The Quizbowl Resource Center

Hello Coaches and Players from the Broad Northeast Region,

The Saint Joseph Falcons' Academic Team is pleased to announce that it will host a mirror of the excellent BATE Set on Saturday, January 29, 2011 in the lovely little Borough of Metuchen right here in beautiful Central New Jersey.

The Set: The BATE Set was written by Aaron Cohen of RPI, Tanay Kothari of Bellarmine, Shen Gong of LASA, Vikram Somu of Chattahoochie, Douglas Graebner of the University of Chicago, Don Taylor of UIUC, Sandy Huang of Dunbar and Jonathan Magin. The Set was edited by Aaron Cohen. According to Aaron, the Set is roughly comparable in difficulty to a regular NAQT or HSAPQ Set.

Set Distribution: 4/4 Literature; 4/4 History; 4/4 Science; 3/3 Art; 2/2 RMP; 1/1 Social Science; 1/1 Geography & 1/1 CE & PC.

Fee Structure: $50 for the first team, $40 for each additional team.

Discounts $15 for experienced moderators ; $10 for each working buzzer system; $10 discount for travel of more than 100 miles one way (as determined by Mapquest). Minimum average fee per team is $25.

Payment This can be sent by mail to Edward Powers, Saint Joseph High School, 145 Plainfield Avenue, Metuchen NJ 08840, or it can be made in person at registration on January 29th. Checks should be made payable to : Saint Joseph High School. Cash will also be acceptable and anyone who needs a receipt will receive one.

Tournament Structure: The final format of the tournament will be determined by field size. We are targeting a field of 24, but could host as many as 32 if we can attract sufficient staff, but we would almost certainly cap the field at 32, unless there is exceptional interest. The BATE Set has 12 rounds, so this will also influence the final format, but we intend to have Round Robin Prelims and then we will rebracket in the afternoon for Round Robin Playoffs. In the playoffs we will also have consolation RR brackets for as many teams who wish to stay and play.

Registration: You can indicate interest right here, but to officially register you should email me at [email protected] Please place "Falcon's BATE Registration" or something comparable in your subject line. On the actual day of the tournament, registration will run from 7:45 -8:45 AM in our cafeteria. We will serve a light breakfast of bagels, juice, etc. while registration takes place and final brackets are created. We hope to get started by 9AM and finish no later than 6 PM, with a reasonable break for lunch, naturally. Also, we have ample parking space on campus, in case this is a concern, and we encourage everyone to park behind the school in our large lots and enter via the cafeteria, which you cannot really miss after you park.

Directions: With the advent of online services like Mapquest and your very own GPS sytems, I trust that our address and zip code above are sufficient aids in finding us. I will repeat the address and zip code here: SJHS, 145 Plainfield Avenue, Metuchen, NJ 08840.

THE FINAL FIELD: 12 TEAMS, 11 BUZZERS, 2 MODERATORS

Seton Hall Prep: 1 Team, 4 Buzzers, 1 Moderator
Hunter: 2 teams, 2 Buzzers
Blair Academy: 1 Team
Chatham: 1 Team, 2 Buzzers
Wissahickon: 1 Team
Caesar Rodney: 1 Team, 1 Buzzer, 1 Moderator
Kellenberg: 2 Teams, 2 Buzzers
Paramus Catholic: 2 teams
House : 1 Team

Coach Powersm

SHP will definitely be there. As of now, 1 team, 1 moderator, and 4 buzzers.

- MTZ

Field update.

You consider Metuchen in "Central New Jersey"? Hm, okay.

Anyway, maybe we'll consider this, largely because there isn't anything else in January that exists or that we already aren't busy for. I dunno. Never driven a team up in this area before because i really hate driving anywhere within an hour of NYC. Perhaps.

We might come to this. It is a bit further than we typically would travel, but depending on what we have going in the next couple of weeks (doesn't appear to be much) we might make an appearance, at least one team, maybe a second

Carangoides ciliarius wrote:You consider Metuchen in "Central New Jersey"? Hm, okay.

As a native of the region, I agree with Coach Powers. The descriptions of North, Central, and South Jersey run roughly with the population density and NY/Philly influence rather than pure geography. Looking on a map, South Jersey goes up to I-195, while Central Jersey lies between I-78 and I-195. Approximately.

When i consider "Central New Jersey," i think of places like Freehold and Brick Township, not cities that are actually north of Perth Amboy and Raritan Bay. But, alright, i see your point.

This event will be here before you know it, so do not be shy!

Hunter is interested. I will find out in the next few days whether we can come.

I'm going to ask the same to my kids. I've already found out that half the A Team can't come, however, so if we come we'll be slightly shorthanded.

Bumped for a field update.

We currently have 8 teams from 5 schools registered, with two other schools indicating interest (see above).

There is still time, but it is also true that the 29th will be here before you know it. Come join the festivities!

I don't quite want to register CR, just express even more interest. In other words, we're planning on going, but the kids have to do something for me first to make that happen. I don't necessarily want to officially commit until i know that this is done.

But, consider it pretty likely.

After discussing it with my team, it looks like we'll not be able to attend: sorry

Bumped to remind people this is less than 2 weeks away, so come join the fun.

Okay, i am now confident enough to say that CR is definitely coming, with one team, one buzzer set, and myself to moderate. See you next weekend.

Note: we still have a decent team since Alexa will be there, but two A Team players won't, who happen to be pretty much the only people that know any science knowledge at all on our team. So if there are brackets and stuff, take note, because maybe our PPB might fall about 1 or 2 points because of this. I hope it's not more.

Welcome aboard, CR---and your comments re: seeding are duly noted. See you on the 29th.

With the registration of Kellenberg today our field has grown to the wonderful number of 12. Consequently I am freezing registration at 12, but I will create a waiting list if there are other interested teams. If we can get enough interested teams leading to numbers that make sense in terms of creating brackets, then I will place them in the field. What I am trying to avoid is an ugly preliminary bracketing problem with so little time left before the tournament. Now I might be able to field 2 house teams to help balance brackets, but my preference is not to do this. Still, if at least 2 teams are interested, I could then get to a field of 16 with house teams. But I really do not want a 13th team to sign up at the last minute, creating the obvious bracketing problem, so this is why I have temporarily frozen registration until enough teams show interest.

Kings Park is interested in bringing another team if all the brackets work out, bringing us to 3 teams.

Thank you

I will put Kings Park's 3rd team on the waiting list for now, since your request to add this team would currently make it the 13th team in the field, which is an awful number for brackets at this late date, as I am sure you understand. However, if a sufficient number of other teams show interest between now and Thursday evening, after which I will close the field to any new registrations, then we will put your 3rd team into the field, but for now it will remain on the waiting list. If no other teams show interest, then I cannot in good conscience add it to the field. I trust you understand, and, naturally, I hope things work out in your 3rd team's favor!

(Speaking on behalf of Kings Park, as Joe was above)

We do understand, as does our coach, that 13 teams are just... awful for bracketing, and we completely understand if it just doesn't work out... we have a contingency plan either way, we just figured why pass up the opportunity?

So at the very least, we're interested if anybody else is

William and Joe---Good news. Paramus Catholic has requested a chance to join the field with 2 teams. This plus your C team will bring the field to 15 teams, and I have 1 or 2 younger House teams ready to fill in if necessary to round out the field at 16 ( it seems one previously registered school might have to drop a team, making two House teams potentially necessary to get to an ideal number like 16 (and if 2 more wish to join, an even better bracketing number like 18). But that is my concern for now, not yours. Naturally I would like to avoid using House teams, although my youngsters would certainly disagree. Still consider your C Team now in the field along with 2 teams from Paramus Catholic. I will list all 3 in the field as soon as I sign off here.

See you on Saturday!

Much appreciated Coach! Our C-team is certainly happy for the opportunity. See you all on Saturday!

So everything is still on as planned correct? How bad was the snow up there?

Hello Coach Chrzanowski,

We apparently had 6-12 inches depending upon variables within the region. However, it is sunny out, the major roads are plowed, and for now the tournament is still on. However, I just sent everyone an email stating my plans through 8 PM Friday evening, for there is supposedly a 40-50% chance of "snow showers" on Friday & Saturday. If the "showers" are mere flurries, everything should be fine, but if they turn ugly, I will err on the side of caution and cancel rather than risk danger for anyone. And, of course, I have sent everyone involved my cell phone # in case they need to contact me for any reason between now and Saturday. And since you are traveling the farthest, I certainly encourage you to use your independent discretion even if we do hold hte tournament on Saturday. Naturally we want to see you here, but not if there is danger involved in getting here.

Also, I will post here tomorrow night and I will send emails to all involved as well. Hopefully these will be positive, but only time will tell.

EDIT: Registration is, of course, now closed, with a field of 14 guests and 2 house teams. See everyone on Saturday!

I just checked the National Weather Service for the greater NY City Region, and all is fine---mild precipitation at most is expected in the next 24 hours, nothing that would lead to any change in plans.

So, the Falcons' BATE is definitely on and we hope to see all registered teams tomorrow between 7:45 and 8:45 AM. We will have juices, bagels and donuts during this registration time and we hope to get started by 9 AM, so, see everyone tomorrow!

Excellent. See you tomorrow. Safe travels everyone.

I have been informed by my coach that Coach Powers has been informed of our transportation issue for tomorrow, so I'm comfortable talking about this now... I want to say that I/we regret missing the chance to play some of these teams we've never met before, namely Caesar Rodney, Wissahickon, and Blair Academy. I hope the opportunity [to play each other] presents itself in the near future, as I'm sure I speak for my team when I say that we enjoy meeting other teams from across the region.

Best of luck to everybody tomorrow, wish we could be there!

Preliminary stats may be found below.

http://results.scobo.net/SQBS.aspx?org= ... =standings

Hey-just a friendly reminder that this set is still being mirrored in a couple of places. General comments like "this set was good" or "this set was more disappointing than the Phantom Menace" are fine, comments like "that question on topic X was too easy" are not.

But if you do have comments about specific questions feel free to email me at [email protected]

Final Stats.

Prelims. http://results.scobo.net/SQBS.aspx?org= ... =standings
Playoffs. http://results.scobo.net/SQBS.aspx?org= ... =standings

Hunter A defeats SHP in single-game final.

I hope everyone who participated in our mirror of the BATE set enjoyed themselves. I would further like to congratulate all the teams, but especially Hunter A & Seton Hall Prep, who had outstanding tournaments. Congrats to Wissahickon as well for pulling off a very impressive upset of what is indisputably the best team in our region and of course today's overall Champion, Hunter A.

Additionally, I would like to thank all for the wonderful help that was provided throughout the day. Thanks to the Fathers' Club for providing much needed nourishment at both breakfast and lunch. Thanks to my alumni whose reading help was invaluable, as was the help of Coach Chrzanowski of Caesar Rodney and my own colleague from SJHS, Mr. Rich Hayman. Thanks also to my own players for reading, scoring and organizing this event. Thanks to the National Honor Society members who greeted our guests in the morning, and finally thanks to my stats people, Alex and Mike from SJHS and of course, last but not least, Coach Michael Zinsmeister from Seton Hall Prep who tutored Alex & Mike throughout the day and who was ultimately responsible for the uploading of the stats so quickly right here on the hsquizbowl site. I could never have done this, so thank you, thank you, thank you!

And we get to do this all over again in three weeks when we mirror the Maggie Walker GSAC set right here in the beautiful Norhteast. So, if intereseted, please join us!

Just from a quick glance at the stats, it looks like there were no average teams at this tournament; all ppb were either over 16 or under 10 (from playoff stats).

We thought the tournament was very well-run, despite a slight delay in the preliminaries, and everything went very smoothly. Thanks to everyone at SJHS who helped with making it a fun day! And overall, the set was great.
I'll be sure to talk with my teammates, and hopefully, we can get at least 2 teams for your GSAC mirror.

This was a fun day and a well-run tournament. Nice job, St. Joe's. Even with a small field, it's not easy to just throw a tournament together.

That lunch was great; big ups to the Fathers' Club for an affordable and very tasty lunch.

It was cool to see a bunch of good teams and moderate to them too.

Some of the games were just on the whim of "well are we going to get a medium bonus, hard bonus, or OMG bonus?" after whatever tossup a team got. This tournament, once again like many that advertise it but fail to achieve it, was far from the nebulous "regular difficulty" that sets keep saying that they are. This was clearly not. Tossup answers that i literally have never seen as tossup answers appeared (and not that "oh that's a cool idea" kind, but the "what the heck are they thinking" kind). Bonus questions with obviously no easy part happened several times per packet. Every category was at least a partial offender of this, but whenever computer science came up i heard audible groans from players. The CS questions were, at times, laughably hard.

Anyway, i believe that there were in fact a couple "average teams" at this tournament - probably at the least Chatham, Kellenberg B, and Paramus Catholic A. Those teams knew stuff. But not much at this competition when it was clear that the packets were just too difficult at times.

The questions were, however, pretty well-written even though about 2-3 times per packet there was a typo or grammatical mistake. It usually wasn't a big deal.

Starting up a discussion thread about this set would be beneficial, i think.