Search found 447 matches

by alexdz
Mon Oct 22, 2018 12:04 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2018 Penn Bowl - Specific Question Discussion Thread
Replies: 50
Views: 10339

Re: Specific Question Discussion Thread

The bonus on yogurt from round 1 has two answerline issues, where a clue word from the bonus part is listed as an acceptable answer. Golgappa and imli.
by alexdz
Sun Oct 21, 2018 11:55 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2018 Penn Bowl - General Discussion Thread
Replies: 17
Views: 2298

Re: General Discussion Thread

I'll echo both Auroni and Andrew here. Far too often, I noticed sentences waxing on and on for sometimes several lines with no pronoun/referent in sight, often building on and providing clues connected to previous one but with no clear "ask." This, I think, was by far the biggest content-r...
by alexdz
Thu Oct 04, 2018 10:09 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: NAQT eligibility changes for 2018-19 (update)
Replies: 28
Views: 14242

Re: NAQT eligibility changes for 2018-19

I have a question about this rule: Individuals wishing to compete at high school tournaments must not turn 19 until after the current competition year—in other words, if they will still be 18 or younger as of next July 31. At what point does this rule disqualify someone based on age? For example, if...
by alexdz
Thu Oct 04, 2018 7:59 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Alabama 2018-2019
Replies: 94
Views: 42750

Re: Alabama 2018-2019

Nothing in the published rules suggests a letter theme is required, so I haven't been doing that with my sets. Hopefully that avoids some of the issues anyway.
by alexdz
Thu Oct 04, 2018 4:41 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Alabama 2018-2019
Replies: 94
Views: 42750

Re: Alabama 2018-2019

I'm not 100% perfect, but I can say that I've looked over my answer lines several times and any of the questions (tossup, bonus, and worksheet) with multiple valid answers have them all listed in the answerline. I don't tend to use "starts with this letter" questions unless absolutely nece...
by alexdz
Thu Oct 04, 2018 3:24 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Alabama 2018-2019
Replies: 94
Views: 42750

Re: Alabama 2018-2019

I am currently working on a project for a MS league in Alabama, and I hope that my worksheets will be well-received. The first event is either this week or next, I believe, and the league runs through November. There may be a handful of vocabulary/definition questions in there, but they are overwhel...
by alexdz
Sat Sep 29, 2018 9:26 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: PHSAT XXVI at Princeton University (9/29/18)
Replies: 15
Views: 10260

Re: PHSAT XXVI at Princeton University (9/29/18)

Congratulations to all the teams who competed today! There were a ton of really competitive games in all the divisions I read for. I also want to make sure that Jack, Jared, and the rest of the Princeton team are commended for resolving several of the issues that previously plagued PHSAT and getting...
by alexdz
Wed Sep 26, 2018 1:16 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Team Dysfunction
Replies: 4
Views: 5073

Re: Team Dysfunction

Short of walking away from the team, I think there are a couple of things you can do. 1) If your team isn't already set up this way, consider proposing a division of labor. If each person has a particular "role" to play - A covers science, B covers fine arts, C covers literature... - then ...
by alexdz
Wed Sep 19, 2018 2:06 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: PA area CC SCT
Replies: 1
Views: 2281

Re: PA area CC SCT

An update on this: I have some tentative support from the college I'm working for to host a CC SCT this January. But that only makes sense if there are teams prepared to attend, so I'm going to start seeking out teams over the next week or two. Largely, that's going to mean starting from scratch wit...
by alexdz
Wed Sep 12, 2018 2:16 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Quiz Bowl ESL Student
Replies: 3
Views: 3689

Re: Quiz Bowl ESL Student

I have been thinking about this for the past couple of days since you posted and I'm surprised no one else has responded yet. What do you know about this student's overall language skills in English? I don't know how familiar you are with the field of second language acquisition, but from what littl...
by alexdz
Thu Sep 06, 2018 12:27 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: PA area CC SCT
Replies: 1
Views: 2281

PA area CC SCT

I'm looking into the possibility of hosting a CC SCT this winter in the Philadelphia area. I recently started adjunct teaching at a 2-year school in the area, so I think I can probably pull the event off if there is enough interest from teams to compete. I have a contact list started of student life...
by alexdz
Fri Aug 10, 2018 2:29 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: The State of Good Quizbowl, State-by-State
Replies: 61
Views: 51593

Re: The State of Good Quizbowl, State-by-State

Jason Loy has been in Missouri for a quite some time now, but I'm sure he'd still be willing to speak to you about his experiences in Arkansas. Speaking of Missouri, I'm familiar enough with my Arkansas geography to know that you're reasonably close to the southwest portion of my fine home state. If...
by alexdz
Wed Jul 25, 2018 9:10 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: PHSAT XXVI at Princeton University (9/29/18)
Replies: 15
Views: 10260

Re: PHSAT XXVI at Princeton University (10/29/18)

FYI... September 29 is 9/29/18.
by alexdz
Wed Jul 18, 2018 12:52 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: International Expansion of Quizbowl
Replies: 17
Views: 8642

Re: International Expansion of Quizbowl

In theory, I love the idea of seeing how pyramidality would work in other languages (especially ones with rigid gender!). But unless there is a viable competitive environment for such a packet, then its creation would simply be an intellectual exercise. One idea I have toyed with that might be more ...
by alexdz
Mon Jul 02, 2018 11:13 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Penn Open NASAT Mirror
Replies: 9
Views: 5625

Re: Penn Open NASAT Mirror

To clarify, you mean Sunday, July 15, and not Saturday, right?
by alexdz
Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Penn Open NASAT Mirror
Replies: 9
Views: 5625

Re: Penn Open NASAT Mirror

The spreadsheet is currently View Only, at least for me.
by alexdz
Sat Jun 16, 2018 11:57 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Recognizing people in organizational roles
Replies: 4
Views: 4506

Re: Recognizing people in organizational roles

The current executive board of the Missouri Quizbowl Alliance deserves a ton of kudos, and in particular our current president Jeffrey Hill. Jeff does an incredible amount of behind the scenes work to organize and promote several tournaments a year on campuses he isn't affiliated with, which is a mo...
by alexdz
Mon Jun 04, 2018 1:31 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2018 PACE NSC: Congratulations to Thomas Jefferson HSST!
Replies: 51
Views: 32278

Re: 2018 PACE NSC: Congratulations to Thomas Jefferson HSST!

The late lunch on Saturday was also tougher than expected for staffing, especially those that had to read tiebreakers. In retrospect, perhaps ordering pizza would have been more useful on Saturday, and letting people go out to eat on Sunday? I'll second this. There may have seemed to be enough time...
by alexdz
Wed May 30, 2018 8:46 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Matt Bruce (cw: sexual assault, pedophilia)
Replies: 153
Views: 110796

Re: Matt Bruce (cw: sexual assault)

Perhaps you were scared of making a scene. Perhaps you didn't want things to be awkward. That's understandable, but do you know what else is awkward? Being leered at while you're trying to play a tournament. Being reduced to an object. Being scared to be in a room alone with someone. If you could h...
by alexdz
Thu May 17, 2018 1:05 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: My Health
Replies: 11
Views: 8088

Re: My Health

Much love and support to you. If there's anything I can do to help you (as a former teacher, as a writer, as a friend) - feel free to reach out.
by alexdz
Thu May 17, 2018 1:42 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: I Love You, QB, So Please Get It The F*** Together
Replies: 33
Views: 23448

Re: I Love You, QB, So Please Get It The F*** Together

So I showed my fiance (Kendra) this (and a few other threads) and she after she thought about it for a bit she proposed an idea for how to make it easier to clamp down on these toxic and unacceptable occurrences in real time. Her proposal is to create some sort of online form (probably Google) that...
by alexdz
Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:03 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The end of the match
Replies: 26
Views: 14282

Re: The end of the match

Formalizing this seems like the least of our worries. If someone wanted to try and organize something a bit neater for, say, their state finals matches or a national finals, then I could see where it would be reasonable to make this congratulatory ritual a bit more neat. But for any individual match...
by alexdz
Sun Apr 15, 2018 8:02 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: "I'm sorry, I can't accept that."
Replies: 12
Views: 10801

Re: "I'm sorry, I can't accept that."

What is the general opinion on saying something like "I'm sorry, I can't accept that" for *EVERY* incorrect answer, close or not? As someone who has moderated several games for complete newbies to quizbowl, I've found myself doing something like this before to try and minimize what could b...
by alexdz
Wed Apr 04, 2018 9:43 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: PACE NSC 2018 Rules Changes
Replies: 5
Views: 4072

Re: PACE NSC 2018 Rules Changes

[*] The use of epithets insulting a participant's race, gender identity, sexual orientation, nationality, etc. constitutes severe misconduct, for which the tournament director can eject the offender from the tournament immediately (it had previously constituted minor misconduct)[/list] I wholeheart...
by alexdz
Wed Apr 04, 2018 9:40 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Michigan 2017-2018 Schedule and Discussion
Replies: 62
Views: 23740

Re: Michigan 2017-2018 Schedule and Discussion

As a member of the other state organization that has been mentioned (Missouri's MOQBA), I'd like to clarify and provide some input on what we did to start. (1) Like has been clarified about PA, MOQBA is also not a state governing body for quizbowl in Missouri. [The official state tournament is run b...
by alexdz
Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:20 pm
Forum: New High School Teams
Topic: new advisor/team - Florida
Replies: 4
Views: 11333

Re: new advisor/team - Florida

Hi Coach! Glad to see you found our community here. One thing I might suggest is, if you're looking to get involved in more of a league-style format to help transition your team to the more typical Saturday tournament style, is to host some small four-team events at your own school. We've had some s...
by alexdz
Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:13 pm
Forum: New High School Teams
Topic: awards given at end of season?
Replies: 3
Views: 10884

Re: awards given at end of season?

We didn't have a separate ceremony, but our school hosted an academic awards ceremony at the end of each year where they recognized people who earned scholarships, participated in prestigious state programs (like Boys State), and did well in their classes. It was at this ceremony where the quiz bowl...
by alexdz
Thu Feb 15, 2018 9:47 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: How Can We Make Quizbowl More Approachable and Inclusive
Replies: 64
Views: 54315

Re: How Can We Make Quizbowl More Approachable and Inclusive

There's an art to moderating which involves knowing what type of "chatter" is harmful to the timely completion of your round and what is not. A quick "nice!" or "good job" from one teammate to another (or even across teams) isn't the problem. It's when teams utter compl...
by alexdz
Tue Feb 13, 2018 1:51 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Best Song of the 2000s: HEYYYYYYYYYYYY YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Replies: 735
Views: 153439

Re: Best Song of the 2000s: HEYYYYYYYYYYYY YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright
by alexdz
Mon Feb 12, 2018 1:44 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Managing Tournament Staff
Replies: 20
Views: 9917

Re: Managing Tournament Staff

- A lot of TD time is wasted on trivialities, like answering "where's the bathroom" or ordering food. This is fine when there's nothing critical that requires attention, but it can br attenuating when there is. Having an online google doc that you can point to where teams can refamiliariz...
by alexdz
Fri Feb 09, 2018 3:10 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: We Need an Alternative to the Women in Quizbowl Forum
Replies: 35
Views: 18574

Re: We Need an Alternative to the Women in Quizbowl Forum

We can make a place welcoming to all kinds of people if we affirm and include their experiences as an essential part of the activity. (This is why overly-specific dress codes are bad, for example: they fail to affirm the experiences of people whose conformation with them would result in losing an es...
by alexdz
Thu Feb 08, 2018 4:36 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Where To Start Writing Questions
Replies: 5
Views: 4935

Re: Where To Start Writing Questions

Apply to write for one of the several companies that exist. NAQT's cycle won't come open for another few months, but they would be an excellent opportunity for you. My company, SAGES, has a lot going on but unforunately due to the vagaries of the elementary/MS world, most of the sets aren't in any k...
by alexdz
Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:45 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Quizbowl men, get a haircut
Replies: 102
Views: 50058

Re: Quizbowl men, get a haircut

In general, you are probably doing everything fine if you (1) comb, brush, or style your hair into a generally maintained form; (2) wear clothes appropriate for the event and season (a nice pair of jeans and a collared polo, for example); and (3) maintain basic hygiene such as brushing your teeth an...
by alexdz
Mon Feb 05, 2018 9:49 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Best Song of the 2000s: HEYYYYYYYYYYYY YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Replies: 735
Views: 153439

Re: IT IS THE FINALS: Best Song of the 2000s

Despite voting against it in the semifinals, given these two choices against one another, I'd have to give this one on just a slight edge to Hey Ya!
by alexdz
Sun Jan 28, 2018 12:37 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Best Song of the 2000s: HEYYYYYYYYYYYY YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Replies: 735
Views: 153439

Re: FINAL FOUR: Best Song of the 2000s

Mr. Brightside by The Killers vs. Paper Planes by M.I.A.
Hey Ya! by Outkast vs. Hurt by Johnny Cash
by alexdz
Mon Jan 22, 2018 5:42 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Best Song of the 2000s: HEYYYYYYYYYYYY YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Replies: 735
Views: 153439

Re: ELITE EIGHT: Best Song of the 2000s

Mr. Brightside by The Killers vs. Toxic by Britney Spears Paper Planes by M.I.A. vs. Chicago by Sufjan Stevens Hey Ya! by Outkast vs. Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand American Boy by Estelle featuring Kanye West vs. Hurt by Johnny Cash These were tough matchups for me, especially the last one... I rea...
by alexdz
Mon Jan 22, 2018 5:37 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Women in Sets
Replies: 14
Views: 14420

Re: Women in Sets

Mike is absolutely right. Insofar as quizbowl is a game about naming other things, any bias in what other things have common/famous names will invariably show up here as well. This is not to say that there's nothing we can do about it, because we have the luxury of being able to talk about things th...
by alexdz
Wed Jan 17, 2018 5:26 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Best Song of the 2000s: HEYYYYYYYYYYYY YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Replies: 735
Views: 153439

Re: SWEET SIXTEEN: Best Song of the 2000s

Crazy by Gnarls Barkley vs. Mr. Brightside by The Killers Jesus Walks by Kanye West vs. Toxic by Britney Spears 99 Problems by Jay-Z vs. Paper Planes by M.I.A. Ignition (Remix) by R. Kelly vs. Chicago by Sufjan Stevens Hey Ya! by Outkast vs. Bad Romance by Lady Gaga Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand vs...
by alexdz
Wed Jan 17, 2018 3:28 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Periods, Closing Quote Marks, and You
Replies: 17
Views: 7078

Re: Periods, Closing Quote Marks, and You

To expand on what Andrew just said, I'll reiterate something I posted in a tournament discussion about this issue. For me, as an American reader especially, I'm used to looking for punctuation within the quotation marks. Therefore, when I don't see it there, my brain assumes that there isn't any pun...
by alexdz
Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:11 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Periods, Closing Quote Marks, and You
Replies: 17
Views: 7078

Re: Periods, Closing Quote Marks, and You

In some cases, though certainly not all that you are referencing, this can be an American vs. Canadian/European thing. But I agree that it's jarring for an American eye to see "misplaced" punctuation while reading.
by alexdz
Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:37 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: LACTOSE Connect Tournament @ The Internet
Replies: 4
Views: 3338

Re: LACTOSE Connect Tournament @ The Internet

I played this today. It was fun, if a little rough around the edges. Some tweaks to make pronouns clear for each clue would go a long way to make this tournament even more entertaining to play.
by alexdz
Sat Jan 13, 2018 1:09 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: LACTOSE Connect Tournament @ The Internet
Replies: 4
Views: 3338

Re: LACTOSE Connect Tournament @ The Internet

Is this still happening? Since we're 8 days out from the original post, can you update us on when this packet is planning to be read?
by alexdz
Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:43 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: The Current State of New Jersey Quizbowl
Replies: 8
Views: 5593

Re: The Current State of New Jersey Quizbowl

As a veteran of the effort to improve in Missouri, I'll tackle question 1. A centralized organization is definitely a huge benefit, but it takes a lot of time and investment over multiple years to grow. I think you could start small, though - certainly creating a centralized staffing database would ...
by alexdz
Mon Jan 08, 2018 7:44 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Alternatives to the phrase "good quizbowl"
Replies: 8
Views: 5184

Re: Alternatives to the phrase "good quizbowl"

I actually like "modern quizbowl" now that I've heard it. I've recently been communicating with a summer program that started a quizbowl competition and I've been trying to figure out the wording to use as well. Given that it's an in-state thing, it's a bit easier to make the direct compar...
by alexdz
Tue Jan 02, 2018 11:26 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Bonus Leadins
Replies: 9
Views: 5510

Re: Bonus Leadins

Some short humor that isn't likely to confuse anyone or set the wrong tone is fine on an occasional basis. If you really need to make your set "funny," consider something like, "Answer some enlightening questions about Thomas Edison," where the humor comes from a pun that is *als...
by alexdz
Thu Dec 21, 2017 3:55 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: How to Improve as a Question Writer?
Replies: 8
Views: 4547

Re: How to Improve as a Question Writer?

Additionally, don't be afraid to offer your question writing service to an organization or company. As an example, I run a company that works on middle school and elementary sets called SAGES, but I'm not the only one by far! To be fair, not everyone will be looking for new writers and not everyone ...
by alexdz
Thu Dec 21, 2017 3:50 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Specific question discussion
Replies: 41
Views: 2005

Re: Specific question discussion

Also, there were a few bonuses that I was not very happy to be reading to a high school audience. For example: the bonus on incest ( Seriously?!? ) in packet 1. In this case, I'll disagree with Jacob. There are very much topics that should be off-limits in high school sets, but I'm not sure incest ...
by alexdz
Thu Dec 21, 2017 3:44 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: General Discussion
Replies: 7
Views: 487

Re: General Discussion

It's been too long since I moderated HFT that I don't remember any examples of the pronoun issue, but I do want to echo Jacob's point that it can be hard for a player to figure out what's happening if the pronoun isn't near the beginning. Now, I don't think it has to be the very first few words or a...
by alexdz
Tue Dec 19, 2017 3:57 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: How Do You Run Your Club
Replies: 19
Views: 21500

Re: How Do You Run Your Club

Several years ago, when Charlie Dees and I restarted the Mizzou club, it was more or less just the two of us running everything. The first year, Charlie did the lion's share of the work, and then our sophomore year, I took over more of the day-to-day stuff. Either Charlie or I at least co-directed e...
by alexdz
Thu Dec 07, 2017 4:50 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Ways to practice outside of buzzing?
Replies: 4
Views: 3862

Re: Ways to practice outside of buzzing?

Some teams have older, more experienced players do some moderating for newer/younger players. That still exposes your better players to the questions but keeps them from being behind the buzzer. There are some drawbacks to this method, of course, but used sparingly it can be a helpful addition to yo...