Battle of the Burgh XII -- March 23, 2019

[Bill Mazeroski]

Hello!

Pitt Quiz Bowl is excited to invite you to our 22nd annual high school academic quiz bowl tournament, Battle of the Burgh. The tournament will be hosted at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA on Saturday, March 23, 2019 from 9:00 AM to about 5:00 PM. Registration will run from 8:00 AM to 8:30 AM, so teams should arrive before 8:30 AM. There will be a break for lunch. The specific schedule is dependent on field size and will be distributed at the tournament. We will begin with a soft field cap of 18 teams and plan to expand with additional staff.

Format:
This tournament will use the tossup/bonus format. A round will consist of two nine-minute timed halves with correct tossup answers earning a team a bonus in which it can earn up to 30 additional points, usually broken into three questions each worth 10 points. Teams will be seeded to preliminary groupings before being reseeded based on record for playoffs. All teams will be offered a minimum of 9 games. Trophies will be awarded to the top teams, and book prizes will be awarded to the top individual scorers.

Questions:
This tournament will be using NAQT's IS-177. Please consult the list of other tournaments using IS-177. Any team who has previously played IS-177 is ineligible for this event.

Registration & fees:
To register for this tournament, fill out the online form at https://tinyurl.com/burgh12

Base Fee: A school may register up to 3 teams initially. Any additional teams will be placed on a waitlist.
+$70 per team to your school's total fee for the first team registered
+$60 per team to your school’s total fee for the second team registered.
+$50 per team to your school’s total fee for the third team registered.

Buzzer Discount: -$10 to your school's total fee for each fully functional system. A fully functional buzzer system is defined as follows:
A buzzer system that clearly indicates which player has buzzed.
The control unit and at least 8 activators work, including lights on either or both of the 8 activators and control unit.

Staff Discount: -$10 to your school's total fee. This can be a coach, parent, student, or other person who is not playing. Volunteer staffers must stay through all the games (excluding finals).

Travel Discount: -$10 to your school's total fee for every 150 miles traveled one-way from your school's address to the Cathedral of Learning, according to Google Maps.

New Team discount: -$30 for the first team from a school that has not played at a pyramidal weekend quizbowl tournament (IU competitions do not count against this) since September 1st, 2015

Once you have submitted the form, there is no further action needed on your part in order to be officially registered. You will receive periodic email updates from us after you have registered.

Method of Payment:
All teams must pay by the day of the tournament. We can accept cash, personal checks, or checks from school, school district, or quizbowl club funds. We have no ability to process purchase orders or credit cards, but we will accept Venmo. Bringing forms of payment outside of the aforementioned methods will be considered nonpayment

Checks should be made out to "Pitt Quiz Bowl". We can provide invoices in advance to teams that need them as well as a mailing address (available on request).

Location & parking:
The address of the Cathedral of Learning is 4200 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. We recommend parking in the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial parking lot, which is located at 4101 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. To enter the Cathedral, walk down Bigelow Boulevard, cross at the permanent crosswalk, and enter on the ground floor. There are two entrances: a revolving door (left entrance) and an accessible door (right entrance).


If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact our President, Walt Young, at [email protected].

We can’t wait to see you!

Sincerely,
The University of Pittsburgh Quizbowl Team

We will edit this announcement to reflect the current list of teams.

[Bill Mazeroski]

Good afternoon! As of today, March 17, we have raised our field cap to 20 teams. The current field is as follows (currently 19 teams):

(teams/buzzers/staffers):
Morgantown (2/0/0)
Camp Hill(1/1/0)
Bishop Canevin(1/0/0)
John Marshall(2/0/0)
North Catholic(2/1/1)
Hampton(2/0/0)
Sharpsville(2/0/0)
Mercyhurst(1/1/0)
South Side(2/1/0)
Huntingdon (2/1/0)
Chartiers Valley (1/0/0) (possibly 1 buzzer set)
Pine Richland (1/1/0)