Search found 4074 matches

by Mike Bentley
Mon Oct 28, 2024 2:27 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: TOWNS [American geography/culture side event, Summer 2024]
Replies: 10
Views: 4162

Re: TOWNS [American geography/culture side event, Summer 2024]

geoff wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2024 1:47 pm SUPER fun set to play, you know it's good quizbowl when 1/4 of the tossups go dead. Amazing use of a Sunday. Maybe a TOWNS II??
Happy to see the editors of this set write a TOWNS II. I'm slowly working on my own take on this general idea as well. Look for an announcement maybe early next year.
by Mike Bentley
Wed Oct 23, 2024 5:43 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: ARGOS @ UChicago (11/23/2024)
Replies: 8
Views: 1738

Re: ARGOS @ UChicago (11/23/2024)

If I end up attending I'm happy to run a Who the Devil Made It mirror if there's interest. But would also be open to other events.
by Mike Bentley
Sun Oct 20, 2024 5:17 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Who the Devil Made It ("a making of tournament") - Online Mirror - Sun, 10/20/24
Replies: 5
Views: 2485

Re: Who the Devil Made It ("a making of tournament") - Online Mirror - Sun, 10/20/24

"The first aero weekly in the world" (Taylor Harvey, Mateo Acosta, Will Grossman, Anthony Delgado, Dan Puma) prevailed in the finals of the single-elimination superplayoffs to officially win the tournament. Stats (with the final official rankings listed first) for superplayoffs are listed here ...
by Mike Bentley
Tue Oct 15, 2024 3:42 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: ARGOS @ UChicago (11/23/2024)
Replies: 8
Views: 1738

Re: ARGOS @ UChicago (11/23/2024)

Any plans to run any side events along with this tournament?
by Mike Bentley
Mon Oct 07, 2024 12:48 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Who the Devil Made It ("a making of tournament") - Online Mirror - Sun, 10/20/24
Replies: 5
Views: 2485

Re: Who the Devil Made It ("a making of tournament") - Online Mirror - Sun, 10/20/24

A few weeks away from this tournament, I'd love to get more teams and staffers signed up for this.
by Mike Bentley
Tue Sep 24, 2024 3:04 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: A separate forum for side events?
Replies: 2
Views: 2461

A separate forum for side events?

Given the number of tournaments announced these days and the increasing number of side events, would it be helpful to have a separate announcement forum for them?
by Mike Bentley
Sat Sep 21, 2024 2:22 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Who the Devil Made It - Fall 2024
Replies: 4
Views: 3471

Re: Who the Devil Made It - Fall 2024

After editing most of the tournament, a few thoughts on how the set ended up: Being a bit of a "vanity tournament," it reflects my interests more than you might get in an "objective" subdistribution of these categories. In particular, most categories skew more American and more 20th and 21st century ...
by Mike Bentley
Fri Sep 13, 2024 4:14 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: Who the Devil Made It - Online Mirror - Sun, 10/20/24
Replies: 0
Views: 1405

Who the Devil Made It - Online Mirror - Sun, 10/20/24

Cross-posting here that I'm hosting an online mirror of Who the Devil Made It on Sunday, October 20th. Details can be found here: https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28323 A good amount of this set (but not all of it) is in the pop culture distribution, so it should be of interest to folks ...
by Mike Bentley
Sun Sep 08, 2024 5:00 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Who the Devil Made It ("a making of tournament") - Online Mirror - Sun, 10/20/24
Replies: 5
Views: 2485

Who the Devil Made It ("a making of tournament") - Online Mirror - Sun, 10/20/24

I'm almost finished editing Who the Devil Made It (https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28099). The tournament will take place online via Zoom on Sunday, October 20th. There are 12 packets. I expect the tournament to take about 5 hours to run. We'll start at 11 AM Eastern and will have a ...
by Mike Bentley
Fri Sep 06, 2024 5:46 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: CO Trash online: Saturday, October 12, 2024
Replies: 11
Views: 5315

Re: CO Trash online: Saturday, October 12, 2024

I can't remember if I knew this before filling out the poll, but since then the Penn Bowl online playtest mirror got announced for this date. I'd expect there to be a decent overlap between that field and the field for this event.
by Mike Bentley
Wed Aug 28, 2024 5:06 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Notes on the Underground Online (9/15/24)
Replies: 9
Views: 2686

Re: Notes on the Underground Online (9/14/24)

I can make either date but I'm guessing there isn't heavy TOWNS overlap given that there are two different online mirror dates for that.
by Mike Bentley
Sun Aug 25, 2024 8:35 pm
Forum: Practices, Scrimmages, Online Packets, and Playtesting
Topic: New Play Control (Nintendo packets) - 8/25/24
Replies: 1
Views: 1885

Re: New Play Control (Nintendo packets) - 8/25/24

There wasn't a critical mass in playing these so I've posted them to the archive: https://hsquizbowl.org/db/questionsets/3193/
by Mike Bentley
Sat Aug 24, 2024 5:10 pm
Forum: Practices, Scrimmages, Online Packets, and Playtesting
Topic: New Play Control (Nintendo packets) - 8/25/24
Replies: 1
Views: 1885

New Play Control (Nintendo packets) - 8/25/24

I have about 4 packets of questions on Nintendo content using roughly the same distribution as RNGEEZUS (N64 and beyond) that I'll read in the main Discord at 7 PM Eastern tomorrow, August 25th.
by Mike Bentley
Thu Aug 22, 2024 6:05 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: RNGEEZUS Online Mirror (8/24)
Replies: 7
Views: 3444

Re: RNGEEZUS Online Mirror (8/24)

As a bonus, after the tournament I'll read the 3+ packets of questions I wrote to study for this set.
by Mike Bentley
Thu Jul 18, 2024 12:56 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: 2024 Maryland Side Event Weekend (Aug 10-11)
Replies: 7
Views: 4235

Re: 2024 Maryland Side Event Weekend (Aug 10-11)

Any chance we can swap the order of LITANY and TOWNS on Sunday? TOWNS and Ahead by a Century are both sort of history tournaments and are likely to attract a more similar audience than LITANY. Self interestedly, I may not be able to make the final event on Sunday. Any updates on this? I'd also ...
by Mike Bentley
Fri Jul 05, 2024 9:01 am
Forum: Trash
Topic: RNGEEZUS - A tossup only Nintendo set
Replies: 3
Views: 3286

Re: RNGEEZUS - A tossup only Nintendo set

Exciting! This is also a good reminder for me to finally go and post MoNintendo.
by Mike Bentley
Sun Jun 30, 2024 10:39 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: TV Party Tonight! (Tossups on TV from Beginning to 2000): Sunday, June 30
Replies: 18
Views: 6600

Re: TV Party Tonight! (Tossups on TV from Beginning to 2000): Sunday, June 30

This was fun and on the easier side of a tournament with this distribution. I think people on the fence would enjoy playing a second mirror.
by Mike Bentley
Tue Jun 25, 2024 9:37 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: Who the Devil Made It - Fall 2024
Replies: 4
Views: 3471

Who the Devil Made It - Fall 2024

This is an announcement for Who the Devil Made It, a tournament that covers the history, context, and technology of film, TV, music, literature, visual arts, videogames, sports, and other subjects. I am writing this set with help from Jonathan Magin. I am shooting for about 10 packets of 20 tossups ...
by Mike Bentley
Sat Jun 22, 2024 1:04 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: 2024 Maryland Side Event Weekend (Aug 10-11)
Replies: 7
Views: 4235

Re: 2024 Maryland Side Event Weekend (Aug 10-11)

Any chance we can swap the order of LITANY and TOWNS on Sunday? TOWNS and Ahead by a Century are both sort of history tournaments and are likely to attract a more similar audience than LITANY. Self interestedly, I may not be able to make the final event on Sunday.
by Mike Bentley
Tue Jun 18, 2024 12:03 pm
Forum: National Tournaments
Topic: 2024 PACE NSC Thanks and Editor Discussion
Replies: 6
Views: 3467

Re: 2024 PACE NSC Thanks and Editor Discussion

Thanks to everyone who helped produce and play the set! I edited the Cross History, Geography, Current Events, and Other categories. In Geography, I try to approach that category in a way that brings in different types of knowledge. This includes some adventurous answer lines that typically aren't ...
by Mike Bentley
Thu Jun 13, 2024 5:14 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Online Moderators - Please Use an External Mic
Replies: 3
Views: 4477

Re: Online Moderators - Please Use an External Mic

Refreshing this post as it's still relevant. I don't want to call anyone out, but I've played several online tournaments this year where moderators have had poor audio quality because they were relying on a laptop microphone. I'd really encourage everyone moderating or even playing an online ...
by Mike Bentley
Tue Jun 11, 2024 7:16 pm
Forum: National Tournaments
Topic: NASAT online cost discussion
Replies: 9
Views: 3645

Re: 2024 NASAT: June 15-16 - Online

I’ve publicly posted far more information about costs for several events in the past. I’ve shared more information than PACE or NAQT has publicly. I somehow get questioned more about it. That’s insulting. As a 501c3, PACE's finances are a matter of public record. For those curious, last year we had ...
by Mike Bentley
Fri May 24, 2024 7:04 pm
Forum: National Tournaments
Topic: 2024 PACE NSC Round Sponsorships
Replies: 1
Views: 2593

Re: 2024 PACE NSC Round Sponsorships

We will have some spots open if you want to get a last-minute sponsorship in.
by Mike Bentley
Mon May 06, 2024 9:37 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Quizbowl in 2044
Replies: 20
Views: 9144

Re: Quizbowl in 2044

Random thoughts about quizbowl in 20 years. WRITING: - The actual writing process will look very different than it does now. While LLMs are not (as far as I know) widely used for writing now, they will likely revolutionize the process soon. It may even be possible to have an AI just generate an ...
by Mike Bentley
Mon May 06, 2024 9:33 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Carrying over losses
Replies: 15
Views: 5622

Re: Carrying over losses

Most of this talk about sports handling things differently ignores that most sports play games over a season. A quizbowl tournament plays all the games in one or two days. And one of the biggest wildcards in quizbowl is the set, which will be by the same editors at the same difficulty with no ...
by Mike Bentley
Sat May 04, 2024 4:46 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Quizbowl in 2044
Replies: 20
Views: 9144

Re: Quizbowl in 2044

My main worry about the mid-near-future of quizbowl is that "wearable tech" (AI-integrated vision devices, neural implants, etc.) could become so unobtrusive and so normalized that it becomes functionally impossible to detect cheating. That, or the purpose/appeal of an activity that tests ability ...
by Mike Bentley
Fri May 03, 2024 9:13 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Quizbowl in 2044
Replies: 20
Views: 9144

Quizbowl in 2044

A few days ago on the Discord, some of us got to talking about how much quizbowl has and hasn't changed in the last 20 years. Since this coincides with exactly how long I've been playing pyramidal quizbowl, that got me to thinking about what quizbowl would look like in another 20 years. A few of my ...
by Mike Bentley
Wed Apr 10, 2024 8:51 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: ESPN @ Online (06/01)
Replies: 5
Views: 3897

Re: ESPN @ Online (Open, vote for your preferred date!)

When do you think you'll make a decision on the date?
by Mike Bentley
Wed Apr 10, 2024 9:15 am
Forum: National Tournaments
Topic: 2024 PACE NSC Round Sponsorships
Replies: 1
Views: 2593

2024 PACE NSC Round Sponsorships

Hi everyone, I'm pleased to announce the return of the Round Sponsorship program for the 2024 PACE NSC. For a donation of $100 (or $500 for a round in the finals), you can be a sponsor of an NSC round. Your name and a brief message will be read at the beginning of the NSC match and you'll be listed ...
by Mike Bentley
Tue Apr 09, 2024 3:30 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2024 Division I ICT: specific question discussion
Replies: 60
Views: 21180

Re: 2024 Division I ICT: specific question discussion

Just to add to Matt's comments a bit, I think there's a danger in swinging too far in the opposite direction on stuff like "Civil War battles," because if the occasional tossup on e.g. the Battle of Franklin is no longer allowed, then we're essentially saying that there's very little worth knowing ...
by Mike Bentley
Tue Apr 09, 2024 1:24 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2024 Division I ICT: specific question discussion
Replies: 60
Views: 21180

Re: 2024 Division I ICT: specific question discussion

So, here's the Battle of Franklin tossup: Soldiers wounded at this battle were {nursed} at Carnton {plantation} by the "Widow of the South," Carrie McGavock. The defenders in this battle had barely escaped entrapment at the prior day's Battle of Spring Hill. Patrick Cleburne and {States Rights Gist ...
by Mike Bentley
Fri Mar 08, 2024 2:00 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Ancient/Medieval History balance
Replies: 6
Views: 4351

Re: Ancient/Medieval History balance

I see your point on "Early Medieval." I would guess the sticking point, which you touch on, is... those questions are hard to write. There aren't as many sources of note, especially on lower levels, and the time period isn't as widely touched on as modern or classical. Even the course I took on ...
by Mike Bentley
Thu Mar 07, 2024 4:34 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2024 Carper Award winners
Replies: 3
Views: 3884

Re: 2024 Carper Award winners

Congrats, everyone! Never met Raj or Dave*, but as John's apparently most frequent open tournament teammate, glad to see he's getting recognition for all the work he's put into the college game over the years. *Although it's possible we met at some Maryland practice or trash tournament and I've ...
by Mike Bentley
Sun Feb 25, 2024 6:37 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Bentley's Bounties
Replies: 1
Views: 3338

Re: Bentley's Bounties

I've updated the first post to indicate which bounties have at least informal interest from someone. Since side events often end up not happening, I'm open to other people starting on their own set even if someone else has already claimed it. By the way, I'm leaving it up to writers to define the ...
by Mike Bentley
Thu Feb 15, 2024 6:30 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Alternate locations for ACF Nationals
Replies: 30
Views: 12246

Re: Alternate locations for ACF Nationals

I can't speak to ACF, but a number of years ago we had this hotels vs. universities debate for the NSC. You typically don't come out ahead when going through official events reservations departments at universities. But you do come out ahead (purely on cost) if a club or faculty sponsor or whatever ...
by Mike Bentley
Wed Feb 14, 2024 1:19 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Bentley's Bounties
Replies: 1
Views: 3338

Bentley's Bounties

Inspired by Mike Cheyne's post, I'm posting a call for anyone interested in writing a side event on any of these topics. I'll pay $300 to incentivize you if you complete a set of at least 6 packets of 20 questions (feel free to write more). You're also free to charge separately for the set. To avoid ...
by Mike Bentley
Fri Jan 26, 2024 11:47 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: MoNintendo Online Mirror - Friday 1/26/24
Replies: 7
Views: 4705

Re: MoNintendo Online Mirror - Friday 1/26/24

Congrats to Panic! At The Restaurant for clearing the field and winning the tournament. Stats are here: https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/8715/

Hope everyone had fun at this very niche event.
by Mike Bentley
Tue Jan 23, 2024 2:28 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: MoNintendo Online Mirror - Friday 1/26/24
Replies: 7
Views: 4705

Re: MoNintendo Online Mirror - Friday 1/26/24

There's still a couple of free agent spots for anyone who wants to join at the last minute.
by Mike Bentley
Fri Jan 12, 2024 12:41 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: MoNintendo Online Mirror - Friday 1/26/24
Replies: 7
Views: 4705

Re: MoNintendo Online Mirror - Friday 1/26/24

With about two weeks left, it would be great to get a few more sign ups so that we end up with 6 teams.
by Mike Bentley
Thu Jan 04, 2024 7:18 pm
Forum: Theory
Topic: Studying Art History
Replies: 7
Views: 5277

Re: Studying Art History

Taking an intro to art history survey class is one of the better class time to quizbowl points ratios out there.
by Mike Bentley
Sat Dec 30, 2023 2:10 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: MoNintendo Online Mirror - Friday 1/26/24
Replies: 7
Views: 4705

Re: MoNintendo Online Mirror - Date Poll

This tournament will take place on Friday, January 26 at 7:30 PM Eastern.

I'll probably have an 8th packet of somewhat dubious quality if we need it to make the finals work better.

Could use a couple of staffers for this. I'll pay you $30 each.
by Mike Bentley
Thu Dec 28, 2023 7:18 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: MoNintendo Tournament - 2024
Replies: 9
Views: 8178

Re: MoNintendo Tournament - 2024

Is there a rough distribution or anything of the sort? Not really. I tried to take a reasonably broad approach. I'm sure some of my own biases will show up in the final distribution compared to how others writers would approach this set. But I did make more of an effort than in some of my previous ...
by Mike Bentley
Tue Dec 26, 2023 2:43 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: MoNintendo Online Mirror - Friday 1/26/24
Replies: 7
Views: 4705

MoNintendo Online Mirror - Friday 1/26/24

I'll be hosting an online mirror of MoNintendo (https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=27462) on Friday, January 26th starting at 7:30 PM EST. The tournament is 8 rounds of 20-tossup packets so hopefully shouldn't take more than about 3 hours to run. This will be a quads event unless there's ...
by Mike Bentley
Tue Dec 26, 2023 2:34 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: MoNintendo Tournament - 2024
Replies: 9
Views: 8178

Re: MoNintendo Tournament - 2024

This tournament is now mostly finished. I'm posting a separate thread for an online mirror. Happy for anyone to do an in-person mirror but realistically with a set this niche I'd be surprised if those happen. I will probably not release the questions publicly for a while to see if I can drum up some ...
by Mike Bentley
Sun Dec 10, 2023 7:03 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: MoNintendo Tournament - 2024
Replies: 9
Views: 8178

Re: MoNintendo Tournament - 2024

I'm getting reasonably close to having 7 packets of this written. There's still a lot of editing and cutting to do but it likely won't be all that much in the future when I hold the online mirror of this set.
by Mike Bentley
Fri Nov 10, 2023 4:05 pm
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: 2023 Festivus (12/23/23)
Replies: 18
Views: 10673

Re: 2023 Festivus (12/23/23)

If the list of packets gets long enough, I might advise everyone to write at most 20 tossups or ~160 lines of clue text, so that a large number of people can go within a reasonable timeframe. Longer-than-that experiences can tend to drag. I'd also re-up from a past event of this type -- try to be ...
by Mike Bentley
Sun Oct 22, 2023 6:34 pm
Forum: Trash
Topic: MoNintendo Tournament - 2024
Replies: 9
Views: 8178

MoNintendo Tournament - 2024

Inspired by Mike Cheyne's call for sets, I'm announcing MoNintendo, a set mostly on the NES and SNES eras. There will tentatively be 7 packets of 20 tossups. Each tossup will have at least 1 clue on an NES or SNES game or hardware (or, to be technical, Famicom or Super Famicom too). Many tossups ...
by Mike Bentley
Sun Oct 22, 2023 5:16 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Which packets should get uploaded to the archive?
Replies: 13
Views: 8786

Re: Which packets should get uploaded to the archive?

(Posting in the correct thread this time.) I think I was the person who approved this set. In general, if I haven't heard of a set before, I take a very brief pass at the questions to see if this looks like a legitimate packet. I don't think it should be the job of the approver to go super in-depth ...