Irvine's 2008 "Beach Party" Invitational - new bracket pairing system

[Irvine.Coach]

The action starts in 22 hours and the beach barbecue starts in 31.  We're excited to try our new bracket system and very appreciative of the 15 other schools (30 teams) willing to participate in the experiment. 

Two key updates: we anticipate cooperative weather and plentiful judging.  The weekend forecast is sunshine with a light breeze, high of 84 and an evening low of 58 -- that's Newport Beach in November!  As far as the judging goes, unless we have unprecedented cancellations and no-shows, we will not need to use any coaches, law students or other non-attorneys.  In fact, more than 75% of our judging pool will be litigators and more than 10% will be actual sitting judges. 

Finally, if there is interest (and if I get an internet connection in the building), I will try to post the updated Bracket throughout the tournament.  Here is the opening round:

(1) UCLA                                                                        Berkeley (1)
(4) Southern Methodist                                                Redlands (4)

(2) Northwood                                                                   Irvine (2)
(3) Claremont                                                                     Loras (3)
 


(1) NYU                                                                                 USC (1)
(4) UC Santa Barbara                                                       Fresno (4)

(2) Stanford                                                                  Columbia (2)
(3) Hamline                                                                  Arizona St (3)

[MiaWUCU]

Here's the word from Irvine:

Following Round 1: The Elite 8
SMU
Northwood
NYU
Stanford
Cal
Irvine
USC
Columbia

Following Round 2: The Final 4
Northwood
NYU
Cal
Columbia

Will post updates as I get them.
(Go Lions.)

[Irvine.Coach]

NYU v. Berkeley in the finals.  Good luck to both of my alma maters!

[DesertClassic]

Cal by a nose.

[Irvine.Coach]

Berkeley +7, +13 and NYU +7, +12.  Berkeley won by 1 point.

Full tab summary coming tomorrow.

[Irvine.Coach]

UC Irvine thanks everyone who attended and judged at our tournament.  We had a lot of fun and we hope you did, too.  Congratulations to Berkeley on winning the bracket -- even if you did knock my team out in the process! 

(1) I'm really proud of our judge turnout.  We needed 128 seats filled and we got 162.  More than 80% were litigators; more than 10% were actual sitting judges.  Our six semi-final and final rounds were all presided over either by real judges or Dean Erwin Chemerinsky. 

(2) The Beach Party tab summary is now accessible from the AMTA site (it wasn't working properly, but the link now works -- thanks to Claremont's Abhi Nemani for catching the problem).  http://www.collegemocktrial.org/mock/tab_invitationals/uc_irvine_2008_beach_party_tab_summary_(amta)-117.pdf

As you can see, we decided to add a few "bells and whistles" to the tab summary.  If you have any ideas for other statistics we could have measured (or questions), please let me know at irvine.coach@gmail.com. 

(3) I'm obviously biased, but the bracket system seemed to be well-received.  I liked the fact that entire programs won or lost, not just individual teams.  In the tabroom, it certainly made pairing easier -- we only had one impermissible all tournament.  If you have any comments about the bracket system -- positive or negative -- please share them. 

(4) Finally, a belated thanks to everyone who helped in our tabroom: the amazing Seelaus, Mike Kelly, Steve Borello, Keith Fichtelman, Lauren Zimmerman, Phil Gary, Amanda Bonn and Gautam Sood.  They dealt with 32 teams' worth of ballots and tabulation, not to mention the added challenges presented by a bracket.  I owe you all In N Out!

Justin Bernstein

[Bruin007]

I just wanted to thank and congratulate Justin and all of his fellow anteaters for putting together a first rate tournament.  The facilities were great, the judging pool was very strong, and the bracket system made for an interesting twist.  Also the beach party was a really good time, and major props to Hameline for actually making it into the water.

Also, thank you to SMU, Redlands, Arizona State, and Loras for giving our teams some really competitive and fun rounds.  Best of luck to all of you as the season moves forward.

[12 yr old prodigy]

That is the most interesting tab summary I've ever seen. Very nice job. It must have taken a lot of time and hard work.

[arandomguy]

Also the beach party was a really good time, and major props to Hameline for actually making it into the water.

It was cold as hell I must admit. Crazy, and probably not one of our better ideas, but it was fun. Hamline had a great time, and the beach party was excellent.

[The Gelf]

(2) The Beach Party tab summary is now accessible from the AMTA site (it wasn't working properly, but the link now works -- thanks to Claremont's Abhi Nemani for catching the problem).  http://www.collegemocktrial.org/mock/tab_invitationals/uc_irvine_2008_beach_party_tab_summary_(amta)-117.pdf

As you can see, we decided to add a few "bells and whistles" to the tab summary.  If you have any ideas for other statistics we could have measured (or questions), please let me know at irvine.coach@gmail.com. 

Sabremetrics has come to Mock Trial!!

Suggested future stats:  Value Over Replacement Witness, Objection-independent examination scores, Courthouse Factor . . .

Seriously, this is awesome.  Very fun to read and think about. 

[Herb]

That is awesome.

[lady.justice]

It was cold as hell I must admit. Crazy, and probably not one of our better ideas, but it was fun. Hamline had a great time, and the beach party was excellent.

Bottom line: The beach though cold was beautiful.

[jwalk1028]

That tab analysis was the most insane thing I've ever seen.

Well done Justin, well done.

[Atticus.]

Yeah, most excellent tab summary, Justin.

One open question to anyone who knows - how long has Buchanan Vines been doing undergrad mock trial now? I thought that he had graduated.

[patty]

good question atticus, but i figured you would be the one to know...