Laker Score Prediction Page

1) Users must get their prediction in before game start (posted game time + 15 minutes grace) on the day of each game. Any prediction made 15 minutes or more after the start time will be ignored. Games usually start 5-15 minutes after the game time listed.

2) Only members with paid dues and valid predictions for at least 60 games will be eligible to be winners - so predict regularly.

3) The contest winners will be for the full regular season. Pre-season and playoff games can be predicted, but will not apply to computing the winners.

4) You can predict online in advance if you won't be able to post on game day. You can also get the year-to-date standings and Laker schedule there.

The first time you make a prediction, you should do it from the website to get a password set up to allow later predicts. The password is not saved in raw form - it's encrypted and only the encrypted password is saved. So if you ask what your password is, I can't help you since I only have the encrypted version. You will need to have your password reset to a known value and then you can change it on the online prediction form. You will also need to enter your email address so you can be notified if you are a winner - these email addresses will never be used for any other reason than to administer this contest.

The usenet predicts will be bulk fed into the website after the game - if an online prediction has been made for that user, the bulk predict will be ignored - this would prevent anyone from spoofing your name on a Usenet post. To prevent someone from spoofing a predict for you, you can also set 'Allow usenet bulk predicts' to 'No' at first login - you would then be required to make all predicts from this website and no Usenet posts would be used.

Each game guess will be awarded a vector score based on the difference from the actual score computed as a vector as follow:

        x = abs (actual-laker-score - guessed-laker-score)
        y = abs (actual-opponent-score - guessed-opponent-score)
        score = sqrt (x2 + y2)

Vectors will be doubled if the contestant picks the wrong team as winner. The vector scores for each game will be accumulated over the entire game year and the person with the lowest vector average wins half of the prediction dues. In the rare case of a tie, the tiers will split half of the dues equally.

In addition, a Usenet point score is determined. For each game, the lowest vector score gets 5 points, second lowest 3 and third lowest 1. Ties at one position will lose the position(s) below. IE: If two people tie at lowest vector, they both get 5 first-place points and there are no second place points. The person with the highest point score wins the other half of the prediction dues. In the case of a tie, the tiers will split half of the dues equally.

Predicts must be in the 50 to 175 range and have a legit subject line - best to clear out any garbage from previous posts you are replying to or top-post your reply.

The Year-To-Date standings will be available at all times for reference so you can see where you stand. As soon as possible after the end of a game, the game results will be posted and the YTD standings will be updated.

Predicting on Usenet

Either reply to a valid prediction post or create a new thread with a legit subject line. A prediction post subject line must be composed of (as a minimum) 'Prediction MMDD'. In addition, normally you would include an '@' (if away game) and the opponent abbreviation and the game time to make it more obvious. EG:

Subject: [Re:] Prediction MMDD [ [@]OPP HHMM ]
XXX YYY

        where MM is the 2-digit month (leading 0 if < 10)
              DD is the day of the month (leading 0 if < 10)
              @ indicates a Laker away game (optional)
              OPP is opposing team's 3-letter abbrev (optional)
                  Team abbreviation list below. 
              XXX is the prediction for the Laker score
              YYY is the prediction for the Opponent score

        The body of the post must have two numbers where XXX is the Laker 
        score predicted and YYY is the opponent score prediction.

        You may reverse the order by prefixing the second score with 'lal' or 
        'lak*' (case insensitive).  You may use more than one line.  
        Quoted lines from previous posts will be ignored (lines starting with 
        ~+;:|#!>>[](){}- ).  Don't worry too much about the team abbrev, 
        it's not used in finding the predictions (it's more for visual 
        aesthetics).

Example Subject line :

        Prediction 1102 @DEN 1930

This would be a game on Nov 2 in Denver at 7:30 PM.

If replying to a prediction post remove the entire previous message or if it's short, top-post to make sure your guess is picked up first. If you make a mistake or change your mind, just repost (only last post counts).

Quoted lines from a previous post will be ignored (lines starting with any of these characters and any leading spaces : [~+;:|#!<>[](){}-] will be assumed to be quoted).

To reply to another poster's post without predicting, change the date to XXXX to avoid causing a predict.

Make sure laker score is *first* number or is prefixed by a word matching this RE: /^la(?!c)(?:l|k)?/i and a space delimiter (if you understand Perl regular expr. syntax) - basically an 'LAL' or 'Lak*' prefix. See examples below.

Simplest sample post for predicting Lakers 101 and Denver opponent 92 :
------
101 92                    (Lakers always first regardless of home/away game)
------

Equivalent posts :
------
101
92
------
LAL 101
DEN 92
------
92 Lakers 101
------
Denver 92 LAL 101
------
Nuggets 92
LAL 101
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        Team Abbreviations
East
                 Atlantic 
  BOS = Boston Celtics
  NJN = New Jersey Nets 
  NYK = New York Knickerbockers 
  PHI = Philadelphia 76ers 
  TOR = Toronto Raptors

                Southeast
  ATL = Atlanta Hawks 
  CHA = Charlotte Bobcats
  MIA = Miami Heat 
  ORL = Orlando Magic 
  WAS = Washington Wizards 

                 Central 
  CHI = Chicago Bulls 
  CLE = Cleveland Cavaliers 
  DET = Detroit Pistons 
  IND = Indiana Pacers 
  MIL = Milwaukee Bucks 

West
                 Pacific 
  GSW = Golden State Warriors 
  LAC = Los Angeles Clippers 
  LAL = Los Angeles Lakers 
  PHO = Phoenix Suns 
  SAC = Sacramento Kings 

                Southeast [west]
  DAL = Dallas Mavericks 
  HOU = Houston Rockets 
  MEM = Memphis Grizzlies 
  NOH = New Orleans Hornets 
  SAS = San Antonio Spurs 

                Northwest
  DEN = Denver Nuggets 
  MIN = Minnesota Timberwolves 
  POR = Portland Trail Blazers 
  OCT = Oklahoma City Thunder
  UTA = Utah Jazz