The fall intramural season is coming to a close, but the fun is hardly over as the playoffs are rapidly approaching. Playoffs for most intramural sports will take place this week and next. Determining eligibility for playoffs varies by league and sport from a minimum of five to two wins per team.
So far, the intramural season has been successful. With over 70 different teams playing in eight leagues in four sports, it is clear that intramural sports are popular with Tufts students. Additions like open soccer nights on the turf field, softball tournaments and new sports are testaments to the fact that the program is expanding
successfully.
The season has also been a learning experience in determining the intramural wants of the community. Intramural coordinator Cheryl Milligan said there are areas that could use improvement.
"We are trying to continue making IM a legitimate competitive outlet," Milligan said. "And there are certainly bumps."
The biggest problem fall sports teams have faced is forfeits. Forfeits involve either one or both teams not showing up to a game or simply giving up in the middle of the match. Forfeits are "a big drag for everyone involved," Milligan said.
Many teams achieve their wins through forfeits and this counts the same as a hard fought battle in the standings. In flag football, 11 out of 33 games were decided by forfeit. In basketball only eight games were decided by forfeit, but soccer experienced almost a quarter of games ending in
forfeit.
As an incentive to discourage forfeiting in intramural sports, in upcoming seasons teams may be cut after their first forfeit.
The only other issue is the difficulty in getting referees for the games.
"We struggle with getting and keeping good refs," Milligan said. "[This is] something we are looking to alleviate with some programming going on now."
All the basketball games have been refereed, while fewer than half the football games have had referees. Soccer and volleyball games are not refereed, but it has not been detrimental to the success of the games.
The standings are as follows: In flag football, the Sunday Grass League playoffs will take place this Sunday, while the Tuesday Turf League playoffs will occur some time after Nov. 16. In the grass league Dyno-mite Dental is currently in first with a 5-1-0 record. The Kings of Sowee and the Odontoblasts are tied for second with records of 4-1. The Winthrop Convicts and Shiites are in third at 3-2. Dun nun nunt and T3 are currently fourth in the standings with two wins each and the Apples are currently fifth with one win.
In the turf league, The Franchise and E-Men United have 3-0 records as of Tuesday and they both share the top seed in the turf league with three sets of games still to play until the playoffs. The Pretty Ponies are next at 2-1.
The Veterans and Dem Apples are heading to the playoffs Nov. 8 in the Monday indoor soccer league. Both teams share a perfect 5-0 record. In second are FC International and Jug A Wines with one win each.
On Nov. 2 the playoffs for the Tuesday indoor soccer league will be held. The Tufts Guys and FC International will play each other in game one and Simon from England and Rufio will play each other in game two. The winner of each game will play in the championship. The winners were unknown at press time.
The teams that qualified for the playoffs in the Wednesday indoor soccer league have not been announced but currently Burdlobster and Dearborn are in first place with a perfect 4-0 record. Everton FC and Schuster round out second with 3-2 records. There still remain two sets of games to play until playoffs.
Playoffs for the Monday Recreational Basketball League will be held Nov. 8 and School Bus is dominating the competition with a 5-0 record. Zeta Psi, Fletcher 2, and Geezers+1 are in second with 3-2 records.
By Nov. 18, participants in the Wednesday Competitive Basketball League will know if they made playoffs, but it looks like Too Easy is a shoe-in for the championship with a perfect 4-0 record. Tufts Baseball and SPF are closing in, however, with two wins apiece.
In Volleyball, two sets of games remain until playoffs are held on Nov. 16. So far, Big Freshie, Isotopes and the E-Men are in first with 4-0 records. In second is Olmo, 3-1 and in third are Puerto Rican DT, Giannattsio and Huang each with two wins.<$>
