The Quizbowl Resource Center

Even before the dust has gotten kicked up, much less settled, on 2016's Chicago Open Trash, we've decided that we enjoyed writing it so much we're going to do it again. 2017 already has a bunch of announced Sunday events, so we've chosen to claim the next best thing. Your intrepid writers will, once again, be Carsten Gehring, Andrew Hart, and me. As an institution, we will remain generally opposed to the words and deeds of Randy Wittman.

Much like 2016's event, the distribution for this tournament will resemble but not precisely match this:

4/4 Sports: 1/1 football; 1/1 baseball; 1/1 basketball; 1/1 other
4/4 Film: 1/1 pre-1980s; 2/1 or 1/2 1980s and 90s; 2/1 or 1/2 2000s with a mix of genres
4/4 TV: .5/.5 pre-1990; 1/1 1990s; 2.5/2.5 2000 or later with a mix of genres
4/4 Music: 1/1 rock; 1/1 pop; 1/1 rap, R&B, soul; 1/1 other or more of big three with a mix of times
1.5/1.5 video games
1/1 comics/trash lit
1.5/1.5 other

2018's event should resemble 2016's in most major elements: the set will contain 12-ish packets consisting of questions of reasonable length and similar difficulty.

All teams are once again welcome, though the staff and room situation may place practical limits on the number. Additionally, we may once again implement a tiered registration system allowing priority registration for teams containing people playing or staffing CO proper, in order to encourage people interested in trash to play or staff CO proper. Our hope is to be the main event on CO Sunday, but we'll work closely with other side event organizers to plan a reasonable schedule.

More information will be provided in maybe a year or so when it's a little more reasonable to start thinking about it. We look forward to seeing you there, and at the two Chicago Opens preceding it!

EDIT: More information now available:

Cost

The entry fee will be $160 a team; to encourage four-person teams, there is no shorthanded discount. We have increased the fee by $5 a player in order to pay staffers, which helps ensure that the event can be as big as demand and room reservations allow; we've also increased the number of packets to 14 to allow for more flexibility in scheduling and possibly more gameplay. The buzzer discount is $10 per functional buzzer, which we reserve the right to limit to three per team if there's a glut of buzzers. Buzzers that aren't functional (i.e. don't allow for four-on-four gameplay) are not eligible for a discount; do not bring them.

Field cap

We should have at least 12 game rooms available, so the first field cap will be 24 teams; we may revise this up or down depending on room and staff availability.

Staffing

If you're interested in staffing, please post in the thread. Staffers will be paid $20 and will receive lunch.

Registration

Please register by emailing both Rob and me ([email protected] and [email protected]). Your email should have the subject "CO Trash registration" and should indicate your full roster and whether at least one of your players will have played, staffed, or edited CO proper.

Teams with at least one staffer/player/editor of CO proper will receive priority registration by registering before May 15, after which registration will be purely first come, first served.

Free agents and field

Here is a team spreadsheet listing free agent and field. Free agents can also post in the thread. Editing this spreadsheet will NOT register your team; you have to email Rob and me for that (see above).

Format

There will be 14 packets and at least 10 rounds, ideally with zero byes (though this will depend on staffers/field size). Exact format will depend on field size.

Editorial stance toward Randy Wittman

The editors of this tournament hereby denounce the NBA coaching of Randy Wittman, and commend the Washington Wizards for their decision to move on from his substandard tactics and leadership.

Logistics and payment

Registration will last from 8:15 to 8:45am on Sunday, July 22, in Locy Hall, room 106.

Teams must prepay with Venmo or PayPal or pay during registration with Venmo, PayPal, cash, or check. See emails for further instructions on payment.

Hopefully I will still be alive in the distant future of 2018 to use this post for field updates.

Is registration open?

We want the buzzers and we're going to score.

Gotta talk to Andrew/Carsten to see what sort of tying-to-CO-involvement we're doing this year, but don't let that stop you from forming teams!

Here's a formation spreadsheet.

I'm seeking a team for this, and actually don't suck at trash. Someone who knows non-Olympic sports would be good.

merv1618 wrote:Here's a formation spreadsheet.

I'm seeking a team for this, and actually don't suck at trash. Someone who knows non-Olympic sports would be good.

This spreadsheet would probably attract more entries if it weren't view only

Sit Room Guy wrote:

merv1618 wrote:Here's a formation spreadsheet.

I'm seeking a team for this, and actually don't suck at trash. Someone who knows non-Olympic sports would be good.

This spreadsheet would probably attract more entries if it weren't view only

Whoops, fixed. FZ these posts

I've updated the first post with basic registration and logistics information. Registration is now open; please follow the procedure in the first post to register. Note that simply posting your team to the spreadsheet does not register your team.

Recent threads have reminded me: I'm seeking teammates for this. My Trash experience consists mostly of being the high scorer on teams that lose most or all of their matches. (Sometimes because I'm playing with people deemed "the worst trash players," but often because I'm a niche specialist who has no business leading a Trash team.) I wouldn't mind being a third or fourth scorer on a team that loses less often.

I hope John does CO Trash next year.

Cheynem wrote:I hope John does CO Trash next year.

Actually, I'm planning to do a hybrid tournament that's literature, non-fiction, music, food, and film, where some of each category is "highbrow" and some is "lowbrow." This is contingent on my dissertation being in good shape by the end of this summer.

I would literally pay somewhere between 10 and 100 dollars to play this tournament.

A reminder that being in the team formation sheet doesn't mean you're registered. Please follow the instructions in the first post to register your team! We have four teams registered so far.

I am an old, old man, but am seriously thinking about being around for this, so I will put my hat in the ring for team formation.

I'm hoping to play. However, there is a chance that (much like last CO Trash) I might have to cancel at any time due to work commitments. If you don't mind that risk, I'm available.

Hello all, we currently have seven teams registered (and thus up to 17 slots remaining). If you're on a team with one of these folks, you're registered: Ryan Rosenberg, Adam Sperber, Mike Cheyne, Zach Arnberger, Matt Lafer, Matt Weiner, and Aaron Dos Remedios. If you're not on one of those teams, please register when you've got your team finalized.

The deadline for priority registration for teams with a CO-proper staffer or player is May 15.

I'm interested in playing!

I haven't played this event, and I haven't posted on here before, but I would be interested in participating. I think I could be able to contribute to a team. I added my name to the spreadsheet.

User was reminded to enable a signature. --Mgmt.

A team of me and the Douglasses (Eric and Bryn) is looking for a fourth player, who, ideally, is good at video games, comics, and/or non-old music. Message me or them if you're interested.

David Dennis and myself would like to have 2 more players join us on a CO Trash team. If you know video games and sports I have no interest in, we'd love to team up with you! Or even if you don't know these things, we'd still love to team up with you! Contact me if you wish to join us.

I'm looking for one more for my team so we can get fully registered. Solid sports knowledge would be preferred!

We now have nine registered teams; please keep those registrations coming in! Remember that May 15 is the priority registration deadline for teams with at least one player staffing or playing CO proper.

Will this be mirrored online at some point? I can't make it to Chicago this year.

Progcon wrote:Will this be mirrored online at some point? I can't make it to Chicago this year.

Almost certainly.

Yeah, we'll do an online mirror, and we'll also supply the set to physical mirrors after the main-site tournament date. Email me if you're interested in mirroring what will by then surely be described as the greatest set of all time.

Registration is now first come, first served. The field is half full, so please register quickly if you'd like to play.

I'm looking to play this tournament. I'm not bad at sports and good at frauding pop culture questions from academic knowledge.

I'd like to play this. If you want a fourth scorer who knows some things about indie music, baseball, and a select few tv shows/movies, and who may be useful on academic/academic-adjacent things that crop up, put me on your team!

The top post should be edited to include the spreadsheet. Right now it just says "link" where the link to the spreadsheet should be, and it looks like the spreadsheet exists.

Asher.Yodaah wrote:The top post should be edited to include the spreadsheet. Right now it just says "link" where the link to the spreadsheet should be, and it looks like the spreadsheet exists.

This is done (the link was a few posts done, so I hope no one was confused). Remember, you have to register your team via the procedure in the first post.

There are 15 teams registered for the tournament and 9 spots available. There appear to be several free agents and several teams that are listed on the formation spreadsheet but that have not yet registered. Please get your registrations in soon!

I am planning to email a list of local teams about the tournament sometime next week, so CO-attending players should try to get their teams together pretty soon so that we don't end up filling the field without you.

Much like the main event, this tournament will be taking place at Northwestern University. More information will be provided as we acquire it.

We're up to 16 registrations; there are a couple teams on the spreadsheet who still haven't registered, so I encourage them to do that soon.

Also, this tournament will (like CO proper) take place at Northwestern University because of issues with UChicago room reservations. Once we get info on the building and rooms, I'll edit that into the first post (and it'll also go out with the email to players sometime during the week before the tournament).

Edit: I just updated the team formation sheet with the official registration information. There are two partly formed teams that haven't yet registered but are listed on the sheet. There are also 14 free agents and 3 empty slots on registered teams.

We now have 20 teams registered. I'd strongly advise anyone who hasn't formed a team yet to do so quickly.

Because fields with 21-23 teams don't work particularly well, we're hoping to get to 24 teams even. (We can likely make the numbers work, but it would be preferable to have 24 to eliminate byes.) If you know of any teams in the Midwest who might be interested in playing, feel free to reach out and let them know.

If other free agents want to form a free agent team with me, email me at [email protected]. I'm decent at movies, and pretty good at video games and music pre-1990.

Do three of the remaining free agents want to form a team? I'm not overly concerned about finding folks with complementary skill sets at this point. I just want to make sure I get to play. Message me. Once I get three responses I'll register our team.

Edit: Asher and I have teamed up. We are still looking for two teammates.

Final Edit: Our team is now complete.

I'm also in that desperate situation of needing teammates. If any of the incomplete teams would like to sign me on, or other free agents want to band together, please get in touch!

Seems like a good time to note that we are definitely seeking staff for this tournament! You will be treated, we think, uncommonly well: last time we provided staffers a variety of drinks, snacks, and cough drops, and we also ordered Thai for lunch. We'll be trying to improve on that this year, so please consider giving us your Sunday--we'll make it worth your while.

I just sent an email to everyone listed as a prospective staffer on the sheet whose email I seem to have. If you're interested in staffing, please take 30 seconds to fill out this google form so we have your contact info and staffing preferences. Thanks!

how did last year's CO Trash go anyway HMM

Cheynem wrote:how did last year's CO Trash go anyway HMM

dang it

Scattered CO Trash announcements:

* We now have 23 teams registered; one more registration and the field will be full.

* There are four teams that still have an open slot. While it's possible that these teams have people in mind for their fourth players, free agents might want to reach out to them.

* We're looking for at least three more staffers (including someone interested in doing stats). Anyone interested in staffing should take 30 seconds to fill out this google form so we have your contact info and staffing preferences.

Sam Bailey will be replacing Chris Manners on our team, as Chris left to return to his home planet.

Cheynem wrote:Sam Bailey will be replacing Chris Manners on our team, as Chris left to return to his home planet.

The Space Force is really taking off

We have an opening on our team, as Will realized he won't be able to make it that day. If you're interested in playing on my team, let me know.

Two more related updates:

* We'd love to get that 24th team registered so we can guarantee a schedule with no byes. There are currently three free agents who I'm hoping can form the core of a 24th team (and possibly there are other folks playing CO proper who would be interested in playing a more academically inflected trash tournament like this one).

* We'd appreciate having at least one more staffer who can staff all day. (We definitely appreciate our two staffers who are flying out in the early evening, but we're currently at least one staffer short in the afternoon.) Anyone interested in staffing should take 30 seconds to fill out this google form so we have your contact info and staffing preferences.

We're still hoping to get that 24th and final team--we've got 2 people on the spreadsheet who are currently listed as free agents, so hopefully that's the nucleus of the final team. If I don't get that last registration by the end of the weekend, I'll reach out to anyone listed as a free agent and try to get people together.

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, my team is looking for a last-minute replacement player. Sports knowledge appreciated.

Edit: Jason Asher will be joining our team (I think).

Hey all,

The field is now almost full--Stephen Liu and Shan Kothari are playing as the 24th team, but we'd love to get them some teammates. If you're interested, please email either them or me (I'm at [email protected]).

Also, I will be sending out logistical and payment information on Monday or Tuesday, so stay tuned for that.