Little League World Series Brackets Continue; Are 2010 Little League World Series Brackets Fair?

Ryan Christopher DeVault
Ryan Christopher DeVault, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Aug 27, 2010 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."
2010 Little League World Series brackets continue today, but some question the fairness of 2010 Little League World Series brackets. What are people questioning? Well it stems from the results that have taken place in the International pool play, where two teams have advanced out of pool play with undefeated records. Japan and Chinese Taipei will head into the International Championship Game on Saturday with dueling 3-0 records, with the winner heading to the World Series Championship Game and the loser heading to the consolation game. Meanwhile the two teams advancing from the United States Championship Bracket will have one loss each.

Is it fair that one of the International teams will be eliminated from the tournament with only one loss? Will it even be fair that the U.S. team could win the tournament with the same number of losses as the International team if they win it? It is starting to sound like an argument that comes up in the BCS discussions every fall, where one loss teams seem to make the BCS Championship Game pretty often, and some undefeated teams are left out in the cold (Utah for example). If the Little League World Series is going to do a true double elimination tournament, that should be applied to the semifinals as well. What would be wrong with having a re-set to the double elimination once the final four teams are set?

Regardless of any debate, there are just five games left in the 2010 Little League World Series, and the bracket continues with Hawaii vs. Georgia at 11 a.m. PST on Friday, August 27.

Remaining Little League World Series Bracket

Game 1: Georgia/Hawaii Winner vs. Texas on Saturday, August 28

Game 2: Japan vs. Chinese Taipei on Saturday, August 28 at 10 a.m. PST

Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser on Sunday, August 29 at 8 a.m. PST

Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner on Sunday, August 29 at 12 p.m. PST

References:

Thursday_LLWS_Scores

Main_LLWS_Website

Published by Ryan Christopher DeVault

Born in Seattle, Washington, I am a 31 year old college graduate working in the field of Education and Research. I am also a professional freelance writer and news content provider. I can be reached at...  View profile

The 2010 Little League World Series brackets are heading into the final three days.

1 Comments

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  • just a fan8/27/2010

    I think the US teams coming into the LLWS semis with a loss each just shows more parity of the teams in the US bracket compared to the international bracket. I think what should be more controversial is the game scheduling. The international teams will come into the semis with more days rest (more pitchers potentially available). It seems to me that's a distinct advantage for them. I think if there's going to be a double elimination format, all eight US teams should play in one bracket, and all the international teams in another, with final games for each bracket scheduled on the same day so one side doesn't have a huge advantage of resting their pitchers. (An "if" game may still provide an advantage for one bracket.) Then the US vs. Intl championship could be a best 2 out of 3 series.

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