San Jose v Dallas: Local Player Showdown
After defeating Seattle in Round 1 of the Local Player Showdown, Round 2 sees defending Showdown champion San Jose take on Dallas. As before, I first compared these two cities using a 20 mile distance limit from their respective MLS stadia and selected players from that area regardless of which MLS team they actually play for. (I called it a "radius" last week, but upon reflection, I think the mileages returned by mapdist are route distances, not geographic distances.) Only players with hometowns within 20 miles of San Jose's stadium or FC Dallas's stadium were included. Points totals are based on MLS Fantasy points through Week 6 of the MLS season.
San Jose still has 4 players within 20 miles of Avaya Stadium, which is in San Jose. On the other hand, Dallas has 8 players within 20 miles of Toyota Stadium, which is actually in Frisco rather than Dallas. Of these 12 players, not a single one was a goalkeeper, so neither city could field a legitimate team. Nevertheless, here are the results of the 4v8 matchup at 20 miles:
San Jose's 4 players battled hard, but the 8 men of Dallas (Frisco) still came out on top. Not surprising, you might say, but last week an outnumbered San Jose still doubled Seattle's points at the 20 mile mark.
However, with such small teams and no goalkeepers, this match could not have taken place. In order for San Jose to gain a goalkeeper and have at least 6 field players--sufficient to field a team under FIFA's Laws of the Game--the distance from Avaya Stadium must be increased to 32 miles.* For Dallas to pick up a goalkeeper to add to the 8 players already in the side, the distance from Toyota Stadium must be increased to 29 miles. At that point, Dallas also picks up four more field players. I trimmed Dallas's team to 11 (the 10 field players with hometowns closest to the stadium plus the goalkeeper). The resulting 7v11 contest had the following outcome:
Another valiant effort by the outnumbered San Jose side, but Dallas proves too strong again.
Since Dallas was able to field a full-strength team at just 29 miles, I decided to see how far away I'd have to look to create a full-strength San Jose team. The answer was an amazing 117 miles! All the way to Sacramento! Regardless, in the interest of comparing two full-strength teams, here is the result of San Jose (11 players at 117 miles) and Dallas (11 players at 29 miles):
At last, San Jose emerges triumphant. But it is a hollow victory, as players from as far away as 117 miles cannot be considered "local".
On balance, Dallas is a clear and worthy winner over San Jose owing to victories at the 20 mile mark and at the minimum "viable team" distances.
Lastly and for sake of completeness, only one player's hometown is San Jose, CA (Steven Beitashour), who plays for Toronto, while Frisco, TX, is the hometown of only one player (Bryan Reynolds), who actually also plays for his hometown team (FC Dallas). Their point totals are:
Given that Dallas is the nearest major metropolitan area to Frisco (and is in the name of the MLS team), I thought I'd also compare the points totals of players whose hometowns are San Jose and Dallas, respectively. Notably, of the hometowns of players within 29 miles of Toyota Stadium, Dallas was the farthest away. There are three players whose hometown is Dallas (Jesse Gonzalez, Reagan Dunk, and Drew Moor), all of whom play for FC Dallas but do so in Frisco. The resulting scores are:
The three players from Dallas have the highest score, and by a substantial margin, over even the combined efforts of San Jose and Frisco.
*(Unfortunately, I made a mistake last week by increasing the distance to 39 miles, which included one more player than necessary. However, this did not affect the outcome of the SEAvSJ matchup, as even without that player's points, San Jose would have finished well in front of Seattle.)
San Jose still has 4 players within 20 miles of Avaya Stadium, which is in San Jose. On the other hand, Dallas has 8 players within 20 miles of Toyota Stadium, which is actually in Frisco rather than Dallas. Of these 12 players, not a single one was a goalkeeper, so neither city could field a legitimate team. Nevertheless, here are the results of the 4v8 matchup at 20 miles:
San Jose Dallas 49 66
San Jose's 4 players battled hard, but the 8 men of Dallas (Frisco) still came out on top. Not surprising, you might say, but last week an outnumbered San Jose still doubled Seattle's points at the 20 mile mark.
However, with such small teams and no goalkeepers, this match could not have taken place. In order for San Jose to gain a goalkeeper and have at least 6 field players--sufficient to field a team under FIFA's Laws of the Game--the distance from Avaya Stadium must be increased to 32 miles.* For Dallas to pick up a goalkeeper to add to the 8 players already in the side, the distance from Toyota Stadium must be increased to 29 miles. At that point, Dallas also picks up four more field players. I trimmed Dallas's team to 11 (the 10 field players with hometowns closest to the stadium plus the goalkeeper). The resulting 7v11 contest had the following outcome:
San Jose Dallas 100 130
Another valiant effort by the outnumbered San Jose side, but Dallas proves too strong again.
Since Dallas was able to field a full-strength team at just 29 miles, I decided to see how far away I'd have to look to create a full-strength San Jose team. The answer was an amazing 117 miles! All the way to Sacramento! Regardless, in the interest of comparing two full-strength teams, here is the result of San Jose (11 players at 117 miles) and Dallas (11 players at 29 miles):
San Jose Dallas 155 130
At last, San Jose emerges triumphant. But it is a hollow victory, as players from as far away as 117 miles cannot be considered "local".
On balance, Dallas is a clear and worthy winner over San Jose owing to victories at the 20 mile mark and at the minimum "viable team" distances.
Lastly and for sake of completeness, only one player's hometown is San Jose, CA (Steven Beitashour), who plays for Toronto, while Frisco, TX, is the hometown of only one player (Bryan Reynolds), who actually also plays for his hometown team (FC Dallas). Their point totals are:
San Jose Frisco 17 0
Given that Dallas is the nearest major metropolitan area to Frisco (and is in the name of the MLS team), I thought I'd also compare the points totals of players whose hometowns are San Jose and Dallas, respectively. Notably, of the hometowns of players within 29 miles of Toyota Stadium, Dallas was the farthest away. There are three players whose hometown is Dallas (Jesse Gonzalez, Reagan Dunk, and Drew Moor), all of whom play for FC Dallas but do so in Frisco. The resulting scores are:
San Jose Dallas 17 49
The three players from Dallas have the highest score, and by a substantial margin, over even the combined efforts of San Jose and Frisco.
*(Unfortunately, I made a mistake last week by increasing the distance to 39 miles, which included one more player than necessary. However, this did not affect the outcome of the SEAvSJ matchup, as even without that player's points, San Jose would have finished well in front of Seattle.)
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