No final reminder for GTB this time

[Kintamayama]

Just to say there will be no final reminder for the GTB. You'll just have to guess you have to get your entries in by Saturday the 27th 18:00 GMT, or somewhere around noon in the US.

I just don't have time for a reminder.

Edited October 29, 2007 by Kintamayama

[XiaoTan]

Yep - it was difficult to find out the deadline this time as the www.dichne.com/guess.htm still shows

"Deadline for the September Basho WAS

Saturday, August 25th, 2007-

18:00 GMT/ 14:00 US - EST"

But the entry page work.

Xiaotan

[Kintamayama]

Yep - it was difficult to find out the deadline this time as the www.dichne.com/guess.htm still shows

"Deadline for the September Basho WAS

Saturday, August 25th, 2007-

18:00 GMT/ 14:00 US - EST"

Oops-the update was done months ago-I must have neglected to upload it.

Apologies to the players.

[Zeokage]

Not sure if I'm gonna get a reply in time, but is there a good place to get an Excel-friendly basho results page to start working this out from?

[Asashosakari]

Not sure if I'm gonna get a reply in time, but is there a good place to get an Excel-friendly basho results page to start working this out from?

It's too late now, but I would have suggested Sumo Reference...

[Zeokage]

I tried that one originally, but I just couldn't get it to paste or split without turning the W-L records into dates. Even setting the cells to text or general beforehand didn't help.

[Asashosakari]

I tried that one originally, but I just couldn't get it to paste or split without turning the W-L records into dates. Even setting the cells to text or general beforehand didn't help.

Ah, so my Excel isn't the only one that does that. I think you'll have that problem no matter what the data source is. Here's a workaround:

Don't use Ctrl+V to paste the table data but rather Paste Special from the Edit menu, choosing Text or Unicode Text from the popup menu instead of the default HTML. That should get each line of table data into a single cell, which you can then split into columns yourself (Data menu) at each space character. That way you're able to specify the records columns at text data so that Excel won't auto-convert them into dates. I'd suggest deleting the Yusho/Jun-yusho/Sansho markers beforehand because those will screw up the column alignment otherwise.

(The above is with Excel 2003...knowing Microsoft, if you're using a different version every command is probably found elsewhere and/or named differently.)

[Doitsuyama]

I tried that one originally, but I just couldn't get it to paste or split without turning the W-L records into dates. Even setting the cells to text or general beforehand didn't help.

Ah, so my Excel isn't the only one that does that. I think you'll have that problem no matter what the data source is. Here's a workaround:

Don't use Ctrl+V to paste the table data but rather Paste Special from the Edit menu, choosing Text or Unicode Text from the popup menu instead of the default HTML. That should get each line of table data into a single cell, which you can then split into columns yourself (Data menu) at each space character. That way you're able to specify the records columns at text data so that Excel won't auto-convert them into dates. I'd suggest deleting the Yusho/Jun-yusho/Sansho markers beforehand because those will screw up the column alignment otherwise.

(The above is with Excel 2003...knowing Microsoft, if you're using a different version every command is probably found elsewhere and/or named differently.)

My solution is to take the Japanese banzuke... but I agree this Excel "feature" is totally annoying, there really should be an option to switch it off.

[Jakusotsu]

... but I agree this Excel "feature" is totally annoying, there really should be an option to switch it off.

I'm so glad I'm not the only dork unable to switch it off. (First prize...) I guess it's impossible then. Totally annoying indeed. (Poking the other guy...)

[Asashosakari]

... but I agree this Excel "feature" is totally annoying, there really should be an option to switch it off.

I'm so glad I'm not the only dork unable to switch it off. (First prize...) I guess it's impossible then. Totally annoying indeed. (Poking the other guy...)

I blame Moti and his lack of a final reminder. (Exercising...)

BTW, just to increase the geekness factor of this thread even further, there's another annoying instance of that Excel feature, namely when you're running search&replace. Try something like this:

8&7
9&6
10&5

and then replace all & with -. It'll automatically convert everything into dates while it's doing it. Now, there's an option to specify the post-replace cell format, which one might think will preserve the proper text format if so chosen, but instead of 8-7, 9-6, 10-5, you'll get something like this:

39271
39242
39212

Grr...

[Zeokage]

I tried that one originally, but I just couldn't get it to paste or split without turning the W-L records into dates. Even setting the cells to text or general beforehand didn't help.

Ah, so my Excel isn't the only one that does that. I think you'll have that problem no matter what the data source is. Here's a workaround:

Don't use Ctrl+V to paste the table data but rather Paste Special from the Edit menu, choosing Text or Unicode Text from the popup menu instead of the default HTML. That should get each line of table data into a single cell, which you can then split into columns yourself (Data menu) at each space character. That way you're able to specify the records columns at text data so that Excel won't auto-convert them into dates. I'd suggest deleting the Yusho/Jun-yusho/Sansho markers beforehand because those will screw up the column alignment otherwise.

(The above is with Excel 2003...knowing Microsoft, if you're using a different version every command is probably found elsewhere and/or named differently.)

That's what I ended up doing, but it still did the "8-7 -> 39815" thing so I had to manually type them in. I probably didn't change the cells to text before converting the text to columns. Hold on... if it did the numbers instead of dates, I did try to convert it to text.

Which Japanese banzuke would you be referring to Doitsuyama?

[Asashosakari]

That's what I ended up doing, but it still did the "8-7 -> 39815" thing so I had to manually type them in. I probably didn't change the cells to text before converting the text to columns. Hold on... if it did the numbers instead of dates, I did try to convert it to text.

Could be that Microsoft has changed something and it's working even worse now. (Poking the other guy...) Or we're possibly talking past one another here...I don't mean changing the cells themselves to text format (the conversion will overwrite that, I think), but the columns in the splitting dialog:

If you did do that, I'm at a loss.

Which Japanese banzuke would you be referring to Doitsuyama?

This, I believe.

[Zeokage]

Ah, that I didn't do. First time I've seen it... I'll have to give it a go next time around. That or the Japanese banzuke... Thanks Asashosakari.

[Kintamayama]

First,again, special thanks to Andoreasu for running the show smoothly!

Another Banzuke out, another game over. The winner is Seki Haruaki. Congratulations!!! Also, for the first time since September 2003, we had less than 100 participants, but we shall prevail notwithstanding.

GTB milestones:

* Leonishiki is the only one to play in all 59 bashos.

* Manatsumai has reached 30 bashos.

On behalf of Andoreasu and myself, I say-

thanks for playing!

And now... on with the Bash-ow!!

See how you did at http://www.dichne.com/Guess.htm

--

[Kintamayama]

Forget about the results- we had a major glitch with the results - new results will hopefully be announced soon.

Well, once in 10 years is not bad..

[Kintamayama]

A thousand and one apologies for the grave errors.. As I feared the real results were totally different than the ones I announced-the winner is a first time player, and one without a shikona - going by the name of Crall. Congratulations and sorry for the balagan.

On behalf of Andoreasu and myself, I say again-

thanks for playing!

And now... on with the Bash-ow!!

See how you REALLY did at http://www.dichne.com/Guess.htm

[kaiguma]

A thousand and one apologies for the grave errors.. As I feared the real results were totally different than the ones I announced-the winner is a first time player, and one without a shikona - going by the name of Crall. Congratulations and sorry for the balagan.

On behalf of Andoreasu and myself, I say again-

thanks for playing!

And now... on with the Bash-ow!!

See how you REALLY did at http://www.dichne.com/Guess.htm

Oh wonderful, I did even worse! (Sign of approval...)

May I make an informal poll?

How many others were certain Ama would be repromoted to Sekiwake? (Clapping wildly...)

[Asashosakari]

How many others were certain Ama would be repromoted to Sekiwake? (Sign of approval...)

I certainly hope it wasn't too many. If a number of people screwed up their guesses with 5 sanyaku, that would make my 7-8 score (with Ama as komusubi) even more pathetic than it already is... (I don't think I've ever missed so many West/East decisions like this time...each costing 4 points of course. Grr.)

Edit: On that note, I'd also be curious how many people had Iwakiyama and how many Kasuganishiki. I suppose everyone with five sanyaku and no M16w slot (should have) had the wacky mountain, but for a four-sanyaku guess it was a real toss-up. I guess some people might even have had both, and no Baruto (or no Wakakirin?)...

Edited October 29, 2007 by Asashosakari

[Jakusotsu]

See how you REALLY did at http://www.dichne.com/Guess.htm

Much better. I don't feel quite as miserable now for not submitting my first draft with Ama at Komusubi, which would have earned jun-yusho again with the old results. Now it's only fourth place, phew.

[kaiguma]

How many others were certain Ama would be repromoted to Sekiwake? (Clapping wildly...)

I certainly hope it wasn't too many. If a number of people screwed up their guesses with 5 sanyaku, that would make my 7-8 score (with Ama as komusubi) even more pathetic than it already is... (I don't think I've ever missed so many West/East decisions like this time...each costing 4 points of course. Grr.)

Edit: On that note, I'd also be curious how many people had Iwakiyama and how many Kasuganishiki. I suppose everyone with five sanyaku and no M16w slot (should have) had the wacky mountain, but for a four-sanyaku guess it was a real toss-up. I guess some people might even have had both, and no Baruto (or no Wakakirin?)...

As you said, with the 5 sanyaku, Wacky Waki was the obvious choice to remain. But I also had no Baruto and a lucky promotion for Toyozakura.

Even with that messed-up top of Juryo, my Juryo guesses easily beat my Makuuchi score! (Sign of approval...)

36 vs. 29 in favor of Juryo.

You know that's bad!!!

[crall]

I guess getting the (Clapping wildly...) in my first GTB ever is as good an excuse as any to finally register to these forums.

Anyway, even though I secretly hoped that I would win, I'm a bit surprised I was actually able to pull it off. I guess getting Ama's rank and who/whom of Baruto, Iwakiyama and Kasuganishiki would get demoted to/stay in juryo correct was a big help. I just hope my result this time wasn't just fluke, as I would like to compete for the yusho as often as possible. (Showing respect...)

I'd also like to give a big thanks to Kintamayama and Andoreasu for holding this game. (Sign of approval...)

Oh, as for the no shikona thing. My Japanese skills are somewhat... lacking (I took six lessons 2 1/2 years ago), and I didn't feel comfortable choosing a shikona I wasn't 100% sure I knew what it meant.

[Andoreasu]

How many others were certain Ama would be repromoted to Sekiwake? (Sign of approval...)

25 players (including you)

Edit: On that note, I'd also be curious how many people had Iwakiyama and how many Kasuganishiki. I suppose everyone with five sanyaku and no M16w slot (should have) had the wacky mountain, but for a four-sanyaku guess it was a real toss-up. I guess some people might even have had both, and no Baruto (or no Wakakirin?)...

81 people had Iwakiyama, only 22 had Kasuganishiki.

[kaiguma]

How many others were certain Ama would be repromoted to Sekiwake? >:-(

25 players (including you)

I don't mean anything by this other than postulation...

I really wonder now why so many decided on Ama remaining Komusubi. For a 10-5 from Kw, it is much more common for promotion to Sekiwake than to remain at Komusubi. Several of these promotions were to a S2 rank. Of course that's far from describing a concrete tendency, considering all of the unkowns involved. Such as: most of those promotions were not to an S2 rank, but were made to fill spaces left by demotions, so how can we ever know if these performances were considered worthy of creating the extra Sekiwake rank? etc.

Still the lopsided distribution of guesses leaves me guessing. My only explanation for such a bias towards Ama remaining Komusubi would be that many players are subconsciously (or consciously) affected by what they see others post as guesses on the forum. IIRC we saw no 3-sekiwake versions and virtually no discussion of it being a possibility.

Edited October 30, 2007 by kaiguma

[Doitsuyama]

Still the lopsided distribution of guesses leaves me guessing. My only explanation for such a bias towards Ama remaining Komusubi would be that many players are subconsciously (or consciously) affected by what they see others post as guesses on the forum. IIRC we saw no 3-sekiwake versions and virtually no discussion of it being a possibility.

That's because other players have noticed that the Kyokai has been VERY restrictive to extra sanyaku slots for the past few years.

[kaiguma]

Still the lopsided distribution of guesses leaves me guessing. My only explanation for such a bias towards Ama remaining Komusubi would be that many players are subconsciously (or consciously) affected by what they see others post as guesses on the forum. IIRC we saw no 3-sekiwake versions and virtually no discussion of it being a possibility.

That's because other players have noticed that the Kyokai has been VERY restrictive to extra sanyaku slots for the past few years.

That's a fair conclusion on the general view. But for the particular, Kyushu 2006 still sticks out, where they created 2 extra komusubi slots in a case where 1 seemed adequate.

But the general view could in this case easily explain the trend of GTB entries, as you said. I still believe there are a lot of entrants following the lead of a few people who post their guesses publicly in advance.

Edited October 30, 2007 by kaiguma