Presenting...

From the Society of Old Men With No Life... where the hot, the cool, the annoying and the downright odd meet over blood-soaked War2 battlegrounds... brought to you on-line from somewhere between the wilds of British Columbia and Cincinatti, it's the
 

Second Season Awards

And now our host: The Mmaaaaad Zotter!

Zot's Thoughts
 
Man what a weird season.

We begun with an incredible bang, rolling out a completely revamped rating system, A, B, and C divisions, and an interface powered by MugWump & Ohwrd's monster software.

The league then rocketed up to unprecedented heights of popularity and activity. Throughout the season we maintained between 350 and 500 members and now cover the entire spectrum of Kali players - from the very best-of-the-best through to the rank newbies. As a result the SGWL and the KPUDs are now "household words" on Kali.

Then came the inevitable result: no longer were we a close-knit community of players who shared a relatively common vision of what a league ought to be. We had been "discovered", and everybody and their dog began signing up. People joined without reading the rules, without understanding the Generalist Bonus, without downloading the KPUDs... joining the league without "joining the league".

To top it off, Kali STL#1 developed a habit of dying, and we habitually became flooded with hordes of unwelcome house guests.  The noxious fumes of "msg me for GOW/High" and the dreaded leviathan of "Friends2v2open" could now be found on our server...AAAAAAAAUUUUGGHHHH!!!

And then OneNet also decided that we were just having too much fun.... sigh.

So here we are at the end of our 2nd season: as great a league as Kali has ever seen, but beleaguered by the consequences of popularity - uncommitted members, floods of freeloaders, and singin' the OneNet Blues (hit it, El-Do!).   On the other hand the level of play has gone up to to include the very best on Kali and we have had meaningful competition at both the A and B levels.

I still think I'm crazy. I have one consolation, however: MugWump and Ohwrd are more so... :)

In any case, it is my duty and delight to acknowledge the herculean efforts of those who have made this league continue to shine even through its darkest hours.  For their contribution to this league, we all are indebted to:

MugWump and Ohwrd, for the donation of their incredible expertise and software, and for continued innovation and problem-solving throughout a very difficult season. League members, feel free to prostrate yourselves in their presence - we're not worthy.

El-Dorado, Navim, and Stilgar for their outstanding work as league referees. Their passion for justice and for league integrity is unmeasurable, and truly I don't know what I would do without them. League members need not kneel in their presence, but a bow and scrape or two would probably be appropriate....

Finally I thank all of you who have worked to keep the tone of the league high. If you have forwarded information to me about cheaters and internet abusers, if you have corrected errant lamers, if you have been helpful and generous to new members, then you have made a significant contribution to this league and all of us have benefitted from your presence. Thank you.

 
But first: a word from our sponsor.
 
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And now back to our program:
 
 
The Coolness Awards
 
These are awards for originality, creativity, and other non-Warcraft-related contributions to the league. Categories are arbitrary and capricious and may change from season to season. :)

Coolest New Clan Name

Leaving out the cool clans that have survived since our first season, here are to my mind the best names in the new bunch:

Coolest Clan Motto

I chose these winners on the basis of originality and how easily I remembered their line. Of our second-season crew only one motto struck me as being particularly original and memorable:  
The Specialty Awards
 
Before getting to the overall season champs, I will acknowledge specific winners in each category:

The Win-Win-Win Awards

- or: the "how in the world do they DO that??" awards -

These are the awards for best win-loss ratio for the season. On the basis of their performance this season it's safe to say that these players would probably do well in leagues in which winning is everything... :)

The Generalist Awards

- or: the "it's a good thing you're in the SGWL" awards -

These awards honour the most rabid Generalists in the league - the "pointmongers" of the SGWL - the ones who refused to play any map/res twice because they actually read the point system page...

The Pit Bull Awards

These awards recognize the ones that just kept slugging it out despite all odds - the ones who kept on losing but kept on playing. For thick skins and great attitudes, we give humble tribute to:

The Warcraft Addict Awards

These are the ones who just logged more bloody games in the season than anybody else around. Therapy is available on request.  
Most Valuable Players
 
These are the ones you wish you had in your clan. They remained loyal, kept playing, kept winning, and racked up more clan points by themselves than some entire clans had put together. Presenting the one-man-armies of the SGWL:

Division A

Division B

Division C

 
Divisional Champions
 
These awards are granted on the basis of the best seasonal score in each division.  These represent the the players with the best overall combination of earned points, win/loss ratio and generalist rating for each division:  hard-earned awards in every case.
 

Division A

Division B

Division C

 
Global Domination
They will fight on the seas and oceans...

And now we come to the stuff folks have been fighting for: in the battle for global domination these are the SGWL's 2st-season world powers:

Division A

Division B

Division C

 
Warlords
 
And now to acknowledge the 2nd-Season Warlords - the Great Ones of the SGWL: Honourable Mentions are also due to the others in the top 10:  
Most Improved Players
- or: the "I used to be able to whoop them" awards -

These prestigious awards are for the players that demonstrated the most remarkable improvement since the beginning of the season:

The MVPs of Division C were the obvious choices for these awards, but I need to explain why I have ranked them in this order.

Thinking that the contest was between himself and Bob, MystWalker pulled me aside this past week to insist that even though he was much more highly-ranked, Bob was the better player and deserved the award!  Impressed with Myst's obvious sincerity (and knowing how underrated Bob is in the standings) I have agreed with his assessment of the situation and given Bob the higher award.

However I have awarded the highest award to EWJ because he started the season as a much worse player than either MystWalker or Bob.  Therefore his current formidable prowess is all the more remarkable and I feel fully justified in granting this award for "most improved" to him.

Anyone who wants to become an awesome player please notice the kind of sportsmanship shown by all three of these players.  It is no accident that the most improved players are all great sports.  :)
 
   
Sportsman of the Season
I wanna be like him when I grow up...

This greatest-of-all titles goes to the player who can take the most credit for giving all of us a good name. Generous to a fault, always happy to play, never one to claim a dropped game or ridicule an opponent or smear dirt on the message board, this is the one guy whom we wish the entire league were like.

Previous titleholders are not eligible for this award.

To get any votes for this award is an honour, so here are the other outstanding good sports of the SGWL so far: Congratulations to all.
 
League Workaholic Award