The Quizbowl Resource Center

I am pleased to announce that BASK, the spiritual successor to Ladue’s annual spring tournament, will be available for mirrors nationwide! BASK will be a very accessible, regular-difficulty high school set head-edited by me (Ben Zhang) and written by a team consisting of myself of Columbia University, Alston Boyd and Kai Smith of the University of Chicago, and Sean McBride of Cornell University. We will offer 12 packets for the low price of $10 per team attending! The set will be available for mirrors beginning on October 15, 2015, and we're open to any mirrors after that for the duration of the school year.

I have previously worked as a head editor of LIST III and LIST IV, which were two of the seven high school sets that were rated "Exemplary" in the history of PACE's Question Set Certification Program. We will be seeking similar approval this year if possible.

The details of the LIST IV set can be found here and the set itself can be downloaded here.

SET DETAILS:

The set will be very similar to LIST III and LIST IV in style, meaning it will be suitable for all levels of teams in attendance. In 2014 and 2013, those sets were among the most accessible non-novice sets, but still fairly differentiated among the nation's top teams. Tossups will be powermarked and will range from five to six lines, and bonus parts will be no longer than two lines each. Each packet will consist of 21 pyramidal tossups and 21 3-part bonuses, distributed as follows:

4 History
4 Literature
4 Science
1 Math (Non-computational)
2 Religion & Mythology
0.5 Philosophy (1 tossup or 1 bonus per round)
0.5 Social Science (1 tossup or 1 bonus per round)
1 Art
1 Music
0.5 Geography
0.5 Current Events
1 Trash (Pop Culture and Sports)
1 Extra

MIRRORING:

We would love for every circuit to have a mirror of BASK this year - LIST III was run in 13 tournaments across the nation, and LIST IV was run in 17!. If you want a mirror in your area, even if you don't have an exact date confirmed, let me know sooner rather than later! If you're at all interested in mirroring, or have any questions whatsoever, just email me at [email protected].

Current Mirrors:

Tar Heel Cup at UNC (NC) - October 10, 2015
Cornell University (NY) - October 10, 2015
VCU Fall Tournament (VA) - October 17, 2015
Columbia University Fall Quizbowl Tournament (NY)- October 17, 2015
CSWIFT at Wilmington Charter (DE) - October 17, 2015
WAT IV at Westview (CA) - October 24, 2015
Chattahoochee Academic Team Tournament (GA) - November 7, 2015
Hoover HS (AL) - November 14, 2015
Lisgar (ON) - December 5, 2015
Loyola Ultima (IL) - December 12, 2015
California Cup #4 at UC Berkeley (CA) - 2016
Hickman HS (MO) - February 27, 2016
Yellow Jacket Invitation at Sidney HS (OH) - March 5, 2016
Orchard Farm HS (MO) - April 2, 2016

Tentative:

Chattahoochee will be mirroring this set for CATT on November 5, 2015!

VCU will be mirroring this tournament on October 17th, 2015. If you loved the past LISTs, you'll love this set! Email me at [email protected] if you would like to ask about a mirror or have any questions. Given the large number of mirrors for LIST IV in 2014, don't worry if you think your site might be too close to another mirror - email me and we can work something out.

Westview High School in San Diego will be mirroring BASK for both divisions of their fall tournament on October 24!

Orchard Farm HS will be hosting the St. Louis mirror of BASK on April 2, 2016. A mirror in Columbia or Kansas City is still viable, so if you're from those areas (or another area of Missouri), let me know if you would like to mirror this tournament!

I'm pleased to announce that Eric Xu, formerly of Western Albemarle, has joined the writing team.

If you're in North Carolina or New England, let me know if you're interested in mirroring. We'd like to see this run there if possible.

BASK will be used for a California Cup hosted by UC Berkeley, and possibly for a October/November Cornell University tournament. We're still looking for mirrors in the following regions: Arizona, Michigan, Ohio, Chicago, southern Illinois, central/western Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, New England, and Idaho! Please contact [email protected] if you're interested in mirroring in any of these regions.

I'm pleased to announce that UNC will be using this tournament for the Tar Heel Cup on October 10, and Hickman High School in Columbia, MO will be mirroring this for their tournament February 27.

Hoover HS in Alabama, and Loyola Academy in Illinois, will be mirroring this set on November 21st and December 12th, respectively.

I am still looking for mirrors in Florida, Arizona/NM, Minnesota, Kentucky/Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas, and Michigan. If you are interested in mirroring or know someone who might be, drop me a line at [email protected].

We still need to pay you for our tournament in November, CATT. Can you please send me an invoice so I can get it to my coach?

VCU likewise still owes you money (to the best of my recollection). As this is like the third time in four months I've asked for an address and addressee for a check, I'd quite appreciate getting that info!

Will this set be posted? Are any future mirrors planned?

Cody wrote:VCU likewise still owes you money (to the best of my recollection). As this is like the third time in four months I've asked for an address and addressee for a check, I'd quite appreciate getting that info!

A couple of days ago, I had Charlie Dees ask me if we'd paid (no) and he noted that he'd tell you (Ben) to send along an address.

I've made numerous good faith efforts to pay you over the past 6 months and I'm ticked off. If I don't have an address and addressee for a check by May 31, you will not get the $60 you are owed. Send me a fraking address!

As someone owed money from this set who has repeatedly asked the person supposedly in charge of this (Ben) to send out invoices to no effect, I'd like to publicly echo the sentiment of the post above. Getting paid for this would be great!

heterodyne wrote:As someone owed money from this set who has repeatedly asked the person supposedly in charge of this (Ben) to send out invoices to no effect, I'd like to publicly echo the sentiment of the post above. Getting paid for this would be great!

Ditto! (although I did much less than Alston).

hey i'm sure he's been busy w/ regs

Same boat here at Orchard Farm. Problem is that the activities office is closed for the summer as of Thursday. If he wants a check from us before August, I'm going to need an invoice soon.

Cody wrote:

Cody wrote:VCU likewise still owes you money (to the best of my recollection). As this is like the third time in four months I've asked for an address and addressee for a check, I'd quite appreciate getting that info!

A couple of days ago, I had Charlie Dees ask me if we'd paid (no) and he noted that he'd tell you (Ben) to send along an address.

I've made numerous good faith efforts to pay you over the past 6 months and I'm ticked off. If I don't have an address and addressee for a check by May 31, you will not get the $60 you are owed. Send me a fraking address!

This deadline occurs in 33 hours and 23 minutes. Where's that address?

Cody wrote:

Cody wrote:

Cody wrote:VCU likewise still owes you money (to the best of my recollection). As this is like the third time in four months I've asked for an address and addressee for a check, I'd quite appreciate getting that info!

A couple of days ago, I had Charlie Dees ask me if we'd paid (no) and he noted that he'd tell you (Ben) to send along an address.

I've made numerous good faith efforts to pay you over the past 6 months and I'm ticked off. If I don't have an address and addressee for a check by May 31, you will not get the $60 you are owed. Send me a fraking address!

This deadline occurs in 33 hours and 23 minutes. Where's that address?

Just in case anyone was wondering, Kai Smith sent me an address shortly after I posted this (thank you Kai!). As to why Ben Zhang can attend a PACE meeting and also make plans for / announce a college tournament but not send me an address -- that's a mystery for another day! (I hope Michigan is prepared).

When will this set be posted on the archive?

ashwin99 wrote:When will this set be posted on the archive?

probably after ben sends out his mailing address