Point System proposed for IFOCE contests

January 17, 2007 at 7:29 am by ojrifkin · More posts about:Organizations

(Thanks Melissa Dugans) CompetitiveEatingNews.com reports that IFOCE is considering a point system that will award points to eaters for their finishes in certain contests. No additional details were provided.

Comments (21)

21 Comments »

  1. Mega Munch said

    January 17, 2007 @ 7:47 am

    Interesting. Does that mean that the IFOCE will have to start keeping track of the finishes and totals of ALL eaters at the table?

    Also, the article says that the January 20 event is the “season’s first event.” Does the competitive eating “season” start with each new year? It seems like these winter events are still “off season” events. Doesn’t the REAL competitive eating season (when 80 percent of the events are held) start some time in the spring and last through the late summer/early fall? I’m only half-serious, but it’s an interesting debate.

  2. Steakbellie said (Registered August 11, 2006)

    January 17, 2007 @ 9:13 am

    This is an interesting idea.

    I fear that it will benefit Eaters in the North East, and Eaters who are garunteed spots or have their travel expenses paid for; the most. It will reward those who eat more often (which is a good thing). I wonder if some of that can be balanced out though? I’m open to it.

  3. Anonymous Coward said

    January 17, 2007 @ 9:31 am

    I was going to make a lot of the same points as SB, so I’ll just say Steakbellie++.

    The travel thing is going to be a big deal for lots of people. NYC eaters, in the home of IFOCE, and other New Englanders have a pretty big advantage.

    The other issue, the one that’s at the heart of so much controversy, is measuring EVERYONE ACCURATELY. This is going to mean weighing many foods before the contest and after the contest. For everyone. Even if there aren’t actual prizes for, say, the top ten, they will have to be awarded points. With values determined BEFORE the contest. It’s going to add an extra layer of planning and take time to do this right.

    The other question is: to what end? Bragging rights? A title? An actual monetary prize? The method will have to be transparent to minimize fighting. No one wants a “Coaches Poll” BCS-style fiasco.

  4. Steakbellie said (Registered August 11, 2006)

    January 17, 2007 @ 9:34 am

    and for the record, I’m not critical of those practices. It’s an absolute necessity for the Sheas to use those techniques to get the most bang out of every contest. Lets be realistic, if a contest doesnt produce enough media for the sponsor, the sponsor will not shell out money again next year. Blatantly, I dont show up for the money, anyway.

    My concern is more for myself having access to enough contests to enter and keep some ranking. Also there needs to be a way to award points for ‘field strength’. An eater may place 11th in a contest that has the top 10 in it and get less points than an eater that places 3rd in a contest with no top tens…..

    This is a fun problem to think about! any ideas?

  5. Rhonda Evans said

    January 17, 2007 @ 10:22 am

    I don’t like it. It seems unfair for the eaters (who have to work for a living). The management of cometitive eating IS the IFOCE’s work and that puts bread on those people’s tables. But to virtually all of the eaters CE simply provides extra spending money. But that’s just me.

  6. Anonymous Coward said

    January 17, 2007 @ 10:35 am

    Here’s a points system that messes up my “announce the points before the contest” rule, but accounts for field strength. Have a “purse” of points that can be won, based on the rankings (at the time of the contest) of the eaters involved. Then have a set percentage used at all contests to distribute whatever points there are. The most important thing is that the rules are transparent.

    We could always mock up some systems and see how they would work with past data.

    Another question: How would qualifiers be counted? For instance, if Koby, as champ, doesn’t have to enter a qualifier to be in Nathan’s or Krystals (not sure that’s the case) he wouldn’t get any points. Of course, a point system will always reward those who show most and eat the most.

  7. Liz said

    January 17, 2007 @ 11:06 am

    This is exactly the problem we attempted when we did our fantasy eating for Krystal burgers. Are they taking my ideas again? 😉 We’d like to do fantasy eating for the whole year, but got a little stumped with how to score effectively and fairly, how to make teams, etc.

  8. Steakbellie said (Registered August 11, 2006)

    January 17, 2007 @ 12:30 pm

    i actually have an idea how this might work.

    Each Eater get’s the (inverse over 50) worth of points for any ranked competitor that they beat. Joey Chestnut would get 11pts for beating me, I would get 49 for beating him.

    Unranked Eaters are worth 1pt.

    There should also be points given just for competing in an event. Everyone at the table should get a bonus of the average pt score of everyone at the table. This way the eaters are rewarded for competing at tougher tables.

    It would be pretty easy to set up as a computer program, and would only require that the IFOCE keep good records of who placed where at each event (something they should be doing anyway)

  9. Mega Munch said

    January 17, 2007 @ 1:31 pm

    I LOVE stats and I love Steakbellie’s inverse ranking/points system.

    I also agree that any points-based ranking system will favor those who compete more often and have more opportunities to compile points. Which leads one to wonder, how far will Kobayashi fall in the rankings if he only competes in a handful of U.S. events each year?

  10. Steakbellie said (Registered August 11, 2006)

    January 17, 2007 @ 2:14 pm

    MM Thats a great point. I think they should keep the rankings as they are and have a separate point system for something like the ‘Eaters Cup’ this way an eater who is not ranked first or second can still win by being good AND prolific.

  11. Anonymous said

    January 17, 2007 @ 2:54 pm

    sounds like thinkyoucancompete……….hmmmmm

  12. Rhonda Evans said

    January 17, 2007 @ 2:58 pm

    Those are all excellent points SB and MM. I wonder if the IFOCE folks are looking at this (thread). Whatever the boys there come up with, it needs to be based on simplicity, ease of application, and functionality. Otherwise, it will end up as a neat, ingenious tool that is never used.

  13. Philly Guy said

    January 17, 2007 @ 4:33 pm

    This looks like Koby might be coming over more often. Unless the majors or worth moster points.

  14. Mad Stork said

    January 17, 2007 @ 4:44 pm

    a point system can’t work on the ifoce because they limit how many people can enter a contest and they can be selective in who gets to be in contests. a point system under those conditions is as much a farce as their current rankings. with tennis, there’s a bracket ladder. with racing, there is qualifying. etc. etc. the ifoce has in effect one-round contests open for 10-12 only and of their choosing. a point system of any kind will not work in the ifoce as it is now. competitive eating can have a point system but not the ifoce. the ifoce is about marketing not competitive eating.

  15. Mad Stork said

    January 17, 2007 @ 5:32 pm

    the way krystals handled the prelim rounds was awesome. anyone could show up and enter a prelim so the finals were fair that way. krystals is the only fair contest really. there are conditions on nathan’s and the bratworst. krystal’s has what the ifoce cannot.

  16. Anonymous said

    January 17, 2007 @ 6:54 pm

    before we criticise the ifoce we should probaly wait until they make the official announcement with the details for the system until then its all heresy

  17. Great Swamie!!! said

    January 17, 2007 @ 8:39 pm

    I like the arbitrary assignment of rank it makes everything interesting.

  18. Mad Stork said

    January 18, 2007 @ 3:16 pm

    whatever the ifoce does just remember it’s all for the show.

  19. anon said

    January 19, 2007 @ 1:34 pm

    LOKOS LIKE ITS FINALIZED http://www.competitiveeatingnews.com/newsarchive.php?action=detail&sn=73

  20. Tom Satriano said

    January 20, 2007 @ 10:40 am

    Point system does virtually nothing for middle road or terrible eaters. By accruing one point for finishing dead or next to last, depending on how many contests they compete in, they end up with 4 or 5 points at the end of the year which will obviously be documented on this site or ifoce site for all the world to see. This just gives another chance for the haters to mock the not so talented eaters when their points are listed . We all know that the top 5 or 6 eaters will accumulate all the big points . The only thing it accomplishes is that everyone’s plates will get weighed at the end of the contest. Big deal . Eaters have complained many times in the past that the plates were never weighed before the contest which will always raise the issue that someone is getting over big time.

  21. SuperPaul said

    January 20, 2007 @ 12:20 pm

    I still think showmanship, facepaint, age, wrinkles, and gray hair should count

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