For those who missed the loya jirga, here's the low down:
An entirely new Council of Elders this year, minus yours truly, of course (I'm glad I went):
Members--OJ, Crawfish, Jess, Ford, Chief
Observers--Jacob, Travis
After the standard boobery, we got straight down to business. For those unclear on the concept, nominations have to have a "second" within the Council, and then the Council voted on the final list in each category by majority. With great fanfare and much adieu, the 2008 nominees (presented in no particular order) for the AWVP Awards are:
MVP: Jess, Ford, Chief, OJ, E-Dub
Rookie of the Year: Nick, Marty, Nattie G, Holly Grove, Carson
Most Improved: Will, Spoons, Big Shot, E-Dub, Scott
(I think we decided we're giving out 2 Most Improved awards this year)
Panda of the Year: Crawfish, Chief, OJ, Creepy, Ford
Server of the Year: Wescott, E-Dub, Chief, Jess, Crawfish
Point Guard of the Year: LJ, Chief, Crawfish, Jess, T2
Spiker of the Year: Ford, Jess, Mikey, OJ, E-Dub
Defensive Player of the Year: Will, Jim Back, Jess, Ford, T2
Drunkest Panda: Scott, Deto, Chief, Jess, T2
Some of you may notice one award is missing--Summer Serve was voted off the list this year.
My analysis of the list: One important first--a (primarily) Riata player is up for MVP. I consider this a good thing. There's something of a "changing of the guard" here, both in terms of the Council makeup and the nominees. The "vets" who have been at the top of everyone's list in years past are fading from memory--losing the crowd, if you will. In some ways, this is as it should be as well, but, being a vet myself, I don't want to be the last of the Jedi Knights, and I wouldn't take this lying down next season (Go Vet Squad!)
Though I am stepping up as the teller of the tale, as per usual with these meetings, there's quite a bit of discussion and confusion, so if this list does not reflect what the other council members walked away with, please speak up so it can be duly corrected.
THE EVENT--OJ will be announcing the date of the Awards Ceremony, which he is now hosting in lieu of Creepy. Crawfish will be MC. As per usual, in addition to the nominees mentioned above, there will be a spot for write-in candidates in each and every category.
NEW BUSINESS: Councilman OJ and Councilman Fish have introduced plans for "called" 2's, and 4's best of 3 matches based on set teams and schedules. Their ideas were approved by the Council in theory, with details TBD.
Based on my 16 years of experience, these concepts are easier said than done. I will also side with Travis on advocacy of maximum Panda participation vs. elite showtime. Both have their places, but the former should be far more stressed than the latter. My recommendation was one weekday where a called best of 3 game would take place based on some sort of schedule, with another such game taking place on a weekend. These would be at the start of the day.
Other people have other ideas, but they are going to have to get those past both the attendees at the Awards Ceremony and all of Panda Corps in practice. Given that, when I first started out at the Argosy, I was told I couldn't come out when the "real" players were playing, I will vigorously lobby for baby steps on this new business.
Other Business: There were discussions about dividing the 150 days of games, or thereabouts, into pre-season, regular season, and post-season, which I didn't pay much attention to. Other Council members can chime in on this. We did resolve to convene the Council of Elders during the post-season from now on, so nominees for awards will be decided upon while we can still remember who was doing what well within living memory. I prefer to have the Awards Ceremony during the same year as the season it celebrates, but this is still up in the air.
Did I miss anything? Get ready, because the 2009 season is just around the corner--Fight! Fight! Fight!
_________________ Chief
Death from above! Fire down below!
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