University of Illinois Earlybird HS Tournament -- 10/1/2005

Dormant threads from the high school sections are preserved here.
suds1000
Wakka
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2003 2:17 am
Location: Chicago

University of Illinois Earlybird HS Tournament -- 10/1/2005

Post by suds1000 »

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Academic Buzzer Team is proud to announce that it will host the latest incarnation of its now annual series of fall high school academic quiz bowl tournaments, the UIUC Earlybird 2005, on Saturday, October 1st, at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Tournament details are described below. Please feel free to contact me, Sudheer Potru, by e-mail at [email protected] with any questions or to register your team. Come help us herald the return of an excellent high school tournament tradition to the University of Illinois.

Time:

The UIUC Earlybird 2005 will take place Saturday, October 1st, 2005 from approximately 8 am to approximately 5 pm. Exact times will be determined by the number of teams registering and will be announced to all participants in advance of the event.

Place:

The UIUC Earlybird 2005 will be held in historic Lincoln Hall on the Urbana side of the campus of the University of Illinois, assuming that its construction schedule allows. http://www.uiuc.edu/navigation/building ... n.top.html contains a great deal of information on Lincoln Hall. The final location and very explicit directions to that location will be provided to all participants well in advance of the event.

Format:

The match format will be the same as last year's, a combination of the IHSA (Illinois High School) and ACF (Academic Competition Federation) formats. Rounds will consist of 20 tossup questions and up to 20 bonus questions, a halftime of up to five minutes after bonus 10 but before tossup 11, and as many tiebreaker *tossups* as are necessary to change the score should it be tied after question 20. Quiz bowl competition will occur between two teams of up to four players with four substitutions allowed at half-time. Rounds will be untimed. A correct response to a tossup question earns the respondent's team 10 points and a bonus question, while an incorrect response offered before the end of a tossup question costs the respondent's team 5 points, which is referred to as an "interrupt" or "neg." Only one neg is allowed per question, so if a tossup is turned over, no penalty can be assessed to the team that did not incorrectly interrupt. Bonuses are all worth a total of 30 points and will "rebound". That is, if the team that correctly answered the previous tossup cannot correctly answer a part of a bonus, the opposing team will have a chance to answer it and, if they do so correctly, will receive however many points are associated with that part.

In general, this is similar to IHSA-style events, except for the inclusion of negs and the four-player team structure.

The tournament format will be determined by the number of teams registering, but will be structured to provide a clear, unambiguous order of finish for each team and to maximize the number of rounds that each team is able to play and the number of different teams that each team is able to play.

Questions:

The questions for the UIUC Earlybird 2005 are being produced in-house: that is, questions will be written in their entirety by the members of the UIUC Academic Buzzer Team and edited by experienced question editors (myself, last year's editor Mike Sorice, and several other tenured members of the UIUC team). For any teams that have played at any of the PACE (Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence) tournaments over the past several years, the tossup and bonus questions used here will be similar in structure to those used in the third period (or "stretch round") of those matches. The difficulty of the questions will be similar to that of NAQT's invitational series of high school ("IS") packet sets. Computational math questions may or may not be included, and this will be decided closer to (but still well in advance of) the tournament. Regardless, there will be a maximum of two (2) computational math tossups and two (2) computational math bonuses in any given round.

Registration:

The registration fee is $60 per team. A discount of $10 is available for providing a fully-functional buzzer system (one discount per team). The full set of tournament questions will be available for purchase for $20. Fees are due on the morning of the tournament at check-in. The deadline for registration is Saturday, September 17th, 2005. To register, simply e-mail me at [email protected] stating your interest and including the following information:

The name of your school or institution.
The location of your school or institution in "city, state" format.
The name of coach or other contact person (along with e-mail address and/or phone number for that person).
The number of teams that you will bring.
Whether or not you will be bringing a functional buzzer system.

Thanks for reading, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Sudheer Potru
Chief Editor and Tournament Director, UIUC Earlybird 2005
[email protected]
Last edited by suds1000 on Thu Aug 18, 2005 11:54 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Irreligion in Bangladesh
Auron
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:18 am
Location: Winnebago, IL

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

Out of curiousity, will bonuses be done in IHSA format (all parts read at once, 30 seconds [or similar] to consider, then all answers given at once, then bounceback) or standard format (part read, answered, then bounced back before next part read)?

Also, and I'm assuming it's no because it doesn't mention them, but are there powers?
User avatar
Captain Sinico
Auron
Posts: 2675
Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2003 1:46 pm
Location: Champaign, Illinois

Post by Captain Sinico »

Last year, the bonuses were read in what you call the standard format (with possibly one exception) and I can't see how they wouldn't be this year. Also, last year there were not powers, and I doubt there will be this year, either. Sudheer, of course, has final say on both these issues so, if he contradicts either of these, believe him and not me.

Promising to screw-up fewer bonuses by reading the answer after only one response this year,
MaS
suds1000
Wakka
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2003 2:17 am
Location: Chicago

Post by suds1000 »

Mike is correct in both regards: bonus parts will be read and rebounded one at a time, and there will be no powers. What we will do, however, is have a lot of candy available that we can toss out if we hear any good buzzes...you don't get five extra points, but hey, sugar's pretty awesome (unless you're a diabetic, in which case we'll just say "good buzz").

Any other questions, don't hesitate to post and/or e-mail me.

--Sudheer
User avatar
First Chairman
Auron
Posts: 3651
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2003 8:21 pm
Location: Fairfax VA
Contact:

Post by First Chairman »

Of course, Sudheer, you could give people Kudos bars like we do at PACE. Maybe a Powerbar or two. :)

There's also sugar-free candy that you should be able to buy bulk at your local grocery store. Yea for diabetes advocacy.
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)
User avatar
Irreligion in Bangladesh
Auron
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:18 am
Location: Winnebago, IL

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

Excellent, thank you much! I'll talk to my coach about going this year...we were thinking about it last year until it turned out to be on the same day as Homecoming.
David Riley
Auron
Posts: 1401
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2003 8:27 am
Location: Morton Grove, IL

Post by David Riley »

Loyola will be there, and I will try to round up some other teams who don't necessarily read this board often.
User avatar
dtaylor4
Auron
Posts: 3733
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:43 am

Post by dtaylor4 »

I remember doing this tourney last year, and the candy was small (I think it was fun size Snickers), but overall, it was fun and I highly recommend it.
User avatar
pblessman
Rikku
Posts: 486
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2003 10:38 am
Location: Culver, Indiana

Culver Academies

Post by pblessman »

Culver will be there with one or two teams. I'll spread the word among Indiana teams.
mlaird
Tidus
Posts: 574
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 10:07 am

Post by mlaird »

I haven't been in two years or so, but I do remember that the trophy we got from this tournament was the highlight of our collection, since it had a chicken on it instead of "the lamp of learning".
Trevkeeper
Tidus
Posts: 527
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:12 pm

Post by Trevkeeper »

What teams have registered so far?
Nick, IU and Aegis Questions
suds1000
Wakka
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2003 2:17 am
Location: Chicago

Post by suds1000 »

As of today (8/8), I have received official registration notification from:

Apollo High School (Owensboro, KY) -- 1 team
Culver Academy (Culver, IN) -- 1-2 team(s)
Auburn High School (Rockford, IL) -- 1-2 team(s)

Of course, reading this thread leads me to believe that Loyola will be registering fairly soon, and last year they brought two teams.

If you would like to register, please e-mail me at [[email protected]] with (at the very least) your school's name, the number of teams you plan to bring (this isn't set in stone, and can change), and the number of functional buzzer systems you plan to bring.

Thanks,

--Sudheer
suds1000
Wakka
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2003 2:17 am
Location: Chicago

Post by suds1000 »

To keep this thread from becoming defunct, I'll try to post updated information every couple of weeks:

Current team status:

Apollo High School (Owensboro, KY) -- 1 team
Auburn High School (Rockford, IL) -- 1-2 team(s)
Culver Academy (Culver, IN) -- 1-2 team(s)
Harrison High School (West Lafayette, IN) -- 2 teams

What I find hard to believe is that this is an Illinois tournament and more than 60% of the teams aren't from Illinois. What gives?

E-mail me to register, and check out the other thread I started on computational math here if you have any input.
David Riley
Auron
Posts: 1401
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2003 8:27 am
Location: Morton Grove, IL

Post by David Riley »

Most Illinois teams are not ready to play this early, a lot of them don't begin their seasons until December!

David

P.S. Loyola's registration is forthcoming!
Tegan
Coach of AHAN Jr.
Posts: 1976
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2004 9:42 pm

Post by Tegan »

suds1000 wrote: Apollo High School (Owensboro, KY) -- 1 team
Auburn High School (Rockford, IL) -- 1-2 team(s)
Culver Academy (Culver, IN) -- 1-2 team(s)
Harrison High School (West Lafayette, IN) -- 2 teams

What I find hard to believe is that this is an Illinois tournament and more than 60% of the teams aren't from Illinois. What gives?
\

As a former UIUC ABT alum, I would like nothing more than to bring my team to a tournament at where my involvement in quizbowl really started. But October 13 is just too early (in Illinois). Since I became coach, we have averaged over 60 matches a season, but only a tiny fracton of the teams in Illinois gear up before November. This year I am moving up our first practice to the last week of October, and most people think I am starting too early.

To be highly technical, quizbowl is a November to March activity in Illinois (though it can start earlier). You need to push back that date a little to at least November ....

The shame of it is, that part of the state really needs more well run tournaments, and the rep of this tournament is that it is well run. If it got pushed back a bit, they will come!
User avatar
Irreligion in Bangladesh
Auron
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:18 am
Location: Winnebago, IL

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

It's called an earlybird for a reason, and should only attract the dedicated Illinois teams for that reason. Should make for a better quality tournament.

It turns out Bago's homecoming is the week before the Earlybird, so I'm going to run the idea past our coach. That was one of the main reasons we didn't go last year, so hopefully we can go.
User avatar
dtaylor4
Auron
Posts: 3733
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:43 am

Post by dtaylor4 »

Styx, IIRC, Culver still went and then left before the consolation game b/c of homecoming.
User avatar
Irreligion in Bangladesh
Auron
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:18 am
Location: Winnebago, IL

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

DaGeneral wrote:Styx, IIRC, Culver still went and then left before the consolation game b/c of homecoming.
Yeah...last year wasn't a very 'dedicated' team for that tournament...namely, 5 of the 8 of us had very explicit homecoming plans, 3 of them involving hair appointments that morning. Trying to convince these people (all seniors, by the way, so it was their last homecoming) to skip homecoming because of a scobol tournament they'd have to get up at 5 for, play about 10 questions each (with 4 people starting and all 4 starting slots already spoken for, the 5th in IHSA format was used to rotate our subs, generally...with only 4 players, they would have sat for a while), then race home to make homecoming in time...convincing them of that would have been difficult. The idea was shot down rather quickly.
Tegan
Coach of AHAN Jr.
Posts: 1976
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2004 9:42 pm

Post by Tegan »

styxman wrote:It's called an earlybird for a reason, and should only attract the dedicated Illinois teams for that reason. Should make for a better quality tournament.
<<insert sound of skid marks>>

Ahem.

Just because a team does not attend one particular tournament, or does not attend tournaments in October does not make them "un-dedicated". With the exception of Thanksgiving weekend, and the two weekends over Christmas Break, my Maine South team is either hosting or playing in a tournament every weekend through Regionals in March. Just because I choose to allow my players to participate in Fall sports and activities without dividing their lives between sixty different activities does not in any way make Maine South any less dedicated than any other team in the state of Illinois.

You will notice that:
Wheaton North, the Latin School, Fremd, Stevenson, Moline, Lincoln-Way, Fenwick, Marist, Von Steuben, Maine East, MacArthur, Bradley-Bourbonnais, Bloomington, Timothy Christian, Lake Zurich, St. Ignatius, Evergreen Park, Macomb, Wheaton-Warrenville South, Joliet Township, Richards,

just to name a few are not going, but I would not have the guts to call this group's teams or coaches dedication into question. Not all of these teams are consistently good, but they will easily log over 30 or 40 matches a year, and some of them will easily top 50 or 60 (I think Wheaton North is averaging over 90 matches a year over the past 3 years). While I applaud teams that start early, just because everyone else isn't following that path does not mean they are any less dedicated.

The small field at the Earlybird is strong, and you can have a great tournament with just a few teams that are very good. As I've said, if it were four or five weeks later, we'd probably be there.
Trevkeeper
Tidus
Posts: 527
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:12 pm

Post by Trevkeeper »

Doesn't U of I host another tournament in early November anyway?
Nick, IU and Aegis Questions
User avatar
Captain Sinico
Auron
Posts: 2675
Joined: Sun Sep 21, 2003 1:46 pm
Location: Champaign, Illinois

Post by Captain Sinico »

Trevkeeper wrote:Doesn't U of I host another tournament in early November anyway?
If you mean a high school tournament, the answer is "maybe, sort-of." I believe that other parties on campus usually hold two other quizbowl (or at least quizbowl-like) tournaments per year here; I further believe that one of these is in November. As I recall, one of these parties is a Greek letter honor society and the other some adjunct of the nefarious Engineering Council but, at any rate, neither is the UIUC Academic Buzzer Team, Illinois' quizbowl organization. I and the ABT don't have anything to do with those other tournaments (that's both de jure and, for the moment, de facto so far as I know); this is the only high school tournament we are currently planning to run.
David Riley wrote:Most Illinois teams are not ready to play this early, a lot of them don't begin their seasons until December!
(Others, of course, posted things in the same vein.)
As for our odd date, there are several reasons for it and, while I know Mr. Riley is aware of them, I hope he'll allow me the license of explaining them to you all by way of ostensibly responding to him. First of all, this date is simply convenient for us for a wide variety of reasons. Secondly, the tournament market in Illinois is more or less completely saturated, so it was necessary for us, initially, to run on a date that was outside the normal calendar. It is our hope that, after running this tournament successfully for several years, teams will make a point of coming to it: that they might use it to define the start of their season, rather than defining it in some other, perhaps artificial, way and then saying that this event before it. This is certainly ambitious, and maybe unrealistically so. However, this event offers a style and level of questions and play that have no peer in Illinois tournaments, so far as I can tell, and it will do so irregardless of its field size.
That said, we run this tournament to make money. Therefore, if it is the case that there are structural reasons that we can't draw more teams due to its abnormal date, we'll have to try to move the tournament to a later date in future years. And, incidentally, it must seem shortsighted to not acknowledge that structural reasons able to prevent teams going may exist: to blame a simple lack of dedication seems a rather gross oversimplification.

MaS
User avatar
Irreligion in Bangladesh
Auron
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:18 am
Location: Winnebago, IL

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

I realize my comment made a bit of a stir, to say the least, and feel that it might have been taken a little wrongly. Ambiguity is one of my worst flaws in posting, it seems.

When I say:
It's called an earlybird for a reason, and should only attract the dedicated Illinois teams for that reason. Should make for a better quality tournament.
I don't mean that the teams that do not go are worse because of it, or that they are any less dedicated. I mean only that the teams that do go are dedicated, not that they are the only ones in the state who are. The odds of a non-dedicated team going to the earlybird are most likely slim to none. It's the word 'the' before dedicated that makes it seem offensive, and I apologize for anyone offended by the open-ended remark I made.
User avatar
dtaylor4
Auron
Posts: 3733
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:43 am

Post by dtaylor4 »

As for Egan's comment about matches/year, my junior and senior year, we averaged 80, going almost every weekend from october to march.

Phi scholars and tau beta pi (engineering honor society) both hosted tournaments last year, and the phi scholars blew. The seeding was done by record and then combined points scored in your three games (not your points, yours and your opponents). TBP was a decently run tourney, but the trophies weren't that great.
suds1000
Wakka
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2003 2:17 am
Location: Chicago

Another field update

Post by suds1000 »

As of today (8/29), the following teams are registered for the Earlybird:

Apollo High School (Owensboro, KY) -- 1 team
Auburn High School (Rockford, IL) -- 1-2 team(s)
Bloomington High School (Bloomington, IL) -- 1 team
Culver Academy (Culver, IN) -- 1-2 team(s)
Effingham High School (Effingham, IL) -- 1 team
Harrison High School (West Lafayette, IN) -- 2 teams

I'd give you my e-mail address to register, but I think it's in this thread enough for you to find it :grin:

--Sudheer Potru
TD/Chief Editor, UIUC Earlybird 2005
Trevkeeper
Tidus
Posts: 527
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:12 pm

Post by Trevkeeper »

Our team is currently seeing who is able to attend and such. I don't know when we'll have an answer to that, but we're in the process of. I *personally* hope to go, but I realize it's kind of far for a day, and it's also our homecoming. We'll see how it works out.
Nick, IU and Aegis Questions
suds1000
Wakka
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2003 2:17 am
Location: Chicago

Post by suds1000 »

Field update for 9/5/2005:

Apollo High School (Owensboro, KY) -- 1 team
Auburn High School (Rockford, IL) -- 1-2 team(s)
Bloomington High School (Bloomington, IL) -- 1 team
Carbondale Community High School (Carbondale, IL) -- 1-2 teams
Culver Academy (Culver, IN) -- 1-2 team(s)
Effingham High School (Effingham, IL) -- 1 team
Harrison High School (West Lafayette, IN) -- 2 teams
Loyola Academy (Wilmette, IL) -- 2 teams

As a reminder, I will be closing registrations on Saturday, September 17...so please let me know if you want to register before then.
User avatar
Irreligion in Bangladesh
Auron
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:18 am
Location: Winnebago, IL

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

Winnebago should have its registration in soon. We'll only be sending one team.
Trevkeeper
Tidus
Posts: 527
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:12 pm

Post by Trevkeeper »

With today being the final day to register, I'm just wondering what the final field is. Seems like a strong field so far.
Nick, IU and Aegis Questions
suds1000
Wakka
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2003 2:17 am
Location: Chicago

Post by suds1000 »

Registration for the UIUC Earlybird 2005 is now closed. Here is the final list of participating teams:

Apollo High School (Owensboro, KY) -- 1 team
Auburn High School (Rockford, IL) -- 1 team
Bloomington High School (Bloomington, IL) -- 1 team
B-B Community High School (Bradley-Bourbonnais, IL) -- 2 teams
Carbondale Community High School (Carbondale, IL) -- 2 teams
Culver Academy (Culver, IN) -- 2 teams
Effingham High School (Effingham, IL) -- 1 team
Harrison High School (West Lafayette, IN) -- 2 teams
Loyola Academy (Wilmette, IL) -- 2 teams
New Trier High School (Winnetka, IL) --
Winnebago High School (Winnebago, IL) -- 1 team

As you can see, there will be sixteen teams total. Information on location and time (including a schedule of the tournament) will be sent out sometime before the end of this week. Please e-mail me at [email protected] if you have any questions.


Thanks,

--Sudheer
User avatar
dtaylor4
Auron
Posts: 3733
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:43 am

Post by dtaylor4 »

Results:

Rockford Auburn 1st
Apollo 2nd
Bloomington 3rd
Loyola A 4th

Individually

Brad (Winnebago) 1st
Tyler (Auburn) 2nd
Elizabeth (Apollo) 3rd
Justin (Carbondale A) 4th
Buddy (Loyola A) 5th
Trevkeeper
Tidus
Posts: 527
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:12 pm

Post by Trevkeeper »

I just wanted to thank the UIUC ABT team, they put on a great tournament. It was very well run, and the questions and the moderating was really top notch. Great quality among the teams as well. I hope we can attend it next year.

Thanks again!
Nick, IU and Aegis Questions
leapfrog314
Wakka
Posts: 248
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:49 am
Contact:

Post by leapfrog314 »

I second Nick. I found all the questions and moderators very good. It was a long drive there (we left at 5:30 AM) but we were able to study on the way there, and the drive was worth it. As an added bonus, I learned that eating oranges degrades moderation performance. (Kudos to ImmaculateDeception for this important revelation.)

-Carlo (New Trier)
User avatar
Irreligion in Bangladesh
Auron
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:18 am
Location: Winnebago, IL

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

Agreed. Excellent tournament, very good questions, and superb moderation (Sorice, don't listen to my coach, you were a good moderator, I had no problem with how fast you were talking). Thank you to all the members of the ABT.

The only things I can think of for suggestions are adding in powers somehow, making the matches 24 questions or longer (both speak to how good the tournament was) and only one true imperfection. The questions seemed a little bipolar in difficulty. Questions about Deimos and the Joads matched up against Coriolanus, etc. seemed odd compared to what I'm used to. If it's normal in college bowl, keep it, I'm just saying. :)

Thanks again!

P.S. Would the writer of the Quagmire tossup take a bow? I was immensely pleased at that one, although I buzzed in too soon to hear the rest of the question. What was the full question for that one?

ETA: Are the full stats being posted online like last year?
LizzieA8913
Kimahri
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Apr 18, 2004 11:07 am
Location: Kentucky
Contact:

Post by LizzieA8913 »

I really enjoyed the tournament. Great job guys. The questions were excellent.
Elizabeth
suds1000
Wakka
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2003 2:17 am
Location: Chicago

Post by suds1000 »

I, Sudheer, am the author of said Glenn Quagmire tossup:

This character says that if he could be with any woman in the world, he would choose Taylor Hanson. When he appears on the show “The Bacheloretteâ€
mrs. dalloway
Lulu
Posts: 65
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2005 9:20 am
Location: Rockford, IL
Contact:

Post by mrs. dalloway »

I know everyone's already said what a great tournament it was, but I must agree. It was the first time we (Auburn) attended, and we had a good time. The questions were good, and I really liked the moderator speed and knowledge of what they were doing, as opposed to the usual random high school student, teacher, or parent volunteers (I know that can't be avoided for most Saturday invitationals, but this was a nice change). Hopefully Auburn will return to the Earlybird in the future.
"That's the problem with real life. People don't just break into musical song and dance."
suds1000
Wakka
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2003 2:17 am
Location: Chicago

Post by suds1000 »

I almost forgot...I just wanted to thank all of the people who helped make this tournament possible.

Thanks to all of those who contributed questions: Charlie Steinhice et al. of UTC, James Washick et al. of North Greenville College), and UIUC ABT members Dom Ricci, Scott Green, Micah Hodosh, Tom Phillips, Kelly Tourdot, and Donald Taylor.

Thanks to both of my co-editors, Steven Canning and Mike Sorice, without whose help the questions would have been neither finished nor nearly as good as they turned out.

Thanks to all of the aforementioned UIUC ABT members (Dom, Scott, Micah, Tom, Kelly, Donald, Steven, Mike) and all of the freshmen whose names I don't know who helped out with printing, moderating, scorekeeping, and statkeeping.

Thanks to Mr. Tom Egan of Maine South and Mr. Tom Durbin of Decatur MacArthur, both of whom volunteered to moderate and did an outstanding job.

And, of course, thanks to all of the teams who came and made it an exciting event to watch and officiate for all of us. If I'm around for the Earlybird next year, I hope that it'll be just as exciting.

--Sudheer
User avatar
Thompson
Lulu
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2005 11:03 pm
Location: a swivel chair
Contact:

Post by Thompson »

One word:

Cannibalism
I bite my tongue at you. No...wait...
Tegan
Coach of AHAN Jr.
Posts: 1976
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2004 9:42 pm

Post by Tegan »

Thompson wrote:One word:

Cannibalism
:lol:


I'm still trying to think if I was more amazed at a bonus on cannibalism or that someone managed 2-of-3.

Strictly as an observor, since my team was not present, and thus I have no vested interest in the results, this was a great tournament. Overall, the question were of high quality, and while some where challenging, I could count on one hand the number that I thought were "over the top" in terms of ability of top players to get. The tournament was organized, and actually ran AHEAD of schedule (mark that in the books as a rarity anywhere, anytime). UIUC is as beautiful a locale to host a tournament as any, so the drive is nice (at least once you arrive).

I cannot say it enough: if you are in the region, and looking for some pretty darn good teams to mix it up with, AND you are organized by then, get your team down to Urbana next year.
User avatar
dtaylor4
Auron
Posts: 3733
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:43 am

Post by dtaylor4 »

For next year, I'm going to try to pull some strings with coaches that are in the area and try to get them to come out.
User avatar
Stained Diviner
Auron
Posts: 5085
Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2004 6:08 am
Location: Chicagoland
Contact:

Post by Stained Diviner »

I asked a Soyinka question at Solo last year. Out of 28 1-on-1 matches, nobody answered it.

Trevkeeper stole both Coriolanus and Timon of Athens on Saturday, crediting ACE for doing so.

It was a great tournament. I also thought that powers would have been a nice touch and that you could do it without making the questions longer. An occasional easy power isn't the end of the world. Anyways, that's a minor complaint.

I wouldn't worry about the social science questions that nobody could answer--they were rare enough that they didn't ruin any matches, and it's good to expose students to important subjects they usually are not exposed to.

We'll probably wake up early in the morning for this tournament again next year.
David Reinstein
Head Writer and Editor for Scobol Solo, Masonics, and IESA; TD for Scobol Solo and Reinstein Varsity; IHSSBCA Board Member; IHSSBCA Chair (2004-2014); PACE President (2016-2018)
User avatar
Irreligion in Bangladesh
Auron
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:18 am
Location: Winnebago, IL

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

ReinsteinD wrote:I asked a Soyinka question at Solo last year. Out of 28 1-on-1 matches, nobody answered it.
I only got Soyinka on Saturday because of that question at Solo last year. I think it was the last question of the last match, and I needed it to tie my opponent (one of the Fremd Alex's, don't remember which one) for the 7th match. I didn't know it and moved to the Desperation Shot.
User avatar
dtaylor4
Auron
Posts: 3733
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:43 am

Post by dtaylor4 »

Actually, I don't know if Mike or Sudheer mind everyone knowing, but they had a bet as to whether or not the Soyinka question would go dead in every room.
Trevkeeper
Tidus
Posts: 527
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:12 pm

Post by Trevkeeper »

ReinsteinD wrote: Trevkeeper stole both Coriolanus and Timon of Athens on Saturday, crediting ACE for doing so.
'Tis true, ACE helped out immensely there. There was that bonus, I knew 2 parts of the Achebe one because of it, and I'm sure there were a few tossups (in the very least, there were a few tossups that after I negged on way too early, after they finished I'm like "Oh, I learned that ACE", and such). ACE was worth it just for this tournament (and that I got to see a lot of people I met at ACE, that was cool).

And yes, Donald, Sudheer was our mod when the Soyinka question came up, and he told us about the bet.
Nick, IU and Aegis Questions
suds1000
Wakka
Posts: 106
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2003 2:17 am
Location: Chicago

Post by suds1000 »

In the midst of finishing up the editing on Thursday, Mike and I had a disagreement as to whether or not Wole Soyinka belonged in a high school tournament. Against what I presumed to be my better judgment, I left it in there.

During the tournament itself, when I was looking over the round in which the Wole Soyinka tossup was supposed to be read, I felt a strong urge to make a point of it, and so I bet him a dollar that it would go dead in every single room. He took me up on the bet, and it turned out that only in one room did someone manage to pick it up (I guess that was Brad from Winnebago...kudos).

So, despite being poorer by a George Washington, my inclination is still to feel vindicated, given that no one on at least eleven teams was able to answer the question correctly. Also, it probably should have occurred to me that a lot of high school players can name exactly one Nigerian author, and that I should have thus placed the Achebe bonus in the packet before it. Although I haven't looked at the scoresheets yet, I don't doubt for a minute that almost every room had someone buzz incorrectly with Achebe.

On a slightly different note, could you guys tell me what you thought of the computational math in the Earlybird? I didn't write any of it, and I noticed it going dead quite a lot when I was reading. Was ten seconds not enough to do most of it? Was it too hard to do? Is it worth keeping for next year? Feedback is appreciated.

Thanks,

--Sudheer
Trevkeeper
Tidus
Posts: 527
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:12 pm

Post by Trevkeeper »

I'm most definitely not the computational math guy on our team, but I do recall quite a few math ones going dead (both tossups and bonuses). I'd suggest either making them easier or giving a longer amount of time, but again, I'm not a math guy, so don't place too much value on my comment.

And I buzzed in with Achebe after hearing "Nigerian author" on that tossup.
Nick, IU and Aegis Questions
User avatar
Irreligion in Bangladesh
Auron
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:18 am
Location: Winnebago, IL

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

If I was playing in an actual match, I probably would have negged with Achebe myself. However, because it was the scrimmage game, I was able to hear the whole tossup, and got past the clue that indicated it wasn't Achebe.

The computational math was insanely hard, possibly even for thirty seconds. Either Mr. Egan (moderating) or Donald (playing), one of you mentioned something about it in that last match of the day (remember, when 'Bago spanked you, Kelly, Anne, and two others whose names are escaping me), how the math was insane, and we should skip it. Of 8 tossups, I think I negged five times, missed twice, and didn't buzz in once. Only one tossup, the sum of odds 1-100, was picked up in games I saw.

Computational math is something that should probably be kept, but I'd actually like to see it leave the Earlybird. Between hopefully including powers next year, the high quality of the humanities questions, and the difficulty of the math, I think it'd be best if math was left out of it. How fair is it to have a very good tossup on Crime and Punishment be worth the same as a math tossup on area of a sphere?

From what I can see, this is the only Illinois non-NAQT tournament with decent, college-style questions. Why not make it more of an academic tournament? I'm willing to bet that 95% of the players on Saturday were in Trigonometry or higher, and that somewhere around half were in some form of AP class. Math is fine for normal IHSA play, but the teams at this tournament are, for the most part, better than IHSA as it is. In my opinion, drop it.

ETA: I don't know if it'd be possible or ethical to the teams that bought them, but if I could see the 8/8 TU/PLEASE MAKE FUN OF ME BECAUSE I SPEAK NEITHER LATIN NOR ENGLISH that were computational math, I could tell you which questions were IHSA-level or moderately harder, and which ones were above the highest level of math players (Cliff Chang, Greg Gauthier, and Donald Taylor are the names that come to my head immediately as the only ones truly able to do most of that within 10 seconds).
harpersferry
Wakka
Posts: 154
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2005 8:40 pm

Post by harpersferry »

Yeah, you know the math was crazy when brad says so. Ten seconds is just insane. Don't leave it out, though. Fix it. I would suggest staying higher level so that your overall question difficulty isn't uneven. And anything that could be time intensive by the most common method will most often go dead unless you have a math beast.

But other than some other humanities questions and a few physics that were simply out of the high school scope, your questions and tournament was superb. I have to say it's early but well worth it. I lament the fact that most of our tournaments are short tossups with 4 part bonuses for 20 points read at once. And the quality of moderating goes without saying.

I like this format mainly because it rewards teams for knowing what they're talking about rather than list-memorization. Unfortunately, there were some archetypal quiz bowl questions that just didn't fit. the liver bonus shouldn't have been in the final round, for example.

I liked the religion jokes. And quagmire. Your visual arts/music was much better than typical illinois stuff. Great gob guys.

Sundeer, did you deliver a speech to the finals of WYSE 2005 at UIUC? I thouht I recognized you and it makes pretty good sense. If not, oh well.
User avatar
dtaylor4
Auron
Posts: 3733
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:43 am

Post by dtaylor4 »

styxman wrote:If I was playing in an actual match, I probably would have negged with Achebe myself. However, because it was the scrimmage game, I was able to hear the whole tossup, and got past the clue that indicated it wasn't Achebe.

The computational math was insanely hard, possibly even for thirty seconds. Either Mr. Egan (moderating) or Donald (playing), one of you mentioned something about it in that last match of the day (remember, when 'Bago spanked you, Kelly, Anne, and two others whose names are escaping me), how the math was insane, and we should skip it. Of 8 tossups, I think I negged five times, missed twice, and didn't buzz in once. Only one tossup, the sum of odds 1-100, was picked up in games I saw.
You only won because you had Andrew Ullsperger on your team. Without him, you guys would have been crushed.
User avatar
Irreligion in Bangladesh
Auron
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 1:18 am
Location: Winnebago, IL

Post by Irreligion in Bangladesh »

DaGeneral wrote:
styxman wrote:If I was playing in an actual match, I probably would have negged with Achebe myself. However, because it was the scrimmage game, I was able to hear the whole tossup, and got past the clue that indicated it wasn't Achebe.

The computational math was insanely hard, possibly even for thirty seconds. Either Mr. Egan (moderating) or Donald (playing), one of you mentioned something about it in that last match of the day (remember, when 'Bago spanked you, Kelly, Anne, and two others whose names are escaping me), how the math was insane, and we should skip it. Of 8 tossups, I think I negged five times, missed twice, and didn't buzz in once. Only one tossup, the sum of odds 1-100, was picked up in games I saw.
You only won because you had Andrew Ullsperger on your team. Without him, you guys would have been crushed.
You know, I thought I'd left something out from my retelling of that game :) Yeah, it would have been pretty ugly if it weren't for Andrew. Keep in mind though, we swept a geology bonus because of Bago's F/S Coach, Mr. Laird got several PLEASE MAKE FUN OF ME BECAUSE I SPEAK NEITHER LATIN NOR ENGLISH parts, and I somehow got that Joad tossup, so it wasn't all Ullsperger. :)
Locked