The Quizbowl Resource Center

***THIS POST IS NOW LARGELY IRRELEVANT. PLEASE SEE NEW ANNOUNCEMENT HERE***
***RESCHEDULE INFORMATION IS HERE***

This is a rather preliminary announcement for a tournament to be co-hosted by Gonzaga and St. Anselm's on Saturday, February 6, 2010, lovingly subtitled the ZIGZAG (Zanily Imaginative GonZaga/Anselm's Games). Please note that pretty much all of the following information is subject to change in the next year, and all the words like "probably" and "tentatively" will be more firmly clarified in the fall, when a mass informational email will be sent out.

We are definitely leaning towards ordering an HSAPQ set. The field will absolutely capped at 36 teams, if we begin approaching that number. The format will probably be morning bracketed round robin prelims, followed by lunch, followed by a sixteen team elimination playoff, with consolation matches being provided for those who do not make the top sixteen.

This tournament will be a PACE NSC Qualifier.

The price for this tournament will probably be $60, plus or minus all those usual pluses and minuses.

All enquiries regarding further information should be directed to either me ([email protected]) or Fr. Ken Meehan ([email protected]). All matters of registration, however, should be directed solely to Fr. Meehan, preferably with something like "Gonzaga Quizbowl Tournament Registration" in the subject line. If I receive any sort of registration-y email, I will simply reply back asking for it to be resent to the correct person.

Please rest assured, this tournament will indeed happen this season.

For what it's worth, the running field:
Nobody. Surprise-surprise.

Interest:
CR
Whitman
TJ

***THIS POST IS NOW LARGELY IRRELEVANT. PLEASE SEE NEW ANNOUNCEMENT HERE***
***RESCHEDULE INFORMATION IS HERE***

This would be awesome, Aidan. Really hope this works out. Since we're going to concentrate on PACE more next year, it would be nice to, you know, actually play in an NSC format tournament before we attend NSC in May, unlike this season.

Let me/us know what we can do to help make this happen.

followed by a sixteen team elimination playoff,

This is kind of weak for an otherwise great set at a location likely to draw lots of top teams. Would you consider changing it?

Also it's hard to choose 16 from 42; first and second from each of seven brackets, plus two paper wildcards, seems to be the most natural way. 42's a tough number because you want to minimize byes in any event; you're essentially sold on having at least one. I'd maybe make two championship brackets of seven, or else have prelim brackets of seven and then two championship brackets of six.

If you would like to discuss changes to the format, I would suggest emailing Fr. Meehan. When we were discussing format the other day, running a short tournament with as few staff as possible staying after lunch seemed like a priority to him. I myself would also prefer bracketed playoffs, but that idea didn't meet much support. Perhaps you can talk him out of it.

An addendum: Now that PACE has abandoned its old format, it is at the least uncertain that HSAPQ will continue making NSC-style packets. Right now, we're waiting for HSAPQ to address this.

EDIT: Clarity.

ColJade wrote:An addendum: Now that PACE has abandoned its old format, it is at the least uncertain that HSAPQ will continue making NSC-style packets. Right now, we're waiting for HSAPQ to address this.

Reduced-NSC format was fun during the regular season - an "old NSC-format" set or two from HSAPQ wouldn't go entirely unappreciated even if PACE changes the format for their nationals.

EDIT: aaaaand I am blind and didn't check the Nationals boards before posting.

TJ will probably be interested in this.

Now that HSAPQ's PACE format has been discontinued, we will likely use HSAPQ's ACF-format, but with bouncebacks. However, we have not yet decided how to value the power marks.

Maybe you should just mimic the rules that PACE is going to use for their national tournament in June, just so teams can say they've practiced on that exact format sometime before the end of the year.

Caesar Rodney HS wrote:Maybe you should just mimic the rules that PACE is going to use for their national tournament in June, just so teams can say they've practiced on that exact format sometime before the end of the year.

We will certainly consider that, but we need to talk to Father Meehan before making a decision. I suspect he would be fine with it, but I cannot say for certain. I've only said what I have because Fr. Meehan was very much in favor of bouncebacks when we spoke to him.

ColJade wrote:

Caesar Rodney HS wrote:Maybe you should just mimic the rules that PACE is going to use for their national tournament in June, just so teams can say they've practiced on that exact format sometime before the end of the year.

We will certainly consider that, but we need to talk to Father Meehan before making a decision. I suspect he would be fine with it, but I cannot say for certain. I've only said what I have because Fr. Meehan was very much in favor of bouncebacks when we spoke to him.

Bouncebacks rock. We'd love to have a tournament that uses them once sometime in the "regular season," so, yeah... go for that.

Slight update: the field cap is at 36, since that's a much nicer number to work with.

Whitman is interested.

Rock. You know we want to come to this too.

Update: This tournament is now a PACE qualifier.

Prof.Whoopie wrote:Update: This tournament is now a PACE qualifier.

And make the field cap not the spawn of Satan.

Prof.Whoopie wrote:Update: This tournament is now a PACE qualifier.

NIIIIIIICE!!!

St. Andrew's from Ridgeland, MS is interested in this tournament. If you have more information/registration form, please email to [email protected].

Robinson would like to "express interest", since we seem to enjoy getting trounced by much higher-calibre teams than our own.

This is Ken Meehan at Gonzaga, at three months before our tournament of February 6th, just to let you know the tournament is definitely "on"; we are working to find a reputable source for questions, after receiving no response to an inquiry made to our preferred outfit, Mr. Gioia's HSAPQ. Shall we pay more and see if NAQT can accommodate us? I'm open to mirroring someone's also -- considered responding to the offer by Hunter HS that's having a tournament February 27th, but they may not have their questions done three weeks earlier, or may draw some teams that would also consider coming to ours. My cohort at St. Anselm's, Aidan Mehigan, will soon be sending you details about our way of proceeding, once we get the commitment for question sets finalized. DC -- with our school's great location -- deserves to have a worthy tournament!

Fr. Ken Meehan wrote:considered responding to the offer by Hunter HS that's having a tournament February 27th, but they may not have their questions done three weeks earlier, or may draw some teams that would also consider coming to ours.

I obviously can't speak officially on this, but if I remember correctly Matt Weiner announced today at VCU Fall that VCU Spring would be a mirror of Prison Bowl. Since this change doesn't seem to have been reflected in the official announcement, If this is complete BS I apologize for my mishearing. However, the potential field drain is something to consider.

Hm...what's happening to HSAPQ...
Their site isn't being updated with upcoming events and such either.

EDIT: Oh yea, forgot to say we were interested

I have recently been informed that we have indeed been promised Set 10 for use at this tournament. Once Fr. Meehan looks over the announcement I sent him, full details will be posted, and info will be sent out. We promise! Sorry this is taking so long to get ironed out.

I should probably mention that Blake or at least "Oh look I'm putting something in quotation marks how zany" high school is interested.

Aldo Montoya wrote:I should probably mention that Blake or at least "Oh look I'm putting something in quotation marks how zany" high school is interested.

oh hey, I can actually go to this one

Prof.Whoopie wrote:I have recently been informed that we have indeed been promised Set 10 for use at this tournament. Once Fr. Meehan looks over the announcement I sent him, full details will be posted, and info will be sent out. We promise! Sorry this is taking so long to get ironed out.

Is this the same set being used at Penn this Saturday? If so, that would affect us, CR, and TJ (but I don't have a good suggestion on how to fix the set conflict).

I think UPenn is using set 9, Bill... (their website is all kinds of out-of-date) so it would make this one okay.

Btw, we will be making this tournament with one buzzer set, and one moderator. So you can put us down as being registered.

Fr. Meehan here -- We have definitely committed to using Question Set 10 -- and I have been informed by the financial officer of HSAPQ that they are not releasing this set until the end of January -- it has been promised to us for the geographical area from which we expect to draw on February 6th. My cohort, Aidan of Anselm's, will have details about the tournament coming to everyone by next week. Meanwhile you can email me if you're pretty sure you want to come,to secure an early reservation. Thanks! [email protected]

***RESCHEDULE INFORMATION IS HERE***
The official announcement for this tournament is now making its long awaited debut. The format has been lovingly ripped off of Matt Weiner's because I like his style.

This is the official announcement for the ZIGZAG (Zanily Imaginative GonZaga/Anselm’s Games), a high school academic quiz bowl tournament to be hosted by the combined quiz bowl clubs of Gonzaga College High School and St. Anselm’s Abbey School, on Saturday, February 6th, 2010.

This tournament will take place at Gonzaga, located in downtown Washington, DC, near Union Station. The exact address is 19 Eye Street NW, Washington, DC 20001.

PARKING: Parking is available on the school grounds. Follow the security guard on duty if necessary.

TIMES: Registration will run from 7:30 to 8:45. An opening meeting will then follow, with the goal of starting Round 1 as soon as possible after 9:00.

AFFILIATION: This tournament will be affiliated with the Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence and will be an opportunity to qualify for the National Scholastics Championship (http://www.pace-nsc.org), which is run by PACE and will occur the weekend of June 5, 2010.

QUESTIONS: The questions will be provided by High School Academic Pyramid Questions (Tournament Set # 10), and will feature games of 20 ten-point tossups, each with 30-point bonuses, untimed. We are considering including “negs” and “powers” on tossups, and “bounce-backs” on bonuses, and will announce a decision on tournament day.

FORMAT: Our ideal tournament format is for a maximum of 36 teams. In the morning preliminaries, the teams will be divided into six brackets of six teams each and play five-game round-robins in rounds 1-5. Any ties will be broken, and after lunch the teams will then be ranked and re-bracketed, with all bracket champs going into one new bracket, second-placers into another, and so on down the line. Over rounds 6-10, each new bracket will play another round-robin. The tournament championship will be decided by a final (of up to two games if necessary) between the top two teams in the championship bracket.

In the event that fewer than 36 teams register, the format will change accordingly. All teams will be offered a minimum of 9 games in any format, should they desire to play them. Trophies will be awarded to the top three teams, and special book prizes will be awarded to the top five individual scorers.

REGISTRATION AND FEES:
Base fee: $60 for first team; $50 for additional teams. There is no limit to the number of teams who can attend from one school.
Buzzer discount: $10 off total fee for each fully functional system (control box and eight activators all work, please, so we can keep the games moving on schedule). Limit of two buzzer systems per school.
Reader discount: $10 off school's total fee if you can provide a reader. This could be a coach or recommended student who is not playing. Volunteer readers must stay through all the games (except finals) in order to receive credit for their school. Please let us know well in advance if you will bring a reader. We will not need volunteer score-keepers.

TRAVEL DISCOUNT: $10 discount for teams traveling more than 200 miles from your school to ours (as verified by Mapquest).

TO REGISTER: e-mail Fr. Ken Meehan at [email protected] (preferably with something about “quiz bowl” and/or “tournament” in the subject line) with the number of teams, buzzers, and readers you want to bring, and a phone number where you can be contacted in case of emergency. You should receive prompt confirmation of your registration. Final information (directions to school, decisions about impending weather, e.g.) will be sent as the tournament time approaches.

METHOD OF PAYMENT: All teams must pay by the day of the tournament, but we will welcome checks by mail ahead of time. We can accept cash, personal checks, or checks from school or school district. Sorry, we have no ability to process purchase orders, credit cards, Paypal, or any other forms of payment.

Please make out checks to “Gonzaga High School.” If you require a pre-tournament invoice in order to have a check cut, let us know as soon as possible so that we can send you the paperwork in time.

TEAM & ROSTER SIZE: There may be a maximum of six players on one team's roster, up to four of whom may play at one time. If you bring more than six players, you must register a second team to have all of them play. There will be a halftime substitution opportunity in each game. Each player may appear on only one team's roster throughout the day. Teams may also play shorthanded if necessary.

FOOD: A delicious breakfast will be served at this tournament. No lunch will be provided; however, Union Station with its many food-court options is a short walk away, and a Subway sandwich shop adjoins the campus.

Please e-mail me if you have any further questions, but remember to email Fr. Meehan with your official registration. We’re looking forward to seeing a wide variety of teams from DC and surrounding states on February 6th.

Aidan Mehigan
[email protected]



Let the registration floodgates open.

Field:
SCHOOL - TEAMS - BUZZERS - MODS
Caesar Rodney - 1 - 1 - 1
Centennial - 1 - 2 - 0
Charter - 6 - 4 - 1
Wilson - 1 - 1 - 0
Bullis - 1 - 1 - 0
GDS - 3 - 1 - 0
Longfellow - 1 - 1 - 0
Maggie Walker - 1 - 0 - 0
Bishop Ireton - 1 - 0 - 0
RM - 3 - 1 - 0
Blair - 1 - 1 - 0
Whitman - 1 - 1 - 0
Quince Orchard - 1 - 1 - 0
TJ - 4 - 1 - 0
Blake- 1 - 1 - 0
Perry Hall - 1 - 0 - 0
WJ - 1 - 1 - 0
Sidwell - 1 - 1 - 0
Robinson - 1 - 1 - 1
Mountain Vista - 1 - 0 - 0
SSSAS - 2 - 1 - 0
Howard - 1 - 1 - 0
Marshall - 1 - 1 - 0
TOTALS: 36 - 23 - 3

Waitlist (in order of reception of request)
Wilson - 1
GDS - 1

Interest:
Mount Pleasant

***RESCHEDULE INFORMATION IS HERE***

Since this is probably the only tournament in DC proper not hosted by us, we're definitely going to this. Put us down as "interested" until we find out how many teams, buzzers, etc. we're bringing.

Go ahead an put us down for one team, one buzzer set, and one moderator. I suppose there is a chance we could bring another team, but it's very unlikely.

Self-incompatibility in plants wrote:Go ahead an [sic] put us down for one team

Yup

one buzzer set,

Yup

and one moderator.

Man, i volunteered to moderate and didn't even know it! No prob, you knew i would anyway.

I suppose there is a chance we could bring another team, but it's very unlikely.

This is also correct.

Self-incompatibility in plants wrote:Go ahead an put us down for one team, one buzzer set, and one moderator. I suppose there is a chance we could bring another team, but it's very unlikely.

I will do this, but please email Fr. Meehan as well. He wants to be able to keep track of all the official registrations.

I am bad at hitting "edit" instead of "quote." Move along.

RM is very interested in attending.

Wilson HS is interested in attending and I tried to email Fr. Meehan in late November (twice) and never heard anything back. Is the address you gave correct?

wilsonmathteacher wrote:Wilson HS is interested in attending and I tried to email Fr. Meehan in late November (twice) and never heard anything back. Is the address you gave correct?

It is, but I have heard reports from you and others that he doesn't respond consistently. I'm going to try to talk to him about this. If you check the current field, however, you will see he did indeed forward your email to me and that you are registered. If you want to change any of the information there, just email me.

We've been talking about trying to get to this tournament. We would bring one team -- this is, however, merely an expression of interest.

Prof.Whoopie wrote:

wilsonmathteacher wrote:Wilson HS is interested in attending and I tried to email Fr. Meehan in late November (twice) and never heard anything back. Is the address you gave correct?

It is, but I have heard reports from you and others that he doesn't respond consistently. I'm going to try to talk to him about this. If you check the current field, however, you will see he did indeed forward your email to me and that you are registered. If you want to change any of the information there, just email me.

Cool, thanks. I didn't think to look at the current field to see if it was updated. No worries then.

Besides the 6 teams and me reading, you can put us down for 4 buzzers.

Thanks.

Alright folks, this is now one month away. Get your registrations in.

There are now eight spots left, and I have a feeling we may have to start a waitlist sooner than I would like. If you don't want to be on that waitlist, I suggest registering soon.

Should get word on whether Blake is coming to this by midway through the week. If it isn't, then I'll register as me.

Alright, I'll just register as Blake. Either way we're bringing a team.
EDIT: And a buzzer set, of course.

Aidan, this is a tournament that would be nice to have a second team from CR playing. How soon should i register them? I really have no idea if they can make it (or if i can get a parent to help drive), but should i just register one anyway just so i don't lose that spot?

Dr. Isaac Yankem, DDS wrote:Aidan, this is a tournament that would be nice to have a second team from CR playing. How soon should i register them? I really have no idea if they can make it (or if i can get a parent to help drive), but should i just register one anyway just so i don't lose that spot?

I'm not really sure. People, what's standard procedure for this? Do teams usually just try to grab a spot even if they're not sure about it? I'd certainly be willing to allow you to do that, I'm just not sure if I should. Feedback for a first-time TD would be helpful.

There's no way WJ is missing this. Can I just grab a spot for our team (+1 buzzer system) and wait for my coach to handle the details?

wexs883198215 wrote:There's no way WJ is missing this. Can I just grab a spot for our team (+1 buzzer system) and wait for my coach to handle the details?

Sure. Just send Fr. Meehan an email.