The Quizbowl Resource Center

Fenton High School in Bensenville, IL is happy to announce that we will again be hosting the NAQT State Championship tournament this year, on Saturday, February 27. The following link will take you to the official invitation/registration form: http://www.fenton100.org/ourschool/club ... tation.pdf

Just a few important items I want to point out here:
1. The deadline for registration is Feb 10. Only the first 16 teams that register BY CHECK will be guaranteed a spot in the tourney.
2. If you want to register a B team, let me know and your B team will go on a waiting list that will open up on Feb 11.
3. Entry fees are $65 for A teams and $50 for each B team.

The size of the field may be expanded later if a sufficient number of moderators can be secured, though as of today I only have firm committments from about 4 people. If you are available on 2/27 and are willing to read at the tournament, please let me know ([email protected]). I can hook you up with a free lunch and a modest remuneration.

Lastly, the UIUC Solo Tournament will again follow the State Championship this year. If you are interested in the Solo, please contact Donald Taylor ([email protected]).

I hope to see you in February!

If I'm allowed to play in this, I'll send a check in promptly to secure my spot. In the likely event that I can't play this, I will staff, but then play Donald's solo in the evening. Anyways, please let me know via post or email ([email protected]), Mr. Laudermith.

Field update (11/30):
1. Fenton
2. Wheaton-Warrenville South
3. St. Ignatius
4. Wheaton North
5. Leyden

Field update (12/4):
1. Fenton
2. Wheaton-Warrenville South
3. St. Ignatius
4. Wheaton North
5. Leyden
6. Riverside-Brookfield
7. Loyola
8. Stevenson
9. Auburn

Field update (12/11):
1. Fenton
2. Wheaton-Warrenville South
3. St. Ignatius
4. Wheaton North
5. Leyden
6. Riverside-Brookfield
7. Loyola
8. Stevenson
9. Auburn
10. Oak Park-River Forest

Field update (12/18):
1. Fenton
2. Wheaton-Warrenville South
3. St. Ignatius
4. Wheaton North
5. Leyden
6. Riverside-Brookfield
7. Loyola
8. Stevenson
9. Auburn
10. Oak Park-River Forest
11. Quincy
12. Saint Viator
13. New Trier
14. Naperville Central

Wishing everybody a great winter break!

MLaudermith wrote:Field update (12/18):
12. Saint Viator

?

ITT the spectre of Dan-Don moderating a St. Viator match looms...

I can only assume Dr. Laudermith would take steps to avoid such a placement.

Woody Paige wrote:ITT the spectre of Dan-Don moderating a St. Viator match looms...

I can only assume Dr. Laudermith would take steps to avoid such a placement.

I really don't see what prevents him from moderating for them. He quit, they lost their best player, that sucks for them, but seriously Dan-Don's obviously not going to like throw the match for Viator or treat them any differently because of what transpired. I don't see how the coaches can't get over themselves are just realize it's not that big of a deal.

MoCity02 wrote:

Woody Paige wrote:ITT the spectre of Dan-Don moderating a St. Viator match looms...

I can only assume Dr. Laudermith would take steps to avoid such a placement.

I really don't see what prevents him from moderating for them. He quit, they lost their best player, that sucks for them, but seriously Dan-Don's obviously not going to like throw the match for Viator or treat them any differently because of what transpired. I don't see how the coaches can't get over themselves are just realize it's not that big of a deal.

Well said. I guess I'm just a little mad that it took something as drastic as my quitting for them to figure it out and get out to a good tourney.

Dan-Don wrote:

MoCity02 wrote:

Woody Paige wrote:ITT the spectre of Dan-Don moderating a St. Viator match looms...

I can only assume Dr. Laudermith would take steps to avoid such a placement.

I really don't see what prevents him from moderating for them. He quit, they lost their best player, that sucks for them, but seriously Dan-Don's obviously not going to like throw the match for Viator or treat them any differently because of what transpired. I don't see how the coaches can't get over themselves are just realize it's not that big of a deal.

Well said. I guess I'm just a little mad that it took something as drastic as my quitting for them to figure it out and get out to a good tourney.

I'd be very interested in getting an explanation from the coaches as to what they think would happen if Dan moderated for Viator (or Maine South [apparently]). Since I don't think Mrs. Martin/other Viator coaches can/will respond to this, I'd like to hear why TDs put up with these silly requests and do extra work to make sure that they aren't put in the same room. I'm just looking to be enlightened a bit on the situation.

A professional and a gentleman will avoid doing anything that might put someone in an uncomfortable situation. Now, if the St V team and some fully informed opponent both agree to Dan moderating, that's different.

I disagree. The TD has the discretion to assign moderators to matches as he/she sees fit. Granted, the TD can and should hear suggestions from the crowd (in the tiny number of cases that would see the crowd offering opinions on such a matter), as well as from his moderators and teams, but the final call is the TD's alone.

If I were TD and St. Viator were to ask me not to play in Dan's room because of potential animosity, I would summarily reject the request. Dan is a professional and a gentlemen, to use Coach Price's words, who would have entirely too much respect to lose by moderating a St. Viator match differently from any other match. I would have no less doubt in his ability to fairly moderate for Viator than myself moderating from Winnebago, regardless of the current...relationship...between Dan and Viator.

If you're a TD and you know that a particular coach and moderator have had disagreements in the past, then you try to keep them apart. It is common sense and common practice. It happens all the time, including tomorrow. (I will not name names, but there actually are two or three situations we are trying to avoid.)

I don't know whether that will happen in this case--it's up to Laudermith, and I honestly don't really care much about what he does in this case. If Dan does end up moderating for Viator, then in all likelihood nothing of interest will happen. However, given the facts that moderators do sometimes have to make split hair decisions, that coaches sometimes do make protests to moderators, and that it is relatively easy to write a schedule that avoids this scenario, nobody should be upset if this scenario is avoided.

Why are a bunch of people who aren't from St. Viator or Fenton making assumptions about this on no information? I've seen nothing in this thread to indicate that either Donohue or St. Viator is yet uncomfortable with the idea of him reading for them, and I don't understand how it's productive to assign motives and thought processes to other people without them giving any evidence either way. If someone from Viator were to come on here and post that they didn't want Dan staffing, then that might actually be a starting point for debating this.

To be honest, this (potential) conflict has not been something I've spend any time worrying about. I did email Coach Martin yesterday and specifically asked her if she would be uncomfortable with Dan-Don moderating a match for her team. I am still waiting for her reply.

If she has no preference, then I am fine with Dan moderating for Viator. I am sure he would be an equitable official and do an excellent job as he always does.

If her preference is that Dan not officiate for Viator matches, then I will arrange the schedule so that it won't happen. I would not be doing this to be unfair to Dan or to impugn his reputation (though if he feels otherwise I certainly invite him to discuss the matter with me). I would be doing it for two simple reasons:
1. It avoids clashes that would only create a negative tournament experience for the people involved.
2. The fact that Coach Martin has chosen to bring her team to the NAQT State Championship is an obvious good, and I want her to continue bringing her team in the future. I expect that Dan would agree.

In short, I want to have my cake and eat it too. I want the services of Dan Donohue, a fantastic moderator and asset to Illinois quizbowl. And, I want St. Viator to enjoy and keep coming to what I, personally, feel is a good quizbowl experience. I will do what I feel is necessary to achieve both of these aims.

MLaudermith wrote:To be honest, this (potential) conflict has not been something I've spend any time worrying about. I did email Coach Martin yesterday and specifically asked her if she would be uncomfortable with Dan-Don moderating a match for her team. I am still waiting for her reply.

If she has no preference, then I am fine with Dan moderating for Viator. I am sure he would be an equitable official and do an excellent job as he always does.

If her preference is that Dan not officiate for Viator matches, then I will arrange the schedule so that it won't happen. I would not be doing this to be unfair to Dan or to impugn his reputation (though if he feels otherwise I certainly invite him to discuss the matter with me). I would be doing it for two simple reasons:
1. It avoids clashes that would only create a negative tournament experience for the people involved.
2. The fact that Coach Martin has chosen to bring her team to the NAQT State Championship is an obvious good, and I want her to continue bringing her team in the future. I expect that Dan would agree.

In short, I want to have my cake and eat it too. I want the services of Dan Donohue, a fantastic moderator and asset to Illinois quizbowl. And, I want St. Viator to enjoy and keep coming to what I, personally, feel is a good quizbowl experience. I will do what I feel is necessary to achieve both of these aims.

I think this is a fair way to handle it. I don't bear any ill will to the Viator program, and I certainly am not going to let my history with them contribute to an uncomfortable or inflammatory situation. It seems like everybody is really cool with this so far, just like when Viator and me were both at Ultima. Let's keep it that way.

Field update (2/3):
1. Fenton
2. Wheaton-Warrenville South
3. St. Ignatius
4. Wheaton North
5. Leyden
6. Riverside-Brookfield
7. Loyola
8. Stevenson
9. Auburn
10. Oak Park-River Forest
11. Quincy
12. St. Viator
13. New Trier
14. Naperville Central
15. Champaign Centennial
16. Carbondale
17. Chicago Christian

Now that I have officially secured enough moderators, I will be expanding the field to 18 teams. The deadline for registration is Wednesday, Feb 10, so if your coach is planning to claim the last spot, I need a check by that day.

What a great field, I'm looking forward to this!!!

Good to see Chicago Christian on this list - we had to waitlist them for Huskie Bowl. Have they played anything else recently/anyone know anything about them?

Chicago Christian, IIRC, was spearheading an effort to form a league of local Christian schools. The coach showed up at ScoBowlFest in September and wanted to give his students more opportunities but was limited by his budget. I'm not sure what they've done since then.

Chicago Christian joined us in the Metro Suburban Conference this year. Their coach, Stu Culver, is new to Scholastic Bowl but is very receptive to good quizbowl. He wants his team to get better and he recognizes the fact that bringing his team to good tournaments is important. They did OK at Turnabout, but I'm not sure what other tournaments they have done.

MLaudermith wrote:Chicago Christian joined us in the Metro Suburban Conference this year. Their coach, Stu Culver, is new to Scholastic Bowl but is very receptive to good quizbowl. He wants his team to get better and he recognizes the fact that bringing his team to good tournaments is important. They did OK at Turnabout, but I'm not sure what other tournaments they have done.

It's great to see that new teams are being receptive to good quiz bowl and I wish them luck in their future. On a side note, Mr. Laudermith, do you still need any moderators for NAQT State?

If you do end up needing any more moderators besides your already full crew plus Mike, I can make the trip up as well.

Craig & Mike,

If you guys are OK with working in the same room, trading off moderating and scorekeeping, then I would be happy to have both of you.

Sounds great to me. I'll be there.

MLaudermith wrote:Craig & Mike,

If you guys are OK with working in the same room, trading off moderating and scorekeeping, then I would be happy to have both of you.

Yeah definitely up for it

Field update (2/4):
1. Fenton
2. Wheaton-Warrenville South
3. St. Ignatius
4. Wheaton North
5. Leyden
6. Riverside-Brookfield
7. Loyola
8. Stevenson
9. Auburn
10. Oak Park-River Forest
11. Quincy
12. St. Viator
13. New Trier
14. Naperville Central
15. Champaign Centennial
16. Carbondale
17. Chicago Christian
18. Lisle

And there's the final field for this year's NAQT State. I'm sorry I didn't have the space to accomodate B teams, but I am very happy with the representation in this field, both competitively and geographically.

I will be sending out an email to coaches tomorrow with some important info.

Field update (2/12):
1. Fenton
2. Wheaton-Warrenville South
3. St. Ignatius
4. Wheaton North A
5. Leyden
6. Riverside-Brookfield
7. Loyola
8. Stevenson
9. Auburn
10. Oak Park-River Forest
11. Wheaton North B
12. St. Viator
13. New Trier
14. Naperville Central
15. Champaign Centennial
16. Carbondale
17. Chicago Christian
18. Lisle

Unfortunately, Quincy had to drop out of the tournament, and they have been replaced with Wheaton North B.

As a heads-up: I will be running a singles event after the conclusion of this.

If you are willing to stay for a bit longer and read, please email me and let me know.

To anyone who might know: How long is this expected to run? And will there be a significant break between the end of NAQT state and the start of the solo?

I just need ballpark estimates so I know what to tell my teammates.

jdeliverer wrote:To anyone who might know: How long is this expected to run? And will there be a significant break between the end of NAQT state and the start of the solo?

I just need ballpark estimates so I know what to tell my teammates.

This will depend on the length of the final, should there be one. If you want, email me your phone #, and I'll call once I can get an accurate estimate.

We're at this tournament now, awaiting the afternoon schedule. I won a copy of Everything That Rises Must Converge, giving today a rating of Great Success. Book choices were awesome.

The top six were Auburn, Stevenson, Ignatius, OPRF, Carbondale, and New Trier. New Trier was sixth, and I'm not sure the ordering of the top five. The stats are all compiled--they just have not been posted yet.

Word from Donald: Auburn cleared the field at 10-0 over Carbondale and OPRF, both at 8-2, Carbondale gets second on PPB. Stevenson and St. Ignatius tied at 2-3, Stevenson taking 4th on PPB.

I'll have more to say tomorrow (I'm dead tired right now), but Brad is correct. The top four teams were:
1. Auburn
2. Carbondale
3. Oak Park-River Forest A
4. Stevenson

I want to thank all coaches and players for coming to Fenton for what turned out to be an outstanding day of quiz bowl. I also want to thank the awesome staffers who made the tourney run like clockwork.

I'd like to extend my hearty, hearty congratulations to Mr. Laudermith for running an incredibly efficient tournament. We had ten rounds, plus two tiebreaker matches, plus a lunch period, and we were all done by 3:45 (9:00) start or so). The tournament was decided by 3:30. Take that, IHSA stalwarts.

One criticism I do have, but it didn't affect the outcome of this tournament, and it really isn't a huge deal. Between the volunteers and Donald Taylor, some really crazy stuff happened with stats, and we noticed mistakes here and there for our team (our PPB can't be right), and I'm sure these mistakes showed up with other teams. It could have been an issue if we were in a tie with anyone for records. Plus it looks bad, considering D-Taylor takes so much pride in stats.

Stats: prelims, playoffs

Please email any and all stats corrections to both me and Donald.

edit: I am told that the bottom two brackets are missing a game. When Donald enters those data and sends the stats to me again, I will post the fixed ones.

jonah wrote:Stats: prelims, playoffs

Please email any and all stats corrections to both me and Donald.

edit: I am told that the bottom two brackets are missing a game. When Donald enters those data and sends the stats to me again, I will post the fixed ones.

Some of the playoff stats are incomplete. Kudos to Mr. Laudermith and the Fenton helpers for a great tournament and a great end to the (legitimate) regular season.

Yeah i'd like to echo the congrats to Mr. Laudermith for running an excellent tournament and Donald for the job with all the stats. It was really fun to moderate and I enjoyed seeing everyone there.

Bonuses: Auburn 20 140 7.00, St. Ignatius 10 160 16.00

Something seems wrong there.

Top bracket is missing a match for every team.

As has already been said, I commend Mr. Laudermith on running this tournament so well.

I also hope the half-round he moderated between Dan and I wasn't too wild.

jdeliverer wrote:Bonuses: Auburn 20 140 7.00, St. Ignatius 10 160 16.00

Something seems wrong there.

Damnit. This comes from me accidentally giving Jonah the wrong version. I remember this error, and fixed it. In a game, Lloyd was listed as going 5-10-0, when it was 5-1-0.

I'll do my best to get Jonah the right stats tomorrow. All the games have been entered, it was just a mess with my flash drive not wanting to cooperate, and the chaos that was the wrap-up of the singles tournament.

Jacopo Robusti wrote:As has already been said, I commend Mr. Laudermith on running this tournament so well.

I also hope the half-round he moderated between Dan and I wasn't too wild.

The drama that was our bracket is worthy of an Oscar.

Dan-Don wrote:

Jacopo Robusti wrote:As has already been said, I commend Mr. Laudermith on running this tournament so well.

I also hope the half-round he moderated between Dan and I wasn't too wild.

The drama that was our bracket is worthy of an Oscar.

It was identical to the drama in another bracket. Plagiarism doesn't win. Even I know that, and I'm not even my team's Fine Arts: Cinema specialist, even though I know a thing or two about Anchorman.

Once again, I want to thank all of the teams that came to the NAQT State Championship. As I said in the coaches meeting yesterday, it is a great honor for Fenton to host an event featuring the most intellectually talented students in the state. If anyone (players, coaches, or staff) has suggestions for how to improve next year's tournament, please send them to me ([email protected]).

A few post-tournament thoughts:
1. We are working on getting updated and corrected stats online ASAP.
2. I too am thoroughly impressed with how quickly and efficiently this tournament ran. I scheduled lunch to be delivered at 11:30 and that still wasn't early enough. I credit the great moderators and scorekeepers we had.
3. Congratulations to Auburn, Carbondale, OPRF, and Stevenson!

Good luck to all teams competing in next Saturday's "state championship" and good luck to all teams at Regionals.

MLaudermith wrote:Congratulations to Auburn, Carbondale, OPRF, and Stevenson!

So Stevenson is now qualified for HSNCT, yes?

Dan-Don wrote:

MLaudermith wrote:Congratulations to Auburn, Carbondale, OPRF, and Stevenson!

So Stevenson is now qualified for HSNCT, yes?

I don't think so, unless this is another example of NAQT not updating its damn website:

http://naqt.com/hsnct/reserved-berths.html

Pretty sure they qualified through their league, unless they managed to lose said league, or I'm misremembering that said league uses NAQT questions.