This is ridiculous. Am I allowed to ask that all science questions be answerable by someone who has no interest in science? Quizbowl is a game for rewarding knowledge, and by saying "you don't have to learn about this, we'll dumb it down for you", we're missing opportunities to promote the acquisition of knowledge. Say someone heard the HSNCT tossup on relegation and thought it sounded interesting. They then go home and research the Premier League, maybe develop an interest in it, watch a couple games. The Premier League is the most important league in the most important sport in the world. Now tell me that isn't something worth learning about, not only from an academic but also a cultural standpoint. Or take the Nets. A quick look at the Nets' Wikipedia page will discover that they once played in the ABA. The ABA was a cultural landmark, one which very much reflected the attitudes of the 1970s and is a legitimate part of American history.Westwon wrote: ...should stick to stuff that you don't have to be a sports fan to know about,...
Basically, my point is this. It's 0.4/0.4 of the distribution. Not cramming the starting lineup of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds (Bench, Perez, Morgan, Concepcion, Rose, Foster, Geronimo, Griffey) won't--and shouldn't--destroy your team. Take it out of HSNCT, because it shouldn't determine a national champion. But don't make sports the illegitimate child of history and current events. Doing so ignores important chances to gain real knowledge.