MLB looking to add 2 more Wildcard playoff teams starting in 2012

• lhslep134

  

  karen lotz;748670 wrote:Have you ever heard anyone call game 4 "decisive"? I haven't. I have heard "decisive game 7" quite often.

  
  If someone wanted to call tomorrows game decisive, they wouldn't be wrong if the Heat win. Look up the definition of the word. Decisive is normally only reserved for a game 5 or 7 that breaks a 2-2 or 3-3 tie because those games have only 2 possible scenarios (Team A or Team B moves on), so the game can be called decisive BEFORE the fact. However, any game that ends a series may be called decisive AFTER the fact.
  
  What about the Heat winning game 4 wouldn't be decisive? Is the series decided already? Have they already won? No. Whichever game ends the series is the decisive game.
• lhslep134

  

  karen lotz;748667 wrote:
  Series clinching and decisive are different IMO.

  
  No, not by definition after the fact.
• Laley23

  

  Whatever, definition be damned. Everyone in the world calls decisive games the last games of a series.
• lhslep134

  

  Laley23;748731 wrote:Whatever, definition be damned. Everyone in the world calls decisive games the last games of a series.

  
  http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/10/29/us-ratings-idUSN2955057520071029
  
  http://www.hoopsnotes.com/teams/boston/will-davis-perkins-miss-decisive-game-6/
  
  What you're failing to acknowledge is that EVERY series clinching game is decisive, but after the fact. However, if it's not a final game it cannot be called decisive before the fact because it's only decisive if the series ends after, which it does after every final game.
• Laley23

  

  lhslep134;748747 wrote:http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/10/29/us-ratings-idUSN2955057520071029
  
  http://www.hoopsnotes.com/teams/boston/will-davis-perkins-miss-decisive-game-6/
  
  What you're failing to acknowledge is that EVERY series clinching game is decisive, but after the fact. However, if it's not a final game it cannot be called decisive before the fact because it's only decisive if the series ends after, which it does after every final game.

  
  Im not saying you are wrong. Im saying people understand what we are saying when we say the decisive game will be at home in either a 1-1-1 or a 1-2 format. Because everyone understands we are talking about the last game of the series.
• lhslep134

  

  Laley23;748839 wrote:Im saying people understand what we are saying when we say the decisive game will be at home in either a 1-1-1 or a 1-2 format. Because everyone understands we are talking about the last game of the series.

  
  But that's not true.
  
  In a 1-1-1 the decisive game will be on the road if the better team wins both games. It does not guarantee the decisive game at home, because there's no guarantee the series goes the distance. This is why I'm stressing that decisive is NOT a synonym for tie breaking everytime (only some times).
  
  A 1-2 is the only format that guarantees the decisive game takes place at home. Only point I'm trying to make.
• Laley23

  

  lhslep134;748893 wrote:But that's not true.
  
  In a 1-1-1 the decisive game will be on the road if the better team wins both games. It does not guarantee the decisive game at home, because there's no guarantee the series goes the distance. This is why I'm stressing that decisive is NOT a synonym for tie breaking everytime (only some times).
  
  A 1-2 is the only format that guarantees the decisive game takes place at home. Only point I'm trying to make.

  
  Christ. I get it, we all get it. You seem to not understand that we are talking about the way people speak about a series. No one says decisive game 2, even though by definition, you are right. They only say that for the last game of a series.
• lhslep134

  

  Laley23;748899 wrote:Christ. I get it, we all get it. You seem to not understand that we are talking about the way people speak about a series. No one says decisive game 2, even though by definition, you are right. They only say that for the last game of a series.

  
  I do understand that. But technically it's wrong, since no one knows which game the decisive one will be.
  
  
  Sorry lol I've been very technical since I started reading my law books.
• karen lotz

  

  So explain how game 4 of a 7 game series is fair to the better team? That game would be on the road but it could also end the series, or be the "decisive" game in your eyes.
• lhslep134

  

  karen lotz;748910 wrote:So explain how game 4 of a 7 game series is fair to the better team? That game would be on the road but it could also end the series, or be the "decisive" game in your eyes.

  
  Now you're confusing decisive game with home field advantage. You obviously know what that means, so I don't have to explain it or do i? It guarantees that if the home team were to win every game, the decisive game will be at the home location of the team with the better record. Any game that ends the series before that would still be the decisive game but it means home field advantage wasn't taken advantage of.
• karen lotz

  

  Ok so what are you even arguing? That 1-1-1 is not good because the "decisive" game 2 would be on the road for the better team, right? That makes no sense.
• lhslep134

  

  karen lotz;748923 wrote:Ok so what are you even arguing? That 1-1-1 is not good because the "decisive" game 2 would be on the road for the better team, right? That makes no sense.

  
  No. I never said it wasn't good. All I said was it doesn't guarantee the decisive game at home unless you're making the assumption that the lesser team wins game 2 at home, which you can't make.
  
  But a 1-2 does guarantee the decisive game at home. Truthfully, I'd rather have a 1-1-1 because I wouldn't want to go down 1-0 heading into a 2 game home series if the lesser team wins game 1.
• grodt

  

  Really the 1-1-1 is how most playoff series are formatted. The team with the best record starts out at home, if they win all their home games they can clinch on the road and the final game would be played at the home site of the better team.
• karen lotz

  

  Ok my question then is...what other series format guarantees the decisive game is at home for the better team? Why should that be taken into consideration at all?
  
  Edit: the answer is none of them do and it shouldn't.
• ts1227

  

  I would think the first and last (if it goes the full number of games) game of any series has to have the better team at home, regardless of length... and all leagues do this). This leaves you with no choice but 1-1-1 for a 3 gamer.