGA" type event that gives former professionals a venue to compete. At least, that is my understanding.

[ForrestGump]

I like it. Other than the fact that it's the same weekend as Collegiate Nationals which is being hosted at my home ski site.

[MrJones]

I think the ideas are really interesting. There is not going to be a format that is perfect for everyone. This gives all skiers a shot and the opportunity to ski 2 days. I think it's very cool.

 

I'm in!

[Horton]

@drewski32 if the entries work out the way I expect you would need to be an elite pro level skier to make the top 16 at 36 mph. If that is true then most 36 skiers falls into the handicap final and will have no disadvantage.The scoring equalizers everyone.

[skidawg]

I'm in as well, Logan too

[Horton]

I see the typo in my above post and like it

[MattP]

I'm in. @MS now the question is how do I get my sweet water there its a 1000 mile drive. I'll be flying.

[Than_Bogan]

Great idea! Not every format is ideal for every skier, but it's great to see people actually trying things out!

 

I doubt I have even a 5% chance of making it, but it's not quite zero. That time of year is sorta plausible.

[ToddL]

Tell us more about the basics of the handicap process. Would a B3 skier just now getting up to max speed have a change or possibly even an unfair advantage?

[Horton]

@ToddL I confess a first year B3 or a first year M3 skier is something I failed to consider. Let me think about that.

[webbdawg99]

@Horton I was going to ask the same thing. Nationals will be my last event as a 36mph skier

[kfennell]

So to be clear it is 2 rounds on saturday class C, and 1 round sunday class C. Sunday you will either be in the top 16 and head to head, or you will be one of the 24 going for the handicap win for $3k? Will your handicap be vs your top 5 or your top 2?

[ToddL]

More to the point of my question is - what is the high-level handicap math? Event score vs. some sort of average?

[Horton]

Handicap will in be based on previous 5 tournament scores & scores from qualifying rounds*. Handicaps will then be weighted. I will publish/clarify some more details asap. Bottom line is to make is as fair and equal as possible.

 

Someone will love my method & someone will hate it. I just have to do what I think is most fair.

 

*I will average 3 high scores from the 7 available

** I reserve the right to tweak this between now and October

[schafer]

5 Canadian Sanctioned events count for scores?

 

[ALPJr]

I like it. Please consider having one in the Northeast next year. Hartford has a couple locations that drew nice sized crowds for the pro tour back in the 90's. Saw Roberge win slalom (over Mapple) and jump in Batterson Park in 98. Well more than a 1,000 spectators on hand. There's also a few nice private ponds which are a little more remote.

[Razorskier1]

You will be looking over a couple years to find five scores for some of us.

[MAD11]

We're really pumped to host this event at Aquaplex. Look forward to seeing everyone. Will be a blast to get everyone together. Bailey and I will mail our entries as soon as we get back from U21's in Spain. It's gonna fill up fast.

[Horton]

@Razorskier1 you have until October to get in a bunch of tournaments

[Horton]

@ALPJr the long term goal is to have between 4 & 6 events per year. The Northeast is on my HotList

[Horton]

@schafer that's a darn good question. I'm not sure how I get that data

[Wish]

Florida....hot list?

[RichardDoane]

I'm in, already called my buddy to schedule accommodations

[Kelvin]

Great idea, poor choice of weekends. I'm committed to Collegiate Nationals that weekend.

[webbdawg99]

Second on @Kelvin 's comment

[Horton]

@webbdawg99 you can't imagine how hard it was to get a site and a date.

[Kelvin]

@horton, I understand. We did the Katy Ski Jam the same weekend at Collegiate Nationals a few years ago. Looks like a fun event. Hopefully I can make the next one.

[MrJones]

Webcast for BOS event #2 Kelvin?? ;)

[webbdawg99]

I understand. We hosted 11 events last year. But when it came to trying to host a "premier" event, almost every weekend conflicted with something else.

[MAD11]

We certainly tried to avoid that weekend, but the two previous weekends were ACL's music festival and the following weekend was Formula 1. Austin has gotten pretty popular. Add UT football games to that mix and this city stays busy.

[MattP]

@Horton @MAD11 y'all passed up on ACL weekend?!?! Damn that would have been fun to go see some late night performances after skiing.

[Horton]

@mattp believe me we talked about it

[ToddL]

If it was on ACL weekend, all you skiers would have to sleep on @MAD11's lawn in tents because all the hotels are already full.

[Horton]

@ToddL exactly

[MattP]

@ToddL there is nothing wrong with camping at a ski tournament!

[Horton]

@MattP yes there is if the skiers have wives and children. Part of my evil plan is to make events friendly to non-skiing family members

[Razorskier1]

@Horton -- we'll see what I can do!

[Horton]

@Razorskier1 if you make the top 16 you don't need a handicap. Just man up

[gregy]

No shortage of live music in Austin.

[RichardDoane]

@Razorskier1 - here's a good one for you

 

http://www.usawaterski.org/rankings/View-TournamentsHQ.asp?pvar=TourInfo&TourID=16W054&olrds=enabled&rg=1&sl=on&tr=on&ju=on&wb=&ws=&wu=&bf=&kb=&hy=&sExclude=

[EricKelley]

Sounds like a fun event. I'd be in except for the collegiate nationals. This format is good because it involves everyone. It is tough to handicap perfectly fair to everyone I think Horton's method is pretty good.

[Razorskier1]

@richarddoane -- we will see. Shipping off two kids to college sometime in August again but it would be great fun to get out to your site.

[Horton]

Getting phone calls from some interesting people. The entry list could be pretty fun.

[Wish]

Hmmmm... Skip regionals cause it's in Paducka (looooong way away,) takes me out of Nats, save $$s and visit Austin. Possible.

[Horton]

@wish and if the chips fall right you could take home some money

[Horton]

First entries can in today! Stoked!