Rant of the day: GBL meets Bizarro World

When does the first half end and the second half begin? In the GBL, that question is not as simple as one might think. It's reasonable to expect that the All-Star Game would fall in between the first and second halves in a league that plays a split-schedule. And it does -- sort of. Let me explain.

The GBL plays a 90-game schedule with first and second-half champions being declared in each division. However, the first half doesn't end at the all-star break, unless of course your team happens to have hit the exact figure of 45 games played by that time. Sadly, certain teams hit the 45-game mark days before others, so some squads were playing second-half games before the all-star break while others were playing first-half games after the break. Confused? Join the club.

But wait -- things get even more bizarre. On Thursday, the Seals beat the Outlaws 7-1.  Good news, right? Not so fast. The game actually counted as a second-half game for Chico and a first-half game for Victoria, even though the Seals were eliminated from the race for the first-half title a couple of weeks ago. So after a Seals win over the Outlaws a day after the All-Star Game, the second-half standings show Victoria at 0-0 and Chico at 0-1. Bizarre.

It's unclear when the league informed the Seals of the situation, but here is a question to ponder: Should the Seals have held back their ace, Isaac Hess, until Friday in order to maximize their chances of winning the second-half title? Frankly, the question shouldn't even be relevant. The GBL needs to ensure that every team ends the first half on the same day. If they can't do that by carving out two 45-game schedules that end on the same day then at least use winning percentages to determine the winner of slightly uneven "halves". The current situation is just plain messed up.