The Quizbowl Resource Center

Hello friends,

I am pleased to announce João, a solo myth singles single-subject shootout teams-of-one side event tournament slated for the 2017 NAQT High School National Championship Tournament (HSNCT). João is a tossups-only side event with questions taken from my own recovered material from BURI, as well as a small number of new questions I will write hopefully not too long after I make this post.

There will be between twenty (20) and thirty (30) tossups total, so the side event should take no more than fifteen (15) to twenty (20) minutes. Tossups are between five (5) and six (6) lines in 10pt Times New Roman with one-inch margins. There will be negs and powers.

Due to the nature of my contribution to BURI, the distribution for João will be extremely irregular. It currently is as follows:

8 British Isles
5 South Asia
4 Ancient Near East
2 Miscellaneous
1 Greek

(current as of 25 May 2017)

I will update the distribution as I continue to write questions.

In the event that there is more than a roomful of interested people, I am open to suggestions about the event format, due to the restriction that there is only one packet.

The registration fee is $10 per person. There is a $10 discount for any person who attends wearing, or otherwise in possession of, a non-baseball-cap hat (e.g. a ten-gallon hat, a sombrero, a hard hat, etc.). There is a $10 penalty for any person who attends wearing, or otherwise in possession of, a fedora. The $10 fedora penalty overrides the $10 hat discount (i.e. a person wearing a fedora will receive the $10 fedora penalty, but not the $10 hat discount, and will pay $20).

To register for João, simply reply to this thread saying so. If you're merely expressing interest and not actually registering, please make that clear so I don't accidentally put down your name.

FIELD:
1. Andrew Wang
2. Rob Carson
3. Young Fenimore Lee
4. Mike Etzkorn
5. Neelav Dutta
6. Eric Chen
7. Saul Hankin
8. Walter Zhao
9. Tejas Raje
10. Matt Forster
11. Hernan Morales
12. Dylan Minarik
13. Jakob Myers
14. Shawn Yoshida
15. Eliza Grames
16. Jasper Lee
17. Anthony DiCarlo

ill play

To make this clear, due to a number of messages I've received and the unfortunate date on which I announced João, this is not a joke announcement. This is an actual event.

I own a hat and want to play 20 to 30 tossups.

Myth isn't my thing but I will rent you a super-comfortable ushanka for $3. It looks like this but I'm not positive I know where the pin is ($1 extra if you want it and I can find it). Only people with clean hair need apply.

Kippot $1 (regardless of hair cleanliness; I won't need them back).

I'll play, I'm bad

I knew wearing beanies would eventually pay for itself.

I'll definitely play

I'll play, though I suppose I'll need a hat.

I'll play

I will probably not be at HSNCT but is a trilby ok

I'll throw my...

[ puts on sunglasses ]

...hat...into the ring.

If I get a single tossup, I'll consider the evening a success.

need a ruling on porkpie hats

Y'all are really pushing me to the limit here. Trilbies and pork pie hats are okay but try to bring ones that look the least like a fedora.

I'll play.

Nevermind.

I will play this.

Assuming this does not conflict with the other side events happening at HSNCT, I would be glad to moderate if needed.

I'm down, any idea what time?

plz read in IRC for us plebs who aren't at HSNCT

k thx

I will definitely play this if it is Saturday. Now I need a hat

Zef wrote:Assuming this does not conflict with the other side events happening at HSNCT, I would be glad to moderate if needed.

Thanks! I'll keep you posted.

Pretty Fly for a 老外 wrote:I'm down, any idea what time?

I reckon this won't take more than fifteen (15) to twenty (20) minutes, so probably Friday night or first thing after Saturday prelims.

Also: there are more than eight (8) people registered. There are only twenty (20) or so tossups. Any ideas for formats?

Eh, why not, I'll play this and not get any questions. Will have a sick hat, of course.

Eddie wrote: Also: there are more than eight (8) people registered. There are only twenty (20) or so tossups. Any ideas for formats?

Random teams?

I guess I'll do this just to make it an even number. Expect a total buzzer rock (and not even a fun one).
EDIT: my teammate Shawn Yoshida who is actually good at this sort of thing is also playing.

Pretty Fly for a 老外 wrote:

Eddie wrote: Also: there are more than eight (8) people registered. There are only twenty (20) or so tossups. Any ideas for formats?

Random teams?

I meant more like, we have thirteen (13) people registered, and we obviously can't have everyone play in one (1) room. There aren't enough questions to have multiple rounds. Just having a shootout in two (2) separate rooms is a possibility, but not an ideal situation since some people won't be playing others at all.

Okay, I've had an idea over croutons and panini this morning.

If I bring up tossup count to exactly twenty (20), we can cap the field at sixteen (16) and run João as a double-elimination tournament in teams of two. That is, there will be four (4) rounds of five (5) tossups each, with the winning team remaining in the winner's bracket and the losing team dropping to the loser's bracket. Teams that lose in the loser's bracket will drop to the consolation room, to which I've given the temporary name "THE BLACK HOLE OF ATLANTA." Teams in the consolation room can come and go at any time they please, and the consolation room would be open for free to people who've not registered.

This would probably be the fairest way to determine a "winner." On the downside, it would require four (4) rooms and there would be a fair amount of room swapping that would make the event run longer, probably closer to thirty (30) to forty-five (45) minutes.

This may be a good idea, or one of my worst yet. Thoughts?

This really has nothing to do with me, but if I may add my two cents: This isn't really a side event, since you're only providing 20 questions. I wouldn't worry too much about crowning a winner.

gyre and gimble wrote:This really has nothing to do with me, but if I may add my two cents: This isn't really a side event, since you're only providing 20 questions. I wouldn't worry too much about crowning a winner.

As a non-myth player, I still feel this to be the most important hat-wearing side event of the year.

Yeah, I tend to agree with Stephen: mostly people just want to hear the questions; don't worry too much about providing some sort of format that determines a winner. I'd still encourage you to write more questions (always!) and run it in a couple rooms, so people can self-select on difficulty a bit--four five-person shootouts is generally a bit more enjoyable than one 20-person one.

Okay, after deliberation on sesame and croissants this evening, I've decided to take everyone's advice and just hold a small number of shootouts across various rooms, depending on how many people show. Thanks for the help !!

Depending on when this is run, I want to play and would prefer that it be on Saturday night. Also, do silly bows count as hats?

I'll play the questions, even though I don't have a hat :(

Since João won't take longer than fifteen (15) minutes, I want to run it right after Saturday rounds so people have time to transition to other side events, etc.

eliza.grames wrote:Also, do silly bows count as hats?

Depends - are you wearing it on your head?

If still possible, please sign up Anthony DiCarlo for the HSNCT 2017 iteration.

Eddie wrote:Since João won't take longer than fifteen (15) minutes, I want to run it right after Saturday rounds so people have time to transition to other side events, etc.

eliza.grames wrote:Also, do silly bows count as hats?

Depends - are you wearing it on your head?

Of course!

Great !! It's a hat.

Hi everyone,

I'm still looking for at least one (1) more moderator at this point in time. We have three (3) healthy mods right now but things are looking like we'll need at least four (4) rooms.

Please message or other contact me if you're interested. Thanks !!

EDIT: Also some specifications:

There are twenty (20) tossups that are power- and superpower-marked, worth fifteen (15) and twenty (20) points, respectively. We are starting after Saturday games, so probably close to 7:45 PM. We are meeting on the MARQUIS level. We are splitting into however many rooms I can procure moderators for. It'll be a one-round shootout for funsies. It's $10 to play unless you have a non-fedora, non-baseball cap hat. We should be done by 8:15 PM.

I'd like to play, but will read if needed.

Captain Sinico wrote:I'd like to play, but will read if needed.

Thanks for volunteering - there's about a fifty-fifty chance I'll need an extra mod at this point.

Where should we meet? This whole floor's pretty big! I nominate the couches outside the Imperial Ballroom, near the elevator shafts.

Nomination accepted.

Rooms M101, M102, M103, and M105 seem suitable.

howdy y'all its time for the hoe-down i see seventeen (17) people signed up but theres only four (4) cowfolk gathered hither so y'all better bring your asses on down here asap

YO WE'RE STARTING IN FIVE (5) MINUTES MARQUIS LEVEL BY THE INTERNATIONAL BALLROOM IF WE'RE NOT HERE WHEN YOU COME WE'RE IN M101

sail wonned

Will this packet be posted at some point ?

Doga (Dog Yoga) wrote:Will this packet be posted at some point ?

Good idea, but let me see if anyone's down for an IRC reading first.

Eddie wrote:

Doga (Dog Yoga) wrote:Will this packet be posted at some point ?

Good idea, but let me see if anyone's down for an IRC reading first.

yo

Eddie wrote:

Doga (Dog Yoga) wrote:Will this packet be posted at some point ?

Good idea, but let me see if anyone's down for an IRC reading first.

I would definitely play an IRC reading.