Search found 583 matches

by AlphaQuizBowler
Tue Jan 17, 2012 1:51 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Should tournaments have split upper/lower divisions?
Replies: 20
Views: 4637

Re: Should tournaments have split upper/lower divisions?

Sure, it may be inspiring for a team to lost 720 to -10 against Adam Silverman once in a while, but it's also good experience for teams to get a chance to compete against other teams on their level. I would argue that developing players improve more when they have a chance to answer questions and w...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:33 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Should tournaments have split upper/lower divisions?
Replies: 20
Views: 4637

Re: Should tournaments have split upper/lower divisions?

It depends on the strength of the region and the size of the tournament. Last year we used split upper/lower divisions at Alpharetta Varsity and it worked very well: the top 6 teams got to play a double round-robin against themselves, while the 12 other teams played prelims and a rebracketed playoff...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sun Nov 13, 2011 1:29 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HFT liveblog
Replies: 37
Views: 12073

Re: HFT liveblog

I guess I must've missed the "largest country in Portugal" clue.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat Nov 12, 2011 6:18 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HFT liveblog
Replies: 37
Views: 12073

Re: HFT liveblog

My favorite sets of State College pseudonyms so far: Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, and Mojo Jojo; and Graham, Christoph, Monica, and David.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat Nov 12, 2011 4:52 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HFT liveblog
Replies: 37
Views: 12073

Re: HFT liveblog

Also, I'm not in the same building as the top brackets anymore, so unfortunately this liveblog doesn't look like it's going to improve.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat Nov 12, 2011 4:39 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HFT liveblog
Replies: 37
Views: 12073

Re: HFT liveblog

Also my sources in Georgia tell me that Centennial is stomping the field there (not that anyone's surprised), and are averaging between 26 and 27 ppb.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat Nov 12, 2011 4:38 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HFT liveblog
Replies: 37
Views: 12073

Re: HFT liveblog

Arrived at the Barker Center. Apparently there is a shortage of readers. Also I honestly have no idea what's going on in terms of stats (sorry CHRZ).
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat Nov 12, 2011 4:20 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HFT liveblog
Replies: 37
Views: 12073

Re: HFT liveblog

Skepticism and Animal Feed wrote:
Cheynem wrote:This liveblog leaves something to be desired. You've announced the tournament started and that you're at lunch. Needs more sex and violence.
Agreed. This is even worse than the LADUE liveblog.
Lol at the obligatory LADUE joke. Why are they not at this tournament?
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat Nov 12, 2011 4:19 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HFT liveblog
Replies: 37
Views: 12073

Re: HFT liveblog

Exciting update: I just walked all the way across campus to end up at the wrong location. Heading to the Barker Center now.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat Nov 12, 2011 4:16 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HFT liveblog
Replies: 37
Views: 12073

Re: HFT liveblog

Nothing that exciting happened in my bracket in the morning, so I apologize for the lameness of this liveblog. Also, my fellow staffers told me they would be updating as well, but that never happened.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat Nov 12, 2011 1:47 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HFT liveblog
Replies: 37
Views: 12073

Re: HFT liveblog

There seems to be a few typos, but less than average, from what I've seen so far. In other news, the main site has finished round 5 and is heading to lunch.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat Nov 12, 2011 11:17 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HFT liveblog
Replies: 37
Views: 12073

HFT liveblog

10:16--Round 1 completed. Waiting for Dorman to get to my room to start round 2.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:31 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Preseason Predictions Thread
Replies: 29
Views: 7044

Re: Preseason Predictions Thread

Cheynem wrote: If William Horton needs some rage-filled motivation, then have at it, but I assure you I wasn't trying to intentionally slight Harvard.
Fred wrote: LADUE?!?>!?!
Thanks guys.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Tue Jun 28, 2011 7:43 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: On-going season rankings
Replies: 391
Views: 124661

Re: On-going season rankings

I'm not complaining about Ladue's placement at HSNCT--they tied for 13th, and they deserved tying for 13th. I'm saying that I don't see anything in Ladue's performance at HSNCT that merits them jumping 23 spots in the rankings. Ladue didn't go to NSC, and we didn't go to HSNCT, so I'm curious as to ...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Tue Jun 28, 2011 7:18 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: On-going season rankings
Replies: 391
Views: 124661

Re: On-going season rankings

I'm going to apologize for the tone of my post--the italicizing of Ladue was a bit much, I admit. But I stand by the content of my complaints. The fact that we finished behind Walton, a team that we easily beat while fielding a 2-man team in a tournament where we got 1st and they got 4th, seems ridi...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:18 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: On-going season rankings
Replies: 391
Views: 124661

Re: On-going season rankings

So we get 11th at the NSC (including beating TJ A on a full packet and then again on a half-packet) and we drop to 20th, behind Walton and Ladue? You gave way too much credence to the HSNCT results.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Fri Jun 17, 2011 5:52 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2010-11 NAQT IS sets: question-specific discussion
Replies: 135
Views: 26810

Re: 2010-11 NAQT IS sets: question-specific discussion

I can't find a tossup with that answer; is it possible you are thinking of this one? Cobb-Douglas functions are used to quantify this phenomenon that, in Marxist economics, induces alienation when workers do not control its means. In capitalism, it can be increased by reinvesting itself as capital....
by AlphaQuizBowler
Fri Jun 17, 2011 11:09 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2010-11 NAQT IS sets: question-specific discussion
Replies: 135
Views: 26810

Re: 2010-11 NAQT IS sets: question-specific discussion

Could you post the text of the "capital" tossup from IS-105? I remember negging with "wealth" somewhere in the middle of it.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Wed Jun 15, 2011 3:10 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Different "Levels" of Teams at a Tournament
Replies: 8
Views: 2466

Re: Different "Levels" of Teams at a Tournament

We had a lot of success at our first Alpharetta Varsity Tournament offering a "National" and a "Varsity" division to allow teams to play against appropriate competition. It was suggested that teams entering the National division should have qualified for a national tournament (ou...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Tue Jun 07, 2011 1:03 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2011 NSC Question Set Discussion
Replies: 82
Views: 18246

Re: 2011 NSC Question Set Discussion

But the rule does apply to the question, because the clue in context is "The current Secretary of Health and Human Services [is from this state]." That bracketed part is necessarily implied by the phrase's placement in the question; the fact that at least one person buzzed off of it only f...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:29 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2011 NSC Question Set Discussion
Replies: 82
Views: 18246

Re: 2011 NSC Question Set Discussion

The Tommy Thompson one did end up costing us our wild-card game: in a history tossup on politicians from Wisconsin, there was a clue along the lines of "The current Secretary of Health and Human Services is from this state..." Buzz "...Tommy" My answer was along the lines of &qu...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:30 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2011 NASAT: June 11-12, University of Maryland-College Park
Replies: 82
Views: 31277

Re: 2011 NASAT: June 11-12, University of Maryland-College Park

Has it been decided where exactly on campus the tournament is being held?
by AlphaQuizBowler
Mon Jun 06, 2011 12:05 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2011 NSC: Tournament Logistic Discussion (not the set)
Replies: 62
Views: 23248

Re: 2011 NSC: Tournament Logistic Discussion (not the set)

Can someone at PACE explain what happened in the result of the Auburn/TJ A playoff game, too? From what I heard, TJ A originally won the game by 20 points after killing the last tossup when Auburn negged. Later, TJ realized that the moderator had accepted "Thoth" for "Ptah" and c...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sun Jun 05, 2011 7:24 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2011 PACE NSC Tournament Format
Replies: 96
Views: 22433

Re: 2011 PACE NSC Tournament Format

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is going to result in a disaster. Assuming as it seems that the preliminary stage is ten groups of six, with top 2 plus 4 wildcards moving on to the top tier, you have the not-at-all-unlikely possibility of a team playing two minigames to determine their p...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat Jun 04, 2011 11:16 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2011 NSC Match Tracker
Replies: 9
Views: 3411

Re: 2011 NSC Match Tracker

cvdwightw wrote:The Saturday match tracker is complete except for two playoff games in the Akutagawa bracket (TJ A-Alpharetta and Auburn A-St. Anselm's).
We beat TJ A 370-250, and Auburn beat St. Anselm's, creating a 4-way tie for the two middle-bracket spots.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Wed Jun 01, 2011 11:35 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2011 NSC - 60 teams
Replies: 74
Views: 20644

Re: 2011 NSC - 60 teams

Are there any plans for an NSC blog?
by AlphaQuizBowler
Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:22 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2011 PACE NSC
Replies: 114
Views: 173704

Re: 2011 PACE NSC

Is there a distribution for this tournament? I recall hearing that it would have zero trash, but don't know anything beyond that. Packets of 20/20, with 3/3 tiebreakers. The 3/3 tiebreakers are 1/1 history, literature, and science. Of the 20/20: 4/4 literature 4/4 history 4/4 science 3/3 RMP 3/3 ar...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Tue May 31, 2011 12:04 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2011 NASAT: June 11-12, University of Maryland-College Park
Replies: 82
Views: 31277

Re: 2011 NASAT: June 11-12, University of Maryland-College Park

What time does HSAPQ plan on finishing this tournament on Sunday? Team Georgia is trying to book flights.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Mon May 30, 2011 10:43 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2011 PACE NSC
Replies: 114
Views: 173704

Re: 2011 PACE NSC

Does PACE plan on releasing the prelim brackets before the tournament? Also, given the new format, will only the stats from the first 5 games be used to determine the All-Stars?
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat May 28, 2011 11:50 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HSNCT Match Tracker
Replies: 91
Views: 41067

Re: HSNCT Match Tracker

Why are the teams being seeded by PPG instead of PPB?
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat May 28, 2011 7:36 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HSNCT Match Tracker
Replies: 91
Views: 41067

Re: HSNCT Match Tracker

Will prelim stats be posted tonight?
by AlphaQuizBowler
Tue May 24, 2011 10:27 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Maryland Spring Tournament
Replies: 63
Views: 16364

Re: Maryland Spring Tournament

So, given that it's not being mirrored, will this set be posted sometime this week?
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat May 21, 2011 10:02 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Prison Bowl IV @ Hunter HS, NYC (3/5/2011)
Replies: 60
Views: 36672

Re: Prison Bowl IV @ Hunter HS, NYC (3/5/2011)

Will this set be posted soon?
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sun May 15, 2011 11:25 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HSNCT seeding discussion
Replies: 31
Views: 11353

Re: GQPA Fundraiser tournament - May 14th

William, Any team that can defeat Alpharetta, Centennial and Walton in one tournament deserves to climb in the rankings, minimally into the Top 25. Of course Chattahoochie's play at nationals in a couple of weeks could make all such talk moot, but for seeding purposes at nationals it certainly dese...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sun May 15, 2011 7:19 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: GQPA Fundraiser tournament - May 14th
Replies: 10
Views: 4600

Re: GQPA Fundraiser tournament - May 14th

This was a really enjoyable tournament to play. I thought that the BHSAT set did a really good job at being accessible to all teams (nobody scored below 10 ppb) while still having good lead-ins and third parts that differentiated among top teams. It was great to have one more chance to compete with ...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sun May 15, 2011 12:30 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: GQPA Fundraiser tournament - May 14th
Replies: 10
Views: 4600

Re: GQPA Fundraiser tournament - May 14th

Sorry about that. You scored 110 points on the bonuses, but for some reason that wasn't added into the final score on the scoresheet. I'll get Ananth to fix that and repost the stats.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Wed May 11, 2011 8:05 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: LIST is looking for mirrors!
Replies: 33
Views: 11608

Re: LIST is looking for mirrors!

I just emailed you some notes on the first 5 rounds.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Mon May 02, 2011 6:51 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: "Regular" High School Difficulty
Replies: 71
Views: 19428

Re: "Regular" High School Difficulty

You're probably best off with taking a publicly-available set and saying "my tournament will be similar to X set in difficulty." I think that's a good suggestion. Also, what's going on with the discussion of high schoolers in college tournaments? The general advice to good high school tea...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Wed Apr 27, 2011 6:31 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: "Regular" High School Difficulty
Replies: 71
Views: 19428

Re: "Regular" High School Difficulty

Having realized that this is a poor idea, you seem to be trying to confuse the issue by falling back on semantics. So two pages into a discussion about what a certain word means, you realize it's about semantics? I'm not trying to "confuse the issue," not am I "falling back" on ...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:29 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: "Regular" High School Difficulty
Replies: 71
Views: 19428

Re: "Regular" High School Difficulty

Only one of those tournaments even is higher difficulty, which just goes to show how stupid this thread is because people refuse to deal in facts and reality and instead live in fantasy worlds. I'd be curious to know which high school tournament this year is the one tournament you think was harder ...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:23 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: "Regular" High School Difficulty
Replies: 71
Views: 19428

Re: "Regular" High School Difficulty

So I shouldn't infer from your saying that GSAC and BATE are your ideas of "regular difficulty" sets that you don't intend for regular difficulty to be defined as harder, since you keep pointing to GSAC as a harder set? I think he's making the semantic point that he wants GSAC/BATE to be ...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Tue Apr 26, 2011 3:13 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: "Regular" High School Difficulty
Replies: 71
Views: 19428

Re: "Regular" High School Difficulty

Basically, my first post in this thread was about how we describe the difficulty of sets rather than any sort of judgment about the relative or absolute difficulty of high school quizbowl, such that I honestly don't know where statements like this one: [Y]ou must realize that making "regular d...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Mon Apr 25, 2011 10:06 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Alabama 2010-2011
Replies: 48
Views: 13475

Re: Alabama 2010-2011

Alabama teams should come to Alpharetta's BHSAT mirror on May 14!
by AlphaQuizBowler
Mon Apr 25, 2011 10:05 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Kentucky '10-'11
Replies: 128
Views: 29645

Re: Kentucky '10-'11

If any Kentucky teams are interested in playing BHSAT, I encourage you to attend our mirror at Alpharetta High School.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:50 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: "Regular" High School Difficulty
Replies: 71
Views: 19428

Re: "Regular" High School Difficulty

This thread has gone places since my first post, so I guess I'd like to clear up what I was and wasn't saying. ...I also appreciate the fact that people who work at the high school level on a regular basis (that would be folks like Fred, Charlie, and Matt Weiner) have a global view that you, Kay Li ...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sun Apr 24, 2011 8:39 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: LIST is looking for mirrors!
Replies: 33
Views: 11608

Re: LIST is looking for mirrors!

Nolan said it better than I could. In terms of tossups on books, I should've probably said the writer could find a lead-in I'd never heard, rather than a lead-in I couldn't get. What Nolan said about the "repeated use" of certain lead-ins is really what I was talking about.
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sun Apr 24, 2011 8:05 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: "Regular" High School Difficulty
Replies: 71
Views: 19428

"Regular" High School Difficulty

What is "regular" high school difficulty? This question is the main thing I've been thinking about since playing the LIST set, and I feel like this important issue has been lost behind some of the more specific criticisms of the set that I've made. I feel like it's unhelpful for everybody ...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat Apr 23, 2011 11:28 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Revisiting Biography Clues
Replies: 17
Views: 3920

Re: Revisiting Biography Clues

Mike Cheyne certainly made it seem like he thought that, if not used carefully, biography clues could lead to "obvious situations in which superficial knowledge of a personality translates into more points than knowledge of works" and could become "simple buzzwords or 'chestnuts.'&quo...
by AlphaQuizBowler
Sat Apr 23, 2011 11:00 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Revisiting Biography Clues
Replies: 17
Views: 3920

Re: Revisiting Biography Clues

However, we have done such a thorough job of driving these clues out that it is obviously time to revisit the paradigm of clue selection a little bit. Otherwise, we wouldn't see William Horton decry interesting clues about important things that influenced the works of philosophers in the LIST set T...