The above list was the unofficial final leaderboard posted before actual weigh-in today and arranged in alphabetical order.
Things took a turn for the worse today with the accuracy of the on-the-water reporting of catch weights by anglers. Reporters were still largely under-guessing weights again today with 28 out of the 51 listed (55%) being reported light. There were 10 angler weights reported heavy (20%) and 13 (25%) that were right on. The exact matches were largely due to the 9 blanks suffered by the pros today. Average difference was 1.5 lbs. light, and the standard deviation grew significantly worse at 3.1 lbs. The worst cases today adding to the larger deviation were because of 8 anglers being shown as having zeroed for the day when in fact they had fish to weigh.
As a percentage difference, the average was 18.5% under guessed. Again using our 7.5% allowed difference as a guideline, 29 of the 51 reported weights (57%) were off by more than this amount one way or the other. In the diagram above, under reported weight differences greater than 7.5% are highlighted in green, over reported weight differences (>7.5%) are highlighted in red.
I have to believe that with the technology at our disposal today, there must be a better way to track and report the on the water catches as well as improve their accuracy. Who would have thunk, but I can get more activity and excitement from Kitchen Stadium. Tomorrow the field gets cut to just 25 anglers, so we'll see if that ends up helping or hurting their ability to track and follow the action.
Thanks for the "Blue Steel" answer. Usually I think to Google things when I have a question, but not this time. I figured it had something to do with guns or Clint Eastwood and I just didn't get it.
Sorry, but I will be posting more Mercer. I will say his regular FYI's are better than the Classic additions, so far.
Posted by: BP | February 21, 2010 at 12:57 AM