Search found 1837 matches

by Captain Sinico
Fri Aug 05, 2022 9:21 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2022 Chicago Open: August 6, 2022 @ Evanston, IL
Replies: 98
Views: 48319

Re: 2022 Chicago Open: August 6, 2022 @ Evanston, IL

meebles127 wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2022 5:34 pmIt hasn't been sent.
One of my teammates claims to have received such an e-mail already.
by Captain Sinico
Fri Aug 05, 2022 5:30 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2022 Chicago Open: August 6, 2022 @ Evanston, IL
Replies: 98
Views: 48319

Re: 2022 Chicago Open: August 6, 2022 @ Evanston, IL

It would seem that not everyone got the e-mail saying where and when to show up. If you would please add me to the e-mail list, I'd appreciate it. I'd also suggest posting those same details in this thread.
by Captain Sinico
Thu Dec 31, 2020 2:13 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Neg 5 : Quizbowl for the Cloud
Replies: 175
Views: 166164

Re: Neg 5 : Quizbowl for the Cloud

I see. That's very odd – I don't think I've seen that.
by Captain Sinico
Sat Dec 26, 2020 4:39 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Neg 5 : Quizbowl for the Cloud
Replies: 175
Views: 166164

Re: Neg 5 : Quizbowl for the Cloud

I can't see that screenshot. I think you need to make it accessible to everyone in Google Drive.
by Captain Sinico
Fri Nov 06, 2020 12:25 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Neg 5 : Quizbowl for the Cloud
Replies: 175
Views: 166164

Re: Neg 5 : Quizbowl for the Cloud

Perhaps this video can help.
by Captain Sinico
Fri Nov 06, 2020 11:09 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Neg 5 : Quizbowl for the Cloud
Replies: 175
Views: 166164

Re: Neg 5 : Quizbowl for the Cloud

That latest issue has never happened to me. I would guess there's either something wrong with the site temporarily, or something you're doing wrong.
by Captain Sinico
Fri Jul 17, 2020 7:22 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: On HS Teams Without Coaches
Replies: 68
Views: 48437

Re: On HS Teams Without Coaches

I don't really know how to provide an explicit definition for how I defined professionalism, but I'll attempt to describe it here. Professionalism is the sense that an activity (in this case, a qb tournament) is not just a gathering of students doing stuff together, but a formal school-based activi...
by Captain Sinico
Fri Jul 17, 2020 3:50 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: On HS Teams Without Coaches
Replies: 68
Views: 48437

Re: On HS Teams Without Coaches

I think the argument being made here for actual teacher advisors/coaches to accompany teams vs. parents is less about "ensuring safety" and more about maintaining professionalism. I think you're right to a point, but the heart of your statement is a false dichotomy. Meeting standards of p...
by Captain Sinico
Fri Jul 17, 2020 3:43 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: On HS Teams Without Coaches
Replies: 68
Views: 48437

Re: On HS Teams Without Coaches

There's one more thing I'd like to make sure we consider here. We've heard a great deal in this thread that more stringent coaching/chaperone/sponsorship requirements would serve to kill off teams. This seems reasonable on its face, for two reasons. First, many teams now don't have such close involv...
by Captain Sinico
Fri Jul 17, 2020 3:09 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: On HS Teams Without Coaches
Replies: 68
Views: 48437

Re: On HS Teams Without Coaches

Here's a bit of a spinoff from my previous post. It's worthwhile to consider that how we handle requirements for chaperones and supervision can form a de facto demand for precocious maturity as prerequisite to play the game safely. We should be concerned that too lax requirements for adult involveme...
by Captain Sinico
Fri Jul 17, 2020 2:44 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: On HS Teams Without Coaches
Replies: 68
Views: 48437

Re: On HS Teams Without Coaches

It is good that we're thinking about who is responsible as a chaperone, who needs one, and to what extent. As with the character of coaches, however, it's essential that we do our best to keep our focus off of exceptional cases or classes*. I suspect we've all known young people who were, to all app...
by Captain Sinico
Fri Jul 17, 2020 1:18 am
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: On HS Teams Without Coaches
Replies: 68
Views: 48437

Re: On HS Teams Without Coaches

I think there are some reasonable points being made here. In particular, I think our discussion so far has pointed out some important issues. How effective should we expect coaches to be in dealing with these problems and why? What costs might we pay in requiring coaches and how practical would such...
by Captain Sinico
Sun Jul 12, 2020 6:40 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: MARCATo (Summer 2020)
Replies: 48
Views: 19773

Re: MARCATo (Summer 2020)

That's what I had in mind, certainly. In fact, I think anything other than XY +10 for A -5, then X right, then Y wrong would be strongly objected to and widely disliked. I take that as fixed and basically independent of what happens for the scenario I brought up (A -5, then X wrong, then Y right).
by Captain Sinico
Sun Jul 12, 2020 5:26 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: MARCATo (Summer 2020)
Replies: 48
Views: 19773

Re: MARCATo (Summer 2020)

There's at least one interesting scoring scenario that arises in this sort of event. Let's say AB is playing XY. On a given tossup, A takes the first buzz and gets it wrong. B being locked out by A's neg, we don't care what B does – pretend B didn't buzz if you like. Later on, X also buzzes gets it ...
by Captain Sinico
Sat Jul 11, 2020 2:21 am
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Remember the '90s?
Replies: 10
Views: 12582

Re: Remember the '90s?

One other thing that occurs to my foggy recollection: buzzers in the '90s were a trip. There were so many different ones! Homemade ones were fairly common, but even the company-produced models were so much more diverse and wacky than what you're likely to see today. Let me tell you stories of three ...
by Captain Sinico
Sat Jul 11, 2020 2:02 am
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Remember the '90s?
Replies: 10
Views: 12582

Re: Remember the '90s?

As, shockingly, one of the youngest posters on this thread (I played high school '98-'00, or possibly '99-'00 – bit foggy on when my very first games were), the thing I most remember about the '90s being different from today was that there was little or no criticism of questions. At absolute minimum...
by Captain Sinico
Tue Apr 21, 2020 6:53 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: A Focus On Prevention
Replies: 3
Views: 2423

Re: A Focus On Prevention

One thing I forgot to add that I wanted to: most accusations of cheating in in-person quizbowl are equally unprovable (to the extent that they satisfy most people) without a confession. We tend to focus on the very few substantiated accusations of the most serious cheating -- playing questions the p...
by Captain Sinico
Tue Apr 21, 2020 6:38 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: A Focus On Prevention
Replies: 3
Views: 2423

Re: A Focus On Prevention

It is reasonable and necessary to think about prevention, certainly -- we definitely ought to. In that regard, I would caution us once again against fixating on technical fixes. I say this no because there's anything wrong with them per se, but because they have a bad tendency to suck in all discuss...
by Captain Sinico
Tue Apr 21, 2020 6:14 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: This Time, A Stern Warning
Replies: 179
Views: 146958

Re: This Time, A Stern Warning

There are two things I'd like to add here. The first is to say that Kurtis' post somewhat up-thread is something we all ought to read carefully. I share with Kurtis some experience of dealing with cheating in contexts outside quizbowl and come to highly similar conclusions. One clarifying role of Ku...
by Captain Sinico
Tue Apr 21, 2020 4:16 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Best Song of the 1970s Bracket - Born to Run wins!
Replies: 788
Views: 1351163

Re: Best Song of the 1970s Bracket

Drift Away vs. Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels) You're going to get a bit of the tail wagging the dog on this one, because it kills me to have to vote against Jim Croce, and you're going to hear about it. I'll grant that this tune is fairly Crocesque, but it's nearly inconceivable that it's p...
by Captain Sinico
Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:39 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Best Song of the 1970s Bracket - Born to Run wins!
Replies: 788
Views: 1351163

Re: Best Song of the 1970s Bracket

Cruel to Be Kind vs. The City of New Orleans Tough, because both of these are personal sentimental favorites; in fact "City" is one of my old man's favorite songs. Still, "Cruel" just strikes me as a near-perfect pop song, while "City" leaves me feeling like it should ...
by Captain Sinico
Mon Apr 13, 2020 3:13 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: This Time, A Stern Warning
Replies: 179
Views: 146958

Re: This Time, A Stern Warning

The typical form of online cheating consists of googling a clue while a question is being read. The typical form of in-person cheating consists of accessing the answers ahead of time. These are not equivalent, no matter how much people online declare it to be so. The former is something that anyone...
by Captain Sinico
Mon Apr 13, 2020 2:50 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: This Time, A Stern Warning
Replies: 179
Views: 146958

Re: This Time, A Stern Warning

I see a dichotomy arising in the recent few posts, but it's one that rings false. Online cheating is both a willfully bad act by a fairly small fraction of individuals, and more rife and perhaps more forgivable than in-person cheating for a variety of structural reasons. Any solution that doesn't ac...
by Captain Sinico
Sat Mar 21, 2020 2:06 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Degen Packet
Replies: 6
Views: 2748

Re: Degen Packet

Just tell Max to make sure he keeps leading pot into my flopped houses and we'll be fine.
by Captain Sinico
Thu Jul 18, 2019 3:29 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Illinois Side Event Weekend - 7/20/19
Replies: 91
Views: 36921

Re: Illinois Side Event Weekend - 7/20/19

Cheynem wrote: Thu Jul 18, 2019 3:26 pm Finishing at 7 PM Saturday!
I think it wound up being 8:30 last year when I had guessed 9:00. We'll see, my friend.
by Captain Sinico
Thu Jul 18, 2019 3:24 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Illinois Side Event Weekend - 7/20/19
Replies: 91
Views: 36921

Re: Illinois Side Event Weekend - 7/20/19

WHO: You, attendee of Side Event Weekend (who is 21 if you want to drink.) WHAT: Tournament social event . WHERE: At our house . WHEN: We'll begin about an hour after the last Saturday event, maybe 8:00, and go until 1:00, when you quizbowl types will be asked to leave. WHY: Snacks (but eat dinner b...
by Captain Sinico
Sun Mar 10, 2019 4:07 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Neg 5 : Quizbowl for the Cloud
Replies: 175
Views: 166164

Re: Neg 5 : Quizbowl for the Cloud

It seems that results for at least a couple tournaments have erased themselves. Here's one and another. According to my records, those used to be the full results for those events. What happened?
by Captain Sinico
Fri Nov 30, 2018 10:15 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: PSACA 2: Groundhog Day
Replies: 2
Views: 5142

Re: PSACA 2: Groundhog Day

Hi Bill,

Please get ahold of me when you get a moment. Thanks!
by Captain Sinico
Fri Aug 10, 2018 9:55 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Illinois Side Event Open - 8/11/18
Replies: 92
Views: 37328

Re: Illinois Side Event Open - 8/11/18

Much more important announcement: tournament party Saturday night at Alison's and my new house . Open 1 hour after last Saturday event, until ~2:00. Hopefully some snacks on offer, but eat dinner before. Bring drinks – some stock exists to seed supply, but it's from previous parties I've hosted and ...
by Captain Sinico
Tue Aug 07, 2018 3:27 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Illinois Side Event Open - 8/11/18
Replies: 92
Views: 37328

Re: Illinois Side Event Open - 8/11/18

Saturday night party at my new house likely. We may not be living out of boxes and might even have furniture by then... but plenty of boxes to bite if not! Stay tuned for confirmation/details.
by Captain Sinico
Tue Apr 10, 2018 5:46 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Team Illinois 2017-18
Replies: 9
Views: 7677

Re: Team Illinois 2017-18

The first round of cuts was made last week and logistics e-mails for phase 2 of tryouts went out today, so if you're waiting to hear from me about that, check your e-mail. Good luck!
by Captain Sinico
Tue Apr 10, 2018 5:44 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The Best Two-Way Players
Replies: 12
Views: 7116

Re: The Best Two-Way Players

Actually, describing Chris leads me to a hopefully relevant point. Some of this can throw into relief the distinction between knowledge, which you need to be good at all, and the other skills useful in the game, which you need to leverage your knowledge or beat out other players who know about as mu...
by Captain Sinico
Tue Apr 10, 2018 5:36 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The Best Two-Way Players
Replies: 12
Views: 7116

Re: The Best Two-Way Players

How good was Chris Vicich at academic quizbowl? I think I've only seen him play trash. I have a very partial view - Chris and Dom Ricci were the dudes I most looked up to when I started out in college and who basically taught me how to play - but I'd say that he was a very good second chair at acad...
by Captain Sinico
Fri Mar 30, 2018 5:53 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Moderator Training Resources
Replies: 10
Views: 16989

Re: Moderator Training Resources

A good number of local formats have rules like this: IMO there's probably some ingraining from there. (Worse, a lot of local formats don't let the player answer at all until they're designated, even if they're clearly the only ones buzzing, or the moderator has obviously turned to look at the playe...
by Captain Sinico
Fri Mar 30, 2018 5:50 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Moderator Training Resources
Replies: 10
Views: 16989

Re: Moderator Training Resources

What is the logic for not prompting for answer on tossups? On bonuses the main purpose is "you better say something or I'm going to call time". I don't really see the downside to having that for tossups as well. I prefer that it not be done, but I acknowledge that it's arguable. I'd be ha...
by Captain Sinico
Fri Mar 30, 2018 3:31 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Moderator Training Resources
Replies: 10
Views: 16989

Re: Moderator Training Resources

Thanks, that is pretty good. You should strike the part where it says "say "answer?" on second 4 (of a tossup)" since that's not a rule anywhere and all. Yikes, good catch. I still want to figure out where and when that started one of these days! It's a great example of a meme i...
by Captain Sinico
Fri Mar 30, 2018 2:49 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Moderator Training Resources
Replies: 10
Views: 16989

Re: Moderator Training Resources

Thanks, that is pretty good. You should strike the part where it says "say "answer?" on second 4 (of a tossup)" since that's not a rule anywhere and all.

Anyone else have stuff?
by Captain Sinico
Thu Mar 29, 2018 6:25 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Moderator Training Resources
Replies: 10
Views: 16989

Moderator Training Resources

I'm trying to help a college-run tournament in my area to improve. They have a lot of good resources: a whole college of a university behind them (the college head is personally involved!,) a ton of excellent volunteers, and they've even begun using good questions as of last year. They even seem to ...
by Captain Sinico
Sun Mar 25, 2018 10:54 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Chicago Open Matchmaking...for Those that Suck
Replies: 11
Views: 8810

Re: Chicago Open Matchmaking...for Those that Suck

I'm thinking this might finally be the year I convert to staffing... but if anyone wants my useless old self, I'll throw my hat in.

Be warned: my submission will probably be late (I'll pay for it, though!) and I neg and am unlikely to stop.
by Captain Sinico
Sun Mar 25, 2018 10:52 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The Best Two-Way Players
Replies: 12
Views: 7116

Re: The Best Two-Way Players

Wasn't Andrew Yaphe good at trash? He head-edited multiple trash tournaments. Andrew is an outstanding trash player across the board. I believe he was the top scorer at the first TRASHionals, for example. I'd put him first on this list for sure. I otherwise think Mike's list is pretty solid. There ...
by Captain Sinico
Sun Mar 04, 2018 11:04 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Team Illinois 2017-18
Replies: 9
Views: 7677

Re: Team Illinois 2017-18

The makeup tryout has been scheduled for 10:00 A.M. on Sunday, March 11th at Fenton High School . Please come in the main entrance, which should be open. Events will be in the science wing. Thanks to Mike Laudermith for our venue and other support! It's not too late to register. Fill in this Google ...
by Captain Sinico
Mon Feb 26, 2018 11:30 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Team Illinois 2017-18
Replies: 9
Views: 7677

Re: Team Illinois 2017-18

NASAT is announced, so we now have a title to defend.
by Captain Sinico
Sun Feb 25, 2018 10:46 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Team Illinois 2017-18
Replies: 9
Views: 7677

Re: Team Illinois 2017-18

As predicted above, I've scheduled a makeup tryout! Through the generosity of Coach Laudermith, we've got the use of Fenton High School on Sunday, March 11, the day after IHSA Sectionals. The time's T.B.A. next Sunday; see below on how to help determine it. Please fill in this Google Form to sign up...
by Captain Sinico
Sun Feb 25, 2018 10:42 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Neg 5 : Quizbowl for the Cloud
Replies: 175
Views: 166164

Re: Neg 5 : Quizbowl for the Cloud

Thanks for taking it as far as you have! Let's hope we're lucky enough to find someone as capable and giving as you've been,
by Captain Sinico
Sat Feb 10, 2018 3:29 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Team Illinois 2017-18
Replies: 9
Views: 7677

Re: Team Illinois 2017-18

Here's some more information based on e-mails I've received: I would like all players to be at the event by 9:00 if at all possible. I of all people understand being late sometimes and the event may have some limited ability for me to engineer around that, but being late can't help your chances. We'...
by Captain Sinico
Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:35 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Team Illinois 2017-18
Replies: 9
Views: 7677

Re: Team Illinois 2017-18

Here's some more information you can use! We're planning to meet in David Kinley Hall , still at 9:00 on Sunday. Note: this is not where NAQT State is this year, but it is where it was in years past if that helps you. Also, I want to apologize for my long delay in answering the previous comment. I t...
by Captain Sinico
Thu Feb 08, 2018 12:31 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Team Illinois 2017-18
Replies: 9
Views: 7677

Re: Team Illinois 2017-18

I imagine you're already aware of this but just in case: chess state is in Peoria the same day as NAQT state. A number of competitive players will not be attending the tryout because of this. I also imagine players who live far from UofI will have trouble staying over Sunday without forcing a paren...
by Captain Sinico
Mon Jan 29, 2018 3:37 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Team Illinois 2017-18
Replies: 9
Views: 7677

Re: Team Illinois 2017-18

Let me answer some questions I anticipate based on last year, on e-mails I've already gotten, and on events since then. As we did last year, we'll use a not-publically-available set set that nobody should have seen. I may announce what that is once I finalize it. I'm not certain what we'll do with t...
by Captain Sinico
Mon Jan 29, 2018 3:37 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Team Illinois 2017-18
Replies: 9
Views: 7677

Team Illinois 2017-18

Quizbowl friends, I'm pleased to announce that this year's Team Illinois tryouts are scheduled. Unlike last year, our plan is to do one big tryout at: Sunday, February 11th, 9:00 A.M. at the University of Illinois in Urbana. Unlike last year's tryout tour, greatly extended in space and time, I'd lik...
by Captain Sinico
Thu Jan 25, 2018 10:46 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Neg 5 : Quizbowl for the Cloud
Replies: 175
Views: 166164

Re: Neg 5 : Quizbowl for the Cloud

Is the capability to export HTML scoresheets still present? If not, can it be put back? Unfortunately, that functionality is not currently available. The HSQB db expects very specific, old HTML formatting which I don't want to add into Neg5. I' reached out to Dan Goff a few months ago about perhaps...