2014 IHSA

[jonah]

Dextromethorphan I heard a few times but I wouldn't have gotten it off the acronym.

Since this is pertinent to my interests: how did this work exactly?

This common over the counter drug, abused by one out of every ten teenagers, is the active ingredient found in Robitussin and Nyquil as well as other OTC cold medications. Its use is often described as "robo-tripping" and its four different dosage levels are referred to as plateaus. In large doses it can cause major hallucinations, and when combined with alcohol, it can lead to death. Name this OTC drug with street names such as Poor Man's PCP, Skittles, and DXM.
Answer: [Accept an early answer of Robitussin or Nyquil; prompt an early answer of Robo or Poor Man's PCP or Skittles or DXM; prompt "CCC" and "triple C" and "red devils" and "orange crush".]
dextromethorphan

Dubious uncited surveys, non-unique clues, the giveaway as the first potentially buzzable clue, no substantive science content — you name the problem, IHSA regionals provides it!

[merv1618]

Ok, if these sets are so bad, why do teams versed in pyramidal QB even play the state series? Is there some mandate in the IHSA rules, or do they all simply enjoy matching shirts?

[jonah]

Ok, if these sets are so bad, why do teams versed in pyramidal QB even play the state series? Is there some mandate in the IHSA rules, or do they all simply enjoy matching shirts?

Their administrations force them to; basically, if they don't, they're not allowed to play normal events either.

[Stained Diviner]

Ok, if these sets are so bad, why do teams versed in pyramidal QB even play the state series? Is there some mandate in the IHSA rules, or do they all simply enjoy matching shirts?

Their administrations force them to; basically, if they don't, they're not allowed to play normal events either.

It is not that cut and dry.

A lot of coaches and students want to play the tournament because they like the large scale and the history of it. Some of them are even convinced that doing well in the IHSA tournament will increase the profile of the team in the eyes of administrators, students, and the community. Furthermore, people didn't believe me when I told them that the tournament would be noticeably worse this year.

A lot of administrators support the tournament because they have no idea that there is anything wrong with it. Nobody has told them otherwise, or they assume that the coach who told them something just wants to have the day off or has reasons that are personal rather than professional. Coaches are sometimes hesitant to bring things up because they are worried that the administration will have difficulty distinguishing between the IHSA Tournament and the activity overall. If students and coaches went to the administration and told them about the problems, then administrators would at least be able to make an informed choice. Many administrators would still make the wrong choice because administrators tend to make bad decisions, but some of them might be reasonable.

[heterodyne]

In addition to what Mr. Reinstein said, it should be noted that many schools give extra funding to activities sponsored by the IHSA. Without that money, Bloomington certainly would not be able to attend the number of tournaments that we do.

[Irreligion in Bangladesh]

Some of them are even convinced that doing well in the IHSA tournament will increase the profile of the team in the eyes of administrators, students, and the community.

The students don't care -- the team understands the issue and the other students will believe whatever we tell them in the announcements. But the community only hears about IHSA because that's all we can get the paper to report; they don't care about quizbowl in general, but will report any results that say IHSA. Quizbowl gets on the front page of the paper once a year; Saturday, March whateverth, with Auburn holding up their trophy. So, because the community is only ever aware of us for this, it's actually correct that the "profile of the team" is increased there. It's a trivially small factor, I'm sure, but when you're a private school in a city with half a dozen other private high school options, you can't throw away publicity opportunities like that, or so my admins tell me.

I've talked with my AD, my principal, and my head of school about the issues with last year's events and the probable issues with this year's questions. They've agreed with me that this is a problematic, questionable event; they agree with me that our 5th place finish at Masonic State this year was our keystone event for this year; they agree with me that the IHSA questions this year were pathetic compared to years past, and they believed me on this before we heard tossup 1 on Monday night. Whether they're just humoring me and nodding when I complain about it or they actually agree and would prefer to not compete, I don't know, and it doesn't matter.

Essentially, it boils down to "bad quizbowl being better than no quizbowl." That's a statement that I disagree with personally, but I understand why dozens of reasonable, informed coaches, myself included, ended up under its yoke this past week.

[Marble-faced Bristle Tyrant]

This common over the counter drug, abused by one out of every ten teenagers, is the active ingredient found in Robitussin and Nyquil as well as other OTC cold medications. Its use is often described as "robo-tripping" and its four different dosage levels are referred to as plateaus. In large doses it can cause major hallucinations, and when combined with alcohol, it can lead to death. Name this OTC drug with street names such as Poor Man's PCP, Skittles, and DXM.
Answer: [Accept an early answer of Robitussin or Nyquil; prompt an early answer of Robo or Poor Man's PCP or Skittles or DXM; prompt "CCC" and "triple C" and "red devils" and "orange crush".]
dextromethorphan

Wow, you're right. This question is a crime.

[AKKOLADE]

Dextromethorphan I heard a few times but I wouldn't have gotten it off the acronym.

Since this is pertinent to my interests: how did this work exactly?

This common over the counter drug, abused by one out of every ten teenagers, is the active ingredient found in Robitussin and Nyquil as well as other OTC cold medications. Its use is often described as "robo-tripping" and its four different dosage levels are referred to as plateaus. In large doses it can cause major hallucinations, and when combined with alcohol, it can lead to death. Name this OTC drug with street names such as Poor Man's PCP, Skittles, and DXM.
Answer: [Accept an early answer of Robitussin or Nyquil; prompt an early answer of Robo or Poor Man's PCP or Skittles or DXM; prompt "CCC" and "triple C" and "red devils" and "orange crush".]
dextromethorphan

Dubious uncited surveys, non-unique clues, the giveaway as the first potentially buzzable clue, no substantive science content — you name the problem, IHSA regionals provides it!

I have a new all-time favorite bad question! Thanks, IHSA!

[heterodyne]

Could someone with a mysteriously good memory share the text of the treaty of Lodi tossup?

[Rococo A Go Go]

Dextromethorphan I heard a few times but I wouldn't have gotten it off the acronym.

Since this is pertinent to my interests: how did this work exactly?

This common over the counter drug, abused by one out of every ten teenagers, is the active ingredient found in Robitussin and Nyquil as well as other OTC cold medications. Its use is often described as "robo-tripping" and its four different dosage levels are referred to as plateaus. In large doses it can cause major hallucinations, and when combined with alcohol, it can lead to death. Name this OTC drug with street names such as Poor Man's PCP, Skittles, and DXM.
Answer: [Accept an early answer of Robitussin or Nyquil; prompt an early answer of Robo or Poor Man's PCP or Skittles or DXM; prompt "CCC" and "triple C" and "red devils" and "orange crush".]
dextromethorphan

Dubious uncited surveys, non-unique clues, the giveaway as the first potentially buzzable clue, no substantive science content — you name the problem, IHSA regionals provides it!

I have a new all-time favorite bad question! Thanks, IHSA!

This question was brought to you by the Just Say No club at IHSA headquarters. Don't do drugs, kids.

[jonah]

Could someone with a mysteriously good memory share the text of the treaty of Lodi tossup?

The probable impetus for this treaty was the success of the Ottoman Turks at Constantinople, which encouraged diplomatic cooperation among the principal states of the Italian peninsula. In 1454, Venice and Milan signed this treaty, which ended years of border hostilities. This treaty led quickly to a mutual non-aggression pact by its signing parties as well as Florence, Naples and the Papal States. That alliance was known as the Most Holy League or the Italian League. Name this treaty signed by Milan and Venice in Lombardy at a city on the banks of the Adda River.

I don't know much about this personally, but comparing this to the small number of questions with this answer from real tournaments (all of which are from very hard college or open tournaments, mind you!) indicates that the second sentence is the giveaway. (Which makes sense; the giveaway repeats that information.)

[PBird#48]

There seems to be an excessive amount of miscellaneous social studies blended in with the history in the decks. There should not be a philosophy, economics, religion, AND government question all together in each round.

Also, myth classified as lit is just wrong.

[zachary_yan]

Also, myth classified as lit is just wrong.

Largely hypothetical question here, but why? All of what we know of as mythology, especially that of the quizbowl canon, is from a written source. The earliest examples of literature are mythologies. Also, where do guys like Snori Sturleson, Elias Lönnrot, and Homer fit in? Granted, secondary and tertiary sources are preferred studying methods for quizbowl and academics alike, but still it's not that much of a stretch for mythology to be considered literature. There's got to be some credence to myth being in the NAQT lit distro.

[Birds2013]

Myth has a belonging in the question distribution, but it is very debatable on where it should be placed. While I guess having it in lit is acceptable and reasonable, it seems like it should just have it's own category, much like religion. Grant it, there is no press to do so, but it makes sense. Myth may be a bit over-represented in the current distribution, but it is a great outreach tool as nearly every team has one solid myth player. While that knowledge may be rather incidental, it still helps teams lower on the ladder pick up points and score a few more than they would have otherwise produced. Quick question: What is the actual distribution for religion questions?

[Birds2013]

I do agree that the history was somewhat faint. Even though I am by no means a history expert, it may have contained the most obscure/difficult answerlines.

[Birds2013]

One more question: Why was hunger games and King considered lit while Christie was assigned as misc?

[dtaylor4]

Myth has a belonging in the question distribution, but it is very debatable on where it should be placed. While I guess having it in lit is acceptable and reasonable, it seems like it should just have it's own category, much like religion. Grant it, there is no press to do so, but it makes sense. Myth may be a bit over-represented in the current distribution, but it is a great outreach tool as nearly every team has one solid myth player. While that knowledge may be rather incidental, it still helps teams lower on the ladder pick up points and score a few more than they would have otherwise produced. Quick question: What is the actual distribution for religion questions?

For the IHSA tournament? It's in the rules document:

Geography, CE, Gov't, Psychology, Sociology, Religion, Philosophy, Econ, Poli Sci: combined 2/2.

Myth gets 1/1 as part of the Lit distro. From my experience, this is fairly standard. One can touch on mythical things in other parts of the distribution, but in those cases it is driven by the text of the question, not the category or answer line.

You fail to grasp how opaque the writing/editing process is with regards to the IHSA. I wrote for the set this year, and only know a handful of other people involved in writing the set. I do not know their roles, and only know of them through mass emails.

[Stained Diviner]

One more question: Why was hunger games and King considered lit while Christie was assigned as misc?

Because one of the writers assigned to write Literature wrote questions on Hunger Games and King, while one of the writers assigned to write Miscellaneous wrote a question on Christie. The question writers have discretion to interpret what the categories should or should not include.

[Birds2013]

Ah, I see. Thanks.

[heterodyne]

For anyone who hasn't seen, the All-State results were posted.
http://www.ihssbca.org/awards/2014aa_allstate.php
http://www.ihssbca.org/awards/2014a_allstate.php

[mahir256]

We plan to make a killing on Friday, if the scheißeness of the questions allows it.
I'm glad that people south of I-70 are recognized in Class A.

EDIT: Remove the inflammatory comment.

[Emil Nolde]

Oh, it's wonderful how even the spotty make the All-State list. (*cough*James*cough*)
We plan to make a killing on Friday, if the scheißeness of the questions allows it.
I'm glad that people south of I-70 are recognized in Class A.

Oh, the irony. My head is spinning from so much irony.

Anyway, good luck for tomorrow, everyone.

[SamD]

For anyone who hasn't seen, the All-State results were posted.
http://www.ihssbca.org/awards/2014aa_allstate.php
http://www.ihssbca.org/awards/2014a_allstate.php

Congratulations to all on these teams!

Congrats to you, Alston! As I am sure most of you on this board know, Alston has put in a lot of work in the past year in order to better himself. Work that I never considered doing, which is why I am a mediocre player on the team. His work ethic is reflective of his character as I, by having pleasure to play with Alston for the past three years and witnessing his tremendous growth, can think of nothing but positive things to say about Alston.


The Earl on the other hand...

[Maxwell Sniffingwell]

With one game to play:

IMSA is 2-0. A win against Bloomington puts them through to the final. A win for Bloomington and a win for winless Springfield against Carbondale puts Bloomington through. Wins for Bloomington and Carbondale would make a circle of death, with (losing) IMSA needing 250 and (winning) Bloomington needing 380 - whoever clears their mark by more would make the final. In the event that neither does, Carbondale would be in.

OPRF is 2-0. A win against Auburn puts them through to the final. A win for Auburn and a win for winless UC-Lab against Stevenson puts Auburn through. Wins for Auburn and Stevenson would make a circle of death, with OPRF effectively eliminated and Auburn needing to hang 450 on OPRF to advance - otherwise, it'd be Stevenson through.

Update: IMSA vs Stevenson for first, Auburn vs Carbondale for third.

[Maxwell Sniffingwell]

Congratulations to IMSA, your 2014 Illinois State Champions for Class AA!

[TheDoctor]

And to Litchfield, Class A champs!

[jonah]

And to Newman Central Catholic, Class A champs!

Fixed that for you.

[remake20]

How on earth does the 3-way tiebreaker work? I can come up with no possible way in which Carterville gets put third in pool 1 of Class A.

[dtaylor4]

How on earth does the 3-way tiebreaker work? I can come up with no possible way in which Carterville gets put third in pool 1 of Class A.

Per IHSA rules, you throw out the game against the common opponent, and only look at scores between teams in the circle of death.

Carterville had 350
Urbana U-High had 360
Lisle had 470

[remake20]

How on earth does the 3-way tiebreaker work? I can come up with no possible way in which Carterville gets put third in pool 1 of Class A.

Per IHSA rules, you throw out the game against the common opponent, and only look at scores between teams in the circle of death.

Carterville had 350
Urbana U-High had 360
Lisle had 470

Well, then I seem to have made gigantic addition errors. How embarrassing.

EDIT: Err, rather I included the game against Athens.

[mhasquin]

Andrew...

Congratulations to Litchfield and Coach Lamore. We were cheering for you back here in Piasa. You have made the South Central Conference very proud of your efforts this season. Good luck at NAQT Small School in Minneapolis.