Two Games In Hand

[s***@gmail.com]

A team having "two games in hand" comes up in sports reports when you're
comparing win-loss records between 2 teams that have played different number of
games at the instant of comparison (the A team may have had a long weekend off,
or an extra day in their travel plans).

My operative understanding is that it means the team with 2GIH has played 2 more
games than the other team, which seems straightforward enough, but I have this
fuzzy feeling that there is a shade of meaning I'm missing. But I'm not yet
doing well in coming up a useful set of search terms.

Any of our crew care to offer a more refined definition?

/dps "a board in hand is worth 2 in the forums"

[Guy Barry]

Post by s***@gmail.com
A team having "two games in hand" comes up in sports reports when you're
comparing win-loss records between 2 teams that have played different number of
games at the instant of comparison (the A team may have had a long weekend off,
or an extra day in their travel plans).
My operative understanding is that it means the team with 2GIH has played 2 more
games than the other team, which seems straightforward enough, but I have this
fuzzy feeling that there is a shade of meaning I'm missing.

I think you're exactly right, but I'm not much of a sports buff. Others
will no doubt elucidate further.

[Lewis]

Post by Guy Barry

Post by s***@gmail.com
A team having "two games in hand" comes up in sports reports when you're
comparing win-loss records between 2 teams that have played different number of
games at the instant of comparison (the A team may have had a long weekend off,
or an extra day in their travel plans).
My operative understanding is that it means the team with 2GIH has played 2 more
games than the other team, which seems straightforward enough, but I have this
fuzzy feeling that there is a shade of meaning I'm missing.

I think you're exactly right, but I'm not much of a sports buff. Others
will no doubt elucidate further.

I *think* the team that has played the two extra games has to have WON
them to consider them 'in hand'?

[Mike Barnes]

Post by s***@gmail.com
A team having "two games in hand" comes up in sports reports when you're
comparing win-loss records between 2 teams that have played different number of
games at the instant of comparison (the A team may have had a long weekend off,
or an extra day in their travel plans).
My operative understanding is that it means the team with 2GIH has played 2 more
games than the other team, which seems straightforward enough, but I have this
fuzzy feeling that there is a shade of meaning I'm missing. But I'm not yet
doing well in coming up a useful set of search terms.
Any of our crew care to offer a more refined definition?

I have no interest in sports but I think you've got it the wrong way
round. The team with 2gih has played two *fewer* games and therefore has
the potential points from two games "in hand" (not on the scoreboard).

[bill van]

Post by Mike Barnes

Post by s***@gmail.com
A team having "two games in hand" comes up in sports reports when you're
comparing win-loss records between 2 teams that have played different number of
games at the instant of comparison (the A team may have had a long weekend off,
or an extra day in their travel plans).
My operative understanding is that it means the team with 2GIH has played 2 more
games than the other team, which seems straightforward enough, but I have this
fuzzy feeling that there is a shade of meaning I'm missing. But I'm not yet
doing well in coming up a useful set of search terms.
Any of our crew care to offer a more refined definition?

I have no interest in sports but I think you've got it the wrong way
round. The team with 2gih has played two *fewer* games and therefore has
the potential points from two games "in hand" (not on the scoreboard).

As you said. It's an expression usually used in conjunction with
standings in a league or division. Two teams may be tied in the
standings, but the team with two games in hand has earned its points in
two fewer games, and therefore has two opportunities coming to pull
ahead of the other team.

[s***@gmail.com]

Post by bill van

Post by Mike Barnes
I have no interest in sports but I think you've got it the wrong way
round. The team with 2gih has played two *fewer* games and therefore has
the potential points from two games "in hand" (not on the scoreboard).

As you said. It's an expression usually used in conjunction with
standings in a league or division. Two teams may be tied in the
standings, but the team with two games in hand has earned its points in
two fewer games, and therefore has two opportunities coming to pull
ahead of the other team.

Ah, thanks, gents!

/dps

[s***@gmail.com]

Post by s***@gmail.com

Post by bill van

Post by Mike Barnes
I have no interest in sports but I think you've got it the wrong way
round. The team with 2gih has played two *fewer* games and therefore has
the potential points from two games "in hand" (not on the scoreboard).

As you said. It's an expression usually used in conjunction with
standings in a league or division. Two teams may be tied in the
standings, but the team with two games in hand has earned its points in
two fewer games, and therefore has two opportunities coming to pull
ahead of the other team.

Ah, thanks, gents!

And thanks, Ducks ... lead AND two games in hand

x - Anaheim 75 49 18 8 106 47 2 6 26-7-4 23-11-4 244 191 +53 6-3-1 Won 2
x - San Jose 77 48 20 9 105 38 10 7 27-6-5 21-14-4 237 188 +49 5-3-2 Won 1

/dps

[Horace LaBadie]

Post by s***@gmail.com
A team having "two games in hand" comes up in sports reports when you're
comparing win-loss records between 2 teams that have played different number of
games at the instant of comparison (the A team may have had a long weekend off,
or an extra day in their travel plans).
My operative understanding is that it means the team with 2GIH has played 2 more
games than the other team, which seems straightforward enough, but I have this
fuzzy feeling that there is a shade of meaning I'm missing. But I'm not yet
doing well in coming up a useful set of search terms.
Any of our crew care to offer a more refined definition?
/dps "a board in hand is worth 2 in the forums"

The team that has played fewer games has those games in hand. They can
make up ground on the other team or teams by winning, or lose ground by
losing.

[Dr Nick]

Post by Horace LaBadie

Post by s***@gmail.com
A team having "two games in hand" comes up in sports reports when you're
comparing win-loss records between 2 teams that have played different number of
games at the instant of comparison (the A team may have had a long weekend off,
or an extra day in their travel plans).
My operative understanding is that it means the team with 2GIH has played 2 more
games than the other team, which seems straightforward enough, but I have this
fuzzy feeling that there is a shade of meaning I'm missing. But I'm not yet
doing well in coming up a useful set of search terms.
Any of our crew care to offer a more refined definition?
/dps "a board in hand is worth 2 in the forums"

The team that has played fewer games has those games in hand. They can
make up ground on the other team or teams by winning, or lose ground by
losing.

Agreed up to the last comma. They can't lose ground, they can only fail
to make it.

[Mark Brader]

Post by Dr Nick

Post by Horace LaBadie
The team that has played fewer games has those games in hand. They can
make up ground on the other team or teams by winning, or lose ground by
losing.

Agreed up to the last comma. They can't lose ground, they can only fail
to make it.

That depends on whether you measure the "ground" by only counting wins#,
or by counting both wins and losses. At the end of the season both
counts produce the same ordering of the teams, but intermediately,
when teams have games in hand, it's a matter of choice or of custom.

# I'm assuming for simplicity we're talking about a sport like baseball
where every game produces a winner and all wins are equivalent for
standings purposes. The same principle applies to other sports,
but requires more words to express.

[Dr Nick]

Post by Mark Brader

Post by Dr Nick

Post by Horace LaBadie
The team that has played fewer games has those games in hand. They can
make up ground on the other team or teams by winning, or lose ground by
losing.

Agreed up to the last comma. They can't lose ground, they can only fail
to make it.

That depends on whether you measure the "ground" by only counting wins#,
or by counting both wins and losses. At the end of the season both
counts produce the same ordering of the teams, but intermediately,
when teams have games in hand, it's a matter of choice or of custom.

I'm thinking of standing in a league. You can be at position 6, just
behind 5 with a game in hand.

If you win your next game you will go ahead of the team at 5. If not,
you will stay there but your fans will no longer have the "game in hand"
to buoy them up.

You don't lose /ground/ if you lose the games in hand, where ground is a
measure of your relative position.

Post by Mark Brader
# I'm assuming for simplicity we're talking about a sport like baseball
where every game produces a winner and all wins are equivalent for
standings purposes. The same principle applies to other sports,
but requires more words to express.

Unless in baseball you rank teams by average points, not just a running
total of wins/draws/loses. I'm thinking association football in the
leagues when I write this. Look at the Championship (the second
division) right now and consider the positions of Brighton and Ipswitch.
It's three points for a win, and Brighton are two points behind Ipswitch
with a game in hand.

[Mark Brader]

Post by Dr Nick

Post by Mark Brader

Post by Dr Nick

Post by Horace LaBadie
The team that has played fewer games has those games in hand. They can
make up ground on the other team or teams by winning, or lose ground by
losing.

Agreed up to the last comma. They can't lose ground, they can only fail
to make it.

That depends on whether you measure the "ground" by only counting wins#,
or by counting both wins and losses. At the end of the season both
counts produce the same ordering of the teams, but intermediately,
when teams have games in hand, it's a matter of choice or of custom.

I'm thinking of standing in a league.

Yes, of course that's the context.

Post by Dr Nick
You can be at position 6, just behind 5 with a game in hand.
If you win your next game you will go ahead of the team at 5. If not,
you will stay there...

You're missing the point. The issue is how the standings -- the league
table, if you prefer -- are sorted, because that's what you gain or
lose "ground" in.

Your example assumes that this is based only on wins#. That's a common
way to do it, but it doesn't have to be done that way. In baseball both
wins and losses are taken into account. If baseball team 1 is leading
the standings with W1 wins and L1 losses, while team 2 has only W2 wins
and L2 losses, then team 2 is described as being (W1+L2-W2-L1)/2 GBL --
"games behind leader". If team 2 plays a game and loses, while team 1
does not play, then team 2 has dropped 1/2 game farther behind. If one
team has played several more games than another, they can be behind in
the standings even though they have more wins.

Of course, the terminology of "games in hand" is not used in this context.
It does relate to the sort of standings you had in mind.

# - Again I'm assuming for simplicity that all games are won or lost
and all wins are equivalent for standings purposes.

[Dr Nick]

Post by Mark Brader

Post by Dr Nick

Post by Mark Brader

Post by Dr Nick

Post by Horace LaBadie
The team that has played fewer games has those games in hand. They can
make up ground on the other team or teams by winning, or lose ground by
losing.

Agreed up to the last comma. They can't lose ground, they can only fail
to make it.

That depends on whether you measure the "ground" by only counting wins#,
or by counting both wins and losses. At the end of the season both
counts produce the same ordering of the teams, but intermediately,
when teams have games in hand, it's a matter of choice or of custom.

I'm thinking of standing in a league.

Yes, of course that's the context.

Post by Dr Nick
You can be at position 6, just behind 5 with a game in hand.
If you win your next game you will go ahead of the team at 5. If not,
you will stay there...

You're missing the point. The issue is how the standings -- the league
table, if you prefer -- are sorted, because that's what you gain or
lose "ground" in.
Your example assumes that this is based only on wins#. That's a common
way to do it, but it doesn't have to be done that way. In baseball both
wins and losses are taken into account. If baseball team 1 is leading
the standings with W1 wins and L1 losses, while team 2 has only W2 wins
and L2 losses, then team 2 is described as being (W1+L2-W2-L1)/2 GBL --
"games behind leader". If team 2 plays a game and loses, while team 1
does not play, then team 2 has dropped 1/2 game farther behind. If one
team has played several more games than another, they can be behind in
the standings even though they have more wins.

Ah, so it is a sort of average.

Post by Mark Brader
Of course, the terminology of "games in hand" is not used in this context.
It does relate to the sort of standings you had in mind.

Well no, because it's not much use! The whole point of "in hand"
(meaning "still to play") is that they are potential good things.

Post by Mark Brader
# - Again I'm assuming for simplicity that all games are won or lost
and all wins are equivalent for standings purposes.

[Mike Barnes]

Post by Dr Nick

Post by Mark Brader

Post by Dr Nick

Post by Horace LaBadie
The team that has played fewer games has those games in hand. They can
make up ground on the other team or teams by winning, or lose ground by
losing.

Agreed up to the last comma. They can't lose ground, they can only fail
to make it.

That depends on whether you measure the "ground" by only counting wins#,
or by counting both wins and losses. At the end of the season both
counts produce the same ordering of the teams, but intermediately,
when teams have games in hand, it's a matter of choice or of custom.

I'm thinking of standing in a league. You can be at position 6, just
behind 5 with a game in hand.
If you win your next game you will go ahead of the team at 5. If not,
you will stay there but your fans will no longer have the "game in hand"
to buoy them up.
You don't lose /ground/ if you lose the games in hand, where ground is a
measure of your relative position.

I don't know that I would regard "ground" like that.

Average number of points per game seems a much more sensible measure.

But then my ignorance of sport terminology knows no bounds.