TJHSST's Mirror of Prison Bowl-3/31/12

[tribble]

We’re pleased to announce that TJ will be hosting a mirror of Hunter College High School’s Prison Bowl set on Saturday, March 31, 2012. Prison Bowl has historically been among the most well-received pyramidal housewritten sets of the year, and we’re confident that this will hold true this year. Details of this year’s set, including the distribution, are discussed here. We’re hoping to get a big turnout for this tournament and attract teams new to pyramidal quizbowl. The final field cap will depend on how many readers we end up with.

Logistics:
Our address is 6560 Braddock Road Alexandria, VA 22312. Registration will start at 8:00, with the opening meeting starting at 9:00. Breakfast will be provided. We’re unable to sell pizza to teams at lunchtime but will provide a list of local fast-food-style restaurants at registration.

Fees:
Registration fees are $70 per team coming from a school that regularly participates in pyramidal quizbowl and $40 per team coming from a school new to pyramidal quizbowl. $10 discounts are available for each of the following: bringing a moderator with experience reading for pyramidal quizbowl tournaments, bringing a fully functional buzzer set (with 8 or more working buzzers), or traveling over 200 miles.

A team is defined as being new to pyramidal quizbowl if no team from that school has played in any regular-difficulty pyramidal tournaments in the past two years. Examples of pyramidal tournaments include ones run on question sets written by HSAPQ (with the exception of VHSL Scholastic Bowl events) or NAQT or pyramidal-style housewrites (e.g. GSAC). Tournaments run on novice-level pyramidal sets, such as Fall Novice Tournament, or more subject-specific pyramidal tournaments, such as National History Bee and Bowl, are not counted for these purposes. If you have any question about whether your team counts as being new to pyramidal quizbowl, please don’t hesitate to email us. We’re also willing to make exceptions to this definition on a case-by-case basis.

We can accept registration fees in the form of cash or check. Checks should be made payable to “TJHSST Quizbowl” with your school’s name and “Registration Fee” in the memo line. We would prefer that payment be brought on the day of the tournament, but mailing in advance is fine too. Anything sent via snail mail should be addressed c/o Carolyn Gecan.

Signup:
Sign up on our website. This is the link to the field update; I’ll also keep a field update running in this post. If you need to change your registration information at any time (e.g. register one additional or one fewer team), you can do so here.

There is no minimum team size, but in order to insure that all players get a good amount of playing time, rosters are limited to six players. If your school plans on bringing more than six players, you must register a second team.

Any questions can be directed to the TJ quizbowl officers at tjhsstquizbowl@gmail.com. We hope to see you in March!

[tribble]

Registered (18):
Caesar Rodney (1)
Gonzaga (1)
Howard (1)
Langley (1)
Longfellow (2)
Maggie Walker (2)
Marshall (1)
Montgomery Blair (1)
Oakland Mills (1)
St. Anselm's (1)
Seton (1)
Wakefield (2)
Whitman (1)
Woodgrove (1)
Woodson (1)

This page will also be updating automatically as registrations come in.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

Normally we would be all over this tournament, but i think the Delaware NAQT championship is going to be held on this day (i sure would like some certainty though). Sorry we can't come; best of luck.

[tribble]

Sorry to hear that, Mr. C. On another note, this tournament has now been certified platinum by PACE, so the top 25% of the field will qualify for the NSC.

[tgaddy]

Montgomery Blair High School is interested in bringing one team. Given that the 31st is the first Saturday of our Spring Break, however, we are trying to see who will still be in town before we register.

[tribble]

Bumped because after hearing this excellent set played in New York last weekend, I'd like to encourage DC metro area teams to sign up!

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

How late is too late to sign up for this tournament? I ask this because the Delaware NAQT Championship is in all sorts of disarray (the tournament host is not responding to repeated e-mails and we have zero details on the event, including staffing and other logistics), and it was supposed to be the same day. If it does fall through, how late we can sign up for this tournament? We'd love to come here instead, if that happens.

[Howard]

(the tournament host is not responding to repeated e-mails and we have zero details...)

This is a very bad sign. In most cases, it means the event will not happen. In most of the few remaining, it means the total number of teams present will be so low as to have the tournament almost not be worthwhile. Hopefully, this tournament is an exception to my experiences.

[tribble]

How late is too late to sign up for this tournament?

We'll probably close registrations on Thursday or Friday, but we'd prefer that most people (obviously barring circumstances like yours) sign up earlier rather than later so we can get reasonable estimates for required staffers/rooms/food. On that note, now's a great time to sign up!

[tribble]

The field is now capped at 18 teams, and registration will close at noon on Friday.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

The Delaware NAQT tournament was abruptly and surprisingly cancelled about a half hour ago with no warning. This is the state of Delaware quizbowl.

Is it too late to sign up for this tournament? I will officially register this later afternoon or evening once i have word from the girls that they can go. If so, we'd bring a team, a buzzer, and myself of course to assist.

[Howard]

Unless something unexpected occurs over the next 36 hours, we're going to have a mediocre two-person team. If combining with another team works out for the benefit of the tournament, we'd be willing to do that.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

We can come to this, and i have my group that wants to do it. If we signed up at the 17th team, we don't want to screw things up, but if John and his kids want to join with someone else to keep it at 16 when we jump in, that's great.

Let us know if you would rather have CR there or not. We'll come if you're okay with it.

[tribble]

We'd be glad to have you on as the 17th team; we'll decide tomorrow whether to try to compress to 16. If there are any other teams in the same situation as Howard (which I think is likely, seeing as many schools are on break right now) that would be interested in combining, please let us know.

[Kouign Amann]

Some time tomorrow after the field is finalized, would you guys mind posting the planned schedule so everyone can see it and we can avoid having an issue similar to last time?

[tribble]

Sure thing. We have plans for either 16 or 18 that would prevent mix-ups like what happened at TJIAT from happening again.

[Mr. Joyboy]

Unless something unexpected occurs over the next 36 hours, we're going to have a mediocre two-person team. If combining with another team works out for the benefit of the tournament, we'd be willing to do that.

I've had no luck getting anyone from OM to want to come to this, but if I can get a ride, I'd be more than willing to play with you guys.

[Smuttynose Island]

Unless something unexpected occurs over the next 36 hours, we're going to have a mediocre two-person team. If combining with another team works out for the benefit of the tournament, we'd be willing to do that.

I've had no luck getting anyone from OM to want to come to this, but if I can get a ride, I'd be more than willing to play with you guys.

You are probably going to want to make sure that the TDs of this event are okay with this plan before you show up to the tournament. Mixed teams at non-Open tournaments are rarities and usually only done to make brackets more manageable. Because of that it would be foolish to assume that the TDs will allow such a mixed team to play.

[tribble]

I've had no luck getting anyone from OM to want to come to this, but if I can get a ride, I'd be more than willing to play with you guys.

Isaac, we'd be glad to let you register as your own team if you're interested in playing, but, unfortunately, we don't want mixed teams unless it makes the brackets work more smoothly and guarantees everybody more games. Feel free to email us if you have any questions!

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

Is this tournament running paperless? Should i bring my laptop if you need another one?

See you tomorrow morning. Thanks again for letting us sign up. I hope it doesn't mess with the schedule too much.

[tribble]

We should have plenty of school laptops (newer ones than last time) available to use. Thanks for the offer, though!

[tribble]

With 18 teams registered, the schedule will be as follows:
Teams will be divided into three brackets of six. Each bracket will play a five-game round robin. Teams will then be redivided into another three brackets of six by taking the top two teams from each bracket and grouping them together, then the next two teams, then the last two teams. Each bracket will then play another five-game round robin; this will mean that every team plays one other team twice, but will guarantee everybody 10 games. Prelim games will not count, except for placement into playoff brackets. Then, finals game(s) will follow playoffs.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

With 18 teams registered, the schedule will be as follows:
Teams will be divided into three brackets of six. Each bracket will play a five-game round robin. Teams will then be redivided into another three brackets of six by taking the top two teams from each bracket and grouping them together, then the next two teams, then the last two teams. Each bracket will then play another five-game round robin; this will mean that every team plays one other team twice, but will guarantee everybody 10 games. Prelim games will not count, except for placement into playoff brackets. Then, finals game(s) will follow playoffs.

Do you plan on a final placement game for every playoff position at the end? I ask because we may need to leave at 5pm if things aren't resolved by then. I'm not sure, but i just wanted to let you know that there's a chance we may need to go around then.

[tribble]

No, we won't do final games for each playoff position, so you shouldn't have any problem leaving by 5.

[Kouign Amann]

Each bracket will then play another five-game round robin; this will mean that every team plays one other team twice, but will guarantee everybody 10 games. Prelim games will not count, except for placement into playoff brackets. Then, finals game(s) will follow playoffs.

Doesn't this have essentially the same problem as before, i.e., that it arbitrarily discounts one of the games based on when the teams play it?

[Horned Screamer]

Why does every win have to matter the entire day? Your prelim match already matters because it affects whether or not you make the playoffs, so I don't think there's a theoretical requirement that it HAS to continue carrying over for the rest of the day once it's already served an important purpose in advancing you towards the championship.

[Kouign Amann]

I thought it was fairly standard quizbowl operating procedure to count all of a team's games against the members of its final bracket. I could be mistaken, though, so never mind.

[tribble]

After prelims, placings are as follows:

Nelson Mandela
1. Blair
2. Maggie Walker A
3. Langley
4. Wakefield A
5. Narwhals/Oakland Mills/Langley scab
6. Seton

Mordechai Vanunu
1. St. Anselm's
2. Caesar Rodney
3. Woodson
4. Gonzaga
5. Howard
6. Longfellow B

Aung San Suu Kyi
1. Whitman
2. Marshall
3. Maggie Walker B
4. Woodgrove
5. Longfellow A
6. Wakefield B

EDIT: Stats

[tribble]

Final standings, with annotations, are as follows. Combined stats may be found here.

1. Blair
2. St. Anselm's
3. Whitman
4 & 5. Marshall and Maggie Walker A (Marshall left, so this tie wasn't broken)
6. Caesar Rodney
7, 8 & 9. Gonzaga, Langley, and Maggie Walker B (all these teams left, so this circle of death was not played off)
10. Woodgrove
11. Wakefield A
12. Woodson
13. Narwhals (a composite of Isaac from Oakland Mills and extra players from Langley)
14. Longfellow A
15. Howard
16. Wakefield B
17. Longfellow B
18. Seton (left after lunch)

Thanks to everybody who came today, and thanks especially to Mr. C and Mr. Gilbert for moderating, as well as to the team from Hunter for writing the excellent questions. On that note, just another reminder that this set is not yet cleared for discussion. Any commentary on the tournament itself can be discussed here or sent to tjhsstquizbowl@gmail.com.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

This was a fun tournament with good people all around. Thanks for hosting, TJ kids. As always, it's a pleasure of mine to help out. I enjoy moderating here every time.

These were good questions. But rounds did begin to get harder after lunch. I'm not sure if this was written this way on purpose, but the Round Report on stats reflects that a little bit: http://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/94 ... ed/rounds/ That was a little frustrating to read to the lower bracket when the questions got harder, even if that wasn't the intention. Other than that, the questions were great, aside from one factual error in a tossup that i'll probably point out to someone if it hasn't been pointed out yet.

[lchen]

We hope you enjoyed the set! If you have any comments or feedback on the questions, please email me at lilychen3.14159@gmail.com.