The Quizbowl Resource Center

Seton Hall Preparatory School and White Plains High School are pleased to announce the 2008 New York State Championship to be held at White Plains High School on Saturday, May 17. We will be using NAQT 76. Details to follow soon!

PS: Anyone looking for a late NAQT ... Seton Hall Prep will be hosting its own "Pirate Open" on Saturday, April 5. (NAQT 75A) Again ... details to follow soon!

We definitely are looking forward to this event.

ditto.

New Yawk, represent!

I hope to attend (Ward Melville), but nothing definite yet.

When will registration information be available? Dolgeville is interested in bringing one team.

After the amazing experience today at the SHP tournament, I wouldn't miss a local NAQT tournament (let alone one in my own backyard) for the world. Although the Mattisons may be absent, I can say that there's a 99.9% chance that Byram Hills will bring at least three teams, if not more. I've also spoken with Ian Lipman from NewRo and they'll be bringing a minimum of 1 team with a possibility of 2 or 3. BTW-- How did you manage to convince Mr. Roby to allow his school to be used for this?

The "official" tournament announcement ...

Seton Hall Preparatory School of NJ and White Plains High School of NY are pleased to announce the first New York State Championship Tournament to be held at White Plains High School on Saturday, May 17. Any team from the state of New York is eligible to compete.

The tournament will be using NAQT-76.

White Plains High School is located at 550 North Street, White Plains, NY 10605 and is easily accessed from Route 287.

The tournament format will be untimed, 20-question games. The exact format of the tournament (number of rounds/etc.) will be determined by the number of teams attending.

The entrance fees are as follows: $80 for first team
$70 for each additional team
-$10 for each functioning buzzer system
-$20 for each experienced NAQT reader
(Please make checks payable to Seton Hall Preparatory School)

Please contact Michael T. Zinsmeister (Seton Hall Prep) for additional information. ([email protected])

For all of those teams who have already contacted me ... I will be responding within the next day or two!

We look forward to seeing you in May!

Sincerely,

Michael T. Zinsmeister
Academic Team Coach
Seton Hall Preparatory School

Just a quick update as to teams expressing interest ...

Byram Hills
New Rochelle
Kellenberg
Dolgeville
Lake George

I just talked to some friends from Niskayuna and they are interested in bringing a team.

Stuyvesant should be there with some number of teams.

(Bumping it up.)

So whose attending this? Are there any field updates?

Byram Hills will bring two teams, I believe. Most of these people aren't regular quizbowlers, so it should be interesting...

May 13, 2008 UPDATE!!!

As of Monday morning (5/13) ...

Interested/Confirmed Teams:

Kellenberg 3
Half Hollow Hills West 1
White Plains 3
Byram Hills 2
New Rochelle 1
Hunter 2
Horace Greeley 3
Valley Stream South 1
Ward Melville 1
Syosset 1 (???)
Ithaca 1 (???)
Doldgeville 1 (???)




Pax,

MTZ

Count us (Ward Melville) in for 1, though we won't be at full strength (missing our #1 player who happens to be the only one for us that knows geography, and missing another of our top 3 who happens to be the best at lit on our team). Now it's just a matter of 21st finger for who "gets" to drive out to White Plains. We may be able to secure 1 buzzer, but probably not. My e-mail is dinoian -at- yahoo -dot- com for contact.

We'll probably be there with one or two teams; I'll try and get confirmation tomorrow, but I may need a few days and I don't want to commit yet.

Ward Melville/Hunter ... Great to have you join us! Just let me know!

Please see the field update above.

- MTZ

Byram Hills will be bringing (confirmed) 2 teams and 2 buzzer sets. What time is this shindig going down at?

Monday, May 12 Update ...

Saturday's tournament is shaping up! Registration will be from 8-8:45 at White Plains High School. (I assume we will be in the cafeteria ... I will post a final update on Wednesday or Thursday of this week.) Rounds will begin promptly at 9. As of this morning, we are holding steady at @ 18 teams. ( I am still waiting for final confirmation from several teams.) If that is the case, the field will be bracketed into three brackets with each team playing five prelim rounds. After lunch, the top eight (or even the top sixteen!) will advance into a single-elimination playoff.

Trophies will be awarded to the top eight teams.

All checks should be made out to Seton Hall Preparatory School. (120 Northfield Avenue, West Orange, NJ 07052)

If there are any last minute questions/changes, please either post here or e-mail me.

- Michael

How many rounds guaranteed per team? Any possibility of doing rebracketing instead of single elimination?

dinoian wrote:How many rounds guaranteed per team? Any possibility of doing rebracketing instead of single elimination?

I know I'm not supposed to do QFT but rebracketing really is the fairest way to find a winner, and I would recommend doing this if at all possible.

What would you QFT from that quote? (Don't answer that. )

I too would be in favor of rebracketing, it would result in the most number of games played by most of the teams in attendance. This is a good thing as we get ready for Nationals.

This is me confirming that Hunter will indeed bring 2 teams, no buzzers. Should I email you, or is this sufficient?

Hunter is in for two. This is sufficient. Tomorrow, I will look at the "rebracketing" format. I assume that, if there were three brackets of six, there would also be three new brackets of six. In effect, there would be three different playoff round-robins. Winner of top bracket is state champion?

This is a great idea but, as I had to order trophies last week, I ordered them based upon the plan of a single elimination playoff. As long as no one is upset by the slight incongruity of the trophies (semifinalist/quarterfinalist/etc.), I am willing to go either way on this.

Instead of full rebracketing, how about you rebracket the top 6 and then the 7-10 can play in a single elimination "consolation" playoff bracket? Then the winners of the 7-10 and 8-9 matches can get quarter final trophies, the bottom 2 of the top 6 will also get quarterfinals, next 2 semis, and the final 2 can play for the championships. I just don't want to be stuck there until 5 or 6 o'clock if my team was 1-4 to begin with and is now playing for 13th place.

Point well taken. (Which is also why, personally, I like the single elimination format.) My own team would gladly play all fifteen rounds but, having been on several 1-4 teams when I was playing, I do understand your position. Let me see what the final field looks like and I will post the final format soon.

What's the final field looking like? It looks like more than 18 based on the field list above.

I am e-mailing coaches as we speak. (Write? Post?)

Anyhow ... seventeen confirmed and a few "undecideds". I will give those few schools until tomorrow night to respond back. Eighteen teams is easy. (Seventeen will be interesting. I do have several freshmen who have not played this packet and have not had access to the questions. "Team Spitzer" could reprise their role from April 5!)

"Deposed Governors" was a good theme, but we need a New Yorkier one. How about "Corrupt New York Politicians"? I'm feeling Boss Tweed, Mr. Spitzer (again), Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., and Samuel Swartwout. A bit obscure, I'd admit, but quizbowlers are known for their love of obscurities.

Final Field (Field closed as of 5/13)

Kellenberg 3
Half Hollow Hills West 1
White Plains 3
Byram Hills 2
New Rochelle 1
Hunter 2
Horace Greeley 3
Valley Stream South 1
Ward Melville 1
Stuy 1

I will be posting final format/etc. tomorrow. Les Roby (the White Plains coach) will be putting together a list of phone numbers to order pizza on Saturday. As I am not personally aware of the White Plains area, I can not speak to any "good places for lunch". Assuming that this runs as smoothly as our tournament at The Prep, I expect the playoffs to wrap-up between 3:30 and 4.

Just a request- can we be "Team Armonk" (after our town) rather than Byram Hills? We didn't have time to get school approval, so it's just a formality.

No problem ... "Armonk". Stuy registered this afternoon, then put their registration on hold. Kellenberg may only be able to bring two.

If we have 18 teams, we will play three brackets of six, re-bracket, and then play three more brackets of six.

If we have 16 teams, we will play two brackets of eight, then have all sixteen teams go into a single elimination playoff.

- MTZ

SHP Pirate wrote: If we have 16 teams, we will play two brackets of eight, then have all sixteen teams go into a single elimination playoff.

Why not have the top 4 from each bracket play in a new RR, and let the rest of the people scrimmage or go home?

Kellenberg will definitely have 3 teams (and 3 buzzers and 1 moderator)!





Edit: Typo.

So ... as of May 14, I am still waiting to hear from Stuy. If they do not come, we will be forced to create a "Team USA" to even out the field. (We stand at 17.) If there is another team interested in coming or, if a registered school would like to bring an additional team, please let me know.

- MTZ

We'll only be able to bring one buzzer set is that a problem?

Stuy won't be able to make it.

Can I get a contact phone number in case we are running late tomorrow morning (never know if there is traffic) so we can let you know where we are on the road?

E-mail me off the board and I will give you my cell number.

- MTZ

[email protected]

Friday night update ...

Ward Melville just called me and pulled-out. So ... we are set at 16 teams. We will play seven preliminary rounds (two brackets of eight), break for lunch, then have playoffs. We will either have a straight single-elimination playoff or re-bracket into four groups of four. I will speak with the coaches tomorrow morning and try to get a concensus.

See you in the morning!

- MTZ

I must post my sincerest of apologies for having to cancel out at the last minute. All three of my teammates canceled on me that Friday, one even let me know at 8:30 that night. The first teammate that canceled let me know at about 4:00 Friday afternoon because all of a sudden his parents were forcing him to babysit his little brother. Then at 8:20 another teammate facebook messaged me to tell me that he could no longer do it because of a doctor's appointment that seemed to spring up out of nowhere. At this point I called my last teammate and he said something along the lines of "If it's just the two of us, I don't want to do it".

I really should have been more responsible in my selection of teammates, and should have collected the money for entry fee beforehand as opposed to trusting them to give it to me day of, that way they would have felt a stronger commitment.

I am so terribly sorry for my lack of organization around my team, and please do not hold it against my school in the future. I hope I can re-gain your trust, as well as the trust of the quizbowl community in general, again in the future.

I heard about that from Aaron today at Chatham, that's terrible to hear of your teammates doing.

Wow, that's pretty shady. Definitely gotta ask for the money ahead of time to ensure more commitment.

VERY brief results ...

Semifinal 1: Hunter A d. Hunter B
Semifinal 2: Kellenberg A d. Horace Greeley B
Final: Hunter A d. Kellenberg A

I will post full results/details/thoughts later this evening. Thanks to our co-host, Les Roby and White Plains HS, and special thanks to the entire SHP Quiz Bowl team for a job well done.

Pax,

MTZ

I would also like to thank Mr. Z and the Seton Hall Prep kids for coming over from NJ to run this first NY NAQT State Championship for us and for Mr. Roby and White Plains HS to the facility. It was a very smooth and efficiently run tournament, with results being delivered to each game room per round!

Here are a little more detailed results. I'm sure Mr. Z will publish the full ones as soon as he will get a chance.

16 teams participated, 16 teams made the single elim. playoffs.

1 H. Greeley B (7-0) d. 16 Bryam Hills B (0-7)
2 Hunter A (6-1) d. 15 White Plains B (0-7)
3 New Rochelle (6-1) d. 14 Kellenberg C (1-6)
4 H. Greeley A (6-1) d. 13 Valley Stream S. (1-6)
5 Kellenberg A (5-2) 560 d. 12 White Plains C (2-5) -20
6 Hunter B (5-2) d. 11 Bryam Hills A (2-5)
?? 7 Half Hollow Hills W (5-2) d. 10 H. Greeley C (3-4)
8 Kellenberg B (4-3) 290 d. 9 White Plains A (3-4) 170

1 H. Greeley B 320 d. 8 Kellenberg B 195
2 Hunter A d. 7 HHHW
6 Hunter B d. 3 New Rochelle
5 Kellenberg A 335 d. 4 H. Greeley A 160

5 Kellenberg A 270 d. 1 H. Greeley B 225
2 Hunter A d. 6 Hunter B

2 Hunter A 425 d. Kellenberg A 175

Final stats for the day. I will post some commentary later this evening. Thanks to all the teams that came out!

http://results.scobo.net/Setonhallprep

- MTZ

Uhhh...I think something's not working, none of the stats are up.

Yeah ... clearly I am not uploading the data properly. I will play with this after dinner.

- MTZ