The CQ "Career in Decline" game 2014

[mc_mountain]

Do we have a spreadsheet of sorts for this game and some way of tracking who's in the lead?

well there's the link in AC's last post - I think efforts were made to have a similar spreadsheet to Hugo's but it proved too temperamental/fragile. Its not immediately obvious to me how to update AC's - perhaps he can give a quick tutorial for anyone that wants to keep ahead of his ~monthly updates.

 

[Armchair cyclist]

Set column B to be equal to whatever score you want to take the total of. I originally thought I'd manually fill the riders' scores each month in column D (earnings is probably not the clearest of headers, it is 2014 points), and I can't see any way around having to do that for column F (Days raced): at least once that reaches 20 it does not need further checking. Given how many different riders have been selected, I will probably try to work out the VLOOKUP codes and download CQs updates. Column G is the result of the calculation that gets you points: points lost in the year, reduced proportionately if there are fewer than 20 days raced. That is the one to duplicate into column B once D and F are populated.

 

[ingsve]

Ah, I totally missed that spreadsheet.

I think that for the purpose of doing regular updates to who is leading etc we should just forget the 20 day requirement. It's more intersting to see what someone's actual score is rather than a score that assumes the rider won't reach 20 races in the year. Alternatively we could have two rankings, one that assumes that everyone will reach 20 race days and one that takes into account whether 20 days are reached yet or not.

 

[Armchair cyclist]

Ah, I totally missed that spreadsheet.

I think that for the purpose of doing regular updates to who is leading etc we should just forget the 20 day requirement. It's more intersting to see what someone's actual score is rather than a score that assumes the rider won't reach 20 races in the year. Alternatively we could have two rankings, one that assumes that everyone will reach 20 race days and one that takes into account whether 20 days are reached yet or not.

I'll probably do that until mid-season, and this month (I have the closing of the emerging riders and the early Spring Classics entries to process) I'll probably just post the unwanted points earned.

 

[mutschi]

All these deadlines of cycling games at the same time of the year. Don't you guys have jobs? I guess you do it at your job...hehehe. Too late to enter, I guess?

 

[Armchair cyclist]

Probably not yet relevant to publish the full scores taking account of number of day ridden etc, but here is the table in tems of points "won" (but not really wanted.

To my regret, and that of Del 1962, Cadel Evans' demise did not begin with the Aussie races in January; HANSEN Adam, ARREDONDO MORENO Julian David, IMPEY Daryl, and PONZI Simone have also been a major disappointment to their managers in this game by virtue of delighting their real life managers.

But I would divert ridicule at my performance (and I'm bck in the position I held in the Tour and Vuelta games last year: I'm becoming a master of the lanternes rouges), I would point out the selections of Sam Horgan (by Italian Gigolo) and Cleberson Weber (by Del1962), who far from being in decline have exceeded their entire 2013 scores in January 2014.


1 DJSprtsch 0
2 Bicing 1
3 Vladimir 3
4 Josedin 5
5 Fauniera 9
6 Italian Gigolo 10
6 Mellow Velo 10
8 Al Pacino 13
9 MC Mountain 15
10 Asdfgh101 16
11 Skidmark 31
12 Geraint Too Fast 62
12 Leadbelly 62
14 18 Valve 75
15 Ingsve 112
16 Hilltop Finisher 119
17 Ruudz0r 135
18 Fus87 137
19 Afrank 141
20 Karaev 154
21 Will 10 166
22 Florecita 172
23 Search 201
24 Del 1962 408
25 Armchair 441
(CQ download of 02/02/14)

 

[del1962]

Probably not yet relevant to publish the full scores taking account of number of day ridden etc, but here is the table in tems of points "won" (but not really wanted.

To my regret, and that of Del 1962, Cadel Evans' demise did not begin with the Aussie races in January; HANSEN Adam, ARREDONDO MORENO Julian David, IMPEY Daryl, and PONZI Simone have also been a major disappointment to their managers in this game by virtue of delighting their real life managers.

But I would divert ridicule at my performance (and I'm bck in the position I held in the Tour and Vuelta games last year: I'm becoming a master of the lanternes rouges), I would point out the selections of Sam Horgan (by Italian Gigolo) and Cleberson Weber (by Del1962), who far from being in decline have exceeded their entire 2013 scores in January 2014.


1 DJSprtsch 0
2 Bicing 1
3 Vladimir 3
4 Josedin 5
5 Fauniera 9
6 Italian Gigolo 10
6 Mellow Velo 10
8 Al Pacino 13
9 MC Mountain 15
10 Asdfgh101 16
11 Skidmark 31
12 Geraint Too Fast 62
12 Leadbelly 62
14 18 Valve 75
15 Ingsve 112
16 Hilltop Finisher 119
17 Ruudz0r 135
18 Fus87 137
19 Afrank 141
20 Karaev 154
21 Will 10 166
22 Florecita 172
23 Search 201
24 Del 1962 408
25 Armchair 441
(CQ download of 02/02/14)

Can I swap Cadel with soemone from my main team, they are about the sam points

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Might be that my team all together had something like 4 race days - but, yes! - I'm in the lead!

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Well, that didn't last long as I have Peraud!

 

[Armchair cyclist]

Current scores
This should give a good idea of current standings, although it is based on a bit of a hotpotch of data at this stage: CQ points to 2nd March, PCS data for days raced until 28 Feb for those who had 9 or more days raced by that date, and CQ data for days raced (but only n.1 or higher) to 3rd March for the remainder. It should be possible to get this more cohesive (and hopefully more efficient to source) as the season progresses.

Riders who have most 'lost points' so far:
NIBALI Vincenzo 2302
RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquim 1910
CANCELLARA Fabian 1121
COSTA Rui Alberto Faria 937
VAN AVERMAET Greg 794
SCARPONI Michele 575
CHAVANEL Sylvain 528
REBELLIN Davide 526
WEENING Pieter 463
HORNER Chris 435
FARRAR Tyler 390
HUSHOVD Thor 374
POZZATO Filippo 370
INTXAUSTI ELORRIAGA Benat 368
LEUKEMANS Björn 348
SPILAK Simon 348
ELMIGER Martin 340
FRANK Mathias 337
MOLLEMA Bauke 326
DEBUSSCHERE Jens 314


To recap: Nibali scored 2760 last year, and so far has 52 points from 17 days racing this year. He has thus lost 2708 points this year, but as he has had fewer than 20 race days so far, we calculate 2708x17/20, and round that to the nearest whole number, giving 2302 points for the game.

Nibali is a unique pick for Italian Gigolo: if baby Emma continues to keep Daddy awake at night, he might be a game winner.

Rankings:
1 Italian Gigolo 3357
2 Asdfgh101 2570
3 Al Pacino 2515
4 Del 1962 2493
5 Skidmark 2381
6 Armchair 2370
7 Florecita 2357
8 Mellow Velo 2194
9 Leadbelly 2076
10 Will 10 2001
11 Karaev 1996
12 18 Valve 1964
13 Vladimir 1961
13 Josedin 1961
15 MC Mountain 1956
16 Geraint Too Fast 1927
17 Hilltop Finisher 1829
18 Afrank 1749
19 Ruudz0r 1710
20 Bicing 1665
21 Fauniera 1615
22 DJSprtsch 1568
23 Search 1552
24 Fus87 1536
25 Ingsve 1444

Edit: Discovered loads of errors. There may well be others, and I hope updates become more reliable as time goes on.

 

[LaFlorecita]

7th The scoring system is a bit of a mystery to me though

 

[del1962]

7th The scoring system is a bit of a mystery to me though

I have gone from 2nd bottom to somewhere near the top, I think we have to wait till most riders have raced 20 days to see how well everyone is doing, I am hoping Cancellara decides that the one hour record is his most important goal for the season

 

[ingsve]

OK, this ranking tells us pretty much nothing. All it does is tell us what teams have riders that have raced the most already this year.

Could you do a ranking of the highest possible score for each team based on how many points have been scored so far. Basically just do a ranking where you assume that all riders will meet the 20 race day requirement and that will give a better view of who is in the lead.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

I have something like 211 points now...

 

[Armchair cyclist]

OK, this ranking tells us pretty much nothing. All it does is tell us what teams have riders that have raced the most already this year.

Could you do a ranking of the highest possible score for each team based on how many points have been scored so far. Basically just do a ranking where you assume that all riders will meet the 20 race day requirement and that will give a better view of who is in the lead.

A 'please' might have been nice, along with a less scathing tone: I spent hours transferring data and checking it.

What you ask is equally meaningless,as many teams include riders who have no intention of doing 20 days this year as they have retired.

Of course it tells us nothing of final standings: no more so than this will bear resemblance to the rankings in December:
1 GERRANS Simon
2 EVANS Cadel
3 ULISSI Diego
4 PORTE Richie
5 KWIATKOWSKI Michal
6 GREIPEL André
7 TERPSTRA Niki
8 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro
9 BOONEN Tom
10 SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon


But regardless:
1 Fauniera 4895
2 Vladimir 4850
3 Mellow Velo 4816
4 Italian Gigolo 4796
5 Josedin 4795
6 Ingsve 4787
7 Bicing 4783
8 DJSprtsch 4782
9 Skidmark 4735
9 18 Valve 4735
11 Geraint Too Fast 4695
12 Al Pacino 4692
13 Asdfgh101 4660
14 Will 10 4650
14 MC Mountain 4650
16 Leadbelly 4649
17 Hilltop Finisher 4634
18 Afrank 4629
19 Ruudz0r 4622
20 Fus87 4600
21 Florecita 4528
22 Search 4446
23 Karaev 4439
24 Armchair 4350
25 Del 1962 4231

The spreadsheet is here at dropbox: change display by making column B report the column that you are interested in comparing.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Okay now 21st I am having an off year alright

 

[skidmark]

OK, this ranking tells us pretty much nothing. All it does is tell us what teams have riders that have raced the most already this year.

Could you do a ranking of the highest possible score for each team based on how many points have been scored so far. Basically just do a ranking where you assume that all riders will meet the 20 race day requirement and that will give a better view of who is in the lead.

Well, it tells us the results as per the rules of the game, so I don't think that's insubstantial. With so many strategies around picking riders, it definitely seems to me to make the most sense.

 

[fauniera]

Thanks for all the work, Armchair. Have to say, though, that the sheets are a bit too complicated for me. Is the first place i've got here a good thing or a bad thing?

Is there an easy way to find out how many "earnings" (points scored) i have?

 

[Armchair cyclist]

Thanks for all the work, Armchair. Have to say, though, that the sheets are a bit too complicated for me. Is the first place i've got here a good thing or a bad thing?

Is there an easy way to find out how many "earnings" (points scored) i have?

That first place is essentially because your riders have earned very few CQ points this season. Your much lower ranking in the table I initially published is because most of your riders have done relatively few races (only one has more than 8 racedays under his belt, 9 of them have not turned a pedal in anger yet as far as my sources showed.)

The scores for each rider in the spreadsheet reflect whatever you put in column B.
If in B2 you enter =C2, and copy that to the bottom of column B, then row 235 will give the total of the initial score of your riders. (This is your potential highest score at the beginning of the year if all your men rode 20+ days each and still failed to garner a single point between them)

If in B2 you enter =D2, and copy that to the bottom of column B, then row 235 will give the total of the current(ish) CQ score of your riders. (You want this to be low)

If in B2 you enter =E2, and copy that to the bottom of column B, then row 235 will give the total of the difference between the price of your riders and their scores. You want this to be high, but if the only reason it is high is because they haven't raced much, your team will still not benefit from it)

If in B2 you enter =F2, and copy that to the bottom of column B, then row 235 will give the total of the days raced by your riders. (This will be almost entirely meaningless, and besides, once a rider has 20 or more in this column, I won't bother updating it, as it is irrelevant whether it is 21 or 91)

If in B2 you enter =G2, and copy that to the bottom of column B, then row 235 will give the total of the effective game score of your riders. This is the ranking I will be publishing each month.

If in B2 you enter your bank account details, please PM me a copy.

Its very early in the season to say how any team is doing. To take a popular pick as an example, Alois Kankovsky had 426 points by the end of last year, and right now he has 0. You might think that makes him a great pick, but last year he had no points until May, and only 33 before mid-September, so any current rankings should be taken with a large grain of salt.

 

[fauniera]

Okay, thanks! Will try that B2 thing later. No PM, though.

 

[skidmark]

Oh man, Nieve and Scarponi both top 10 in T-A! And they both have more points than at this time last season, grumble grumble. Well, wait until the Giro ascendancy of Aru...

Also, glad I swapped out Peraud at the last minute. He's certainly not getting washed away by AG2R's improving talent and his own advancing age as I thought he might. Impressive.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Also, glad I swapped out Peraud at the last minute. He's certainly not getting washed away by AG2R's improving talent and his own advancing age as I thought he might. Impressive.

Happy for the man, of course, but yes, it seems he was the wrong guy to pick (grumble).

 

[Armchair cyclist]

March update:

Riders who have done well this month (essentially by getting nearer to 20 race days, without scoring many CQ points):
CHAVANEL Sylvain 625
MOLLEMA Bauke 507
FUGSLANG Jakob 452
COSTA Rui Alberto Faria 441
HORNER Chris 435
CIOLEK Gerald 388
NIBALI Vincenzo 381
INTXAUSTI ELORRIAGA Benat 367
DUMOULIN Samuel 365
SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel 363
VAN AVERMAET Greg 354
ANTON HERNANDEZ Igor 330
VOECKLER Thomas 326
MARTINEZ Yannick 317
SCARPONI Michele 293

Most riders who are likely to get anywhere near 20 race days have now reached it, or are very close. Once a rider has reached that threshold, they can no longer score positively: they can only get the points their manager does not want for them.

The best riders to have so far
This guys will have got high CQ scores last season, but have not earned nearly as many yet this year, although they have a reasonable number of days raced already.
NIBALI Vincenzo 2683
RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquim 1926
COSTA Rui Alberto Faria 1378
CHAVANEL Sylvain 1153
VAN AVERMAET Greg 1148
CANCELLARA Fabian 1113
HORNER Chris 870
SCARPONI Michele 868
MOLLEMA Bauke 833
FUGSLANG Jakob 753
INTXAUSTI ELORRIAGA Benat 735
WEENING Pieter 733
DUMOULIN Samuel 679
CIOLEK Gerald 659
REBELLIN Davide 653
POZZATO Filippo 648
SPILAK Simon 624
HUSHOVD Thor 612
VOECKLER Thomas 608
LEUKEMANS Björn 537


So where does that leave our teams?
1 (1) Italian Gigolo 4413
2 (3) Al Pacino 3894
3 (8) Mellow Velo 3864
4 (5) Skidmark 3791
5 (21) Fauniera 3788
6 (12) 18 Valve 3762
7 (6) Armchair 3625
8 (20) Bicing 3603
9 (17) Hilltop Finisher 3514
10 (4) Del 1962 3425
11 (10) Will 10 3342
12 (17) Florecita 3327
13 (15) MC Mountain 3317
13 (18) Afrank 3317
15 (2) Asdfgh101 3277
16 (13) Vladimir 3229
17 (19) Ruudz0r 3222
18 (9) Leadbelly 3132
19 (16) Geraint Too Fast 3096
20 (11) Karaev 3094
21 (13) Josedin 3021
22 (22) DJSprtsch 2788
23 (25) Ingsve 2710
24 (23) Search 2515
25 (24) Fus87 2441

Asdfgh101's spectacular drop down the table is due to the success of Purito, his unique pick, in Catalunya.

If Nibali has any good results in the Ardennes, those behind Italian Gigolo are poised for a very close battle at the end of next month.

 

[Armchair cyclist]

April update

Some riders are still scoring positively (building up the days raced without gaining many points), but many are now in the realm of only being able to lose points for their managers, as they have reached the 20 point threshhold.

Main positive riders in the game this month:
(Name/points difference since March/Number of teams)
MOLLEMA Bauke 239 1
MARTENS Paul 213 2
SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel 160 1
KANKOVSKY Alois 149 8
BOOKWALTER Brent 142 5
DANIELSON Tom 127 1
BUTS Vitaliy 123 2
LARSSON Gustav Erik 110 1
EDET Nicolas 106 1
KONONENKO Mykhaylo 102 1


And the ten riders who have most damaged their team totals this month:
CANCELLARA Fabian -425 1
EVANS Cadel -281 2
VAN AVERMAET Greg -205 1
PERAUD Jean-Christophe -173 1
LEUKEMANS Björn -170 2
VANDENBERGH Stijn -157 3
PETACCHI Alessandro -136 1
CUNEGO Damiano -135 2
VAN HUMMEL Kenny -96 2
FARRAR Tyler -94 1


Riders who have gained points, yet were selected for this game, now include:
(Name/CQ points 2013-CQ points 2014/ number of teams)

VANDENBERGH Stijn -91 3
PERAUD Jean-Christophe -16 1
PETACCHI Alessandro -12 1
HORGAN Sam -10 1
WEBER Cleberson Almeida -7 1
FROLOV Igor -1 1


Game points, best (ie worst compared to last year) riders selected:

NIBALI Vincenzo 2645 1
RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquim 1921 1
COSTA Rui Alberto Faria 1421 2
CHAVANEL Sylvain 1188 2
MOLLEMA Bauke 1072 1
VAN AVERMAET Greg 943 1
HORNER Chris 870 8
SCARPONI Michele 807 1
WEENING Pieter 772 4
FUGSLANG Jakob 753 2
INTXAUSTI ELORRIAGA Benat 735 0
CANCELLARA Fabian 688 1
SPILAK Simon 634 3
DUMOULIN Samuel 621 1
CIOLEK Gerald 619 4
POZZATO Filippo 613 1
SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel 590 1
HUSHOVD Thor 581 2
REBELLIN Davide 581 9
VOECKLER Thomas 571 2



Teams: performance this month

1 Will 10 549 (Mainly from Martens, Bookwalter)
2 Ingsve 461 (Kankovski, Buts)
3 Leadbelly 365 (Kankovski, Bookwalter)
4 Fus87 351 (Kankovski, Danielson)
5 Search 324 (Kankovski, Edet)
6 Ruudz0r 272
7 DJSprtsch 254
8 18 Valve 230
9 Geraint Too Fast 221
10 Vladimir 199
11 Karaev 188
12 Josedin 108
13 Asdfgh101 70
14 Florecita 45
15 Fauniera 4
16 Skidmark -28
17 Mellow Velo -29
18 Hilltop Finisher -51
19 Bicing -63
20 Afrank -92
21 Italian Gigolo -179
21 MC Mountain -179
23 Al Pacino -203
24 Armchair -476 (Mainly blaming Leukemans and Evans)
25 Del 1962 -917 (Blaming Vandenbergh, Evans and Cancellara)

Which leaves the standings as:

1 (1) Italian Gigolo 4234
2 (6) 18 Valve 3992
3 (11) Will 10 3891
4 (3) Mellow Velo 3835
5 (5) Fauniera 3792
6 (4) Skidmark 3763
7 (2) Al Pacino 3691
8 (8) Bicing 3540
9 (18) Leadbelly 3497
10 (17) Ruudz0r 3494
11 (9) Hilltop Finisher 3463
12 (16) Vladimir 3428
13 (12) Florecita 3372
14 (15) Asdfgh101 3347
15 (19) Geraint Too Fast 3317
16 (20) Karaev 3282
17 (13) Afrank 3225
18 (23) Ingsve 3171
19 (7) Armchair 3149
20 (13) MC Mountain 3138
21 (21) Josedin 3129
22 (22) DJSprtsch 3042
23 (24) Search 2839
24 (25) Fus87 2792
25 (10) Del 1962 2508

 

[Armchair cyclist]

May update

Some riders who had not reached 20 race days in the last update have raced this month without gaining many points, which means they are an asset to their team:
(Name/points difference since end of April/Number of teams)
METLUSHENKO Yuri 149 6
ACEVEDO CALLE Janier Alexis 110 3
GEBREMARIAM GRMAY Tsgabu 108 1
POPKOV Vitaliy 94 1
ZOIDL Riccardo 92 5
DANIELSON Tom 87 1
ZABALLA GUTIERREZ Constantino 75 1
ROVNY Ivan 72 5
EDET Nicolas 71 1
KONONENKO Mykhaylo 63 1
GRETCHYN Sergiy 62 2
RODRIGUEZ Fred 55 2

On the other hand, riders who keep disappointing their in-game managers by not sucking this month are:
EVANS Cadel -354 2
FRANK Mathias -280 1
CHAVANEL Sylvain -255 2
WIGGINS Bradley -236 1
SPILAK Simon -223 3
ARREDONDO MORENO Julian David -180 5
COSTA Rui Alberto Faria -157 2
REBELLIN Davide -155 9
DUMOULIN Samuel -142 1
MOLLEMA Bauke -125 1
MARTINEZ Yannick -118 3
LARSSON Gustav Erik -109 1
NIBALI Vincenzo -107 1
FERRARI Roberto -105 1
VANTOMME Maxime -104 1

Riders who have already overtaken their CQ score from last year, to the embarrassment of managers who selected them here:
(Name/effect of their points in this game/Number of teams)
EVANS Cadel -297 2
VANDENBERGH Stijn -91 3
CANOLA Marco -90 1
ARREDONDO MORENO Julian David -67 5
POURSEYEDI GOLAKHOR Mirsamad -36 1
LEBAS Thomas -29 1
PETACCHI Alessandro -22 1
ENGOULVENT Jimmy -21 1
PERAUD Jean-Christophe -21 1
WEBER Cleberson Almeida -7 1
HORGAN Sam -7 1
WREN Tyler -3 1
FROLOV Igor -2 1

And the riders who are currently the best picks:
NIBALI Vincenzo 2538 1
RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquim 1916 1
COSTA Rui Alberto Faria 1264 2
MOLLEMA Bauke 947 1
CHAVANEL Sylvain 933 2
VAN AVERMAET Greg 884 1
HORNER Chris 870 8
SCARPONI Michele 806 1
CANCELLARA Fabian 688 1
POZZATO Filippo 608 1

Team scores for May:
The 5 teams in profit all include Metlushenko, who served his teams well by riding the tours of Turkey and Azerbaijan without earning any points.
1 Geraint Too Fast 337
2 DJSprtsch 209
3 Skidmark 68
4 MC Mountain 66
5 Search 27
6 Fus87 -17
7 Asdfgh101 -42
8 Ingsve -62
9 Hilltop Finisher -111
10 Leadbelly -127
11 Florecita -193
12 Fauniera -213
13 Josedin -249
13 18 Valve -271
15 Afrank -292
16 Italian Gigolo -293
17 Bicing -328
18 Mellow Velo -462
19 Will 10 -467
20 Del 1962 -495
21 Al Pacino -499
22 Karaev -519
23 Vladimir -524
24 Ruudz0r -575
25 Armchair -1138 (you see that list of 15 selected riders who lost more than 100 points this month? I chose 5 of them, including Evans and Spilak)

Game standings
1 Italian Gigolo 3941
2 18 Valve 3721
3 Skidmark 3714
4 Geraint Too Fast 3537
5 Will 10 3424
6 Mellow Velo 3373
7 Leadbelly 3370
8 Hilltop Finisher 3352
9 Asdfgh101 3305
10 DJSprtsch 3251
11 Bicing 3212
12 MC Mountain 3204
13 Al Pacino 3192
13 Florecita 3179
15 Fauniera 3142
16 Ingsve 3109
17 Ruudz0r 2919
18 Vladimir 2904
19 Search 2866
20 Fus87 2775
21 Josedin 2763
22 Karaev 2763
23 Afrank 2613
24 Del 1962 2013
25 Armchair 2011


Skidmark has risen 4 places to reach the virtual podium: Geraint has soared from 15th to 4th.