Search found 103 matches

by Aaron Goldfein
Thu Feb 21, 2019 7:01 pm
Forum: New High School Teams
Topic: Feeling Trapped in Hudson Valley(NY)
Replies: 8
Views: 11998

Re: Feeling Trapped in Hudson Valley(NY)

Have you tried to talk your advisor into taking you to HSNCT or NSC? Even if you haven't qualified, if you're doing well in local tournaments then I'd bet you have a good shot at a wild card bid. As a second point, have you considered being the change you want to see in the world? Why not run the &q...
by Aaron Goldfein
Thu Apr 12, 2018 7:58 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: New NAQT Individual Player NCT - April 15, Chicago
Replies: 55
Views: 28965

Re: New NAQT Individual Player NCT - April 15, Chicago

Does alphabetical order really have to be a tiebreaker? Couldn't you have used last tossup answered or a coin toss or basically anything other than systematically preferring one player over another?

Also aren't the first three group rounds almost completely meaningless?
by Aaron Goldfein
Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:13 pm
Forum: New High School Teams
Topic: new advisor/team - Florida
Replies: 4
Views: 11312

Re: new advisor/team - Florida

I'm not familiar with FACCS Brain Bowl, but on these boards we are big fans of pyramidal quizbowl . Most people feel that these sorts of questions reward academic knowledge much better than your short "buzzer beater" type of questions. You can see packets from old tournaments here . This s...
by Aaron Goldfein
Fri Sep 19, 2014 12:31 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '14-'15
Replies: 91
Views: 40965

Re: Illinois '14-'15

Since we're no longer strictly confined to a collegiate winter break date, we're looking at possibly moving the date of the Niles West Varsity this year (if we decide to hold it at all). Holding the tournament on our previous very early January date meant we were usually during most schools' winter ...
by Aaron Goldfein
Mon Aug 18, 2014 3:49 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Is the Group Stage Format any good for Quizzes?
Replies: 6
Views: 4523

Re: Is the Group Stage Format any good for Quizzes?

To answer your question, yes, we are generally very fond of group stages. And as others have pointed out, whenever possible, we generally try to use group stages (or a series of group stages) to the exclusion of other sorts of structures like single/double elimination. Generally, a good number of ga...
by Aaron Goldfein
Thu Jun 19, 2014 7:45 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: So Panasonic is back...
Replies: 32
Views: 20612

Re: So Panasonic is back...

Apparently the tournament happened and Florida won. Results
by Aaron Goldfein
Mon Jun 02, 2014 3:40 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: The logistics of future HSNCTs
Replies: 15
Views: 7248

Re: 2014 NAQT HSNCT: May 31-June 1, Chicago

Can anybody report what was asked on the survey? I didn't get a good look at it other than seeing some questions on how the distribution should be nerfed.
by Aaron Goldfein
Thu May 15, 2014 4:05 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '13-'14
Replies: 143
Views: 77601

Re: Illinois '13-'14

2014 IHSA Scholastic Bowl Advisory Committee minutes Most notably, the definition of scholastic bowl has been changed to include 4-on-4 matches, but they also removed the season restrictions and bumped up the number of allowable competition dates from 18 to 30. Does anyone know of any players/teams...
by Aaron Goldfein
Thu May 15, 2014 1:47 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Illinois '13-'14
Replies: 143
Views: 77601

Re: Illinois '13-'14

2014 IHSA Scholastic Bowl Advisory Committee minutes Most notably, the definition of scholastic bowl has been changed to include 4-on-4 matches, but they also removed the season restrictions and bumped up the number of allowable competition dates from 18 to 30. Does anyone know of any players/teams...
by Aaron Goldfein
Tue May 13, 2014 1:03 pm
Forum: Middle school area archives
Topic: 2014 NAQT MSNCT: Congratulations Harmony-Excellence!
Replies: 86
Views: 42765

Re: 2014 NAQT MSNCT: Congratulations Harmony-Excellence!

Uh...there's no "battle." There's people who know how quizbowl works, and people who don't. NAQT already joined the latter group when it dropped these questions from the HSNCT. There is NO remotely legitimate quizbowl tournament that uses arithmetic tossups, except, for whatever reason, t...
by Aaron Goldfein
Sun May 11, 2014 9:19 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Assigning Moderators
Replies: 13
Views: 2987

Re: Assigning Moderators

I've never been so concerned with moderators being actually biased (it's fairly difficult for a moderator to have much influence on a match anyway) as much as I've been concerned with a team accusing a moderator of being biased when they lose a close match. Teams can look for excuses when they lose ...
by Aaron Goldfein
Sun May 11, 2014 8:48 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Assigning Moderators
Replies: 13
Views: 2987

Assigning Moderators

I was wondering if anyone had any opinions to share on how to assign staff to matches when you're the tournament director. I'll work under the assumption that you have a range of staff of various abilities, and that you probably have slightly more than the number of rooms you have so you can have so...
by Aaron Goldfein
Fri May 09, 2014 11:54 pm
Forum: New High School Teams
Topic: Starting a Team on Pyramidal Competitions
Replies: 1
Views: 2816

Re: Starting a Team on Pyramidal Competitions

The best way to compete at pyramidal tournaments is to learn more things. As opposed to non-pyramidal formats, there isn't really a whole lot of strategy that goes into playing the actual games. Pretty much the more knowledgeable team wins. If you go to a pyramidal tournament, your team may have som...
by Aaron Goldfein
Tue Jan 14, 2014 3:49 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West Varsity III @ Skokie, IL 1/4/14
Replies: 6
Views: 4966

Re: Niles West Varsity III @ Skokie, IL 1/4/14

Stats.

I apologize for the delay. Data corruption issues forced me to have to enter almost all the scoresheets twice. At least I learned a lesson about backing up your files.

A round 11 scoresheet between Fremd A and Loyola A went missing. It's marked in the stats as a forfeit.
by Aaron Goldfein
Sat Jan 04, 2014 8:08 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West Varsity III @ Skokie, IL 1/4/14
Replies: 6
Views: 4966

Re: Niles West Varsity III @ Skokie, IL 1/4/14

Auburn A went undefeated and cleared the field. Fremd A took second by defeating Wheaton North A in a tiebreaker game. Full stats to follow.
by Aaron Goldfein
Mon Dec 30, 2013 1:03 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West Varsity III @ Skokie, IL 1/4/14
Replies: 6
Views: 4966

Re: Niles West Varsity III @ Skokie, IL 1/4/14

We've now cleared the waitlist. If we can get another team or two to register, we should be able to make the move to 24 teams. Otherwise, we will probably end up at 22. Please contact me asap if you're interested!
by Aaron Goldfein
Mon Dec 23, 2013 8:55 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West Varsity III @ Skokie, IL 1/4/14
Replies: 6
Views: 4966

Re: Niles West Varsity III @ Skokie, IL 1/4/14

Our field is now full and we've got two teams on the waitlist. There is a good chance we will expand, but we'll need a couple more staffers in order to do that.
by Aaron Goldfein
Mon Dec 16, 2013 5:12 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West Varsity III @ Skokie, IL 1/4/14
Replies: 6
Views: 4966

Re: Niles West Varsity III @ Skokie, IL 1/4/14

The field is currently at 14 teams. It would be great to get to 16 or 18! When we get to 18, we will probably not expand the field further unless we can get to 24.
by Aaron Goldfein
Thu Nov 14, 2013 3:53 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West Varsity III @ Skokie, IL 1/4/14
Replies: 6
Views: 4966

Re: Niles West Varsity III @ Skokie, IL 1/4/14

I've update the initial post with a field. I've also received word that we've received platinum certification from PACE, and thus the top 25% of our field will qualify for NSC.
by Aaron Goldfein
Sun Oct 06, 2013 11:05 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West Varsity III @ Skokie, IL 1/4/14
Replies: 6
Views: 4966

Niles West Varsity III @ Skokie, IL 1/4/14

Niles West High School in Skokie, IL, just north of Chicago, is holding its third annual tournament on January 4th, 2014. Any team consisting solely of high schoolers from a single school may register, and all teams will be guaranteed to play throughout the day. This year we will be mirroring IMSANI...
by Aaron Goldfein
Sat Jan 05, 2013 9:01 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)
Replies: 28
Views: 20808

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)

In the championship bracket, IMSA was 4-1 while Loyola, Stevenson, and the Smith School of Benchwarming were 3-2. Therefore, Stevenson and the Smith School of Benchwarming played a half packet. The winner, Stevenson, played Loyola on a half packet. Loyola won that second round, granting them entranc...
by Aaron Goldfein
Sat Jan 05, 2013 3:24 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)
Replies: 28
Views: 20808

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)

Championship bracket: Loyola Saint Joseph Verde Unchained Smith School of Benchwarming Stevenson IMSA A First consolation: WWS A Hawk Pride StIMSA B International School of Goatbowlers Fenton Wheaton North Second consolation: Carmel Catholic A Niles West Carmel Catholic C WWS B Carmel Catholic B WWS C
by Aaron Goldfein
Thu Jan 03, 2013 7:34 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)
Replies: 28
Views: 20808

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)

The field is now at 18 teams, and we won't be expanding anymore. I guess we could start a waitlist if anyone is still interested. The new format will be 3 brackets of 6 teams each in the morning, rebracketed into 3 more brackets of 6 teams each in the afternoon, then finals. This gives every team 10...
by Aaron Goldfein
Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:03 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)
Replies: 28
Views: 20808

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)

The field is capped at 16, but we might be able to stretch it to 18 if we get a few more registrations and maybe another staffer.
by Aaron Goldfein
Mon Dec 31, 2012 3:52 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)
Replies: 28
Views: 20808

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)

I sent out an email to all staff and coaches. If you did not receive one but should have, let me know asap. We decided to combine the divisions into a single field. The format is two pools of 8 rebracketed into two more pools of 8 without repeats. When the tournament was announced, I was expecting t...
by Aaron Goldfein
Sun Dec 23, 2012 2:55 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)
Replies: 28
Views: 20808

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)

Due to low numbers, at this point I'm wondering if it might be better to just merge the divisions into a single field. Anyone have thoughts on this?
by Aaron Goldfein
Tue Dec 18, 2012 6:18 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)
Replies: 28
Views: 20808

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)

Yes, we definitely have room for two IMSA teams. In which division would you like to place them?
by Aaron Goldfein
Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:37 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)
Replies: 28
Views: 20808

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)

It would be nice to get a few more teams for this. I understand that winter break schedules are causing problems for many schools. If you're a player and your school can't come for whatever reason but you would still like to attend, let me know and we can work something out.
by Aaron Goldfein
Sun Nov 25, 2012 7:00 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)
Replies: 28
Views: 20808

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)

Bumped for a field update. Just 8 spots left under the current field cap.
by Aaron Goldfein
Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:37 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)
Replies: 28
Views: 20808

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)

For now all I can guarantee is a field cap of 20 teams between the two divisions. I suspect that we'll be able to raise that cap though, possibly as high as 36 teams.
by Aaron Goldfein
Thu Nov 08, 2012 11:41 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)
Replies: 28
Views: 20808

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)

I've added a field update to the first post. We could also really use more staff; contact me if you're interested.
by Aaron Goldfein
Fri Oct 26, 2012 2:28 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: The Future
Replies: 38
Views: 9783

Re: The Future

Part of the problem may be that teams don't have a lot of reason to get better. Say you're a student on a mediocre team in the Chicago suburbs. Odds are, no matter how hard your team studies and no matter how many good tournaments you go to, you'll probably never have a chance at being one of the to...
by Aaron Goldfein
Sun Oct 07, 2012 1:20 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)
Replies: 28
Views: 20808

Re: Niles West Tournament in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)

I can now confirm that we will again be mirroring the Norcross BDAT.
by Aaron Goldfein
Sun Sep 30, 2012 5:35 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)
Replies: 28
Views: 20808

Niles West BDAT Mirror in Skokie, IL (1/5/13)

Niles West High School in Skokie, IL, just north of Chicago, is holding its second annual tournament on January 5th, 2013. Any team consisting solely of high schoolers from a single school may register, and all teams will be guaranteed to play throughout the day. We will be mirroring the Norcross BD...
by Aaron Goldfein
Sat May 26, 2012 10:33 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2012 NAQT HSNCT: Congratulations to Bellarmine!
Replies: 100
Views: 54654

Re: 2012 NAQT HSNCT: May 26-27, Atlanta

I'm curious, why does NAQT have double byes in the winners bracket, and how do they determine how many teams get them?
by Aaron Goldfein
Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:32 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Masonics
Replies: 61
Views: 12388

Re: Masonics

I think the next big step should be to move towards part-by-part bonuses for non computational math. For no other reason, it'll make matches faster. And if matches get faster, there may come a time that the Masons are willing to go to ~9 rounds and we'll avoid single elimination.
by Aaron Goldfein
Thu Feb 16, 2012 11:02 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: IHSA email
Replies: 9
Views: 2605

Re: IHSA email

Just out of curiosity, what would happen if a team's quizbowl program simply decided to no longer be affiliated with IHSA. Would the only loss be participation in the state series (and Masonics, because they require IHSA membership) or would there be other penalties for the schools athletic teams or...
by Aaron Goldfein
Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:44 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: IHSA
Replies: 125
Views: 34422

Re: IHSA

King of Carrot Flowers wrote: 2. Kaneland
3. Belvidere North
Wait, what?
by Aaron Goldfein
Wed Jan 18, 2012 3:39 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: A Hypothetical Illinois State Championship
Replies: 30
Views: 6527

Re: A Hypothetical Illinois State Championship

2) IHSA bonuses should go part-at-a-time, even if Masonic bonuses don't necessarily do so. This is because good part-at-a-time bonuses are inherently easier to write than good all-questions-then-all-answers bonuses. Since Masonic tends to just do whatever IHSA does, I would guess that if IHSA adopt...
by Aaron Goldfein
Wed Jan 18, 2012 1:11 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: A Hypothetical Illinois State Championship
Replies: 30
Views: 6527

Re: A Hypothetical Illinois State Championship

1) IHSA question quality should improve, as should some ways its distribution. Yes, and I do see this happening. I still think we'll be stuck with math/comp math for quite some years, but at least it might become "good" comp math (a la NAQT). 2) IHSA bonuses should go part-at-a-time, even...
by Aaron Goldfein
Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:38 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: A Hypothetical Illinois State Championship
Replies: 30
Views: 6527

A Hypothetical Illinois State Championship

With Masonic sectional assignments just recently posted, I started thinking about the three tournaments we have in Illinois which consider themselves to be "state championships," and the strengths and weaknesses of each. The IHSA tournament is considered by the most people in the state to ...
by Aaron Goldfein
Sun Jan 08, 2012 12:23 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror at Skokie, IL (1/7/12)
Replies: 30
Views: 9898

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror at Skokie, IL (1/7/12)

We've just received platinum PACE certification! Therefore, the top 25% of the field requalifies for the NSC in June.
by Aaron Goldfein
Sun Jan 08, 2012 12:12 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror at Skokie, IL (1/7/12)
Replies: 30
Views: 9898

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror at Skokie, IL (1/7/12)

Wow. It appears Kristin is even more awesome than I had originally thought. I echo Brad's sentiments about the questions. The easy parts were pretty accessible, and the hard (and medium) parts were pretty hard. They were still generally good bonus choices if the goal was to make this set a little ha...
by Aaron Goldfein
Sat Jan 07, 2012 9:19 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror at Skokie, IL (1/7/12)
Replies: 30
Views: 9898

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror at Skokie, IL (1/7/12)

1. Loyola A, 5-0 2. Latin, 3-2 3t. Machiavelli Academy, 2-3 3t. New Trier, 2-3 3t. Rock Bridge, 2-3 6. Stevenson A, 1-4 7. Loyola B, 5-0 12. Wheaton North B, 0-5 (I forget the rest of the middle bracket) 13. Niles West A, 3-0 14. Loyola C, 2-1 15. Fremd B, 1-2 16. Niles West B, 0-3 Thanks to Greg Be...
by Aaron Goldfein
Thu Jan 05, 2012 6:26 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror at Skokie, IL (1/7/12)
Replies: 30
Views: 9898

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror at Skokie, IL (1/7/12)

With the late additions of Latin and Fremd B, we're now at 16 teams. With this, I'm closing the field. Any teams still interested in the tournament can email me to get on the waitlist. Our format will thus be two brackets of 8 in the morning, and then a 6/6/4 split in the afternoon with the top two ...
by Aaron Goldfein
Wed Jan 04, 2012 3:36 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror at Skokie, IL (1/7/12)
Replies: 30
Views: 9898

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror at Skokie, IL (1/7/12)

Check-in begins at 8:00. All teams are expected to arrive in time for an 8:45 coaches meeting.
by Aaron Goldfein
Wed Jan 04, 2012 12:32 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror at Skokie, IL (1/7/12)
Replies: 30
Views: 9898

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror at Skokie, IL (1/7/12)

Is there still space in this tournament? I know my team can't officially go, but if there are still openings, I'll talk to my coach and see if he's okay with my either playing solo or with a few friends/teammates. Right now we're at 14 teams, and adding another would put us at 15, which is kind of ...
by Aaron Goldfein
Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:28 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: New Trier Varsity: ELEGANT — 12/17/2011 (Winnetka, IL)
Replies: 74
Views: 33345

Re: New Trier Varsity: ELEGANT — 12/17/2011 (Winnetka, IL)

I would like to apologize to Jonah and David for the Niles West team having to drop out at the last second. It seems you were able to replace them, so I'm happy to see that you were able to clean up that mess and pull off another highly successful tournament. Also, I think these are some of the best...
by Aaron Goldfein
Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:08 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Niles West BDAT Mirror at Skokie, IL (1/7/12)
Replies: 30
Views: 9898

Re: Niles West BDAT Mirror at Skokie, IL (1/7/12)

I'm happy to announce that we're able to expand our field to 16 teams. Registration is once again open! If we fill up, we may go up to 18 teams though it is very unlikely we'll go any higher than that.