San Diego Academic League Questions
San Diego Academic League Questions
Hello, all. I have a strange question - where would be the best place to obtain DECENT one-to-two-line-long questions that prize buzzer speed over depth of knowledge, include computational math, and are easy enough for the majority of high school sophomores to get? I'm a QB player from San Diego, where the predominant high school format is Academic League, which asks questions exactly like the ones I described above. We've been running out of questions in practice, so the coaches have required that players look into buying more AL question sets. As for why we don't just utilize Stanford's excellent archive...practicing on pyramidal packets just doesn't prepare us for the "buzz first, think later" mentality.
...I am of course banging my head repeatedly on the desk right now. Since starting NAQT, I've come to despise AL's format, with gems such as the ones below that Chip Beale would be proud of (and probably wrote).
Comp Math: Given an angle of 36 degrees, convert it into radians. Express your answer in simplified fraction form.
CLOOS: This art style is characterized by use of expressive, violent brushstroke and...(at which point everyone in Art History falls comatose until an artist is mentioned).
BS Trivia: What is a hallux? (a big toe)
Yet this is the format officially sanctioned by our school as well as the reason our QB club even exists. I would like to complain somehow about question quality, but the AL system is run by an entire board of directors, includes most of the schools in our district, and is an ongoing behemoth of epic proportions. So...do questions like the ones I mentioned above exist?
(And, does anyone have any suggestions as to how I and other good-QB advocates may be able to persuade the AL system to change its question policy from coach-submitted packets to...well, better questions in general? I'm graduating this year, but I certainly don't want to leave my teammates to inanity year after year. If you're interested, the AL rules can be found at a link on this page.)
...I am of course banging my head repeatedly on the desk right now. Since starting NAQT, I've come to despise AL's format, with gems such as the ones below that Chip Beale would be proud of (and probably wrote).
Comp Math: Given an angle of 36 degrees, convert it into radians. Express your answer in simplified fraction form.
CLOOS: This art style is characterized by use of expressive, violent brushstroke and...(at which point everyone in Art History falls comatose until an artist is mentioned).
BS Trivia: What is a hallux? (a big toe)
Yet this is the format officially sanctioned by our school as well as the reason our QB club even exists. I would like to complain somehow about question quality, but the AL system is run by an entire board of directors, includes most of the schools in our district, and is an ongoing behemoth of epic proportions. So...do questions like the ones I mentioned above exist?
(And, does anyone have any suggestions as to how I and other good-QB advocates may be able to persuade the AL system to change its question policy from coach-submitted packets to...well, better questions in general? I'm graduating this year, but I certainly don't want to leave my teammates to inanity year after year. If you're interested, the AL rules can be found at a link on this page.)
-redacted-
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Take a look at the 2001 New Trier Scobol packets from the Stanford Archive. I think they are at least close to what you are looking for.
Jonathan Graham
Beavercreek HS 1999-2003, Ohio State 2003-2007, Wright State (possibly playing)2012-2015
moderator/scorekeeper at some tournaments in Ohio, and sometimes elsewhere
"Ohio has a somewhat fractured quizbowl circuit, with a few small pockets of intense competition (like in Mahoning County) and with the rest scattered around the state."-Chris Chiego
Beavercreek HS 1999-2003, Ohio State 2003-2007, Wright State (possibly playing)2012-2015
moderator/scorekeeper at some tournaments in Ohio, and sometimes elsewhere
"Ohio has a somewhat fractured quizbowl circuit, with a few small pockets of intense competition (like in Mahoning County) and with the rest scattered around the state."-Chris Chiego
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- Rikku
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Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Good luck Kai.Doug Heflin wrote to me in an email wrote:Dear Zhao,
Thank you for your email and concern with improving Academic League. About all I can say is: The Academic League format IS the Academic League format. All four academic leagues in SD County, which compete for the county championship, are based on this format. Our questions are written by our coaches, along with some moderators and the Question Chair, and are based, as much as possible, on our curricula. Some of the other leagues purchase their questions from a national company, not necessarily relevant to our high school curricula.
I like your ideas for questions. Perhaps they could lead to another type of academic competition. If your school participates in Academic Decathlon, you might look into it, as the competition is more along the lines of what you are looking for.
Hopefully, you can continue to enjoy NCAL for what it is, as well.
Thanks!
Doug Heflin
NCAL Commissioner
Zhao Zhang
Rancho Bernardo High School '09
Rancho Bernardo High School '09
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
pfft. Thanks, Zhao. So what they're saying is "we don't give a crap about 'good quizbowl' because THIS IS ACADEMIC LEAGUE. And it matches what our schools teach kids." At least now I know for sure that it's the coaches' fault that we have such horrible questions year after year.
If I wanted to be lectured about "school curricula" outside of class I would go take interesting courses at UCSD, not play QB. Besides...how in the hell is Academic Decathlon anything like QB?
And thanks for recommending New Trier Scobol...although they're still too long. I guess I could always cut out everything except the final giveaway clue from each question, tho..
If I wanted to be lectured about "school curricula" outside of class I would go take interesting courses at UCSD, not play QB. Besides...how in the hell is Academic Decathlon anything like QB?
And thanks for recommending New Trier Scobol...although they're still too long. I guess I could always cut out everything except the final giveaway clue from each question, tho..
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Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
You don't actually want short questions. Reacting really quickly to a clue is already rewarded with long, pyramidal questions. You just want to react as quickly as possible to the first clue that you know, because it's very possible that someone else is buzzing on that clue too. So if you want to get better at buzzer-beaters, get better at buzzing on other types of questions. Even if you don't believe what I'm telling you, consider it cross-training.
And in any event, practicing with longer questions will make you better at forms of quizbowl other than the one run by the SDAL or whatever.
And in any event, practicing with longer questions will make you better at forms of quizbowl other than the one run by the SDAL or whatever.
Andrew Watkins
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Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Yeah, I would tell your coaches that it is completely worthless to spend time preparing on NCAL-like questions, and to instead pour all of that energy into becoming deeper, more well rounded players through practicing on pyramidal questions. There is only so much reflex practice you can perform before it boils down to who is naturally faster, and in the meantime your skills will go out the window at good quizbowl. I played for 3 years in the Missouri format, and I can tell you that we hardly ever cared about preparing for the crap they fed us, and I instead just prepared for nationals, and in the process went on to have no problem just coasting off of the abilities I gained from preparing for NAQT and PACE to win 2 state championships, one of which was on an especially abhorrent Avery set. Andy is completely right that if you want to be fast, you can already do that by buzzing in as quickly as you can once you recognize a fact in a pyramidal question - that aspect of play really is exactly the same between the two formats. If you really want questions with math calculation in them, you probably can already get enough to keep sharp in NAQT IS sets.
Anyway, trust me from extensive experience when I say you will lose nothing by preparing exclusively for pyramidal events, and you will certainly gain a better appreciation for all of your knowledge, wheras you gain nothing by preparing for bad quizbowl but lose out on all kinds of opportunities to learn things for the good stuff.
Anyway, trust me from extensive experience when I say you will lose nothing by preparing exclusively for pyramidal events, and you will certainly gain a better appreciation for all of your knowledge, wheras you gain nothing by preparing for bad quizbowl but lose out on all kinds of opportunities to learn things for the good stuff.
Charlie Dees, North Kansas City HS '08
"I won't say more because I know some of you parse everything I say." - Jeremy Gibbs
"At one TJ tournament the neg prize was the Hampshire College ultimate frisbee team (nude) calender featuring one Evan Silberman. In retrospect that could have been a disaster." - Harry White
"I won't say more because I know some of you parse everything I say." - Jeremy Gibbs
"At one TJ tournament the neg prize was the Hampshire College ultimate frisbee team (nude) calender featuring one Evan Silberman. In retrospect that could have been a disaster." - Harry White
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Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Decathlon is nothing like Quiz Bowl, but that doesn't mean you can't have your own circuit. Many other parts of the country do this successfully as long as the powers that have full buy-in from your administration don't try to squelch it. You can also get other questions for practice like HSAPQ, NAQT, or even a few college-run programs in Los Angeles who write their own questions. More importantly, I'd do my best to go at least once to a local event, say at UC Irvine or UCLA.
As this is hierarchy we are talking about, very few administrators are that willing to give students a voice if it does not come with the equally vociferous support of your advisor or appropriate administrator at the same level as the ones represented on the board. (That is to say, your principal's views won't even impress any district superintendent on the board.)
As this is hierarchy we are talking about, very few administrators are that willing to give students a voice if it does not come with the equally vociferous support of your advisor or appropriate administrator at the same level as the ones represented on the board. (That is to say, your principal's views won't even impress any district superintendent on the board.)
Emil Thomas Chuck, Ph.D.
Founder, PACE
Facebook junkie and unofficial advisor to aspiring health professionals in quiz bowl
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Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
About 2 out of 3 Q uestions G alore TU fit the description. Unfortunately, they periodically have a blah-blah-blah-then-a-question questions.Kaisuopai wrote:Hello, all. I have a strange question - where would be the best place to obtain DECENT one-to-two-line-long questions that prize buzzer speed over depth of knowledge, include computational math, and are easy enough for the majority of high school sophomores to get?
Jeff Price
Barrington High School Coach (2021 & 2023 HSNCT Champions, 2023 PACE Champions, 2023 Illinois Masonic Bowl Class 3A State Champions)
Barrington Station Middle School Coach (2013 MSNCT Champions, 2013 & 2017 Illinois Class AA State Champions)
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Barrington High School Coach (2021 & 2023 HSNCT Champions, 2023 PACE Champions, 2023 Illinois Masonic Bowl Class 3A State Champions)
Barrington Station Middle School Coach (2013 MSNCT Champions, 2013 & 2017 Illinois Class AA State Champions)
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- Matt Weiner
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Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
There is, by definition, no such thing as a good two-line question.
I agree with the suggestion to just stop caring about Academic League; the "NCAL Commissioner" has made it clear that he does not care about your experience, and you have no duty to care about his "I'm a game show host!" fantasy camp, or about that ridiculous talking point about the curriculum that is used to defend every kind of bad question nationwide.
I agree with the suggestion to just stop caring about Academic League; the "NCAL Commissioner" has made it clear that he does not care about your experience, and you have no duty to care about his "I'm a game show host!" fantasy camp, or about that ridiculous talking point about the curriculum that is used to defend every kind of bad question nationwide.
Matt Weiner
Advisor to Quizbowl at Virginia Commonwealth University / Founder of hsquizbowl.org
Advisor to Quizbowl at Virginia Commonwealth University / Founder of hsquizbowl.org
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Based on analogous personal experience, I second Charlie's comment about how it won't hurt your chances at winning state championships in idiotic formats if you practice only on pyramidal tossup-bonus questions.
Kyle Haddad-Fonda
Harvard '09
Oxford '13
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Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
I'll third Charlie's statement. Two years ago, one of the Illinois state tournaments was run on questions that were beyond horrible--far, far worse than the IHSA questions that everybody complains about. Out of over 200 teams, the Championship came down to two teams that pushed very hard for quality questions and practiced on quality questions.
Also, keep writing letters that point out better alternatives, and encourage others to do likewise. I would challenge anybody to find a question from a typical HSAPQ round that is farther outside of any curriculum than hallux. It would be nice if a coach could point out that the purpose of the competition is to encourage and reward students rather than provide a platform for some committee's poor questions.
Also, keep writing letters that point out better alternatives, and encourage others to do likewise. I would challenge anybody to find a question from a typical HSAPQ round that is farther outside of any curriculum than hallux. It would be nice if a coach could point out that the purpose of the competition is to encourage and reward students rather than provide a platform for some committee's poor questions.
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
My own input as a former AL player is exactly this. Our coach would exhort us to look over lists and practice repeatedly on the same packet (!) to nail down our speed, but none of us ever put effort into that. Pyramidal questions were naturally more interesting, and contain buzzer races that somewhat mirror the experience of playing speedchecks. I'd just practice with very easy ones regardless, and tell your coach that no set that fits the AL descriptions is available for free (which is actually mostly true for being a lie)Matt Weiner wrote:There is, by definition, no such thing as a good two-line question.
I agree with the suggestion to just stop caring about Academic League; the "NCAL Commissioner" has made it clear that he does not care about your experience, and you have no duty to care about his "I'm a game show host!" fantasy camp, or about that ridiculous talking point about the curriculum that is used to defend every kind of bad question nationwide.
Auroni Gupta (she/her)
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
So, theoretically, coaches who actually know good quizbowl (of which there are few, but I'm pretty sure not zero) could write things like 4-line questions? Also, is there any indication of where the non-NCAL Academic League leagues purchase their questions? Kai, given the Doug Heflin response, I'd be highly surprised to find out that your league doesn't purchase questions from some terrible vendor like QG or Avery.Doug Heflin wrote:Our questions are written by our coaches...Some of the other leagues purchase their questions from a national company, not necessarily relevant to our high school curricula.
Who are these moderators? I think Jon Wong from Irvine is one such moderator, and while not the best question writer, he at least knows what good quizbowl looks like. I have never heard of Question Chair John Gramley. Is he associated with some school? Are there term limits for the offices of Commissioner/Question Chair and if so how does one go about instituting someone who actually knows good quizbowl in these offices?Doug Heflin wrote:along with some moderators and the Question Chair
HAHA Academic LeagueNCAL Rules: Moderator Duties wrote:2.7.3 Research alternate answers to questions in field(s) of expertise prior to match...
2.7.7 Return the question corrections to the Moderator Chairperson within one week of the competition, and destroy all copies of the questions.
Also, Zhao/Auroni/any other AL people, do you know what's up with the rule about no hand-held buzzers, except those purchased before 1998 are okay? This strikes me as a useless, Missouri or Illinois-style rule.
Mods: feel free to move this into the "Western Comparisons and Discussion" forum if it starts getting too much into how terrible Academic League is.
Dwight Wynne
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry
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- Auron
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Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
I'll second what was said above: practice on good questions. And unless you will be affiliated with your school or area for a long time, fighting the AL board is probably a slow if not losing battle.
David Riley
Coach Emeritus, Loyola Academy, Wilmette, Illinois, 1993-2010
Steering Committee, IHSSBCA, 1996 -
Member, PACE, 2012 -
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Coach Emeritus, Loyola Academy, Wilmette, Illinois, 1993-2010
Steering Committee, IHSSBCA, 1996 -
Member, PACE, 2012 -
"This is 1183, of course we're barbarians" -- Eleanor of Aquitaine in "The Lion in Winter"
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Regarding the NCAL question source, I think I heard once (while watching a telecasted match on ITV) that some old lady was responsible for constructing the original archive of questions. The archive then builds up questions by requiring coaches to submit ten or so questions (both tossups and bonuses) every year. Every week, John Gramley simply writes current events questions and then fills the rest of the packet by randomly attaining questions from the archive granted that (1) the question is not a repeat in the season*, (2) the question is in the appropriate difficulty level [Freshman, Junior Varsity, Varsity], and (3) the question helps complete the distribution.
Regarding the buzzer rule, I believe Academic League has mandated all teams to use The Judge while hosting meets to create a uniform playing field; i.e.: Forcing all the teams to play on The Judge would mitigate any possible advantage (if such an advantage really exists) that a Home Team would get by playing on their own very set of hand-held buzzers, Quiz-o-Matic buzzers, etc.
*The "archive-based" structure in the Academic League question writing system in which the same, verbatim questions have been repeated year-in, year-out (though not within the season) is just one more integral flaw in the competition.
Regarding the buzzer rule, I believe Academic League has mandated all teams to use The Judge while hosting meets to create a uniform playing field; i.e.: Forcing all the teams to play on The Judge would mitigate any possible advantage (if such an advantage really exists) that a Home Team would get by playing on their own very set of hand-held buzzers, Quiz-o-Matic buzzers, etc.
*The "archive-based" structure in the Academic League question writing system in which the same, verbatim questions have been repeated year-in, year-out (though not within the season) is just one more integral flaw in the competition.
Anurag Kashyap
Rancho Bernardo '09
MIT '13
Rancho Bernardo '09
MIT '13
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Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Wow. It sounds to me like this one might just be worthwhile to let fester and die and not even bother trying to save.
Charlie Dees, North Kansas City HS '08
"I won't say more because I know some of you parse everything I say." - Jeremy Gibbs
"At one TJ tournament the neg prize was the Hampshire College ultimate frisbee team (nude) calender featuring one Evan Silberman. In retrospect that could have been a disaster." - Harry White
"I won't say more because I know some of you parse everything I say." - Jeremy Gibbs
"At one TJ tournament the neg prize was the Hampshire College ultimate frisbee team (nude) calender featuring one Evan Silberman. In retrospect that could have been a disaster." - Harry White
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
ak47 wrote:Forcing all the teams to play on The Judge would mitigate any possible advantage (if such an advantage really exists) that a Home Team would get by playing on their own very set of hand-held buzzers, Quiz-o-Matic buzzers, etc.
Also (all awesomely terrible rules from here):NCAL Rules of Play 2.8.2 and 2.9.2 wrote:Buzzer System - Quiz-a-Matic recommended or push down type of buzzers. No hand held buzzers (excluding those purchased before 1998)
Yes, there is no such official as a "scorekeeper" (each team brings their own), but we need someone to reset the buzzer system and recognize players that buzz in.NCAL Rules of Play 2.4.1 wrote:Each competition requires three officials: a Moderator, a timing judge, and a buzzer judge.
So, the playoff procedure is essentially 3 teams playing each other. But if we have a fourth team, God forbid we run two rooms at the same time!NCAL Rules of Play 2.12 wrote:2.12.1 If two or more schools are tied for first place, the school with the best won-loss record (counting only those competitions against other teams involved in the tie) will be determined to have the higher standing.
2.12.2 If a tie still exists after executing rule 2.12.1 above, a play-off will be held according to the following rules:
2.12.2.1 If only three teams are tied, those three teams will participate in the play-off.
2.12.2.2 If there are more than three teams that are tied, even after only tallying head-to-head competitions among the tied teams, a drawing will be held among the tied teams to determine which three will participate in a play-off. (Play-offs with more than three teams, though unlikely, would be too cumbersome to accommodate.)
Sorry, team #3, you drew the blank tile. You might actually be the best of the 2-loss teams, but we're just going to not let you into the playoffs on chance!NCAL Rules of Play 2.14.3.1 wrote:The first place Varsity teams will draw for first, second, and third place seeds. The second place teams will draw for fourth, fifth and sixth place seeds. If two teams are tied for third place (according to 2.14.1 above) then these two teams will draw for seventh and eighth place seeds If three teams are tied for third place (according to 2.14.1) then the three teams will draw for seventh, eighth and a blank to see who gets the wild card seeds. If only one team places third, that team will be the seventh place seed and the fourth place team(s) will draw for the eighth place seed.
See below for how you're actually supposed to protest. Post here if you managed to get through it without either laughing or crying.NCAL Rules of Play 2.15.3 wrote:A protest or request for investigation must be based on procedural inconsistencies or rule infractions. Neither a protest nor a request for investigation may be based on a judgment made by an official or on question content.
NCAL Rules of Play 3.4 wrote:Challenge to a Question or Answer
3.4.1 Any objection to a question or answer must be presented to the moderator by the coach of a team in play. No other coaches, teachers, students, or spectators may make the objection.
3.4.2 The coach of a team in play is to indicate an objection by calling "objection."
3.4.3 When an objection is made, the moderator is to instruct the timing judge to immediately stop the clock and start it again when the moderator so indicates. (See Rule 3.1.11 for exception.)
3.4.4 The explanation of the objection must be made by the coach of a team in play to the moderator and the coach of the opposing team in play.
3.4.5 The coach of the opposing team will then have the opportunity to respond to the objection.
3.4.6 An objection and the corresponding rebuttal will be limited to five minutes, although the moderator may end the discussion at any time. After the discussion, the moderator's judgment will be given and the match will continue.
3.4.7 Once the moderator has begun a new toss-up or bonus question, no objections can be made on a previous question or answer. A question shall be considered begun when the moderator says "toss-up" or "bonus."
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new entrant into the Illinois-Missouri debate for "region with wackiest quizbowl standards."ak47 wrote:*The "archive-based" structure in the Academic League question writing system in which the same, verbatim questions have been repeated year-in, year-out (though not within the season) is just one more integral flaw in the competition.
Dwight Wynne
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry
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Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Ideally done shouting and while pointing forcefully at the moderator.cvdwightw wrote:3.4.2 The coach of a team in play is to indicate an objection by calling "objection."
Harry White
TJHSST '09, Virginia Tech '13
Owner of Tournament Database Search and Quizbowl Schedule Generator
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Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Quizbowl should be more like Phoenix Wright in all ways possible. Especially in matters of overzealous gesture.hwhite wrote:Ideally done shouting and while pointing forcefully at the moderator.cvdwightw wrote:3.4.2 The coach of a team in play is to indicate an objection by calling "objection."
Aidan Mehigan
St. Anselm's Abbey School '12
Columbia University '16 | University of Oxford '17 | UPenn GSE '19
St. Anselm's Abbey School '12
Columbia University '16 | University of Oxford '17 | UPenn GSE '19
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
In defense, most of Illinois' wackiness isn't codified (most, not all). Forfeiting for not providing two sharpened pencils and four colors of paper seems even beyond the abilities of our most extreme reactionaries.cvdwightw wrote:Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new entrant into the Illinois-Missouri debate for "region with wackiest quizbowl standards."
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
That's TWENTY-FOUR pencils, Tom. And "3x5 cards for buzzer system names." Be glad you're not in Academic League. You might have just forfeited your team the game.Tegan wrote:In defense, most of Illinois' wackiness isn't codified (most, not all). Forfeiting for not providing two sharpened pencils and four colors of paper seems even beyond the abilities of our most extreme reactionaries.
Dwight Wynne
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry
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Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
For a second, I thought the wackiest part of the rules was that the first one was numbered 2.1. Then I read the rules. I've seen halluxes with more sense.
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
For whatever reason, if your computer is like mine and doesn't want to download that document from the hyperlink, try going here and downloading off that link.Kaisuopai wrote:If you're interested, the AL rules can be found at a link on this page.)
I previously posted laughable North County rules. They were revised for the San Diego City League and include such gems as:
San Diego City League Rules: General Caveat wrote: Computational questions may be worked by coaches only and must be destroyed at the conclusion of the match.
Yes, the same "Objection!" rule exists.San Diego City League Rules: Coaches' Responsibilities wrote: 6b. Questions. Submitting 6 toss-up and 6 bonus questions annually by a date agreed upon by the league. Coaches will sign up for a different question category in advance each year.
7. Protests and appeals concerning questions and scores will not be allowed once the moderator has made his/her ruling.
San Diego City League Rules: End of the Competition Time Period wrote:If a moderator runs out of questions prior to the end of a varsity match, he or she may read unused toss-up and bonus questions from the junior varsity match of the same day.
San Diego City League Rules: Moderator Time-out wrote:4. A moderator (or judge) must call time-out to discuss listed answers he/she believes to be wrong, or team answers he/she believes to be acceptable, but not the listed answer.
San Diego City League Rules: Moderators wrote:Moderators must be “performers” for the spectators, while at the same time representing authority to the contestants and knowledge to everyone (even though that knowledge may only be the information held in the hand.)
Dwight Wynne
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry
- Not That Kind of Christian!!
- Yuna
- Posts: 847
- Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 10:36 pm
- Location: Manhattan
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
No word on how players are permitted to indicate to coaches that they have objections?cvdwightw wrote:3.4.2 The coach of a team in play is to indicate an objection by calling "objection."
Hannah Kirsch
Brandeis University 2010
NYU School of Medicine 2014
"Wow, those Scandinavians completely thorbjorned my hard-earned political capital."
Brandeis University 2010
NYU School of Medicine 2014
"Wow, those Scandinavians completely thorbjorned my hard-earned political capital."
- Mechanical Beasts
- Banned Cheater
- Posts: 5673
- Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 10:50 pm
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
You stop crying; the coaches realize there's something amiss.HKirsch wrote:No word on how players are permitted to indicate to coaches that they have objections?cvdwightw wrote:3.4.2 The coach of a team in play is to indicate an objection by calling "objection."
Andrew Watkins
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
[/quote]San Diego City League Rules: Moderators wrote:Moderators must be “performers” for the spectators, while at the same time representing authority to the contestants and knowledge to everyone (even though that knowledge may only be the information held in the hand.)
!
I think this is from the same rule book given to medieval executioners.
edit: I'd RUN from this in a heart beat.
- jonpin
- Auron
- Posts: 2266
- Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 6:45 pm
- Location: BCA NJ / WUSTL MO / Hackensack NJ
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
What does this even mean?San Diego City League Rules: General Caveat wrote: Computational questions may be worked by coaches only and must be destroyed at the conclusion of the match.
This sounds like the rule at the tutoring center I worked at. For some stupid reason, they had me tutoring vocabulary, even though I have none. So when a student would ask "what does this word mean?", I'd have to look it up. I was told not to do that, as it would undercut my authority. I tried to ask what I should do instead, and apparently the answer was that I should either (a) already know it, or (b) make something up.San Diego City League Rules: Moderators wrote:Moderators must be “performers” for the spectators, while at the same time representing authority to the contestants and knowledge to everyone (even though that knowledge may only be the information held in the hand.)
Jon Pinyan
Coach, Bergen County Academies (NJ); former player for BCA (2000-03) and WUSTL (2003-07)
HSQB forum mod, PACE member
Stat director for: NSC '13-'15, '17; ACF '14, '17, '19; NHBB '13-'15; NASAT '11
"A [...] wizard who controls the weather" - Jerry Vinokurov
Coach, Bergen County Academies (NJ); former player for BCA (2000-03) and WUSTL (2003-07)
HSQB forum mod, PACE member
Stat director for: NSC '13-'15, '17; ACF '14, '17, '19; NHBB '13-'15; NASAT '11
"A [...] wizard who controls the weather" - Jerry Vinokurov
- at your pleasure
- Auron
- Posts: 1723
- Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2008 7:56 pm
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Eh, practice good questions. That and flee AL like the plauge it is.
Hello, ! It seems you will still have a job even in the (unlikely, alas) event the NAC dies for good.San Diego City League Rules: Moderators wrote:
Moderators must be “performers” for the spectators, while at the same time representing authority to the contestants and knowledge to everyone (even though that knowledge may only be the information held in the hand.)
Douglas Graebner, Walt Whitman HS 10, Uchicago 14
"... imagination acts upon man as really as does gravitation, and may kill him as certainly as a dose of prussic acid."-Sir James Frazer,The Golden Bough
http://avorticistking.wordpress.com/
"... imagination acts upon man as really as does gravitation, and may kill him as certainly as a dose of prussic acid."-Sir James Frazer,The Golden Bough
http://avorticistking.wordpress.com/
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Dwight, you forgot Ohio in your "wackiest quizbowl standards". Also to Doug, I think that Sue will let moderate at the OAC state championship for posterity.cvdwightw wrote: Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new entrant into the Illinois-Missouri debate for "region with wackiest quizbowl standards."
Jonathan Graham
Beavercreek HS 1999-2003, Ohio State 2003-2007, Wright State (possibly playing)2012-2015
moderator/scorekeeper at some tournaments in Ohio, and sometimes elsewhere
"Ohio has a somewhat fractured quizbowl circuit, with a few small pockets of intense competition (like in Mahoning County) and with the rest scattered around the state."-Chris Chiego
Beavercreek HS 1999-2003, Ohio State 2003-2007, Wright State (possibly playing)2012-2015
moderator/scorekeeper at some tournaments in Ohio, and sometimes elsewhere
"Ohio has a somewhat fractured quizbowl circuit, with a few small pockets of intense competition (like in Mahoning County) and with the rest scattered around the state."-Chris Chiego
- First Chairman
- Auron
- Posts: 3651
- Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2003 8:21 pm
- Location: Fairfax VA
- Contact:
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
If the rules are this entertaining (tongue-in-cheek), I'd love to see some of these "questions"... though if they are archived for future use, in theory we will never be able to have these questions posted on this site. Thus, is there a rule regarding destroying all scratch paper, or no recording of matches? Lord knows if the "Who is the President? A: Ronald Reagan" question pops up...
Emil Thomas Chuck, Ph.D.
Founder, PACE
Facebook junkie and unofficial advisor to aspiring health professionals in quiz bowl
---
Pimping Green Tea Ginger Ale (Canada Dry)
Founder, PACE
Facebook junkie and unofficial advisor to aspiring health professionals in quiz bowl
---
Pimping Green Tea Ginger Ale (Canada Dry)
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
There are some matches online on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXDQmotYb0E -- championship match in 2008, part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXDQmotYb0E -- championship match in 2008, part 1
Last edited by rjaguar3 on Tue Apr 07, 2009 1:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
Greg (Vanderbilt 2012, Wheaton North 2008)
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- Rikku
- Posts: 304
- Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2007 12:05 am
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Who wrote Frankenstein?
What are the first three words of the novel Moby Dick?
Zhao Zhang
Rancho Bernardo High School '09
Rancho Bernardo High School '09
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Maybe I am misreading this rule but it seems like a good thing?cvdwightw wrote:San Diego City League Rules: Moderator Time-out wrote:4. A moderator (or judge) must call time-out to discuss listed answers he/she believes to be wrong, or team answers he/she believes to be acceptable, but not the listed answer.
Christian Carter
Minneapolis South High School '09 | Emerson College '13
PACE Member (retired)
Minneapolis South High School '09 | Emerson College '13
PACE Member (retired)
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
The fact that there would need to be "discussion" about the answer on the page being wrong was highly amusing; though, yes, it is better than at least one alternative.cdcarter wrote:Maybe I am misreading this rule but it seems like a good thing?cvdwightw wrote:San Diego City League Rules: Moderator Time-out wrote:4. A moderator (or judge) must call time-out to discuss listed answers he/she believes to be wrong, or team answers he/she believes to be acceptable, but not the listed answer.
Dwight Wynne
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
You have no idea how happy I am that people are finally seeing the terribleness that all San Diego high schools with programs go through.
Auroni Gupta (she/her)
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Hoses, bad one liners, really bad guesses, nude conspiracies?!?!?!rjaguar3 wrote:There are some matches online on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXDQmotYb0E -- championship match in 2008, part 1
Lyndon LaRouche was right!
(note: the ?!?!?! is in place of three interrobangs)
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- Auron
- Posts: 1401
- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2003 8:27 am
- Location: Morton Grove, IL
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Had you wanted to use that word in a sentence before OR after the IHSA state series?
David Riley
Coach Emeritus, Loyola Academy, Wilmette, Illinois, 1993-2010
Steering Committee, IHSSBCA, 1996 -
Member, PACE, 2012 -
"This is 1183, of course we're barbarians" -- Eleanor of Aquitaine in "The Lion in Winter"
Coach Emeritus, Loyola Academy, Wilmette, Illinois, 1993-2010
Steering Committee, IHSSBCA, 1996 -
Member, PACE, 2012 -
"This is 1183, of course we're barbarians" -- Eleanor of Aquitaine in "The Lion in Winter"
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
You have no idea...there are decent moderators who actually know what they're talking about, but we've had more than once a woman who couldn't pronounce "theta" (thEHta, please), accepted "atoms" for "molecules", and called a time-out in the middle of the game in order to explain to us all how it's not her fault she hasn't pronounced a scientific word in twenty years. This after she talked for five minutes at the beginning of the game regarding how we should speed up the game because she wants to get back to her kids and make sure they sleep early. And how her older son was in NCAL. My entire team:Moderators must be “performers” for the spectators, while at the same time representing authority to the contestants and knowledge to everyone (even though that knowledge may only be the information held in the hand.)
Sorry, anecdotes...but yeah. Thanks for clarifying the questions' source, though; I was a little suspicious when the same bonus question about "translate these common words into French" showed up twice in two years.
The advice about practicing for speed with longer questions is duly noted, and will be promptly acted upon - seeing as how my team already loves NAQT, and there certainly are plenty of buzzer-check clues to be found.
-redacted-
- grapesmoker
- Sin
- Posts: 6345
- Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:23 pm
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
As an Academic League alumnus, I'll just reiterate that it's a cesspool of horrible quizbowl-like practices, populated by mostly incompetent coaches who have no idea what they're doing. My suggestion would be to institute a push to deaffiliate from AL; the city championship is worthless anyway, and leads to nothing. If they see that teams are dropping out, they might get the message.
Jerry Vinokurov
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
ex-LJHS, ex-Berkeley, ex-Brown, sorta-ex-CMU
presently: John Jay College Economics
code ape, loud voice, general nuissance
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
"Name the only state which has a unicameral legis ..."rjaguar3 wrote:There are some matches online on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXDQmotYb0E -- championship match in 2008, part 1
buzz
Louisiana
It is criminal to permit these tournaments to continue on multiple levels.
- the return of AHAN
- Auron
- Posts: 1988
- Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:40 pm
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
My favorite toss-up answer of the year.....
"Get thee behind me, Satan!"
yet "Wee Willie Winky" goes dead.
Thank you.
And 19 seconds to decide the first TU answer given is what's accepted? Really? Was this amateur night?
And I love the bonuses of "since that last answer began with the letter x, here's a bonus about things that begin with an x."
Thank you.
"Get thee behind me, Satan!"
yet "Wee Willie Winky" goes dead.
Thank you.
And 19 seconds to decide the first TU answer given is what's accepted? Really? Was this amateur night?
And I love the bonuses of "since that last answer began with the letter x, here's a bonus about things that begin with an x."
Thank you.
Jeff Price
Barrington High School Coach (2021 & 2023 HSNCT Champions, 2023 PACE Champions, 2023 Illinois Masonic Bowl Class 3A State Champions)
Barrington Station Middle School Coach (2013 MSNCT Champions, 2013 & 2017 Illinois Class AA State Champions)
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Barrington High School Coach (2021 & 2023 HSNCT Champions, 2023 PACE Champions, 2023 Illinois Masonic Bowl Class 3A State Champions)
Barrington Station Middle School Coach (2013 MSNCT Champions, 2013 & 2017 Illinois Class AA State Champions)
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Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
For all the masochists out there, here's another match:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65A2ibYp ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65A2ibYp ... re=related
Greg (Vanderbilt 2012, Wheaton North 2008)
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Nadine Gordimer and Stephen King in the same "literature" bonus? Only in NAQT "impure lit" questions and Academic League!rjaguar3 wrote:For all the masochists out there, here's another match:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65A2ibYp ... re=related
Moderator accepting an answer from a player who didn't buzz in, because "that's what [his teammate, who did actually buzz] would've said?" Only in Academic League!
Multiple choice tossups - Only in CBI, Science Bowl, and Academic League!
Two Sir Walter Scott questions in a single match, one of which (on Sir Walter Scott himself) goes dead? Only in Academic League!
Two questions referencing the Cumberland, both of which go dead? Only in Academic League!
"Curriculum-based questions" on newspapers, and phrases including the word "wind"? Only in Academic League!
I would just like to point out that if you subscribe to the delusional "quizbowl should be written for television audiences" argument, then you necessarily must argue against Illinois-format bonuses. Waiting for that music to finish up is annoying, and watching kids keep asking the moderator to repeat questions is bad quizbowl and bad television.
Dwight Wynne
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry
socalquizbowl.org
UC Irvine 2008-2013; UCLA 2004-2007; Capistrano Valley High School 2000-2003
"It's a competition, but it's not a sport. On a scale, if football is a 10, then rowing would be a two. One would be Quiz Bowl." --Matt Birk on rowing, SI On Campus, 10/21/03
"If you were my teammate, I would have tossed your ass out the door so fast you'd be emitting Cerenkov radiation, but I'm not classy like Dwight." --Jerry
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
Identify the Portland, Oregon newspaper whose name designates a person born or living in the state of Oregon.Academic League intro wrote:... the area's best and brightest high school students. They'll be responding to tough questions in a variety of subject areas ... from history to literature to science to math and more!
ding!
The Oregonian?
I guess my personal definition of "tough" and the San Diego school board's definition of "tough" are pretty different.
Also, a good thing they added "and more" to the possible subjects, because otherwise this one really wouldn't belong.
Honestly, this is like watching a car wreck in really slow motion and not being able to stop it.
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- Lulu
- Posts: 42
- Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:27 pm
Re: San Diego Academic League Questions
I just love the pregame interviews with the coaches as well as the amazing questions on...well...everything.
John Lavender-Stott
Blacksburg High School '10
Blacksburg High School '10