Search found 196 matches

by bmcke
Sat Jan 27, 2024 4:32 pm
Forum: Community Discussion
Topic: Rein Otsason
Replies: 3
Views: 1600

Re: Rein Otsason

Rein was always a fun guy to talk to. A random memory, he buzzed a question about chiropractors and I asked him what was that about. He gave a very funny explanation of what chiropractic actually is and why the department of Veterans Affairs has to pay for it. It was a really nice quick lesson, frie...
by bmcke
Fri Feb 03, 2023 11:55 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: Addressing a common moderator error
Replies: 19
Views: 4026

Re: Addressing a common moderator error

Suggestion: the reader counts down from five on their fingers and calls time when they're all down. That way, players always have a warning for when they need to say an answer, but it's not a distraction that interrupts the thought process. This is a hassle for the moderator. Please do not require ...
by bmcke
Thu May 06, 2021 9:36 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2021 Canadian Circuit Player Poll
Replies: 27
Views: 14348

Re: 2021 Canadian Circuit Player Poll

I think I have Lia as the #1 player, mostly because I saw her games at FRENCH II. I'm generally more impressed when someone knows a lot about boring ancient stuff than when someone knows a lot about regular stuff (or even fun stuff). In their head-to-head games from IKEA, Lia went 5/5/0 and Henry we...
by bmcke
Sat Dec 07, 2019 7:52 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Carleton Nokomis Tournament -- Dec. 7, 2019 in Ottawa ON
Replies: 1
Views: 1611

Re: Carleton Nokomis Tournament -- Dec. 7, 2019 in Ottawa ON

This was a nice fun tournament. We had five teams, and they were all pretty well-matched. A Lisgar team and a Glebe team both finished 6-2, and Lisgar won a one-game final. Full stats here . The power rates were a little slower than the monster Toronto teams got in November , but the answer rates an...
by bmcke
Mon Nov 18, 2019 7:20 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Carleton Nokomis Tournament -- Dec. 7, 2019 in Ottawa ON
Replies: 1
Views: 1611

Carleton Nokomis Tournament -- Dec. 7, 2019 in Ottawa ON

Carleton University and the Ontario Quizbowl Association will be running a high school quizbowl tournament on Saturday, December 7, 2019. This tournament is open to all high-school teams and students. We plan to use a Canadian edition of the NAQT IS-187A question set, same as U of Toronto used for t...
by bmcke
Sun Mar 10, 2019 7:16 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Ontario Provincial Champs -- May 5, 2019 at Carleton (Ottawa)
Replies: 0
Views: 1770

Ontario Provincial Champs -- May 5, 2019 at Carleton (Ottawa)

Ontario Quizbowl Provincials will be on Sunday, May 5, 2019, at Carleton University in Ottawa. We'll play 10-ish rounds plus finals. We'll use a Canadian edition of an NAQT IS set. We will play timed rounds on clocks, to fit in the most possible games without running late. The tournament is a high-s...
by bmcke
Mon Oct 29, 2018 7:12 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HS Tournaments in Ottawa, ON -- Nov 10 and Dec 1, 2018
Replies: 0
Views: 2444

HS Tournaments in Ottawa, ON -- Nov 10 and Dec 1, 2018

Lisgar CI is running Lisgar Novice on Saturday, November 10, 2018. This will use the new SCOP Novice set in a Canadian edition. It is a novice tournament, so all players must be in grade 9 or 10 or else playing in their first quizbowl tournament. Lisgar Novice should run from 9:00 to 4:00. It costs ...
by bmcke
Tue Oct 16, 2018 3:20 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: EFT @ Carleton University (October 13th, 2018)
Replies: 3
Views: 3780

Re: EFT @ Carleton University (October 13th, 2018)

By the last few rounds, all the low-bracket teams talked about was how tired they were, how they "wished they could leave," how much they liked Reach better, and how they wanted to hear questions about their own dopey interests instead of about classical music. This tournament had a huge b...
by bmcke
Sun Aug 26, 2018 5:09 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Carleton Side Event Weekend (Aug. 25/26)
Replies: 8
Views: 4682

Re: Carleton Side Event Weekend (Aug. 25/26)

Human Use of Human Beings Scores

TOP ROOM
Rein 595
Ian 220
Leslie 180
Erik 155
Jay 115
Meghan 5

MIDDLE ROOM
Patrick 170
Erik 160
Akhil 155
Aaron 150
Ian 130
Meghan 95
Leslie 75
Jay 75
Adam 55
Brian 45

BOTTOM ROOM
Simone 265
Adam 225
Brian 175
Joe 160
Patrick 130
Aaron 110
Ian 100
Shuying 75
by bmcke
Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:32 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: What is the most pressing concern in college quizbowl today?
Replies: 68
Views: 60525

Re: What is the most pressing concern in college quizbowl to

College quizbowl is really bloated with grad students, old open players, and players who are undergrads but are already quizbowl veterans. Most of these people are great volunteers and are really nice people, but I worry that they take up a lot of oxygen at every event and club meeting. I would love...
by bmcke
Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:33 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Alternatives to the phrase "good quizbowl"
Replies: 8
Views: 5172

Re: Alternatives to the phrase "good quizbowl"

I have sympathy for your dilemma -- I often hear people say "quizbowl" to refer to any kind of school quiz game. Sometimes I distinguish by saying "true quizbowl."
by bmcke
Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:35 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Ontario Provincial Champs -- March 24, 2018 at uToronto
Replies: 1
Views: 3269

Ontario Provincial Champs -- March 24, 2018 at uToronto

There will be an Ontario Provincial Championship on Saturday, March 24, 2018. Meghan Torchia will direct the tournament, with help from the Ontario Quizbowl Association and the University of Toronto quizbowl club. The tournament will begin at 9:00 AM, in Sidney Smith Hall on the downtown U of T camp...
by bmcke
Mon Dec 04, 2017 8:51 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Carleton Supermoon Tournament -- Dec 2 in Ottawa, ON
Replies: 1
Views: 2448

Re: Carleton Supermoon Tournament -- Dec 2 in Ottawa, ON

Stats My recap Lisgar A swept this tournament, winning a one-game final over Lisgar B. All staff and players did an excellent job. I should have ordered more pizza. The Canada questions were hard, but [the USA questions they replaced] would have been harder. I am pleased to see some new schools and...
by bmcke
Wed Nov 01, 2017 9:26 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Carleton Supermoon Tournament -- Dec 2 in Ottawa, ON
Replies: 1
Views: 2448

Carleton Supermoon Tournament -- Dec 2 in Ottawa, ON

I'll be running a high-school quizbowl tournament with Carleton University on Saturday, December 2, 2017. We will use a Canadian edition of the NAQT 169-A set. The tournament will start at 10 AM on the Carleton campus, on the first floor of Patterson Hall. My plan is to have the official tournament ...
by bmcke
Tue Oct 17, 2017 8:10 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2017-18 NHBB Season: Opening Announcements
Replies: 3
Views: 3868

Re: 2017-18 NHBB Season: Opening Announcements

I realize now that NAQT has a pretty similar name, for what is also just a business running their own events. So maybe I will back away from my complaints here.
by bmcke
Tue Oct 17, 2017 4:33 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2017-18 NHBB Season: Opening Announcements
Replies: 3
Views: 3868

Re: 2017-18 NHBB Season: Opening Announcements

The name "International Academic Competitions" seems intended to make IAC sound like an international sports federation or a nonprofit governing body. International Academic Competitions is a consortium of competitions for primary and secondary students I looked up the word "consortiu...
by bmcke
Sun Sep 24, 2017 1:15 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: How do I become a moderator?
Replies: 5
Views: 3962

Re: How do I become a moderator?

You become a moderator just by offering to do it. Most tournaments can use more staff. When there's a tournament near you, message the organizers and offer to staff -- this will usually be a help to them. You also need to be able to read out loud quickly and clearly. If that's difficult, you may wis...
by bmcke
Sun Aug 20, 2017 10:49 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: GEODUCK - Geography Side Event (NEW: Online Mirror Update)
Replies: 37
Views: 21915

Re: GEODUCK (Geography Side Event)

This was such a good tournament. Kenji is clearly a good writer and a careful editor.
by bmcke
Wed Jul 19, 2017 1:02 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Women in Quizbowl 2017 Edition
Replies: 28
Views: 34968

Re: Women in Quizbowl 2017 Edition

Other schools' teams at tournaments are almost all male. My school's student club has a healthy gender balance.
Someone posts this sentiment like every year. I probably said it a lot in my day too.
by bmcke
Sun May 21, 2017 4:15 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Canadian Player Poll 2017: Fluency in French Optional
Replies: 22
Views: 14545

Re: Canadian Player Poll 2017: Fluency in French Optional

I think the academic rankings in this thread are mostly accurate. I probably have Ian Dewan in my top 5, and then I might have Andrej or a Toronto B player in my top 10 right now. If I made a top 25, it would have two high-schoolers and Jack from Queen's. I think the gap between Derek and Rein is no...
by bmcke
Sun Dec 04, 2016 2:40 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Ottawa Quizbowl Tournament XII -- Dec 3
Replies: 3
Views: 3515

Re: Ottawa Quizbowl Tournament XII -- Dec 3

This went well. 6 teams, all Lisgar and Colonel By, basically all destroyed the IS-A set. Stats . My recap . I want to speak up for two TD decisions I made. 1. I used clocks. Even though we didn't have enough scorekeepers, the rounds still averaged over 21 TUH, so the clocks enabled "more quizb...
by bmcke
Tue Nov 22, 2016 10:46 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Ottawa Quizbowl Tournament XII -- Dec 3
Replies: 3
Views: 3515

Re: Ottawa Quizbowl Tournament XII -- Dec 3

Image

Only Lisgar teams so far.
by bmcke
Thu Oct 13, 2016 10:20 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Novice HS Tournament @ University of Toronto 03/12/2016
Replies: 6
Views: 5032

Re: Novice HS Tournament @ University of Toronto

Please note that this is not a literal novice tournament -- it is open to ringers, seniors, high school students of any age. The use of the word "novice" is just to convey a sense of the new knowledge and new frontiers that the players are sure to enjoy.
by bmcke
Mon Oct 03, 2016 10:55 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Ottawa Quizbowl Tournament XII -- Dec 3
Replies: 3
Views: 3515

Ottawa Quizbowl Tournament XII -- Dec 3

UOttawa and I will run a high-school tournament on December 3. We will use an NAQT's 159-A set, modified into a Canadian edition. Fees and discos: $60 for a school's first team $45 for other teams -$10 for bringing working buzzers -$5 for bringing staff The tournament will take place at 10 AM in a b...
by bmcke
Thu Dec 31, 2015 7:07 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Best Albums of 2015
Replies: 171
Views: 8111

Re: Best Albums of 2015

MALIK SECTIONAL #1 To Pimp a Butterfly (Kendrick Lamar) vs. #4 If You're Reading This, It's Too Late (Drake) #2 AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP (A$AP Rocky) vs. #3 Summertime '06 (Vince Staples) HORAN SECTIONAL #1 25 (Adele) vs. #4 In Colour (Jamie XX) #2 Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda) vs. #3 Emotion (Carly-Rae Je...
by bmcke
Mon Dec 21, 2015 4:19 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Best Albums of 2015
Replies: 171
Views: 8111

Re: Best Albums of 2015

Heh, I don't listen to albums, here; I just vote for them.
by bmcke
Mon Dec 21, 2015 3:26 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Best Albums of 2015
Replies: 171
Views: 8111

Re: Best Albums of 2015

This is neat. All my votes are just based on singles and Youtube songs. To Pimp a Butterfly is the only album here that I actually heard in full. MALIK SECTIONAL To Pimp A Butterfly -- Really is that good. no preference Summertime '06 If You're Reading This It's Too Late -- For every song except &qu...
by bmcke
Mon Dec 07, 2015 9:40 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Stegosaurus Bowl (BASK) at Lisgar, Ottawa -- Dec 5, 2015
Replies: 6
Views: 4483

Re: Stegosaurus Bowl (BASK) at Lisgar, Ottawa -- Dec 5, 2015

Classic stats are here or here . All my announcements described doing the standings by a 4-2-1-1 points system, so I'll go by that system and say that Lisgar Shamrocks officially came second. This grid gives more info about the teams' performances. Teams' paths up and down the ladder are shown in th...
by bmcke
Sat Nov 21, 2015 6:27 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: On Dressing Well for Staffing High School Tournaments
Replies: 22
Views: 12730

Re: On Dressing Well for Staffing High School Tournaments

When I direct or do any control-room for a tournament, I bring nametag stickers and make the staff all wear nametags. I can't usually control how people dress, but I think the nametags are a nice cue to show people that all the staff are real staff of a real event.
by bmcke
Fri Nov 13, 2015 12:38 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Stegosaurus Bowl (BASK) at Lisgar, Ottawa -- Dec 5, 2015
Replies: 6
Views: 4483

Re: Stegosaurus Bowl (BASK) at Lisgar, Ottawa -- Dec 5, 2015

Details of Ladder Format This will be similar to a tennis ladder -- win and move up a room, lose and move down a room. So after a round in Room 2, the winning team would advance to Room 1 for their next round, and the losing team would move back to Room 3. We'll do standings (and decide a winner) o...
by bmcke
Fri Nov 13, 2015 12:36 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Stegosaurus Bowl (BASK) at Lisgar, Ottawa -- Dec 5, 2015
Replies: 6
Views: 4483

Stegosaurus Bowl (BASK) at Lisgar, Ottawa -- Dec 5, 2015

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nqxDzXQQeSc/Vj10NwD5FbI/AAAAAAAABG8/GRZrHz6GiQ8/s320/IMG_20151014_174548634%2B%25282%2529.jpg Stegosaurus Bowl will be a quizbowl tournament at Lisgar Collegiate in Ottawa , on December 5, 2015. It will be run by ONQBA and Lisgar. Schedule Teams should be at Lisgar by 8:30...
by bmcke
Thu Oct 22, 2015 2:55 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Pronunciation Guides
Replies: 16
Views: 10256

Re: Pronunciation Guides

It's not that bad if a new moderator pronounces something phonetically, but it is very bad if a new moderator stumbles on every question and delays the round. I still think the interpunct method is best here.
by bmcke
Tue Oct 20, 2015 9:42 pm
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: New College Contact List
Replies: 48
Views: 65968

Re: New College Contact List

How secure is the college contact list (in the top post), and what is it normally used for? I collected contact info for some Ontario clubs, but I'm not sure about posting people's email addresses in the open.
by bmcke
Thu Oct 15, 2015 3:40 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: I hate the word "rundle"
Replies: 20
Views: 2063

Re: I hate the word "rundle"

A relevant issue is that quizbowlers are under-represented at the WQC every year, though many quizbowlers could excel at it. People should try to play that next June, just for easy glory.
by bmcke
Mon Sep 28, 2015 11:02 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: MATT JACKSON WAS ON JEOPARDY AND WAS PRETTY GOOD AND COOL
Replies: 96
Views: 13185

Re: matt jackson is on jeopardy

I like this experiment. Matt is, what, 80% to win any particular game?
by bmcke
Sat Jun 20, 2015 4:34 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2015 Larry Munson Memorial (Ottawa Hybrid Mirror) 6/13
Replies: 12
Views: 6691

Re: 2015 Larry Munson Memorial (Ottawa Hybrid Mirror) 6/13

eldermaas wrote:Do we know if the Ottawa set will be posted?
The set isn't public, but I just emailed it to you. Anyone else who played it can email me for a copy. I'll upload it to the database in August, after any potential Florida mirrors.
by bmcke
Mon Jun 15, 2015 2:36 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Thoughts on Andrew Hart's Deadspin Article
Replies: 10
Views: 6670

Re: Thoughts on Andrew Hart's Deadspin Article

Kind of reminds me of "Best in Show" in that nobody watched that for dog-show content. It makes a lot of quizbowlers look weird and anti-social. The pie-eating contest metaphor is strained at best. But all in all, about as positive a spin on highest-level quizbowl as can be done. I loved ...
by bmcke
Tue Jun 02, 2015 12:11 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Discussion of pronunciation guides
Replies: 30
Views: 17255

Re: Discussion of pronunciation guides

If a word is really going to baffle most readers, I like just adding hyphens between the syllables. "Its C cells produce cal-ci-to-nin, while its follicular cells use ty-ro-sine to make a namesake hormone." This method looks a bit silly, but it sounds smooth when people read aloud, and it ...
by bmcke
Thu May 21, 2015 9:10 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Click Here to Become Sad
Replies: 59
Views: 34068

Re: Click Here to Become Sad

This is its own thread and not the hijacking of a tournament discussion. I'm just here because I like the conversation. You could move it to off-topic even.

That John Ibbitson article made me pretty angry. Drink every time he says "urban elites."
by bmcke
Tue May 19, 2015 3:39 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Click Here to Become Sad
Replies: 59
Views: 34068

Re: CO History 2015

In before FZ. Usually it's a parade of Liberal triumphalism, teleological interpretations of confederation as a natural end, all identity conflict solved by Trudeau (until the recent appearance of the dread Harper), and a succession of potted "trials" like Red River gestured toward by way ...
by bmcke
Sun May 03, 2015 8:37 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Player Poll 2015: LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS DUFUSES
Replies: 86
Views: 40019

Re: Player Poll 2015: LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS DUFUSES

Player poll is cool because great quizbowl play is good and cool, and it's nice to recognize the people who are good at playing quizbowl -- they've all done work to build up their quizbowl game, and they all have a really impressive level of cultural literacy. I enjoy seeing any kind of awards for t...
by bmcke
Mon Apr 20, 2015 12:05 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Burnout
Replies: 20
Views: 9809

Re: Burnout

I'll revive this thread to say that the standards of "writing good tournaments" have gotten a lot higher in the last few years. Ike's post in the Nationals thread shows an elite writer spending "hours on every question" for a tournament. It is obviously great that the big college...
by bmcke
Sat Mar 28, 2015 4:31 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2015 NAQT ICT: March 28, Atlanta
Replies: 73
Views: 47005

Re: 2015 NAQT ICT: March 28, Atlanta

NAQT is doing live stats.
by bmcke
Sun Mar 15, 2015 4:31 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Announcement - 2015 Ottawa Hybrid - March 14, 2015
Replies: 28
Views: 21601

Re: Announcement - 2015 Ottawa Hybrid - March 14, 2015

Credits and Thank-Yous - I wrote or did a full edit on about half the tossups in this set, and on a significantly smaller fraction of the bonuses. - Rodrigo Morante did the next-most work after me, probably followed by Ian Dewan. Rodrigo was particularly dedicated and reliable on this project. He w...
by bmcke
Mon Mar 02, 2015 3:46 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Announcement - 2015 Ottawa Hybrid - March 14, 2015
Replies: 28
Views: 21601

Re: Announcement - 2015 Ottawa Hybrid - March 14, 2015

Update: We have 11 teams submitting + 3 editor packets. The plan now is to do an 11-team round-robin, plus finals.

Update: Also, some portion of the science is being written/edited by me and is likely to be of very poor quality. We hope you don't mind this.
by bmcke
Mon Feb 16, 2015 2:40 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Announcement - 2015 Ottawa Hybrid - March 14, 2015
Replies: 28
Views: 21601

Re: Announcement - 2015 Ottawa Hybrid - March 14, 2015

Let's cap this tournament at 13 teams, since that's all we have space for. UPDATED: We have received packets from 9 teams, and we've heard interest from 3 others -- Carleton B (with Patrick), an Ottawa team, and America's Will Alston. If any other teams were hoping to submit and play this thing in O...
by bmcke
Tue Feb 10, 2015 6:54 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2015 SCT Errata
Replies: 10
Views: 3311

Re: 2015 SCT Errata

Were there supposed to be pencil-and-paper questions in the tournament?
by bmcke
Sun Feb 01, 2015 3:51 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: NAQT SCT at Carleton University (February 7, 2015)
Replies: 17
Views: 10284

Re: NAQT SCT at Carleton University (February 7, 2015)

Please do not delay the tournament by eating lunch at a buffet.
by bmcke
Wed Jan 28, 2015 1:52 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2015 Regionals: General non-specific thoughts and discussion
Replies: 15
Views: 5964

Re: 2015 Regionals: General non-specific thoughts and discus

It was very clear that the tournament had some "scholarship" to it, more than most tournaments. I don't know if this hurt new teams at all (comparative stats might show that), but it certainly made the questions more meaningful. The bonuses were very good at asking about the content and si...
by bmcke
Tue Jan 27, 2015 3:40 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Oxford Open 2015: General Discussion
Replies: 23
Views: 4877

Re: General Discussion

I was generally happy with everything I heard. The questions were obviously of a lower quality than Regionals, but certainly of a high enough quality that it was worth the travel / money, and it was interesting and meaningful to sit down and play them all. The British stuff all played worse than the...