Minnesota '08-'09

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Minnesota '08-'09

Post by cdcarter »

Since we don't have a team at Panasonic, and everyone else did, we might as well start a new thread.

I predict the big scary teams will be Chaska led by Sam, good ol' Eden Prairie, and Wayzata with Noah exhibiting his mad NAQT skills.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by theattachment »

As restated in the old thread, Chris is probably right.

Chaska will slay because of Sam getting continually better. That kid really does have a chance to be one of the best players in state history next year. I don't think he's seen his ceiling yet, so I can't pick against them in any tournament next year.

EP returns basically B, and they did pretty excellently for themselves at HSNCT. I don't think they can immediately beat Sam, but I do think there's more room for growth on their end. That said, they are in need of a coach. I don't know how that will impact them outside of some mad rush for scheduling, but it's still an overhanging thing.

Wayzata basically will rest around speech. Noah seems to favor Extemp over QB (dude beat me in a bunch of novice tournaments last year and was good). I know he skipped HSNCT for NFLs this year, so if that carries over they'll need someone else to top score for them. They were statistically out at HSNCT after eight matches, two of them losses to EP C. With Noah I had them ranked nationally. Without him... well, I don't.

Minnetonka will still be good because of Friedman and Mike. Their issue seems to be balance, namely a lack of it when it comes to knowledge at stuff that isn't current events, lit, and geography. I don't know how they'll balance that out.

South has Chris. He should play for the U next year and write their Fall packet. If he doesn't and instead plays high school, they'll be very good.

In short, the only sure thing in my mind is that Chaska is the class of the field. There's a ton of uncertainties that could lead to some really good talent but I would pick Chaska to come close to running the table next year and probably winning most to all of the major tournaments (league, NAQT state, whatever the U does).
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by ClemsonQB »

Although I only saw one tournament, two games, last year's EP B and (I'm assuming) next year's EP A seemed to be very strong for a group of young players. In our first game against them at the University of Minnesota's tournament on 4/5/2008, EP B played pretty well, so hopefully they can build on this foundation and improve by a signifigant amount, eventually possibly being able to compete with Chaska/Sam and the nation at large.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by gaurav.kandlikar »

quizbowlabc wrote:Although I only saw one tournament, two games, last year's EP B and (I'm assuming) next year's EP A seemed to be very strong for a group of young players. In our first game against them at the University of Minnesota's tournament on 4/5/2008, EP B played pretty well, so hopefully they can build on this foundation and improve by a signifigant amount, eventually possibly being able to compete with Chaska/Sam and the nation at large.
As a member of that B team, I would like to say thanks, George. We hope to build on that base over this summer and the rest of year year.

As stated above, Chaska, Wayzata, potentially Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, and potentially South should be good next year. Sam Peterson has really impressed me, and I expect a lot out of him next year. As Colin mentioned, though, Wayzata's status seems to be uncertain - Noah's commitment could be a big issue.

I am really excited to play the house written tournaments next year - NNT, potentially a Hunter Prison mirror, and potentially a house written tournament from EP (other than EPIC) should make this coming season great.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by klwalton33 »

Hey I can still weigh in on this, right? I put quite a bit of thought into this on the way back from Nationals and wanted to reveal some predictions on the upcoming season.

I think I'm pretty comfortable with my Top-5, but have plenty of honorable mentions as well, for the 2008-09 season:

THE GOOD
- Edina: this is one team that could fall back a bit this coming season. Had a rock solid year in 2008, but seem to be decimated by graduation. Still, they have a big program and should have several younger players groomed to do well.

- Armstrong: putting them on this list because, YES!, Armstrong will be back next year. One of the best-run programs in the metro area, so I'm glad to see the program will be back. Now the bad news: they graduate, like, EVERYBODY. I think only two regular members from their top 3 teams are back. Hopefully the momentum of getting the team back will get some fresh blood for Matt Q to work with.

- Irondale: nice showing at NCT this year, they lose a lot of seniors but have a solid B-team coming back, plus they seem to get better as a program behind Jeremy year after year.

THE BETTER
- DeLaSalle: they seem to lose quite a bit of their A-team but also seem to have a very good B-team coming back, plus it's a program that delivers the goods year after year behind coach Martin.

- South: Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter Chris Carter (he's really good)

- Orono: last year's league runner-ups graduate pretty much their entire A-team. However, at last count, they had about 527 players coming back next year on their lower teams. Big programs = great competition at practice = success. Larry's one of the best coaches around too. Orono will be very good next year.

- St. Anthony: the annual favorite to win Knowledge Bowl state, and the most dynamic coach in the state in Michael, they're going to be very good at Quiz Bowl simply by default (you just won't see them at many high-profile meets)

THE SLEEPER
- St. Paul Central: Martin is this year's Chris Carter... the freshman that is going to set the world on fire in MN. Dude was winning "Top Freshman" awards all the time last year, except he was an 8th grader. The team made NCT (5-5 record), made league playoffs this year -- and only lose one player. Mark it down -- this team will be a semi-finalist in at least one tourney this year.

THE SUPER-DUPER SLEEPER
- Hopkins: Anyone else see how they did at NCT? Very, very well. 5-5 record. Now, they do graduate their #1, #3, and #4 scorer from that team. BUT -- they have their whole A-team (from this year's league) back, they got better as last year went on, and this is still a pretty new program. Keep your eyes on this team, and in particular, on the fearless Eshaan Rao. They're going to pull off a big upset this year.

THE TOP 5 (in reverse order):

#5 -- St. Thomas Academy / Visitation
Sure, one "slightly off" year and everyone forgets about this team. Never mind the fact that they won the league 6 out of 8 years or whatever it was, or that they achieved the "Triple Crown" just 4 years ago. One year under the new coaching regime and they will do better. They have Jeff back. They have Pop Culture superstar Alex back. And they have my favorite MN QB player back -- Will Rock (who not only has the greatest name in MN QB, he has the greatest name in, possibly, the history of mankind). This is a winning program with an incredible tradition, and you can bank on a bounceback 2008-09 for the Cadets.

#4 -- Wayzata
And this team could be anywhere between #6 and #2 in the rankings... it all depends on the HUGE X-Factor in Noah. If he plays a lot, they'll be extremely good. If he doesn't, they'll be a "good" team but not an "elite" team. The thing with Wayzata is that they also have a real big program. And big programs = good teams. So no matter what, they are going to be good. Now, if Noah is really, really active next year, they are going to contend for the state title. So this is your "wild card" team.

#3 -- Eden Prairie
OK, so this is almost an "anti-bias" pick putting the two-time defending league champ, three-time defending NAQT State Champ, and 2008 "Triple Crown" (League, NAQT State, Knowledge Bowl State) winner this low. But "facts is facts" -- the entire A-team is gone. The most consistent B-team member is gone. So you can't expect them to be in the same spot next year. That being said -- my goodness did we have some impressive sophomores this year. Assuming that sophomores typically make great strides their junior year, the team of Neil, Tony, Gaurav, and Robin alone would be a legitimate contender, no question. Add Sam D in the mix (who is going to be a big-time player this year) and some impressive depth with Peter, Ankesh, Parry, and some promising underclassmen, this team will be very good. Expect them to win at least one tournament this year, be it an invite or one of the biggies. (Don't make anything of the coaching change. You could probably send the monkey from the E-Trade commercials to coach this team and they'd still be good)

#2 -- Minnetonka
When you start making out these lists, you typically default to the teams with the best players (even though one-person teams don't win consistently). Well, Alex Friedman is one of the best players. #18 at NCT this past year. They return two really good B-Teamers (Jesse and Mike) and have some solid depth. This was the last MN team to beat EP head-to-head, and this is going to be a breakthrough year for them. I think they'll win a couple tournaments, and I think they are going to make a strong run at the state title.

#1 -- Chaska
First, the cons: typically one-person teams have not won consistently here in MN. The Brendan Byrne MPA teams, while always in the money, didn't end up winning the big ones (although they had some GREAT matches along the way). Next, they graduated almost the entire supporting cast from their A-team, so depth is even more of a concern.

Now, the pro: SAM PETERSON

Colin wasn't kidding, Sam has a legitimate chance at being one of the best MN players ever -- very possibly the next Brendan Byrne. In addition to that, this is a program that is ALWAYS going to groom players to be very good. (and, yeah, I am biased about that) There were some promising underclassmen on the lower teams that can step up. I'm just going to assume 1-2 of them will gain quite a bit of confidence this year where they'll step in and contribute. They also have (in my highly biased opinion) the best coach in the area w Chris. Add this all up, and Chaska's the #1 team in the "preseason" polls.

Now -- the big question, can they run the table and go undefeated for the year in MN? I am going to say no -- a couple factors. I think anyone in the Top 5, on a good day, can beat Chaska if they are having an off-day. Also, the Hawks spend a ton of time in practice on Knowledge Bowl (their natural forte). That's going to take away from NAQT dominance. Still, these just aren't good enough reasons to dissuade me from making my alma mater my #1 preseason pick.

(on a side note, thanks again to everyone in the MN QB community for making the last 4 years so enjoyable)
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by theMoMA »

This is just a reminder to all returning high schoolers, recent graduates, or college players in the Minneapolis area to email me at [email protected] if you wish to be included in my email updates for summer quizbowl practices. We've consistently had enough players show up to hold two rooms of competition, one for high schoolers and one for college players. The practices take place on Thursday nights at my house in Chanhassen.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by Auks Ran Ova »

klwalton33 wrote:Also, the Hawks spend a ton of time in practice on Knowledge Bowl (their natural forte). That's going to take away from NAQT dominance.
Man, I wish they would cut this crap out.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by sam.peterson »

Ukonvasara wrote:
klwalton33 wrote: wrote:
Also, the Hawks spend a ton of time in practice on Knowledge Bowl (their natural forte). That's going to take away from NAQT dominance.
Man, I wish they would cut this crap out.
Oh, Knowledge Bowl...

I don't see it as being too much of a disadvantage. If anything I'd say that our kb performance has suffered of late due to focusing on NAQT (6th place at kb state this year, which I think is the worst Chaska performance there in decades, versus 3rd at qb state with three people - second scorer missing - and generally recognized as 2nd best qb team in state throughout the season).

We have one "official" practice for each during a typical week, though we do practice kb during a couple lunches every week. It's probably 2.5 hrs practicing kb compared to 1.5 hrs practicing qb every week. In terms of individual work, I'd say it's somewhere around 0.000278 hours kb/week (consisting of reminding myself that passive and active are the two voices and that I prefer to use passive as my guess) to 7-10 hours qb/week (consisting of learning legit stuff). Granted, I was the only person who studied on a regular basis this year ( :cry: hopefully this will change in the near future), but I think it's clear that kb is "interfering" as little as possible with the quest for qb success. That said, we certainly put the same effort into kb when we're doing it... My only beef with kb (in terms of it conflicting with qb, that is, of course there are infinite problems with the game itself) is that we miss GINVIT for some kb invite. Aside from that, I don't think it has too much of an impact on the qb season.

So, yeah...

EDIT: Fixed quotes.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by Strongside »

I haven’t been to very many high school meets the past two years, so I won’t make any predictions, but I agree with most of what has been said.

As for Sam Peterson being the next me, he will easily be better than I was in high school barring something unforeseen, and there’s a very strong chance he is better than I was in high school now, but it is somewhat hard to compare players several years apart.

A better comparison would be the next Michael Wright, as he has been by far the best high school quiz bowl player in Minnesota over at least the past 5 years. (The era of pyramid quiz bowl in high school Minnesota).

It has been interesting to see the transformation of high school quiz bowl in Minnesota over the past ten years. When I started high school in 2002, there were no pyramidal quiz high school quiz bowl tournaments in Minnesota. Starting in 2003, NAQT started turning high school tournaments in Minnesota, and NAQT’s prominence and number of tournaments in Minnesota has increased over the past few years. When I was in high school there were no Minnesota discussion threads like this one, and most of the regular posters in these Minnesota threads didn’t get an account until around the end of my senior year at the earliest.

The U of MN ran mACF high school tournaments this season, and there were several college tournaments where high schoolers played. I am a big fan of high schoolers playing college tournaments, and I hope to see it continue. It is a good way for high schoolers to see what college quiz bowl is like, and I wish I could have done it when I was in high school.

I know people like to criticize R. Hentzel for question quality and stuff like that, but there is no way to underestimate what he has done for quiz bowl, especially at the high school level in Minnesota.

As for the great matches my high school team was involved in, there were definitely some, and I am guessing Kirk is referring to MPA’s matchups with Eden Prairie and Chaska in the state tournament. I remember overhearing Kirk saying he thought MPA and Chaska would combine to score 900 points in our state semi-final match (on non-pyramidal questions in a 4 question format, but still a lot of points for the format), and Chaska ended up winning the match 450-445.

I will stop reminiscing about my high school days, but I am curious to see if anyone has tapes from either of those games.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by klwalton33 »

Strongside wrote: As for Sam Peterson being the next me, he will easily be better than I was in high school barring something unforeseen, and there’s a very strong chance he is better than I was in high school now, but it is somewhat hard to compare players several years apart.

A better comparison would be the next Michael Wright, as he has been by far the best high school quiz bowl player in Minnesota over at least the past 5 years. (The era of pyramid quiz bowl in high school Minnesota).
C'mon Brendan, you are far too modest.
http://www.naqt.com/hsnct/2006/results/personal.html

Strongside wrote:I know people like to criticize R. Hentzel for question quality and stuff like that, but there is no way to underestimate what he has done for quiz bowl, especially at the high school level in Minnesota.
I couldn't agree more. When Robert and Emily ended up with the opportunity to move back to MN, the Quiz Bowl landscape here was changed significantly. Not saying that George Leiter, Judith, etc., did a poor job with the league (because they were great, dating back far before even an old guy like me was playing) but there's so much more involvement and accessibility now with Robert and NAQT running it. Not to mention the obvious improvements in the questions used for the league. Back in the day, you had maybe 2-3 weekend invites, and the questions generally came from Q Unlimited or Patricks Press. Now we have, what, 8 NAQT tournaments right here in MN? No way this happens if Robert hadn't moved back into town. His contributions nationwide have been incredible, but here in MN they are immeasurable.
Strongside wrote:As for the great matches my high school team was involved in, there were definitely some, and I am guessing Kirk is referring to MPA’s matchups with Eden Prairie and Chaska in the state tournament. I remember overhearing Kirk saying he thought MPA and Chaska would combine to score 900 points in our state semi-final match (on non-pyramidal questions in a 4 question format, but still a lot of points for the format), and Chaska ended up winning the match 450-445.
Yeah, I was off by 5 points.

Still to this day it was the best one-on-one QB match I've ever seen here in MN -- I'm sure Andrew and Rob have fond memories of it as well. I've heard that all video documentation of that match have been misplaced somewhere at BHS. Absolute shame because it'd be a fun one to show to younger players on just how fun the activity can be.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by gaurav.kandlikar »

I don't know if you guys saw http://www.startribune.com/local/west/1 ... ectionName, but it is really awesome. I am really happy for the Armstrong team. :grin:
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by theattachment »

gaurav.kandlikar wrote:I don't know if you guys saw http://www.startribune.com/local/west/1 ... ectionName, but it is really awesome. I am really happy for the Armstrong team. :grin:
A. FOR NOW

P.S. Gaurav, when did you magically start posting?
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by cdcarter »

theattachment wrote: P.S. Gaurav, when did you magically start posting?
Around Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:09 am-ish.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by klwalton33 »

Sad news to pass along to everyone who has been part of Minnesota Quiz Bowl over the years.

Wenzel Ruhmann, who has served as the Apple Valley coach for some time, passed away unexpectedly last week. Wenzel was an extremely popular coach and will be missed deeply by the QB community here.

For those who wish to pass along their memories and well wishes to Wenzel's family, please do so here: http://tinyurl.com/wenzelR
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by Strongside »

It is sad to hear about the death of Mr. Ruhmann.

I met him and talked to him briefly once or twice. I have a friend who played quiz bowl at Apple Valley under Mr. Ruhmann several years ago, and I remember that he had good things to say about Mr. Ruhmann.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by Gautam »

Mr Ruhmann was a jolly fellow. He will be missed on the MN circuit.

:cry:
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by naturalistic phallacy »

gkandlikar wrote:Mr Ruhmann was a jolly fellow. He will be missed on the MN circuit.

:cry:
Memorial tournament needed.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by klwalton33 »

WeekendatBernadette wrote:
gkandlikar wrote:Mr Ruhmann was a jolly fellow. He will be missed on the MN circuit.

:cry:
Memorial tournament needed.
Agreed. Perhaps we can talk to Apple Valley about hosting one. OR perhaps the Lake Conference tourney could be renamed in his honor.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by Siverus Snape »

Is there any interest from Minnesota teams in coming down to Illinois tournaments this year? We at Auburn in Rockford, which is a five and a half hour drive away from the Minneapolis area, are holding a mirror of the Harvard Fall Tournament on November 15th. We're calling it the Midwest Mirror, so we'd really like for some more representation from other Midwestern states. Plus, there is shamefully little interstate competition in this region as it stands, so this would be a great opportunity for some Minnesota teams to play the best of the Illinois teams, as well as, hopefully, teams like DCC and NKC, on a guaranteed awesome set of questions. I'm sure we could discount your tournament fees.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by Mechanical Beasts »

J. Arthur Crank wrote:Is there any interest from Minnesota teams in coming down to Illinois tournaments this year? We at Auburn in Rockford, which is a five and a half hour drive away from the Minneapolis area, are holding a mirror of the Harvard Fall Tournament on November 15th. We're calling it the Midwest Mirror, so we'd really like for some more representation from other Midwestern states. Plus, there is shamefully little interstate competition in this region as it stands, so this would be a great opportunity for some Minnesota teams to play the best of the Illinois teams, as well as, hopefully, teams like DCC and NKC, on a guaranteed awesome set of questions. I'm sure we could discount your tournament fees.
I heartily endorse this event or product
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by cdcarter »

So I don't have the authority to make a proper announcement just yet, but it's looking like the South mirror of NNT will be taking place on Nov 22, pending getting rooms and administration support. Let me know if this date is a huge issue for your team, it's not set in stone yet.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by David Riley »

A question from an Illinois interloper:

Most of the teams I see on this board are from suburban Minneapolis/St. Paul--is there quiz bowl in the rest of Minnesota, such as the Duluth, Pipeston, International Falls areas, and if so, do you guys have the same geography problems that we do in Illinois, and how do you handle them?

Just curious. And if I recall my MN demographics, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Wayzata etc. are the equivalent of the Chicago area suburban north shore.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by theattachment »

David Riley wrote:A question from an Illinois interloper:

Most of the teams I see on this board are from suburban Minneapolis/St. Paul--is there quiz bowl in the rest of Minnesota, such as the Duluth, Pipestone, International Falls areas, and if so, do you guys have the same geography problems that we do in Illinois, and how do you handle them?

Just curious. And if I recall my MN demographics, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Wayzata etc. are the equivalent of the Chicago area suburban north shore.
You recall correctly, or at least mostly correctly. Quiz bowl is almost exclusively centered in the Minneapolis area, namely the southwest suburbs.

Outstate teams don't play quiz bowl. They have academic teams that play knowledge bowl, which is essentially team conference on terrible questions. Knowledge Bowl is run by the local teachers' unions, which may explain its prevalence over the Hentzel-run NAQT. Recently, metro area teams like Eden Prairie have pulled out of KB altogether, while teams like Chaska have run KB tournaments on NAQT speedchecks.

I don't think the issue is geography; Eden Prairie and the vast majority of local KB teams had until recently attended Cloquet's tournament (about two hours away), while those teams often come down for KB invites hosted by the likes of Chaska and St. Anthony. The issue is competing formats. Quiz bowl developed in Minnesota primarily in the Cities, while KB developed earlier (I think?) and everywhere. Unfortunately, it hasn't proliferated at the speed we'd hope.

A possible development, however, is in EP's new coach (whom I hope will introduce herself sometime soon) JoAnna Caulfield. Ms. Caulfield was the coach of the Austin KB team. The thought is that her connections in that part of the state could draw KB teams to metro-area QB tournaments. There's nothing saying it'll work, but we have hope.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by theMoMA »

Quizbowl was brought to Minnesota by Jan Baker, who used to coach Chaska. Why it's so popular in the outstate areas is a mystery.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by David Riley »

Interesting that we have downstate Illinois, outstate Minnesota, and upstate New York :smile:
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by klwalton33 »

theMoMA wrote:Quizbowl was brought to Minnesota by Jan Baker, who used to coach Chaska. Why it's so popular in the outstate areas is a mystery.
That's part true. Not sure how reliable the info but here's a wikipedia link about Knowledge Bowl: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_Bowl

KB actually started up in the northern part of MN. Jan Baker (heretofore referred to as "JB") caught on to it in the early 80's and brought it back to the metro area. Early results for the metro teams were not good... the outstate (particularly northern) MN teams dominated throughout the 1980's. In the early 90's Chaska started to take over and actually had both the first AND second place teams one year. Lately the metro area has simply dominated the State Meet.

Quiz Bowl on the other hand has been going on in the metro area for quite some time. In the early 80's (and perhaps even the late 70's) they used to broadcast high school matches on the radio. Various groups have sponsored Quiz Bowl TV broadcasts over the years as well. Lately matches in one location are recorded but I don't know if they make their way onto TV or not which is a shame.

Back the original point -- not sure why the "outstate" MN schools have not embraced QB. The simple explanation is that "Knowledge Bowl is all they've ever known." They are trying to break down the barriers a bit, but according to Coach Lenius of Chaska, one attempt at integrating NAQT questions into KB events at a regional level was recently shot down.

As Colin mentioned above, the fundamental differences are three teams in a room, each question worth 1 point, 15 seconds to confer after each question with the rest of the team, scores are accumulated during the course of the day, and "matches" are power ranked, so the three teams in a room with one another all have about the same score (or at least are right next to one another in the current standings).

The game format itself is not the problem -- some players can excel at KB without having the risk of ringing in and getting something wrong (since there are no penalties). That's not my cup of tea personally but I can see why some would prefer that. The biggest problem is that the questions written for KB events are very inconsistent when compared to NAQT. It's night and day actually. They are very substandard.

The big issue is that the metro area has both options readily available -- there are many local KB and QB meets. Since some metro teams want to get better at KB, they'll attend outstate meets and travel hours to do so. Outstate teams seem to have found their comfort zone with the KB format and have been hesitant to embrace QB and NAQT. Chaska's brilliant attempt to integrate NAQT questions into the KB format was received well by some but quite poorly by others (and by "others" I mean "the outstate schools"). Granted, it didn't help that the winner ended up doubling the next best team's score. That would NEVER happen in a traditional KB meet, so I think it scared those away who are not accustomed to QB (since large score disparities happen all the time there).

Hopefully that explains it a little better, David? Personally I'd love to see outstate schools become more involved with QB -- there are some very good teams from Moorhead, Rochester, Duluth, etc.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by Strongside »

I remember in the 2005-2006 season R. worked to set up 4 NAQT quiz bowl meets in outstate/ non Twin-Cities Minnesota. The cities chosen were Duluth, Rochester, Moorhead, and I think Alexandria. The idea was that the top team from each site would qualify for a single-elimination tournament in St. Paul moderated by Ken Jennings. All the meets were canceled though because of a lack of interest. :sad:

With R.'s efforts on that, and the Chaska Knowledge Bowl meet on quiz bowl questions, and that the Saturday NAQT tournaments are open to outstate schools, it is not like people haven't tried.

Outstate Minnesota, and the Twin Cities have distinct differences so that is a factor. Hopefully more Minnesota Knowledge Bowl centered teams can start doing quiz bowl.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by BuzzerZen »

Split Colin's "rescue Eden Prairie" post to Misc.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by sam.peterson »

So... I'm sure I'm not alone in this belief but I thought that Ubu Rois was one of the best-run tournaments I've attended. HSAPQ's set was tremendous overall; my only complaint is that we only competed on eight rounds of it. In all seriousness, though, it was great to leave a tournament before three.

It was unfortunate that Tony and Neil couldn't play for Sweden Berry yesterday. I'm looking forward to seeing how much they will add to the group. It's clear that Gaurav, Sam, Ankesh, and Robin can do quite well without them, although their loss to Minnetonka surprised me.

Tonka's strength was probably considerably reduced by the HSAPQ distribution, so it's hard to say how they'll stack up on NAQT.

St. Anthony is pretty good but struggles to convert on bonuses. It seems clear that kb takes precedence over qb but I don't want to make assumptions. They'll need to get familiar with the canon to be extremely successful.

The day's best surprise was Central -- I didn't expect them to be nearly as good as they are. Martin and Christine have impressive, deep knowledge and I'm surprised I didn't notice them more last year. I'm not sure how many other players Central has but those two alone make a very strong team.

I'm curious about what everyone else thought of the day.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by cdcarter »

sam.peterson wrote: The day's best surprise was Central -- I didn't expect them to be nearly as good as they are. Martin and Christine have impressive, deep knowledge and I'm surprised I didn't notice them more last year. I'm not sure how many other players Central has but those two alone make a very strong team.
I really agree here! They were a very impressive team, with deep knowledge, especially in science stuff. I hope to see them around more.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by theattachment »

After "watching" from the stat room, I can make the following inferences:

1. Chaska was the clear winner, and would be more of a clear winner if their teams were better spaced. Any team that has a person getting less tossups than negs (albeit apparently semi-knowledge based ones) should have that kid on B and see how it goes. Early-season tournaments are experiments for coaches, and it'll be interesting to see who gets the bump in upcoming tournaments.

2. Sweden Berry surprised me, to be honest, with how gamely they played without Tony and Neil, whom I expect to be on the A team. They were putting some really impressive stats up and actually had Chaska beat for PPG in prelims. Sam and Gaurav certainly have some awesome knowledge, but they've developed a lot better than I thought they would.

3. Minnetonka also beat my expectations. Friedman put up some respectable stats and the team played well in their matches against the top teams. An HSAPQ set probably isn't the best for them, and they were also short Mike, so I'd be interested to see what they do in the future on NAQT.

4. The biggest surprise for me was how excellent Central is. Martin and Christina were really lighting it up and balance each other really well, combining for over 86 a game in prelims and 80 in the playoffs and doing a decent job at converting bonuses. They seem to be really close to being in that first-tier of challengers this year.

5. The one complaint about the tournament that I had (which was a mistake in hindsight, not foresight) was that the prelims were a touch imbalanced. There were probably six legitimate "state contender" type A teams at that tournament; four of them were in the Alfred Jarry bracket, two in Felix Hebert. What happened was twofold: 1. Central was really good, especially in comparison to expectations that they'd be a middle of the road side. 2. Roseville didn't meet those expectations and don't seem to have reloaded from Sarah's graduation. If Felix Hebert had taken either Central or Whole Russian Army, it would be a bit more balanced; that said, the playoffs were about what they should have been (maybe in-bracket seedings were a little off, but in a round robin where you play everyone, that matters little).

All in all, everyone on staff was really impressed by how well the teams played across the board. Tossups we thought would only get converted at the Fall level were getting destroyed, and bonus conversion was quite strong (never below 13 per round, according to the Round Report).

Looking ahead, ten days sees League kick off at Minnetonka's West Region. I know that EP is playing West. Who else knows which ones they're in?
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by gaurav.kandlikar »

First, I agree that Ubu Roi was an excellent tournament.

Just to clear things up, Tony and Neil will be on the Eden Prairie's A team, but they both had debate commitments they had made earlier, so they had to skip this.

After reading everything about Central, I am really sad that Sweden Berry didn't get to play them at Ubu Roi. I am really excited to play them at the upcoming tournaments.

Also, congrats to Sam and Chaska for doing really well at the tournament.

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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

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gaurav.kandlikar wrote:First, I agree that Ubu Roi was an excellent tournament.

Just to clear things up, Tony and Neil will be on the Eden Prairie's A team, but they both had debate commitments they had made earlier, so they had to skip this.

After reading everything about Central, I am really sad that Sweden Berry didn't get to play them at Ubu Roi. I am really excited to play them at the upcoming tournaments.

Also, congrats to Sam and Chaska for doing really well at the tournament.

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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by gaurav.kandlikar »

Chris, is NNT happening at your school this year?

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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

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[quote="gaurav.kandlikar"]Chris, is NNT happening at your school this year?/quote]

I was about to email you back when I saw this post. I regret to inform you/Minnesota that we will not be hosting a site of NNT. If you are interested in mirroring it, however, you can email Ian Eppler, and I am sure he will entertain the offer.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by ieppler »

Gaurav/Minnesota people: if Eden Prairie (or any institution, for that matter) is interested in hosting the Minnesota mirror of NNT, email me as soon as possible at [email protected].
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by gaurav.kandlikar »

Hey
Firstly, EP won't be able to host a mirror of NNT.

So, SOCIAL happened today. Tonka A got first, followed by Chaska A [one man demolition machine Sam Peterson], St. Anthony Village, and Chaska B. Congrats to them, and to Sam for 1st scorer. I don't now any of the other stats, but I do know that EP A lost to Chaska A in the seed 8 v. 9 game, (the first round of prelims); so we were nowhere close to the top.

I was displeased with the questions. I obviously won't post anything unique here, but the distributions seemed really bad- there is one round in which I remember hearing only 2 lit tossups;I remember 3 painting-related questions in the entire tournament, and the distribution of other categories wasn't at all perfect. I'll be sending NAQT an email as soon as I get today's set from my coach so I can point out specific examples . Seriously. After this tournament, I'm going to be very hesitant to play any more A sets, it definitely did not meet my expectations.

I would also like to state that I am very upset with the Minnetonka quizbowl program in general. On Thursday night, when we had gone there for league rounds, their C team was escorted by a bunch of "superfans." Now, I have no problem with this, but, after rounds, the group of 'fans' was very loud and certainly annoying. We did not play the Tonka C team, but from what I hear from people on EPs B team, the group jeered the other team when they got tossups, and cheered loudly when their team answered questions. My irritation with the program doesn't end there, but I am going to have to stop here.

I'm sorry if this is against the forum rules; please go ahead and edit out my comments on Tonka if necessary.

Thanks,
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by sam.peterson »

Thanks, Gaurav. Today was odd, and I'm fried. I'll probably post later with some more thoughts on packets, results, predictions, and the Tonka comments. Until then, I'd just like to say to EP A that it was fun to play against you guys a couple of times, and I'm eager to take you guys on when we both have full lineups (preferably on different questions).
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by Mike from Minnetonka »

Just thought I'd respond to the complaints about our superfans...

First of all, I'd like to apologize to anyone who felt that our fans disrupted the meet on October 23. I was on A team, and we told the fans with us to keep quiet during the rounds, but that they could cheer afterwards. We also made told them to not comment on other teams, and I thought they did a pretty good job. That said, if the fans on C team were obnoxious we will address this at our next practice. The other captains and myself weren't aware they were causing so many problems, and I promise this will not happen again. Frankly, I don't think the kids on our C team are in Quiz Bowl for the right reasons and I don't think they've represented our program well, so this news is pretty upsetting.

On the other hand, we had a great time with fans at the meet and we plan on bringing more fans to the next meet on November 20. We are not trying to disrupt the rounds and we definitely are not trying to make enemies among the other Quiz Bowl programs in the area, but we are trying to promote our Quiz Bowl program and these meets are the most convenient for our fans. If you guys have any objections to our having fans and future meets or complaints about their behavior at the last one, please let me know. I know we've talked about putting some of the rounds in our Small Auditorium so large numbers of fans can watch, but if you guys object to this too let us know. We wouldn't just have Minnetonka teams play there, and it is just an idea right now (haven't talked to Hentzel), but if you guys are against this we won't do it.

Again, I'm really sorry this happened and I will make sure it doesn't happen again.

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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

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Yeah, the problem is that not only does it distract the other team, it also is a pain for a moderator to yell at a team multiple times during a match. It's compounded by the fact that in multiple instances not including fans, you guys have talked through opposing teams's bonuses and tossups after you've negged, causing readers to have to reread stuff and yell at you. In a non-league match, this is a hindrance that throws teams off their rhythm. In league, this wastes time and throws teams off. It's positively unacceptable in either situation because of how rude and disrespectful it is to the other team and, for that matter, the game itself. Quiz bowl is not meant to be a spectator sport that draws "fans" to chant denigrating cheers, but should instead be a good test of the players within's knowledge. If I read for a Tonka team and get problems on the 20th, rest assured that I will see to it that your coach and the powers that be get a lengthy complaint about it.

EDIT: My interpretation of the following NAQT rules put you and your fans' conduct into question:

D-1, which states that, "All participants are presumed to be responsible individuals and will be treated as such. Players and schools are liable for any liability resulting from their conduct while at the tournament[...]." While it is a loose interpretation, I see this rule as saying that teams are liable for how they and their fans act, which puts fans into the purview of a moderator's powers to eject as stated in...

F-7.2, which states that a clock can be stopped when, "stopped by the game official... to discipline, warn, or eject a player." It's a reasonable statement that this rule can be applied to fans. What no portion of F-7 states is that the clock can be stopped to accomodate discussion that does not revolve around a protest.

F-8.4, which first notes the mod's right to eject a player for disruptive gameplay.

Pretty much everything under section K, Rules and Conduct. Choice portions of it include rule 1, which states that players and coaches are bound by an "honor code" to not be disruptive during questions; rule 2, which gives officials the leeway to "broadly" interpret rules giving teams responsibility for unsporting conduct; rule 4, which states that a tournament official has leeway to expel teams from tournaments; and rule 5, which states that a mod must (it actually says must) expel a player from a match after their second warning unless the TD gives them room to do that earlier.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by Maxwell Sniffingwell »

I'd like to say thank you to the "Eden Prairie" team at ACF Fall yesterday - it was fun to play against you guys and you certainly represented your high school(s?) well.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by Psycho T »

I am sorry you feel that way Mr. O'Donnell. At Minnetonka, we are trying to promote Quiz Bowl, and we feel the best way to do that is to get the other students excited about our Quiz Bowl team. I apologize if you had a bad experience with some of our fans. We have reviewed the situation and we have taken the appropriate steps to help prevent unpleasant situations in the future. So, on behalf of Minnetonka Quiz Bowl, I apologize if our fans were sub-par. I will not, however, apologize for bringing fans. I feel that like every other high school sport, the support of the student body is part of the team's success. We have students who want to come and watch our team play and we are going to continue to allow them to come. As I have already said, we are in no way trying to disrupt the meets. We are merely helping to promote Quiz Bowl in our school. In fact, I would be happy if other schools started bringing fans to show support and promote Quiz Bowl. Most of all, we want to play Quiz Bowl fairly, and at the same time we want to have fun. Also, I cannot speak for the B and C teams, as I was not a part of them, but the fans that followed Minnetonka A shouted no denigrating chants. They cheered for our team, but did not put down the other teams. And as far as Minnetonka talking during other bonuses, I have not noticed that to be a problem, but we will try to be more aware of this.

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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by Mechanical Beasts »

For the record, "like every other sport" arguments are kind of weak when quizbowl involves very little that leads me to call it a sport.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by Psycho T »

I agree. Certainly Quiz Bowl does not involve the physicality of a sport. I used the term merely for lack of a better one. My point was, our school is trying to be supportive of our team.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

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Psycho T wrote:I agree. Certainly Quiz Bowl does not involve the physicality of a sport. I used the term merely for lack of a better one. My point was, our school is trying to be supportive of our team.
It's understandable to be supportive of a team. The school can be supportive by providing rooms, extra funding through either the activities department or fundraisers, or (and this would be a lot more beneficial) turning these fans into actual players. Instead, by "supporting" the team the fans denigrate the quality of the game. Even a parent or coach whispering in the room is a distraction that should be eliminated. It doesn't help that the playing style by the Minnetonka team at large, which includes talking after negs and in bonuses that would prompt a semi-reasonable moderator to throw players out of games, promotes this disruption.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by sam.peterson »

My two cents...

I can certainly understand annoyance over some of the superfan behavior (I wasn't subject to it myself, but from what I've heard it was pretty bad). However, I think that further intense criticism should stop for the time being. Mike and Ben are cognizant of the complaints raised against the Tonka fans, and have promised to remedy the problem. At this point, I think it's best to trust that they'll resolve the issue. I'd love for MN quizbowl to develop a greater following, as long as that doesn't undermine the quality of the game. It's understandable that people unfamiliar with quizbowl wouldn't be too familiar with the typical protocol of a tournament. That said, if the fans continue to be a distraction and a hindrance to the game, I think there is no reason to hold off on criticism and other means of stopping the problem. But for now, I say we leave it in Mike and Ben's hands.

EDIT: Mike -- I really like the idea of holding some matches in an auditorium. I hope this is able to happen.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by Gautam »

theattachment wrote: It's understandable to be supportive of a team. The school can be supportive by providing rooms, extra funding through either the activities department or fundraisers, or (and this would be a lot more beneficial) turning these fans into actual players. Instead, by "supporting" the team the fans denigrate the quality of the game. Even a parent or coach whispering in the room is a distraction that should be eliminated. It doesn't help that the playing style by the Minnetonka team at large, which includes talking after negs and in bonuses that would prompt a semi-reasonable moderator to throw players out of games, promotes this disruption.
Calm down man. This is overly reactionary.
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

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gkandlikar wrote:
theattachment wrote: It's understandable to be supportive of a team. The school can be supportive by providing rooms, extra funding through either the activities department or fundraisers, or (and this would be a lot more beneficial) turning these fans into actual players. Instead, by "supporting" the team the fans denigrate the quality of the game. Even a parent or coach whispering in the room is a distraction that should be eliminated. It doesn't help that the playing style by the Minnetonka team at large, which includes talking after negs and in bonuses that would prompt a semi-reasonable moderator to throw players out of games, promotes this disruption.
Calm down man. This is overly reactionary.
Whenever have I not been overly reactionary?
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by Strongside »

In case anyone is wondering, the league stats have been updated. They include the first four games in each division.

http://www.naqt.com/mqba/league/2008/20 ... dings.html
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Re: Minnesota '08-'09

Post by cdcarter »

So GINVIT is coming up this weekend. I know South will be there with most of our A team (we lost one to debate). Any conspicuous absences? How bad will these questions be compared to the Ubu set?
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