Search found 311 matches

by abnormal abdomen
Fri Apr 10, 2015 5:12 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: What is your definition of a good Quiz Bowl player?
Replies: 5
Views: 4684

Re: What is your definition of a good Quiz Bowl player?

Individual stars in quizbowl are common, but the whole one-person show thing often happens by necessity, i.e. they're the most committed member of the team, so they study the most and try to get the most coverage. If you have four people who are all really committed to getting good at quizbowl, howe...
by abnormal abdomen
Fri Apr 25, 2014 1:35 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Lederberg 2: Daughter Cell (3/29/14)
Replies: 155
Views: 91441

Re: Lederberg 2: Daughter Cell (3/29/14)

Hello, everyone. So this is a mess. Lloyd and I ended up discussing this very briefly before talking to Steven, and then discussed it again after we got his response. We were obviously very suspicious when we saw this as well, but I of course wanted to email Steven to see what he had to say for hims...
by abnormal abdomen
Mon Jan 27, 2014 11:36 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14
Replies: 15
Views: 6075

Re: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14

Hey everyone! I'll start by saying congrats to Yale A for clearing the field! I'd also like to thank everyone for coming out, especially my staffers in general: Justin Byrd, Ryan Walsh, Rohith Nagari, Leo Cooper, Thomas Culver, and most importantly, Daniel Brach-Neufeld, who did stats. I also want t...
by abnormal abdomen
Fri Jan 24, 2014 11:37 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14
Replies: 15
Views: 6075

Re: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14

Okay, so Wellesley just dropped, putting us at 10. I'm trying to scrape together one or two extra staffers, but in the meantime does anyone have any opinions or ideas about scheduling?
by abnormal abdomen
Thu Jan 23, 2014 8:08 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14
Replies: 15
Views: 6075

Re: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14

Two more things: I'm going to mention these things in an email later tonight, but please keep in mind the following: a) If for whatever reason weather ends up becoming an issue for you on Saturday morning, PLEASE call or text me at 815-520-0011. If I somehow don't respond or pick up, call or text Ro...
by abnormal abdomen
Thu Jan 23, 2014 6:58 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14
Replies: 15
Views: 6075

Re: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14

Hello again!

The field now reflects the fact that Harvard has dropped one team and MIT has added one team. We thus have 11 teams, and will play a round-robin. If anyone has any feedback, please let me know ASAP!

Thank you, and I look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday.
by abnormal abdomen
Sun Jan 05, 2014 1:27 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14
Replies: 15
Views: 6075

Re: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14

Hey guys!

For the reasons Matt pointed out, in addition to the fact that we don't exactly have a ton of staffers at Brown, I think we will keep the field at 11, unless someone has a different brilliant idea. It seems like the simplest solution to me. My apologies to MIT.
by abnormal abdomen
Thu Nov 28, 2013 3:16 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14
Replies: 15
Views: 6075

Re: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14

Field is closed. If you wanna get on the waitlist, shoot me an email as mentioned above.
by abnormal abdomen
Sun Nov 24, 2013 12:00 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14
Replies: 15
Views: 6075

Re: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14

Two spots left.
by abnormal abdomen
Mon Nov 18, 2013 2:05 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14
Replies: 15
Views: 6075

Re: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14

This post will be reserved for field updates. I'll try to update stuff as immediately as possible.

Field (11 as of 1/4/14):

School: Teams, Buzzers

Yale: 2, 2
Dartmouth: 2, 1
Harvard: 1, 4
Northeastern: 2, 0
MIT: 2, 1
Columbia: 1, 1

Waitlist:
by abnormal abdomen
Mon Nov 18, 2013 3:00 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14
Replies: 15
Views: 6075

SUBMIT @ Brown, 1/25/14

This is the announcement for Brown's mirror of the Submission-Utilizing Berkeley/Maryland Invitational Tournament, or SUBMIT, to be held on January 25, 2014. The original tournament information can be found here: http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=14996&start=0&hilit=SU...
by abnormal abdomen
Tue Jun 25, 2013 11:57 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '13-'14
Replies: 143
Views: 77601

Re: Illinois '13-'14

thyringe_supine wrote:Sabrina was an excellent player, which is something we all know. By that comment, I simply meant that just because she's gone now doesn't mean anything as to how good you guys will be this year.
Dude, losing a good player--no, losing even an okay player--always means something for a team.
by abnormal abdomen
Sun Jun 23, 2013 2:07 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Specialists or Miscellaneous?
Replies: 8
Views: 3094

Re: Specialists or Miscellaneous?

The emphasis on being a specialist is also really important when you look at it from the perspective of a player on a team that has one or two really established players as well. If you know there's a "star" on your team, you can still snag a spot on your A Team by simply focusing on one o...
by abnormal abdomen
Tue Jun 18, 2013 12:08 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2013 NASAT Set & Tournament Discussion
Replies: 57
Views: 15298

Re: 2013 NASAT Set & Tournament Discussion

So how did the tossup on "doors of the Florence Baptistery" play out?
by abnormal abdomen
Sat Jun 01, 2013 1:42 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: What Makes A Set "Great"?
Replies: 9
Views: 3511

Re: What Makes A Set "Great"?

There are some sets where I feel like the questions are not only well-crafted, but they also teach me things because of the lucidity and mellifluity with which they are written. A lot of the Minnesota Open sets before 2012 had this quality, as did ACF Regionals 2008. From what I've seen, Rob Carson...
by abnormal abdomen
Sun Apr 14, 2013 9:49 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2013 NAQT ICT: April 13, Chicago
Replies: 27
Views: 10901

Re: 2013 NAQT ICT: April 13, Chicago

Hey, I just wanted to apologize to NAQT and the affected DII field at ICT for Brown's no-show this weekend. To be frank, we (the DII team, consisting of me, Lloyd, Daniel, and Alex) have absolutely no valid excuse for what happened. Basically, we weren't sure if we were going to be able to go to ICT...
by abnormal abdomen
Tue Mar 05, 2013 8:49 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: IHSA 2013
Replies: 78
Views: 22024

Re: IHSA 2013

I think that, with each subsequent year, Illinois quizbowl runs through this cycle of consistently-run quality tournaments, and then we hit the end of the year and we face some less-ideal tournaments (to say the least). The work of Mr. Reinstein and Donald Taylor seems to have been conducive to impr...
by abnormal abdomen
Sun Feb 10, 2013 1:58 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Nature of Studying
Replies: 53
Views: 22769

Re: Nature of Studying

I think Max has already pointed out a ton of excellent stuff, but it's probably worth noting that the mentality of direct associations leads to some really poor, boring, and sometimes downright incorrect question writing. If you rely solely on associations, you probably won't be a very good writer. ...
by abnormal abdomen
Wed Jan 02, 2013 4:05 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '12-'13
Replies: 153
Views: 81951

Re: Illinois '12-'13

Hey, so I don't really know much about the eligibility guidelines for this tournament. Can someone post those for me? I don't really know what the eligibility rules are, but it would seem slightly strange to me if Will Rupprecht was still considered to be a novice varsity player. He was also a contr...
by abnormal abdomen
Mon Dec 31, 2012 4:15 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '12-'13
Replies: 153
Views: 81951

Re: Illinois '12-'13

What set is Auburn using for Knights Challenge? It's notably less than two weeks away, and there's no thread online, nor is there a set listed on the IHSSBCA website.
by abnormal abdomen
Tue Oct 23, 2012 1:00 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Penn-ance Question Specific Discussion
Replies: 63
Views: 12581

Re: Penn-ance Question Specific Discussion

Another thing:

Did the bonus part on oligodendrocytes say to accept oligodendroglia? We gave the latter as our answer and it wasn't accepted, but it didn't end up mattering anyway.
by abnormal abdomen
Sun Oct 21, 2012 7:39 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Penn-ance Question Specific Discussion
Replies: 63
Views: 12581

Re: Penn-ance Question Specific Discussion

To add to this, though, do you think that the idea you're espousing (which I do now agree with) applies despite the fact that, as far as I know, only a small subset of the religion (in this case, Indians and Pakistanis) is even familiar with the idea? I suppose it's entirely possible that I'm wrong...
by abnormal abdomen
Sun Oct 21, 2012 4:49 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Penn-ance Question Specific Discussion
Replies: 63
Views: 12581

Re: Penn-ance Question Specific Discussion

I guess I'll take this opportunity to say I don't understand this sort of perpetual critique of religion questions--why SHOULDN'T questions reflect what the people practicing the religion actually do/say/believe, as opposed to restricting themselves to certain texts? And you say right here that peo...
by abnormal abdomen
Sun Oct 21, 2012 3:35 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Penn-ance Question Specific Discussion
Replies: 63
Views: 12581

Re: Penn-ance Question Specific Discussion

I don't really feel qualified to comment on much, but I just wanted to mention that the leadin for the salat tossup was a bit strange, though a bit humorous. I don't have the set, but the leadin was basically, "One item used in this practice is to be discarded after it is used in order to preve...
by abnormal abdomen
Mon Aug 06, 2012 5:59 pm
Forum: New High School Teams
Topic: 1 month to get ready for Tryouts
Replies: 16
Views: 11258

Re: 1 month to get ready for Tryouts

I can't really help you with It's Academic! stuff, but as far as pyramidal quizbowl is concerned, your best bet is to study the things in which you have interest. A very common study tool is the Quizbowl DB . Filter to categories that interest you, and read easy high school questions. HSAPQ sets are...
by abnormal abdomen
Thu Jul 19, 2012 2:39 am
Forum: Middle school area archives
Topic: Team Tryouts?
Replies: 6
Views: 3885

Re: Team Tryouts?

I suppose this is largely contingent upon which sorts of tournaments your students would be attending and whether or not all of the students would be attending, but splitting 21 students over 3 teams seems like it'd be a bit difficult for various reasons. I'm guessing there are varying opinions on t...
by abnormal abdomen
Sat Jul 14, 2012 8:50 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '12-'13
Replies: 153
Views: 81951

Re: Illinois '12-'13

Auburn's situation is pretty up in the air, I think. Evan Pandya ('15) and Alex Pandya ('13) are both getting pretty solid in their areas, and should be among the strongest in their categories as far as Illinois is concerned (those categories being literature and science, respectively). I think for ...
by abnormal abdomen
Wed Jun 13, 2012 2:33 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Rockford Auburn's RAVE set is looking for mirrors!
Replies: 5
Views: 3449

Re: Rockford Auburn's RAVE set is looking for mirrors!

Sorry about the delay, guys.

The set is now posted here.

Feel free to discuss and the like.
by abnormal abdomen
Mon Jun 11, 2012 8:49 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2012 NSC: June 9-10 at Washington University in St. Louis
Replies: 106
Views: 176196

Re: 2012 NSC: June 9-10 at Washington University in St. Louis

Auburn had a good time at this tournament, so thanks for that. Also, I'd like to mention that we had really good readers at this tournament, so that was nice. These people included Jeff Hoppes, Cody Voight, Siddharth Hariharan, Ahmad Ragab, Andrew Hart, and of course, Rob Carson. Thank you for being...
by abnormal abdomen
Mon Jun 11, 2012 8:25 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: PACE NSC 2012 Set Discussion
Replies: 27
Views: 15771

Re: PACE NSC 2012 Set Discussion

I just wanted to say two things: a) I really enjoyed this set, particularly the visual arts. Lots of really cool ideas there. b) Aside from the whole logistic aspect of the tossup in question right now, I think I should mention that this clue isn't correct: "In Islam, it happens to people who f...
by abnormal abdomen
Mon May 28, 2012 2:36 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2012 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 173
Views: 81080

Re: 2012 HSNCT discussion

I understand, Matt. Thanks for the explanation. On another note, I suppose this discussion takes place very often, but I think it's a fine time to ask this question: Is there a particular target bonus conversion that NAQT shoots for at the HSNCT? There are of course tons of ways to account for bonus...
by abnormal abdomen
Mon May 28, 2012 10:33 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2012 HSNCT discussion
Replies: 173
Views: 81080

Re: 2012 HSNCT discussion

Auburn enjoyed this set, and the logistics of this tournament were wonderful. One thing, though: It didn't end up mattering because Centennial/Adam Silverman gave us a pretty remarkable thrashing, but I'm pretty sure there's a mistake in the Qur'an bonus in round 23 (I think?). I could be wrong, and...
by abnormal abdomen
Sat May 12, 2012 12:17 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Waylon Jennings Memorial @ Ohio State (5/12/12)
Replies: 23
Views: 9673

Re: Waylon Jennings Memorial @ Ohio State (5/12/12)

Just to confirm: You guys got the set from me by email, correct?
by abnormal abdomen
Mon Apr 30, 2012 12:14 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Where Will You Be Going to College Next Year? 2011-12
Replies: 86
Views: 38979

Re: Where Will You Be Going to College Next Year? 2011-12

I will be attending Brown University and, at least for now, I plan on playing quiz bowl.
by abnormal abdomen
Sat Apr 28, 2012 8:33 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: ATROPHY 3 @ Northern Illinois University (4/28/12)
Replies: 52
Views: 25054

Re: ATROPHY 3 @ Northern Illinois University (4/28/12)

So I wasn't at this, but I'm told that Lloyd (playing solo) faced New Trier in the final and after getting down by something like 210 points, proceeded to get tossups 14-20 and won the tournament.
by abnormal abdomen
Fri Apr 27, 2012 12:27 pm
Forum: New High School Teams
Topic: Merits of the KMO?
Replies: 16
Views: 9037

Re: Merits of the KMO?

Auburn did it as recently as my freshman year... I think that, in my sophomore year, my brother led the charge against doing it and our coach supported our general sentiments. It's a poor activity and wasn't particularly rewarding in any way.
by abnormal abdomen
Sun Apr 15, 2012 6:36 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Rockford Auburn's RAVE set is looking for mirrors!
Replies: 5
Views: 3449

Re: Rockford Auburn's RAVE set is looking for mirrors!

We are pleased to announce that this set will be used at the Waylon Jennings Memorial at Ohio State.
by abnormal abdomen
Mon Apr 09, 2012 6:37 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Skipping a Bonus
Replies: 6
Views: 2176

Re: Skipping a Bonus

I, too, have wondered about this in the past. Is there any particular reason why the option is not open? I don't particularly feel strong enough about this issue to be all "WE MUST HAVE THIS OPTION OPEN," and I guess that there doesn't really need to be a perfect reason for everything, but...
by abnormal abdomen
Sun Apr 08, 2012 3:25 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: ATROPHY 3 @ Northern Illinois University (4/28/12)
Replies: 52
Views: 25054

Re: ATROPHY 3 @ Northern Illinois University (4/28/12)

I'm not going to be at this (and I don't think Filip and Alex Pandya will be, either) but I think that Ms. Greene mentioned that we'd end up sending like two (maybe three?) teams to this. I imagine one would be Lloyd playing solo, and the other would be our B team, or something like that. Just as a ...
by abnormal abdomen
Wed Mar 14, 2012 11:33 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: IHSA
Replies: 125
Views: 34422

Re: IHSA

There's a possibility, actually. Our principal is appealing for it.
by abnormal abdomen
Wed Mar 14, 2012 12:08 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: IHSA
Replies: 125
Views: 34422

Re: IHSA

So Auburn beat Warren... I think this means that the A-Team might be huge on Friday.
by abnormal abdomen
Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:39 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: IHSA
Replies: 125
Views: 34422

Re: IHSA

Yeah, I'm actually pretty sure the A-Team will be there. If Auburn basketball wins on Tuesday night (unlikely) and advances to the state finals, I'm pretty sure the contingent will be even larger. But, yeah, I will relay the message. On another note, are these pools finalized, then? Is there any pos...
by abnormal abdomen
Mon Mar 05, 2012 10:45 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: IHSA
Replies: 125
Views: 34422

Re: IHSA

So that was, uh, interesting.
by abnormal abdomen
Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:49 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: IHSA Issues
Replies: 21
Views: 8488

Re: IHSA Issues

Are there still going to be vocabulary questions? As truly entertaining as it was to see Anton destroy them at Masonic Bowl, those questions are, of course, not very good. Also, I know that this an old subject that people grow tired of discussing, but how strongly is computational math still ingrain...
by abnormal abdomen
Sun Mar 04, 2012 4:38 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Fond Farewell IV
Replies: 4
Views: 2663

Re: Fond Farewell IV

I dunno about RAVE being one of the best sets ever, but thanks for the kind words. Aside from that, I think this is a fine time to thank everyone as a whole for making my experiences in Illinois quiz bowl so wonderful. Every step of the process, from being a useless C and D team player for Auburn du...
by abnormal abdomen
Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:55 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Rockford Auburn's RAVE set is looking for mirrors!
Replies: 5
Views: 3449

Re: Rockford Auburn's RAVE set is looking for mirrors!

Hey, so just as an update, this set was used at the main site at Auburn, at Greenville's Comet , and RM's SWAGFEST, and we've gotten positive feedback so far. Charlie Dees is also mirroring this for a singles tournament. We'd obviously love to have this mirrored elsewhere, so if you're interested in...
by abnormal abdomen
Sat Feb 25, 2012 8:38 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: SWAGFEST at Richard Montgomery 2/25/12
Replies: 41
Views: 16400

Re: SWAGFEST at Richard Montgomery 2/25/12

Obviously, I'm interested in hearing any and all positive and/or negative feedback about this set. I dunno if there will be anymore mirrors besides Charlie Dees's singles event, but maybe we should get a discussion thread started or something?
by abnormal abdomen
Sat Feb 25, 2012 8:00 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois NAQT State Championship @ Fenton HS, 2/25/2012
Replies: 22
Views: 7443

Re: Illinois NAQT State Championship @ Fenton HS, 2/25/2012

Auburn won the first game of the advantaged final. The score was something like 450-340.
by abnormal abdomen
Sat Feb 25, 2012 1:29 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Torrey Pines Open Tournament II (02/25/12)
Replies: 17
Views: 7099

Re: Torrey Pines Open Tournament II (02/25/12)

Both LIST and RAVE are excellent sets, but I believe they cater to different audiences, with LIST being a little easier and meant for newer teams. Just something to keep in mind if you haven't decided yet. Yeah, this is correct. This is also why I mentioned the higher likelihood of TP mirroring LIS...
by abnormal abdomen
Sat Feb 25, 2012 12:46 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Torrey Pines Open Tournament II (02/25/12)
Replies: 17
Views: 7099

Re: Torrey Pines Open Tournament II (02/25/12)

Is this still using the RM/TP set, or are you switching to LIST/RAVE/some other housewrite? This is a good question. It's actually not even a matter of "oh oh oh mirror RAVE," because I would imagine that the probability of a switch to LIST is higher; rather, this is just something you sh...