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BlogPoll Ballot: Week 2 Second Draft

By David Hooper

I should perhaps explain my drafting procedures in a little more depth, as I appear to have caused little confusion to those who aren't used to me.  There are two forces within me that make me a particularly bad choice to be handling early-season ballots:  one is that I am rather violently opposed to the idea and the other is that I am really bad at them.  To the first, early balloting tends to bias voters in favor of teams they rank high early on.  We've seen in in the traditional polls all the time, that so long as a team wins (however ugly), it's very difficult for them to drop to another winning team that might actually be more impressive.  Better is to simply watch the games, wait about five or six weeks, and then handle the balloting with some significant data behind you.

As to the second, having me handle rankings early in the season is about as reliable as having Squeaky, the Wonder Mouse handle them.  I don't do well without data.  So between the two, it's really best for all if I'm not involved in the early going.

That said, I'm the guy for Rocky Top Talk.  As awkward as it all is right now, I'm still determined to submit ballots that RTT can stand by, so to handle both problems, I first put together a very rough draft that includes some of my thoughts and feelings.  Then, after everybody points out where I'm inevitably screwed up, I draft again.  I'll repeat this right up to the final ballot, if need be.  Last week went well, and only the one draft was needed.  This week needs more work, so I have taken the first round of comments on board and produced draft number two.  I'm sure this'll drive Brian nuts that I'm drafting ballots this late in the game, but the only one that matters in a week is the final, which is due Wednesday morning.

So, the second draft is after the jump.  And thanks to everybody who straightened me out.  Any more kinks?

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