Stack a roster

S

Setestrelo

New Member
Spanish
Hello,

I'm reading a story in which a really good tennis player is put as number 3 on the final team roster. He is the best player, so his teammates go to talk to the coach to ask him to reconsider that decision. According to them, it makes no sense for the best player to be rank 3, not even «in terms of stacking the roster» against their opponents, and I cannot fully grasp the meaning of the expression. Could it possibly mean to «rellenar la lista», «meter jugadores de relleno» in case they need them, or something similar?

Thank you in advance!
 
    • It doesn’t make sense to me with the context you provided. My guess is that it has to do with one of the meanings of stack that has the sense of cheating or playing unfairly. Normally “stacking the roster” in sports might suggest that an amateur team had filled the roster with professionals, or something to that effect. But we don’t know enough about the situation to be sure.
     
    Setestrelo said:
    Hello,

    I'm reading a story in which a really good tennis player is put as number 3 on the final team roster. He is the best player, so his teammates go to talk to the coach to ask him to reconsider that decision. According to them, it makes no sense for the best player to be rank 3, not even «in terms of stacking the roster» against their opponents, and I cannot fully grasp the meaning of the expression. Could it possibly mean to «rellenar la lista», «meter jugadores de relleno» in case they need them, or something similar?

    Thank you in advance!
    Click to expand...
    "Stack the roster" means only one thing in AmE, and that is to have a roster full or better than average players. Normally when a player intentionally takes a lower rating to play lower ranked opponents, it is called "sandbagging."
     
    A quick Google search shows that in tennis, Stacking is the illegal act of putting a player in a position he/she is not fit for, like putting your worst player in the #1 position.
    How Do College Tennis Matches Work? - My Tennis HQ

    ...each coach will submit to the tournament director an official playoff roster... listing the... players in proper order of ability.
    ...any attempt to "stack" a lineup or use a player below his/her general ability level on the team may result in the immediate disqualification of the entire team.
    Tennis Rules and Procedures | GHSA.net
     
    Last edited:
    Thank you all! Your answers have been very enlightening! :)

    [Sorry if I don't use the quote option well; I'm a newbie, bear with me...]

    michelmontescuba said:
    A quick Google search shows that in tennis, Stacking is the illegal act of putting a player in a position he/she is not fit for, like putting your worst player in the #1 position.
    How Do College Tennis Matches Work? - My Tennis HQ
    Click to expand...
    This! I think that is what I was looking for —I wonder if there's a word in Spanish for it 🤔.

    So I'm guessing in this particular case this is not only about stacking, but about humiliating a player by not letting him play in the place that corresponds him.

    The central idea of the story is that the coach and the best player don't get along well, so this "stack the roster"-thing is just a vindictive result of that. When I read it, it got me wondering if maybe here "stacking" means tricking their opponents into thinking they are worst than they actually are?

    After reading your responses, I get it's something like this: In regular conditions, you'd put your best player as #1, so the matches will be #1 vs the other team's #1, #2 vs #2, #3 vs #3, etc. When you stack, you put your best player in second place to play the other team's #2; your second best player against the other team's #3, and so forth, increasing your odds of getting victories. This way, you'd only "sacrifice" the #1 (possibly the worst player), who will probably lose against the other team's #1. In this particular case, the best player is thrown to the third position in the roster, which will very likely result in two lost matches, rather than just one.

    Thank you again!
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Back
    Top