IBS XIII Discussion Thread

[Banija]

"Banijan Joint Service Academy All-Stars" squad will join.

It's an all-star combining the best players from the baseball teams of Banija's three military service academies.

[Saint-Domingues]

We will send a domestic team, the Santo Domingo Toros (Saint-Domingue).

[BohemiaIV]

Bohemia Buccaneers

[Banija]

Banija IBS XIII Bid

The Banijan Service Academies Association, in conjunction with the Banijan Collegiate Sports Group, is officially submitting its bid to the international baseball community to host IBS XIII.

Banijan National Information

The Kingdom of Banija is a country that classifies itself as a semi-constitutional monarchy. A nation that is proudly a member of Atlantian Oceania, it is led by the Kabaka(which translates to King), and the current monarch is Kabaka Mwanga. The Kabaka, alongside with the Waziri(translates to Foreign Minister), whom he picks and dismisses solely at his pleasure, is the Head of State and responsible for the country's foreign affairs. Upon reaching age 25, the Isebantu(Crown Prince), becomes the Waziri by constitutional right. The current Isebantu is Isebantu Mutungi. The full list of members of the Royal Family can be found here.

Kabaka Mwanga ascended into power after the assassination of his father, Kabaka Albert III during World Cup 82 Qualifying. This is, of course, a government with an elected element. The elected unicameral legislature is the Lukiiko(Parliament), and the Lukiiko is responsible for governance of domestic affairs. The Katikkiro(Prime Minister) is elected by the Lukiiko. Currently, there is an elected right-wing coalition that holds a majority in the Lukiiko and rules the country. The present Katikkiro Is Kobe Aziri.

Due to the massive influence of Puritan Mormonism in this nation, they are relatively socially conservative. Abortion in this country is outlawed unless the mother's life is in danger, and polygamy for males is legal. The church's Universal Call to Motherhood, which teaches that the destiny of each and every woman is to give birth to children and raise faithful Puritan Mormons, has heavily shaped the nation's view on the role of women in society, forming the basis for Banija's prior sports gender segregation laws in the first place. Consumption of alcohol and the recreational use of marijuana in Banija is legal. Due to Mormon tradition, however, the purchase/sale of coffee products is illegal within Banija- however, the consumption is not. Fans and teams an ddelegations are allowed to bring in their own coffee products as long as they are declared at customs, where it is then taxed per pound. Any attempt or effort to sell the product, however, can and will result in arrest.

Most people in the country speak both Olusanke, the local dialect, and English. There is a smattering of Korean spoken within the country, thanks to Banija's Quebecois roots. Banija's currency is the shilling. The exchange rate to the NationStates Dollar is 200 shillings to 1 NSD. Conversion kiosks will be available at all hotels and at airports to exchange your money, as well as any banks. However, using the NSDs directly to purchase items is only guaranteed at stadiums and hotels- vendors outside of stadiums or hotels are not required to accept NationStates Dollars. Fans are also advised that street vendors will only take cash, according to Banijan law- as an issue of security to prevent against credit card theft.

Of course, Banija is on its way to developed country status. This is thanks to a recent discovery of large oil deposits in Hangaza, there is movement within the country on building better infrastructure. There has been heavy investment in Istria's public transportation system by the Regional Transit Corporation in the leadup to the games, with better roads and systems being built. One of Banija's unique public transit systems within cities is via the boda boda. The climate of Banija has a lot of natural rainforest and jungle, which means that there is no winter, only wet season and dry season. Temperatures generally range at their coldest around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and at their hottest around 110 degrees Fahrenheit. For the duration of the Games, average high temperatures will range from 60 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Banijans have a tendency of being relaxed about time. While, of course, things like flights and matches will run on time, this is something that is observed generally, especially at restaurants. It is considered standard to arrive about 15-20 minutes late for a restaurant reservation, which is something Banijan authorities would like to make note of for travelling fans and visitors to the country for this tournament. This is very true for hangouts with Banijans, dates, weddings, etc... Within the country.

In terms of food, Banijans are very heavy meat eaters, and you'll find plenty of chicken, goat meat, beef, pork, and turkey options on your localized menus. In terms of non-meats, popular staple foods are jollof, matoke, Chapati, a rolex, and samosas. Strictly vegan restaurants within the country, outside of Istria and Busukuma, are almost non-existent, though of course you'll find non-meat options everywhere

Bid-Specific Information

Banija's four military service academies have joined together to bring an international baseball tournament to Banija for the first time since the XIV Olympiad. THe Banijan Service Academies Association consists of the nations four military service academies. The Kabaka's Military College(Army), the Banijan Royal Naval Academy(Navy), the Royal Air Force Academy(Air Force), and the Shango-Fogoa Coast Guard Academy(Coast Guard). They are like service academies elsewhere- training officers to serve in their respective branches of the Banijan military.

These four institutions, who sometimes get along, and sometimes do not, have decided to join together, in a bid for inter-service unity, to have a joint baseball team for this tournament and to bring this tournament to Banijan soil. There will be plenty of honoring of not only the Banijan military, but the militaries of all participating nations. There will be all sorts of promotions throughout the tournament for veterans and academy students of all participating students.

Format

There will be five stadiums used. The entirety of the tournament will take place in Banija. Each military academy will host games. However, since the service academies could not agree on who would host the Final, that will be the only event of the tournament not hosted on the grounds of a military academy. All groups are single round robin.

20 teams: 4 groups of 5. Top four from each group advance to the Round of 16(yes, it's generous, but you'll see why shortly).

24 teams: 4 groups of six. Top four from each group advance to the Round of 16

28 teams: 7 groups of 4. Top two from each group plus the top two 3rd place sides will advance to the knockout stages. The group winners shall be ranked 1-7, runners-up ranked 8-14, and third place sides ranked 15-16. That is where the knockout stage bracket will be drawn.

32 teams: 8 groups of 4. Top two from each group will advance to the knockout stages.

In all formats, group winners will be ranked ahead of group runner-ups, who will be ranked ahead of group third place sides, and so on.

So no matter the format, each team will have an extra game at the end of the group stage. This will be called "rivalry showdown." It will count in your own team's group standings no matter what. It will be against a team from another group. Here will be the kicker- you can pick the opponent. It can be any opponent in another group, as long as that team agrees and as long as they are in another group. You would have until the scorination results of the final regular scheduled matchday to get your matchup scheduled. You could talk to each other, and then finalize it by both of you TGing me.

Anyone who does not have an opponent, of course, will be assigned one. That extra game will count towards your own group standings.

If the explanation is not clear, here is an example to show how it would work.

Matchday 1

Army                      0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0  3
Navy                      0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

Air Force                 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1
Coast Guard               0 0 1 1 0 0 1 3 X  6

Matchday 2

Navy                      4 3 3 0 2 0 0 2 0 14
Coast Guard               1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  5

Army                      2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0  4
Air Force                 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1  3

Matchday 3

Air Force                 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
Navy                      2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 X  4

Coast Guard               0 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 0  5
Army                      0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Standings after Matchday 3

Military                   Pld  W  L   RF  RA  RD 
1 Navy                      3   2  1   19   9 +10
2 Coast Guard               3   2  1   16  16   0
3 Army                      3   2  1    8   9  −1
4 Air Force                 3   0  3    5  14  −9

Rivalry Week Scores

Kizza I College           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Army                      0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  1

Navy                      0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  3
Lake Alexandre State      0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0  2

Northern Moravica         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Air Force                 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 X  4

Coast Guard               0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4  7
Loyola-Istria             1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  4

Standings after Matchday 4

Military                 Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Navy                    4    3   1    22   11  +11
2 Coast Guard             4    3   1    23   20   +3
3 Army                    4    3   1     9    9    0
4 Air Force               4    1   3     9   15   −6

Navy would win this group on head to head run differential.

Tiebreakers

1) H-2-H Wins
2) H-2-H Run Differential
3) Record against common opponents
4) Overall Run Differential
5) Overall Runs For
6) Coin Toss

(Since there are no style mods in xkor for baseball, I have no problem using runs for as a tiebreaker since it wouldn't advantage anyone with a specific style mod)



Knockout Stages

And now, for the knockout stage format.

16 teams will make the knockout stages, no matter how many sign up (unless we stunningly get over 32). Now, we will use a College World Series style, partial double elimination format.

So we will have four regionals- Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. The teams, who will be seeded 1-16, will be drawn into each regional, which is inside a super-regional. The super-regional as a whole is double elimination= so your losses carry over from the regional to the super regional round. The winner of the two super regionals will make the championship series, where records will reset and it will be a straight up best of 3.

Army Regional
1 v 16
8 v 9

Air Force Regional
4 v 13
5 v 12

The winners of these two regionals, with their potential loss carried over, meet in the Army super regional. With losses carrying over to the super regional, this super regional could last one, two, or three games.

Navy Regional
2 v 15
7 v 10

Coast Guard Regional
3 v 14
6 v 11

The winners of these two regionals, with their potential loss carried over, meet in the Navy super regional. With losses carrying over to the super regional, this super regional could last one, two, or three games.

The winner of each super regional will make the Final, which is played in Istria. There is no third place series.

Regional 1
(Not using the standings from the above example)
1. Coast Guard
2. Army
3. Air Force
4. Loyola-Istria

Regional 2
1. Lake Alexandre State
2. Kizza I College
3. Loyola-Istria
4. Navy

Matchday 1
Regional 1
Coast Guard               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Loyola-Istria             0 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 X  5

Army                      1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 3  6
Air Force                 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 0  4

Regional 2
Lake Alexandre State      0 2 0 2 0 0 0 2 0  6
Navy                      0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  2

Kizza I College           0 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0  5
Northern Moravica         0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

Matchday 2
Regional 1
Loyola-Istria             0 2 0 1 0 1 0 2 1  7
Army                      0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 2  5

Coast Guard               1 0 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 11
Air Force                 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2 - 2nd loss, eliminated

Regional 2
Lake Alexandre State      0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  2
Kizza I College           0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3  5

Navy                      0 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 0  5 - 2nd loss, eliminated
Northern Moravica         1 0 1 3 0 2 0 0 X  7

Matchday 3
Regional 1
Army                      0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0  4
Coast Guard               1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2 - 2nd loss, eliminated

Regional 2
Lake Alexandre State      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0 - 2nd loss, eliminated
Northern Moravica         0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 X  2

Matchday 4
Regional 1
Army                   0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0  4 - 2nd loss, eliminated
Loyola-Istria          1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1  5

Regional 2
Kizza I College        2 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  6
Northern Moravica      0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 1 1  7

Matchday 5
Regional 2
Kizza I College        5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2  8
Northern Moravica      1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  6 - 2nd loss, eliminated

Matchday 6
Super Regional
Loyola-Istria          2 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0  6
Kizza I College        0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0  3 - 2nd loss, eliminated

Loyola-Istria are champions of this super regional and would then advance to the Championship series.

Hosting Experience

World Bowl XXXIV
World Bowl XXXVII
25th International Basketball Championships(co-hosted w/ Filindostan)
28th World Lacrosse Championships
29th World Lacrosse Championships(co-hosted with Razenthuria)
67th Baptism of Fire(co-hosted w/ Qasden)
76th Cup of Harmony(co-hosted w/ Xanneria)
Conferences in multiple seasons of both the NSCAA and the NSCF
Multiple seasons of the IDLO
World Cup 83(co-hosted with Equestria)
World Cup 81(co-hosted w/ the Federation of Free Republics)
AOCAF LVIII(co-hosted with Baker Park)
XIV Summer Olympiad(co-hosted with Liventia)
AOCAF LXII

Scorinating Method

I will be using version 0.3.3.of xkoranate, with the Adjusted NSFS3 formula. A roster shall be eligible for two full day's RP bonus. RP bonus shall be cumulative across the duration of the tournament.

Other OOC Information

My cutoffs will be between 9:30 and 11 PM EST.

I'm ready for any and all questions.

EDIT: I would also prefer not to use ranks for this tournament, considering none of us are sending senior-level national teams, but if there is a community consensus here to use ranks than I will.

EDIT 2: Changing the formula I will use in xkor.

[Banija]

Additional clarification, there is no series format used throughout the tournament, except for the championship series. These are all single games.

[Northwest Kalactin]

Northwest Ballina Redhawks (Northwest Kalactin) are in

[Sevendia]

Sevendian Sevens in as a numbers puppet of South Newlandia. Cut me first, please include only if we help to get to a bigger number

[Banija]

As another update to my bid, after using the adjusted NSFS formula created by FFR a while ago, and used during IBS XII successfully(its advantage over traditional NSFS baseball formula is that it cuts down on the randomness), I will be using that scorinator instead.

My bid is edited to reflect that.

[Somiens-et-Haveras]

Sainte-Maire - Les Espadons (Somiens-et-Haveras)

Somiens-et-Haveras will be sending Les Espadons de Sainte-Marie (The Sainte-Marie Swordfish), a senior national team. This will be the first time a Somiénois-et-Haverasien team has competed internationally, and fans around the country are expected to be tuning in for the match!

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

OP has been updated with appropriate signups.

All nations (especially Xanneria, Hebitaka, and The Royal Kingdom of Quebec, are reminded to submit their signup in the format of Nation name + nickname, or if submitting a club team, Team name + nickname + (nation name)

Resubmission: Quebec U22s sign up.

[Nova Anglicana]

It's host vote time! All participating nations, except Banija as the host bidder and Sevendia as a puppet of South Newlandia, are eligible to vote. You will have approximately 72 hours to vote. You may vote once. Your options are below:

1. Accept the bid from Banija
2. Re-open bids
3. Abstain

Please TG your vote to Gotalanda by noon EST (UTC-5) on Monday, February 8th.

[Gotalanda]

Okay, having tallied the host vote results, they are:

1. Banija: 14
2. Re-open bids: 0
3. Abstain: 0

So, by unanimous vote, Banija is declared the host of IBS XIII and all decisions regarding participation and start date are handed over to them. Congratulations!

[Banija]

Wow everybody, thank you for such an emphatic vote of confidence in my bid! It is greatly appreciated.

I'm excited to bring the best youth baseball teams of the multiverse to Banija's military academies! Will be a fun time.

So right now, we're at 25 signups. The last puppet to signup is Sevendia, and I've spoken to him regarding this- I'll chop his signup off and leave everybody's else up, closing signups at 24.

Just a couple of notes-

1. I am going to throw up the IC thread at some point in the next couple of hours. It will come with the groups and the full tournament schedule. Expect Matchday 1 to occur on Friday night.

2. For the group draw, of course, with no ranks, we have to draw pots. Pot 1 will be the host nation plus the top 3 finishers from IBS 12 who returned(representatives from Banija, Kohnhead, Daskel, and Super Llamaland). They, of course, have no rank or any sort of point boost for this position- they will simply be guaranteed avoidance of each other in Round 1. There will be one big pot for the other 20 nations- and 5 per group will be drawn(since we will have four groups of six).

2. Once we have groups, you can use this thread to help schedule for the rivalry day. More info on that, of course, will be on the OP of the IC thread.

I'm excited to host the IBS!

[Banija]

The IC thread is Live!

[Nova Anglicana]

Changed the name to discussion thread to reflect that the IBS is live and people can talk here if they want.

[Banija]

Ok! So we had a problem with one of the scores.

Osci Talenti                                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2
Bohemia Buccaneers                               0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 7  8

Bohemia scored more than the maximum possible in the bottom of the 9th. Since the game would end as soon as he takes the lead, the maximum he can score in that inning is 5.

I've manually fixed the score for that game. 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th instead of 7, and final score of 6-2 instead of 8-2.

[Banija]

Announcement-

I messed up with the overall standings, and had put Northwest Ballina as the 15th overall seed and Sarzonia as the 14th overall seed, as a mistake.

Thank you to SNL for pointing it out.

They have been fixed in the table, and their matchups have been fixed. Since this was a mistake of mine, of course, any RPs mentioning the previously scheduled match will obviously not be penalized. My apologies for the mistake.