i didn't read this lengthy, tedious thread, however, i recall a blurp that as many as 5 members of the team had their skill level raised
if that's the case the apa didn't screw them, they screwed themselves
the apa is what it is, a bane to some while salvation to others
imo the idea of incorporating "fargo" (not FERGUSON) has merit
There is a big issue with APA ratings, they are set locally, then play finals nationally.
I was watching a stream of NJ APA and they were bringing out 4s and 5s that shot as good as what I would have thought 6s would be. Running out with good patterns, not missing much. Of course this could all be sandbagging but who knows, the commentators seemed to put that off as "they are our local 5s, which are stronger than other 5s". I've seen 4s shoot better than 6s with better position and patterns and thinking. Sandbagging, maybe, but could be area difference.
You take a team that plays their matches on in a place with 9 footers and maybe tight pockets, with good players in their area and go against a team from some remote place with 3 bars with 7 footers that wobble and have 5.5 inch pockets, there will be a huge difference between the players ranked a 5 in both areas.
To win any tournament you need to play good and get some rolls, so of course a team that gets to finals or close to finals of that may teams would have been the team that played best. If you play good, that means you are better than your average.
I had an idea and rules written up for a local league that would make cheating moot, divide up money for best performance as well as how you do in the end of season playoffs. Top ranked team gets 1/3rd of the money, rest of teams play for 1/3rd and 1/3rd goes to individual performances. Top team is not qualified to play in play-offs. You sandbag to get low rankings for playoffs, you lose out on the best team money and maybe money for you being the top player. You sandbag, then miss out on money for being most improved or whatever other individual awards we would do. No incentive to cheat, much less chance there will be cheating. Players are not just trying to jockey for position for the end of session play offs, they are trying to actually play good and improve since there is a reward for that. You can be a top team with top players, and get 1st in standings and you can be a middle of the road team that does well in play offs and get the same money for doing different things.