Sword Bowl: collegiate academic QB at UTC 1/27/07
Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 4:14 am
As promised, the UTC Academic Trivia Association will host our 9th annual Sword Bowl on Sat., Jan. 27, 2007. This will be a one-day academic quizbowl tournament, held on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Here are the basics:
1) Sword Bowl is geared toward less experienced teams with relatively easy questions, though we will have a senior division.
2) Packet submission is optional with discounts for junior division teams, but is expected for all senior division teams.
3) Base fee is $100 per team, but discounts can be earned to bring that as low as $40.
4) If UTC is too far afield, there are mirror events the same day in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
Full details follow below..
SCHEDULE: Registration will begin at 9 AM 1/27/07, with announcements and schedule adjustments at 9:45 and tournament play beginning at 10 AM. Tournament HQ will be Grote Hall on the UTC campus; see directions below. We hope to be into playoffs by 7:30 PM and finished by 8:30, but experience has taught us never to make any promises on when we finish.
REGISTRATION: Our only pre-registration requirements are that you tell us:
- How many teams to expect
- In which division each team will compete
- Whether or not each team plans to submit a packet
- How many buzzers and officials (if any) you expect to bring
Please mail this information to utcquizbowl [at] gmail [dot] com. Also, if your team includes players with disabilities or access issues, it will simplify things if you let us know in advance. That way we can take it into account when scheduling (building changes, etc.)
Payment, rosters, etc., can be handled on the day of the tournament. Payment is expected on tournament day unless arranged otherwise in advance. If you need an invoice or other official paperwork in advance, let us know and we'll be happy to oblige.
MIRROR EVENTS: Sword Bowl will be mirrored on the same day at the following sites:
Drake University
University of Oklahoma
University of Louisiana-Lafayette
Details of their respective events will be announced separately. We are also seeking hosts for mirror events on the West Coast and in the Northeast. Please contact us at utcquizbowl [at] gmail [dot] com if interested.
ELIGIBILITY: Teams may be composed of up to four current students from the same college or university; alternates are allowed, with substitutions between matches only. Schools may bring more than one team. The main division will be "junior bird," or what we usually call Division II. To avoid confusion, we'll call it the junior division below. To be eligible for the junior division, a team must be composed entirely of players must be in their first or second year of intercollegiate play. Players for two-year community colleges are allowed a third year of eligibility. [Note: experience in CBCI or HCASC does not count against the eligibility requirement.] Teams with players having more than two years' intercollegiate experience will compete in the senior division.
FEES: As noted above, junior division teams are not required to submit a packet, but we do encourage it and offer big financial incentives for doing so. Senior division teams are expected to submit a packet, with financial penalties if they don't. Packets must be unique to each *team*, and blind to all other teams, with one exception. If a school has teams in each division and those teams wish to collaborate on one packet, they may do so, provided that (a) only one team in each division is involved and (b) the packets are clearly labeled to make sure we schedule accordingly. Those joint submissions and any discounts/penalties will apply toward the senior division requirement only.
Teams can earn further substantial discounts by writing rounds of high school and/or trash questions for UTC's future use.
Base fee: $100 per team
Minimum fee: $40
Packet discounts:
[Note that junior (or senior) division packet refers to the team submitting it. The same packets will be used for both divisions, written to the same specifications below.]
-$30 for packet received by midnight Sun., Jan. 7, 2007 (regardless of team's division)
-$15 for junior division packet received after 1/7/07, but by midnight Mon., Jan. 15, 2007
Senior division teams are expected to submit a packet, with no discount or penalty if received by midnight Mon., Jan. 15, 2007.
-$15 for each original high school academic packet submitted by midnight Thurs., Jan. 25, 2007 [see note in specs below]
-$15 for each original trash packet submitted by midnight Thurs., Jan. 25, 2007 [e-mail us for specs if needed]
Other discounts:
-$5 for working lockout buzzer system (one discount per team unless we're short of buzzers)
-$10 for competent full-time official [plus dinner at Provino's Sat. night if you can join us]
-$30 for teams making their first appearance at UTC
Packet penalties:
+$15 for senior division packet submitted after 1/15/07, but by midnight Sun., Jan. 21, 2007 -- allowed only if we are notified by 1/15 so we know how to plan
+$40 for senior division team submitting no packet
+$60 for clear evidence of plagiarism
PACKET SPECIFICATIONS:
DESTINATION: Your genial quizmaster Charlie Steinhice will serve as editor-in-chief, with assistance from our mirror event partners. Since UTC hopes to field a house team, please send packets to steinhice [at] gmail [dot] com, rather than the UTC team e-mail address listed above for registration.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: While we have opened a senior division, ***Sword Bowl is still aimed at the junior bird level.*** This means we intend to have easier questions than the current circuit standard for four-year schools. While not beginning with giveaway clues, most tossups should be answerable by most teams by the end of the question. Bonuses should be such that a novice team stands a good chance of getting at least 10 pts., a good team 20, and the best teams all 30 pts. If you’re just dying to ask something that’s pretty obscure, at least confine it to one bonus part. Anyone who would like sample questions, please let me know and I'll e-mail you some.
EXCLUSIVITY: We can't stress this enough: Packets must be unique to each *team*, and blind to all other teams including the others from your school. The only exception: If a school has teams in each division and those teams wish to collaborate on one packet, they may do so, provided that (a) only one team in each division is involved and (b) the packets are clearly labeled to make sure we schedule accordingly. Those joint submissions and any discounts/penalties will apply toward the senior division requirement only. Since we have multiple mirrors scheduled, questions must be original and blind to teams elsewhere in the country. Please do not play-test them online in advance.
FORMAT:
-- Please arrange questions separately by category. If you want to make life easier for us, separate tossups and bonuses, and use the order of categories below.
-- Please e-mail the packet as either an MS Word or RTF file, with the essential parts of the answer in bold and underlined.
-- Make sure the words “for ten pointsâ€
Here are the basics:
1) Sword Bowl is geared toward less experienced teams with relatively easy questions, though we will have a senior division.
2) Packet submission is optional with discounts for junior division teams, but is expected for all senior division teams.
3) Base fee is $100 per team, but discounts can be earned to bring that as low as $40.
4) If UTC is too far afield, there are mirror events the same day in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
Full details follow below..
SCHEDULE: Registration will begin at 9 AM 1/27/07, with announcements and schedule adjustments at 9:45 and tournament play beginning at 10 AM. Tournament HQ will be Grote Hall on the UTC campus; see directions below. We hope to be into playoffs by 7:30 PM and finished by 8:30, but experience has taught us never to make any promises on when we finish.
REGISTRATION: Our only pre-registration requirements are that you tell us:
- How many teams to expect
- In which division each team will compete
- Whether or not each team plans to submit a packet
- How many buzzers and officials (if any) you expect to bring
Please mail this information to utcquizbowl [at] gmail [dot] com. Also, if your team includes players with disabilities or access issues, it will simplify things if you let us know in advance. That way we can take it into account when scheduling (building changes, etc.)
Payment, rosters, etc., can be handled on the day of the tournament. Payment is expected on tournament day unless arranged otherwise in advance. If you need an invoice or other official paperwork in advance, let us know and we'll be happy to oblige.
MIRROR EVENTS: Sword Bowl will be mirrored on the same day at the following sites:
Drake University
University of Oklahoma
University of Louisiana-Lafayette
Details of their respective events will be announced separately. We are also seeking hosts for mirror events on the West Coast and in the Northeast. Please contact us at utcquizbowl [at] gmail [dot] com if interested.
ELIGIBILITY: Teams may be composed of up to four current students from the same college or university; alternates are allowed, with substitutions between matches only. Schools may bring more than one team. The main division will be "junior bird," or what we usually call Division II. To avoid confusion, we'll call it the junior division below. To be eligible for the junior division, a team must be composed entirely of players must be in their first or second year of intercollegiate play. Players for two-year community colleges are allowed a third year of eligibility. [Note: experience in CBCI or HCASC does not count against the eligibility requirement.] Teams with players having more than two years' intercollegiate experience will compete in the senior division.
FEES: As noted above, junior division teams are not required to submit a packet, but we do encourage it and offer big financial incentives for doing so. Senior division teams are expected to submit a packet, with financial penalties if they don't. Packets must be unique to each *team*, and blind to all other teams, with one exception. If a school has teams in each division and those teams wish to collaborate on one packet, they may do so, provided that (a) only one team in each division is involved and (b) the packets are clearly labeled to make sure we schedule accordingly. Those joint submissions and any discounts/penalties will apply toward the senior division requirement only.
Teams can earn further substantial discounts by writing rounds of high school and/or trash questions for UTC's future use.
Base fee: $100 per team
Minimum fee: $40
Packet discounts:
[Note that junior (or senior) division packet refers to the team submitting it. The same packets will be used for both divisions, written to the same specifications below.]
-$30 for packet received by midnight Sun., Jan. 7, 2007 (regardless of team's division)
-$15 for junior division packet received after 1/7/07, but by midnight Mon., Jan. 15, 2007
Senior division teams are expected to submit a packet, with no discount or penalty if received by midnight Mon., Jan. 15, 2007.
-$15 for each original high school academic packet submitted by midnight Thurs., Jan. 25, 2007 [see note in specs below]
-$15 for each original trash packet submitted by midnight Thurs., Jan. 25, 2007 [e-mail us for specs if needed]
Other discounts:
-$5 for working lockout buzzer system (one discount per team unless we're short of buzzers)
-$10 for competent full-time official [plus dinner at Provino's Sat. night if you can join us]
-$30 for teams making their first appearance at UTC
Packet penalties:
+$15 for senior division packet submitted after 1/15/07, but by midnight Sun., Jan. 21, 2007 -- allowed only if we are notified by 1/15 so we know how to plan
+$40 for senior division team submitting no packet
+$60 for clear evidence of plagiarism
PACKET SPECIFICATIONS:
DESTINATION: Your genial quizmaster Charlie Steinhice will serve as editor-in-chief, with assistance from our mirror event partners. Since UTC hopes to field a house team, please send packets to steinhice [at] gmail [dot] com, rather than the UTC team e-mail address listed above for registration.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: While we have opened a senior division, ***Sword Bowl is still aimed at the junior bird level.*** This means we intend to have easier questions than the current circuit standard for four-year schools. While not beginning with giveaway clues, most tossups should be answerable by most teams by the end of the question. Bonuses should be such that a novice team stands a good chance of getting at least 10 pts., a good team 20, and the best teams all 30 pts. If you’re just dying to ask something that’s pretty obscure, at least confine it to one bonus part. Anyone who would like sample questions, please let me know and I'll e-mail you some.
EXCLUSIVITY: We can't stress this enough: Packets must be unique to each *team*, and blind to all other teams including the others from your school. The only exception: If a school has teams in each division and those teams wish to collaborate on one packet, they may do so, provided that (a) only one team in each division is involved and (b) the packets are clearly labeled to make sure we schedule accordingly. Those joint submissions and any discounts/penalties will apply toward the senior division requirement only. Since we have multiple mirrors scheduled, questions must be original and blind to teams elsewhere in the country. Please do not play-test them online in advance.
FORMAT:
-- Please arrange questions separately by category. If you want to make life easier for us, separate tossups and bonuses, and use the order of categories below.
-- Please e-mail the packet as either an MS Word or RTF file, with the essential parts of the answer in bold and underlined.
-- Make sure the words “for ten pointsâ€