A league table is a chart or list which compares sports teams, institutions or companies by ranking them in order of ability or achievement. In the United Kingdom, many public-sector industries, including hospitals, compete in league tables. It is complained that the ranking of England's schools to rigid guidelines that fail to take into account wider social conditions actually makes failing schools even worse. This is because the most involved parents will then avoid such schools, leaving only the children of non-ambitious parents to attend.[1]
In North America, a league table is often referred to as a standings or ranking chart. In Australia it is referred to as a ladder.
In sport, league tables group teams of similar abilities in a chart generally published in newspapers, to show the current standing of the participants (teams or individuals) in a sports league or competition.
In education league tables compare the academic achievements of different institutions:
In business, league tables list the leaders in investment banking activity. Companies which collect this kind of data include Dealogic and Thomson Financial (see Thomson Financial league tables).
Statistics included in sports league tables
At the very least, a league table will show the names of the teams and their points total or winning percentage (depending on the sport), sorted in order of points or percentage. However, many league tables show further statistics; these may include:
- wins
- losses
- ties (draws)
- goal differential (Goals scored minus goals conceded)
- goals scored
- goals allowed (conceded)
- home/away win/loss records
- etc.
Usually, if a league is divided into conferences and divisions, the league table will also be. Often, a less specific table is also included. For example, National Hockey League tables will normally have a detailed table for each division, plus a table for each conference showing just the points totals.
Sample sport league table
As an example, below is the league table for the National Hockey League's Northeast Division, as of March 31, 2004:
Team GP W L T OL GF GA Pts
x-Boston 79 40 18 14 7 201 179 101
x-Toronto 80 43 24 10 3 234 204 99
x-Ottawa 79 41 22 10 6 254 178 98
x-Montreal 79 40 28 7 4 201 182 91
Buffalo 79 36 32 7 4 213 210 83
x - clinched playoff spot
y - clinched division championship
In the above table, an "x" placed before a team's name shows that the team has qualified for playoff position; other letters may be used to show that a team is guaranteed first place, has been eliminated from contention and so forth. From this table, we can see that Boston, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal are all guaranteed playoff positions; the absence of a "y" shows that the division championship is still to play for. Meanwhile, because Buffalo has no symbol at all, they are not out of playoff contention, but have yet to clinch a playoff position. The following day, a new league table would appear in newspapers, updated based on the previous night's games. Of course, the above table would also be accompanied by those of the other 5 divisions in the league.
Statistics included in business league tables
Financial League tables list the top financers in a particular industry. Dealogic's league tables are rankings of Investment Banks in terms of the dollar volume of deals that investment banks work on. They provide real-time league table rankings. [2]
External links
Notes
- ^ Chris Roberts, Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme, Thorndike Press,2006 (ISBN 0-7862-8517-6)
- ^ http://www.dealogic.com Dealogic real-time league tables
