sweaver wrote:I think that a national tournament should start on time, or very close to it.
I think that a national tournament should have more than one official per room.
I think that said officials should not show obvious favoritism toward one team, especially when they make a decision that goes in favor of that team: a situation not unlike your buzzer example occurred, but it was after some buddy-buddy talk. I didn't make a scene at the time, because that would have embarrassed my team. I don't care if I embarrass myself, but I do consider the team's feelings in such matters.
I believe that question readers should be able to e-nun-ci-ate. I also do not believe that quiz bowl question reading involves any type of bonus for speed.
I believe that when a reader is asked to slow down, he should do so, and for more than 0.6 seconds.
I think that any tournament should start on time, regradless of whether it's nationals or not. However, I do understand that unexpected setbacks occur. I can deal with a tournament staring late.
If a moderator shows obvious bias towards one team, then you shouldn't care about "making a scene" to protest it. If the ruling in question wold've affected the outcome of the game, you should have brought it up immediately. If it didn't, you should have confronted the tournament director and voiced your concerns. I don't think your team would've been embarrassed if you did either.
I did not encounter a moderator incapable of reading well the entire weekend of NSC. In fact, save for one moderator that read for my team freshman year at PACE, I have yet to encounter an incompetent moderator at either HSNCT or NSC. I, for one, prefer faster-reading moderators over slower ones; however, I know that some teams do prefer slower-reading ones, and that's a perfectly acceptable preference to have.
It's hard to make a moderator change his reading speed. I'm a fast reader, and I know when teams ask me to slow down, I sometimes forget and return to my original speed, especially if it's a tight, high-scoring game.
No matter how good the question quality at a tournament is, a bad moderating staff can completely detract teams from the questions and their excellency. At both PACE and NAQT, however, I didn't have a bad moerator experience at all.
