VCU Open 2007: Official Jerk Policy 3/10/07

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Matt Weiner
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VCU Open 2007: Official Jerk Policy 3/10/07

Post by Matt Weiner »

This is the general announcement for VCU Open 2007: Official Jerk Policy, a collegiate/open academic tournament to be held at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond on Saturday, March 10. The tournament will start at 9:00; this means that the first tossup of round 1 will be read at 9:00--please be in room 2223 of the Temple Building on our Monroe Park campus (aka "Academic Campus") no later than 8:45 to register. All matches will take place in Temple. The format will be determined once I find out how many total packets are available and how many teams are registered.

This tournament will be a mirror of/collaboration with the tournaments taking place at Illinois and UCLA on the same day. The VCU site will be a packet-submission-optional event and, since its source is intended as a novice tournament, will be of a moderate to low difficulty level. Thus, this is an ideal event for younger players, though all are welcome.

All collegiate teams are eligible to participate and may write a packet for a quite substantial discount, or may play without writing a packet if they wish (see below). Open teams are also eligible to participe, and the same fee structure will apply. Open teams may or may not be eligible to win the tournament, depending on the tournament format and the relative level of interest from collegiate vs. open teams.

The base fee for teams who choose not to write a packet is $120.
If you can write a GOOD packet by February 17, your base fee is $60.

There is also a $10 discount per fully functional buzzer system and a $20 discount for a full-time competent moderator. The minimum fee per team is $0--i.e. you write a good packet and bring a few buzzers and staffers, you play for free.

Packets should adhere to the guidelines posted for the Illinois site and should be submitted to Mike Sorice as mentioned in those guidelines. All the packet information is at this link: http://www.hsquizbowl.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3536 .

To register, post in this thread or mail me at weinerm @ vcu dot edu with the number of teams, buzzers, and staffers you want to bring, an email address where you can be contacted with details, and whether or not you intend to give Mike a good packet by February 17. For obvious reasons, teams who plan to take advantage of the packet-submission discount must register by February 17; registrations from non-writing teams will be taken up to the week of the tournament. For the moment, the field is capped at the first 13 teams to register, but it is possible that the field size could be expanded if interest requires it.

Click on the above links for campus maps. On-street parking is free in most places around the campus on Saturdays and will probably be available; if not, there are several parking decks within a few blocks of the building. Those that are open on Saturday are usually free; if not, they will charge $5 to park all day.

Post here or mail me if you have any further questions. I'm hoping to have a pretty competitive event, drawing teams from throughout the Mid-Atlantic, on March 10.

Teams so far (updated 2/28):

Duke
Maryland A
Maryland B
Maggie Walker HS
South Carolina
Virginia
Virginia Tech
William & Mary
Last edited by Matt Weiner on Wed Feb 28, 2007 2:25 pm, edited 8 times in total.
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Post by Matt Weiner »

I've gotten registrations or near-registrations from William & Mary and Maryland so far, as well as a lot of interest without commitment from other schools. Please note that the specific location of the tournament has been added to the above announcement, and that if you want to take advantage of the packet discount you need to get a round in to Mike Sorice by this Saturday. Further registrations should be e-mailed to me or posted in this thread as announced so that we can keep track of who is coming.
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Post by Mike Bentley »

Maryland will have a packet in by Saturday and will definitely be sending at least one team. We will be sending another non-packet team if another person or two becomes interested.

Edit: Also, if we send only one team we'll probably have a moderator as well.

Further Edit: And I guess I should also mention my email is mike000 at umd dot edu and that we'll be brining 2 buzzers.
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Post by Zip Zap Rap Pants »

Yeah I'll go ahead and say we'll send at least one team, as there seems to be significant interest in this tournament (albeit almost exclusively from VA kids b/c of Spring Break). I don't think we'll be sending a packet though as I don't have the time to finish one this week and only about 3-4 other club members are *ever* willing to write anything (props to those that do though). We've got about 12/12 in reserve but we'll save that for a potential UNC tournament I think (is that ever going to happen/be announced?) Oh yeah and we'll bring a buzzer system too. We may potentially send a 2nd team and/or a moderator, but I'll let you know when I'm sure.

Edit: Oh yeah and the email I check is [email protected]
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Post by Mike Bentley »

Hey Matt, Maryland is definitely bringing 2 teams to the tournament now.

And on an unrelated note, where was it that you said you got your buzzer system from?
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Post by Matt Weiner »

Glad to hear it.

The buzzer is from these guys: http://www.svbz.com/
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Post by Rothlover »

Svbz is an excellent buzzer system, for all you new teams who need a cheap option. Brandeis has had one for 3 years now and its been solid. Ebay is also good for cheap buzzers.
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Post by Andy Saunders »

Brock also has purchased a system from SVBZ and is very satisfied with it. It's also significantly less expensive, even shipping across the border, than any other system that we could find.
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Post by Zip Zap Rap Pants »

SVBZ buzzers are really cheaply constructed (from Radio Shack parts basically), but hey you get what you pay for, and with the 5 year warranty I can't complain. I got mine in November, it stopped working a month later at GSAC's tournament because of static electricity problems, but they've fixed that now (and ours was fixed under warranty). I just had to mail back one of the 4 player strings of buzzers because one of them doesn't work half the time due to a loose/semi-broken button, and we can't fix it ourselves since the buttons are simply glued in. Still, as I said with the 5 year warranty I can't really complain, but it is kind of annoying having to periodically go without a buzzer for two weeks due to somewhat poor construction.

Now that this thread is completely off topic...
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Post by Zip Zap Rap Pants »

By the way we're not sending a second team, and we should have a moderator with us (along with our buzzer system).
Matt Morrison, William & Mary '10, Tour Guide &c., MA in History '12?

"All the cool people eat mangoes while they smoke blunts and do cannonballs off a trampoline into my hot tub..."
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Post by Matt Weiner »

The final pre-tournament update has been sent to the teams in the first post--please let me know if you are coming to the tournament but didn't get the e-mail.

Anyone else, you have until noon Thursday to register. The field will be locked at that point so I can set a schedule.
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Post by Frater Taciturnus »

so is that 8:45 registration time all right for outside staffers coming in?
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Post by Matt Weiner »

Yes, please be there at that time along with the teams.
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Post by Matt Weiner »

Following a double round robin, Maggie Walker (HS) emerged as both the overall and, needless to say, undergraduate champion of VCU Open 2007: Official Jerk Policy. Maryland A beat Maryland B on PPG to take second place.

Full stats are here http://www.hsquizbowl.org/ojp/vcu-open_standings.html .

I'd like to thank all the teams for coming and all the staffers for taking their Saturday to help with this event, particularly independent staffers extraordinaire Andrew Feist and Dan Goff, whose moderating excellence allowed us to finish 14 rounds by 6 PM. Thanks also to VCU club members Andrew Alexander and Vinod Kondragunta, and attendee-affiliated staffers Dave Porter, George Berry, and Dr. John Barnes for helping us keep things operating smoothly.

I believe that Mike Bentley of Maryland recorded most of the games his team was involved in for PODCASTING!!! purposes, so some audio from the tournament will be made available soon.
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Post by vcuEvan »

Great job running this tournament Matt. There were very few delays and the 14 rounds were finished quickly. Matt read and did stats and directed the tournament and did a great job while never leaving his chair. I had a great time and played some great games, especially with the people from Maryland. That, along with the antics of Leo Wolpert and the great prizes made it really fun. Can't wait for the next VCU tournament, this time with high schools.
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Post by Leo Wolpert »

I had no idea that swearing, negging, and losing could be considered "antics," but I'm glad I could enhance your tournament experience. Also, congratulations on winning.

Kudos to Matt for running a tight ship. Packets were overall pretty decent for easy questions, but there were a few slip-ups and one packet that barely seemed edited. I don't remember who wrote it, but I'm getting drunk now so who cares.
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Post by Mike Bentley »

Matt Weiner wrote:I believe that Mike Bentley of Maryland recorded most of the games his team was involved in for PODCASTING!!! purposes, so some audio from the tournament will be made available soon.
That is correct. Look foward to hearing me neg with "Armory Show" on "Austerlitz" in the coming days.
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Post by magin »

ikillkenny wrote: That is correct. Look foward to hearing me neg with "Armory Show" on "Austerlitz" in the coming days.
More amusingly, I think that it was actually Armory Show for Auschwitz. Also, VCU ran the tournament very well, the questions were generally at an appropriate level, and congratulations to Maggie Walker for winning.
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Post by therateconstant »

Props to the cats from MLW for blazing up. Excellent job!

[EDIT: Fun tournament, Matt! Thanks for hosting it! And great job to everyone else for showing up and competing!]
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Post by Ethnic history of the Vilnius region »

magin wrote:
ikillkenny wrote: That is correct. Look foward to hearing me neg with "Armory Show" on "Austerlitz" in the coming days.
More amusingly, I think that it was actually Armory Show for Auschwitz. Also, VCU ran the tournament very well, the questions were generally at an appropriate level, and congratulations to Maggie Walker for winning.
Yeah, it was definitely Auschwitz. It was easily the best neg ever, especially since it came after the part about people dying there and Birkenau and other hints that let you know it wasn't an art show and probably a concentration camp.

Anyway, a very fun (not fuuuun) tournament with lots of good ole fashioned cussing, a NASCAR romance novel, and some kid who teamed with Wolpert who said he was a Superman robot or something.
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Post by Frater Taciturnus »

The Shock Master wrote:
magin wrote:
ikillkenny wrote: That is correct. Look foward to hearing me neg with "Armory Show" on "Austerlitz" in the coming days.
More amusingly, I think that it was actually Armory Show for Auschwitz. Also, VCU ran the tournament very well, the questions were generally at an appropriate level, and congratulations to Maggie Walker for winning.
Yeah, it was definitely Auschwitz. It was easily the best neg ever, especially since it came after the part about people dying there and Birkenau and other hints that let you know it wasn't an art show and probably a concentration camp.

Anyway, a very fun (not fuuuun) tournament with lots of good ole fashioned cussing, a NASCAR romance novel, and some kid who teamed with Wolpert who said he was a Superman robot or something.
"Superking" was Bender's superhero alias on Futurama in the episode where Fry and Leela got powers from Zoidberg's muscle creme.

I remeber it being at the point where while i scored that match i wondered if it should be possible to lose more than 5 points on a single neg. I'm pretty sure Bergen-Belsen had even been mentioned. Either way, It was enough to wonder about the limits of bad negging.
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Post by Mike Bentley »

FYI the first round went up yesterday, with a new round coming roughly every day. Those interested should check out the blog, http://quizbowlcast.blogspot.com
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Post by Zip Zap Rap Pants »

Leo Wolpert wrote:I had no idea that swearing, negging, and losing could be considered "antics," but I'm glad I could enhance your tournament experience.
Hopefully with the help of more quizbowl drinking games these "antics" will one day be known as "standard quizbowl" :grin:
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Post by Frater Taciturnus »

Matt Morrison wrote:
Leo Wolpert wrote:I had no idea that swearing, negging, and losing could be considered "antics," but I'm glad I could enhance your tournament experience.
Hopefully with the help of more quizbowl drinking games these "antics" will one day be known as "standard quizbowl" :grin:
YES! THAT is what we need. You neg, you drink. Leo would die by the end of the round robin.
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Post by Zip Zap Rap Pants »

dsfcaptains2005 wrote:
Matt Morrison wrote:
Leo Wolpert wrote:I had no idea that swearing, negging, and losing could be considered "antics," but I'm glad I could enhance your tournament experience.
Hopefully with the help of more quizbowl drinking games these "antics" will one day be known as "standard quizbowl" :grin:
YES! THAT is what we need. You neg, you drink. Leo would die by the end of the round robin.
LOL exactly. At the beginning of the year, when we were practicing on Speed Check questions, Sean Walsh and I came up with the idea that if you neg on those questions, you should have to take a shot of O.E. for every -5. Perhaps if TOMCAT II happens next year, we'll mirror it as a college tournament, with that rule installed :lol:
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Post by Frater Taciturnus »

Matt Morrison wrote: LOL exactly. At the beginning of the year, when we were practicing on Speed Check questions, Sean Walsh and I came up with the idea that if you neg on those questions, you should have to take a shot of O.E. for every -5. Perhaps if TOMCAT II happens next year, we'll mirror it as a college tournament, with that rule installed :lol:
Negging Speed Checks? Isn't that taking aggresion a bit too far?
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Post by No Rules Westbrook »

For one thing, Leo will imbibe amply at qb tourneys regardless of whether there are neg penalties. For another, as this game conspires against me enough as it is, losing 5 points and watching the other team score 30 or so is quite sufficient deterrence. Perhaps the penalty committee could work on more deserving things, like devising torture methods for people who leave tournaments early.
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