The Quizbowl Resource Center

I know this is a bit late in the game, but Maryland has decided to host a Mid-Atlantic mirror of the Minnesota Open - a lot of people around here have expressed a desire to play the set (and the associated Lederberg science event) but can't make it out to Minneapolis, so we're going to run the main tournament as normal on the 17th and then either run science afterward or run science, and some combination of guerrilla sports, Cheynge Vanity Lit, and Fine Arts on Sunday. For details on the tournament set itself, see the original announcement at viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7704. In brief, it will be a decently hard tournament (I found last year's to fall between regionals and nationals, but that's just me) with powers and probably some cameos by various glaciers, and looks to be even better-edited than last year's extremely solid set.

PRICE
Base Fee: $120
Buzzer Discount: -$5
Moderator Discount: -$15 (can also be applied to the side event(s)

Additionally, we can work out shorthanded discounts as needed. All checks should be written to MAQT or Maryland Academic Quiz Team.

ELIGIBILITY
Unlike "invitational," the title of this tournament is an accurate reflection of what it is: everyone can play this tournament, regardless of school affiliation, and may form teams at leisure.

SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE COOL
I was thinking of trying to run this tournament with some kind of draft. That is, instead of doing the usual showing up in pre-set teams or whatever, we would have the appropriate number of captains draft from a pool of registered players. This would probably be done before the actual tournament to avoid delays. Basically, there've been rumblings about doing something like this for a main event for a while now, and I for one am quite curious to see how it would go - I rather think it could be quite a lot of fun. A few modifiers would go along with the process, though:
-You would still register as a team, so registration and payment would work the same way. Probably.
-Since the draft would happen pre-event (like Friday or whatever), we'd need rosters from everyone. Some summary of areas of specialization or other brief notes might also be helpful, but should be written only as NFL scouting combine reports ("Overaggressive at times - blows open field giveways while going for the big hit," "needs to work on coming out of his lunch break faster," "turns into Winston Justice on science tossups," etc.) or not at all.
-You can opt out of this - if there's not much interest in it, we won't do it, but we're not going to force anyone to participate. If a couple of teams aren't interested, they can play normally and the rest of the field will run the draft.
-If you have someone that you'd really like to play this tournament with (like, you wanted to hang out with a friend on another team or you're dating someone in the field or you can only participate in quizbowl if there's a mormon next to you), you can count as a single unit - that is, if someone took you in the first round, the two of you would be locked in as their first and second round picks. There are enough advantages/disadvantages to this that it seems likely to work out, but please don't use this just to play on a good team or whatever and subvert the experiment - if you don't want to do it, just opt out. The one exception I will make for this is if you want to feign a romance in order to pull it off, out of hope that it will trigger deep-rooted desires and MAQT will have spawned united another happy couple. But you have to make out at EFT in front of Liberty.

Feel free to chime in with feedback on these ideas, as well. Hope to see you on the 17th.

Sweet. Some number of Penn folks will surely show up to this.

Hey, I'm perfectly willing to let you guys use my set if you wish to. Just let me know who I'm supposed to be sending it to and when.

Bumping to encourage people to express interest - right now we've got George Berry (maybe?) and some number of Penn teams signed up, so get with the expressing.

On a related note, at the moment we're leaning toward running the science tournament Saturday night and the Fine Arts/Guerilla sports/vanity lit events Sunday, but it was suggested that we might try mirroring the FOGHAT trash set on Sunday instead. If people have opinions about that possibility, or the schedule itself (which is highly adjustable), they should send them along.


Field:
Maryland House 1-3
George Berry (+ friends?)
Penn A
Penn B
UVA
Doug Yetman
Dan Puma?

An unknown number of UVA people will be coming(at least myself).

I might be able to make this.

Field updated. Also, since we have a lot of people taking the train to this event already, there have been requests to go with a 9:45ish start time. This is pretty much when everything gets started anyway, so unless there are any major objections we'll go ahead and plan for it. This enables teams to catch the later train while still ensuring the tournament starts at a very reasonable time. Given that we're starting a bit later, I'd like to be able to tell all other teams to just roll in by 9:15-9:30 - just note that this really means 9:15 or 9:30. If you usually show up at these times anyway, then you're set - don't change a thing! We'll make sure sufficient logistical arrangements are made in advance so that we can be ready to read tossup 1 as soon as everyone arrives.

Hopefully, this start time will also make things easier on any NE folks who are considering coming down in the wake of the (possible?) cancellation of the MIT mirror.

If people could confirm any more details about who's coming, and particularly about whether you'll be staying just for Saturday (currently: MO and Lederberg Science) or for Sunday as well (Sports, Fine Arts, and one of FOGHAT trash/Cheyneapalooza/ACF pyramid/NAC rounds/Bryce Avery theme rounds depending on interest), that would be great. People should also feel free to wax poetic about the draft idea.

Based on my seeking of interest in the last 24 hours or so, we might only have one team, but we'll see for sure in a few days. The draft idea also intrigues me somewhat. I'll be playing Lederberg of course, but not any Sunday events.

I like the idea of a draft, but I also think it would be cool to play as Loyola for the first time, so I'm kind of leaning that I would prefer not to have one.

The draft sounds like a fine idea to me.

Should we end up going with the traditional system, though, it would be a pleasant change to play with teammates! If anyone's up for taking me on, just shoot me an email.

BTW, if any teams are planning to get a hotel room for Saturday night and would be willing to give up some floor space, I'd be very grateful - so grateful I'll even pay my share. And not smell like a hobo.

So, we're down to one undermanned team (2-3 people) unless my mass recruiting efforts at practice tonight work out.

DumbJaques wrote:Field updated. Also, since we have a lot of people taking the train to this event already, there have been requests to go with a 9:45ish start time.

Oh that's awesome. Much appreciated.

Still trying to lock down a final field for this event - there are a couple of Northeast people in flux, and I haven't heard from George or Penn regarding final status. If you could let me know ASAP, that'd be awesome.

We're stuck at 1 team (three people).

George isn't coming to this.

George isn't coming to this.

Are you (/anyone from VCU)?

Jeaton1 wrote:

George isn't coming to this.

Are you (/anyone from VCU)?

Evan's coming up with us.

Evan's coming up with us

Ok. Who's in this contingent, then, and are you bringing any buzzers (ie registration emails: your friend and mine)?

Just FYI, if you want my lit event, let me know at some point. All the packets are done and randomized.

DumbJaques wrote:

Evan's coming up with us

Ok. Who's in this contingent, then, and are you bringing any buzzers (ie registration emails: your friend and mine)?

By the way, we won't have buzzers as they are still in Providence.

Also, do we know where this is being held?

Lapego1 wrote:By the way, we won't have buzzers as they are still in Providence.

Oh shit, we meant to send those to you. I'll see if I can stuff them into my backpack and hand them off to Eric in Minnesota. My most sincere apologies!

grapesmoker wrote:

Lapego1 wrote:By the way, we won't have buzzers as they are still in Providence.

Oh shit, we meant to send those to you. I'll see if I can stuff them into my backpack and hand them off to Eric in Minnesota. My most sincere apologies!

Eh, don't worry about it. You can just send it to us later if it's easier. Knowing Eric, he'll probably forget them in Minnesota anyway, and THEN we'll be stuck.

Hey everyone,

With Chris and Jeremy both slated to play tomorrow, I'll be TD-ing the main MO festivities tomorrow, and so I wanted to give you guys some info on parking for tomorrow. We have a home football game, which makes parking stickier, and it's homecoming, which should only complicate matters further. Here is a map showing which lots/garages are covered by football parking:

http://www.transportation.umd.edu/parki ... allMap.pdf

And here is a general map of the campus with building and street names:

http://www.parking.umd.edu/themap/

BEST BET:
For the easiest parking, I'd park at a meter spot in front of either Cole Field House or Banneker, or behind St. Mary's. The bulk of these spots are now governed by solar-powered meters - there's a solar-powered kiosk within about 25 feet of each group of spots that allows you to pay either using a credit card or debit card, or with cash (must be exact change). It's $15 for a full day - given the clusterfuck that will inevitably around Lot 1/Union Drive Garage during tailgating/the aftermath of our loss to Virginia, I'd recommend just sitting your car here for the day. These spots should be available early in the morning, since tailgaters don't normally use meters and few other people have reason to be on campus at 9 a.m.

CHEAPEST OPTION:
For those of you who don't want to pay and don't mind a walk, Lots L and C2 (down by the armory, for those who know they're UMD geography) are open on weekends and SHOULD be free, though I highly advise paying attention to any and all signage - the Department of Transportation Services is notorious for doing shady stuff like changing parking restrictions with little to no warning. I'll swing by these lots tomorrow morning before the tournament to confirm that they are free for anyone who wishes to park in them.

OTHER PARKING:
If all the meters are taken and C2/L aren't available, Mowatt Lane Garage and Regents Drive Garage SHOULD be available to park in for similar rates as the metered spots, though they are further from Jimenez. Mowatt is the better bet, since it is further from the field and thus is less likely to have all its spots taken by folks coming out to the game - to get to Mowatt from the Beltway, take Rt. 1 south past the two main entrances of the university (North Gate and South Gate), turn right at Knox Road (there will be a pizzeria unfortunately named Ratsies on your right) and continue up the road until the garage appears on your right. To get to Regents, take Rt. 1 south, turn right at North Gate onto Campus Drive, and take your first right in the traffic circle around the M - the garage will be on your left. In both garages, pay close attention to signs as to where you can park. Mowatt has solar-paneled spots on the top floor; I assume Regents has a similar set up now, but I haven't parked there in over a year. In both cases, you will probably have to deal with DOTS staff telling you where you can park. They can be helpful or extremely disgruntled/purposefully misleading/power-trippy. Take this into account when listening to them.

QUICK ADVICE:
If for any reason you're unable to find parking at a suitable, all-day spot and are forced to park in a place you might get a ticket, park at one of the remaining white meter spaces, if possible, that are scattered about the area - I know there are two right near St. Mary's Hall, which is adjacent to Jimenez. These are two-hour, coin-operated meters ($3/hour), but if they run out while you are paying, the resulting ticket is $15, essentially the equivalent of a full day of parking at a solar meter. Plus, since you are a visitor, you stand a decent chance of successfully protesting the ticket. DO NOT park in a lot that has anything to do with tailgating without a permit- the fines for those lots are in the neighborhood of $75 and are impossible to protest.

If you have any questions, feel free to call or text me tomorrow morning at 443-472-2535, as I'll be unable to access the internet from 3 p.m. today until getting on campus tomorrow morning. Thanks!

CORRECTION TO ABOVE POST:
It seems as if a few of the spots in front of Cole Field House are now being used tomorrow for game day parking. This still leaves the meters in front of Banneker, as well as Mowatt, Regents, Lot C2, Lot L, and possibly Union Lane - according to one of the signs, Union Lane (extremely convenient - located next to Stamp Student Union and essentially across the street from Jimenez) will have solar metered spots available.

Trying to get a wicked virus of my computer at the moment -- stats will be posted when this problem is solved.

Stats are up and here: http://results.scobo.net/SQBS.aspx?org= ... =standings

Thanks to everyone who came, Minnesota for producing a good set and we hope you enjoyed yourselves.

Jeaton1 wrote:Stats are up and here: http://results.scobo.net/SQBS.aspx?org= ... =standings

Thanks to everyone who came, Minnesota for producing a good set and we hope you enjoyed yourselves.

Thanks to Maryland for hosting a very enjoyable (if small) tournament, and apologies for the later-than-expected arrival.

Did the last Penn-Puma game not happen, or is the scoresheet simply missing?

Theory Of The Leisure Flask wrote:Did the last Penn-Puma game not happen, or is the scoresheet simply missing?

Puma had to leave, so it never happened.