Quote:
Originally Posted by MishraArtificer
These behind-the-scenes arrangements, in ANY national sport or even in the Olympics, would be considered Game-fixing, ... This should be reported to FIRST.
|
Are you insinuating skulduggery? Certainly there was intelligence gathering, but not any payoffs for sweetheart deals.
66 took a calculated risk. If their first pick had said yes, the whole strategy would have folded. (Although as pointed out, they would have had an excellent first choice partner; they just wouldn't have had the benefit of spreading out the rest of the seeds.) A part of 66's strategy would also have to be to know who NOT to pick, and I'm sure they considered that carefully. You will notice they had 3 declines - not all 7 - before they went outside the top 8 for a choice.
Each team that declined also took a risk - the first one most of all. If they said no, and then 66 picked a team that said yes, the other teams would still be free to pick amongst themselves.
66 may have even inquired whether any of these teams would consider an alliance pairing. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, it gives those other teams a bit of intelligence of their own. They now have a concrete decision to make, evaluating the risks, making backup plans.
In short, a brilliant bit of strategy on everyone's part.