Search found 580 matches

by Tees-Exe Line
Fri Jul 10, 2020 8:40 pm
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: The Lengthening Shadow of Modern World 2014
Replies: 3
Views: 6619

The Lengthening Shadow of Modern World 2014

I've long felt that the horrible "Modern World" tournament from 2014 offered all of us quizbowl folk a snapshot of the Trump presidency and the ascent of the far right in American politics it represents. The post-tournament discussion thread is instructive reading given all that's followed...
by Tees-Exe Line
Thu Oct 05, 2017 10:33 pm
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: The Dark History of UChicago Quizbowl
Replies: 5
Views: 16483

The Dark History of UChicago Quizbowl

On May 17th, 2012, the University of Chicago staged a vanity quizbowl match between a team of undergraduates, led by Shantanu Jha, and a "faculty" team consisting of me, Professor Rachel Fulton Brown, and two others. I was not, by any stretch of the imagination, on the faculty of the Unive...
by Tees-Exe Line
Fri Oct 07, 2016 1:44 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Let's Predict Who Wins the 2016 Literature Nobel!!!!
Replies: 64
Views: 3626

Re: Let's Predict Who Wins the 2016 Literature Nobel!!!!

Um, what happened to the damn prize announcement? Wasn't it supposed to happen yesterday? The website says the date "will be set at a later time."

Why hasn't there been more coverage of the absence of a Literature prize?
by Tees-Exe Line
Sun Aug 14, 2016 3:49 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: The 70 Greatest Players of the Last Eight Years: A Ranking
Replies: 56
Views: 73547

Re: The 70 Greatest Players of the Last Eight Years: A Ranki

ThisIsMyUsername wrote:22. Andrew Hart
I salute you.
by Tees-Exe Line
Wed Apr 20, 2016 8:53 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2016 Discussion
Replies: 74
Views: 31509

Re: ACF Nationals 2016 Discussion

My only real gripe from this tournament was the second clue from the Silla tossup about the bell, since during my spring break I visited the Bell Tower in Beijing where I read about a legend of a child being cast into the bell. As described in the clue, the two legends are practically identical. If...
by Tees-Exe Line
Wed Apr 20, 2016 1:06 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2016 Discussion
Replies: 74
Views: 31509

Re: ACF Nationals 2016 Discussion

I would like to repeat my semi-regular observation about the irony of Theory Westbrook expressing various crazy opinions that have absolutely nothing to do with what Practice Westbrook does. The Janus-like character of Ryan the Theorist and Ryan the Actual Editor is truly a sui generis quizbowl mar...
by Tees-Exe Line
Wed Apr 20, 2016 10:51 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2016 Discussion
Replies: 74
Views: 31509

Re: ACF Nationals 2016 Discussion

I think the "quizbowl as a reflection of the classroom" movement has always been misguided, pernicious, and boring. Next year I'll be sure to submit a biology tossup on Trofim Lysenko and a chemistry tossup on phlogiston. YES! A new recruit! EDIT: intellectually curious youngsters frustra...
by Tees-Exe Line
Mon Nov 16, 2015 4:26 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: (Missouri Open 2015) Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 51
Views: 15448

Re: (Missouri Open 2015) Specific Question Discussion

The question on Hicks erroneously claims that he introduced the notion of general equilibrium into English and that he invented the concept of elasticity of substitution (don't remember of the question specifically said "between capital and labor," but it doesn't matter either way). It is ...
by Tees-Exe Line
Sun Nov 15, 2015 2:53 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: (Missouri Open 2015) Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 51
Views: 15448

Re: (Missouri Open 2015) Specific Question Discussion

I think this is a situation where it's up to the discretion of the writer how generous they want to be. I'll just say that I think it's a poor idea to give a more general answer when you have every reason to believe it's a more specific one. If you really believe the answer is "finches," ...
by Tees-Exe Line
Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:24 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Google Books lawsuit
Replies: 6
Views: 751

Re: Google Books lawsuit

It also sounds like this decision (again from a quizbowl perspective) is better than the earlier rejected deal with granted Google a virtual monopoly on digitizing these books (http://www.wired.com/2009/06/google_books/). But it is still troubling to think that so much of modern quizbowl hinges on ...
by Tees-Exe Line
Thu Sep 17, 2015 9:33 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110451

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

Tees-Exe Line wrote:I haven't read Wilentz, and I should
I hereby retract this statement. For more, read here: http://earlyamericanists.com/2015/09/17 ... of-agency/
by Tees-Exe Line
Wed Aug 12, 2015 2:20 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open ‘15: Errata
Replies: 23
Views: 5443

Re: VCU Open ‘15: Errata

Was this the tournament that seemed to refer to the concept of an "anti-biopic" in one question, or was that a different tournament this weekend? And regardless, what does that mean? Straub-Huillet's Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach is often called an anti-biopic, because it's about the l...
by Tees-Exe Line
Wed Aug 12, 2015 2:09 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open ‘15: Errata
Replies: 23
Views: 5443

Re: VCU Open ‘15: Errata

Was this the tournament that seemed to refer to the concept of an "anti-biopic" in one question, or was that a different tournament this weekend? And regardless, what does that mean?
by Tees-Exe Line
Sun Aug 09, 2015 6:33 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VICO Thanks and Discussion
Replies: 18
Views: 4698

Re: VICO Thanks and Discussion

I proclaimed this tournament the future of quizbowl at the VCU site, and I very much hope that comes to pass.
by Tees-Exe Line
Tue Jul 21, 2015 2:57 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Chicago Open History discussion
Replies: 28
Views: 12922

Re: Chicago Open History discussion

Does every single CO really need a history tournament? I'd like to see the subjects shaken up a little more--year after year of history gets a little monotonous (and more selfishly limits the events I care about playing, though, say, a science tournament would certainly do the same) Speaking as a o...
by Tees-Exe Line
Tue Jul 21, 2015 2:04 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Chicago Open History discussion
Replies: 28
Views: 12922

Re: Chicago Open History discussion

I want to open discussion about the substance of one of the questions: the one about early victims of AIDS. I enjoyed that because I saw "And the Band Played On" a couple of months ago (highly interesting and recommended, though not a great film-as-such, and with a strangely naive anti-se...
by Tees-Exe Line
Tue Jul 21, 2015 10:20 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Chicago Open History discussion
Replies: 28
Views: 12922

Re: Chicago Open History discussion

I very much enjoyed both the set and the experience of playing it with great (and admirably tolerant) teammates and tough competition. I was expecting a little bit more of Jeff and a little less of the rest of you people in the regular rounds, and I'm glad we did well enough to experience Jeff's mag...
by Tees-Exe Line
Tue Jul 21, 2015 9:38 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open ‘15 @ VCU (8/8/15)
Replies: 67
Views: 32688

Re: VCU Open ‘15 @ VCU (8/8/15)

Cody wrote:VICO will slot in for science, and we can probably arrange a reading of CO packets during the Sunday "lunch" period.
Glad to hear this. Can we slot in VICO for Tricon as well, since it seems not to exist and no one wants to play it?
by Tees-Exe Line
Fri Jul 17, 2015 11:02 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: quizbowl and academic careers
Replies: 6
Views: 4731

Re: History Player

(An amusing side note: I've found that quizbowl has been invaluable to me in my post-circuit-retirement career as an academic historian. Being able to instantly contextualize just about anything I encountered or read about is really helpful, as is having enough background knowledge about just about...
by Tees-Exe Line
Sun Jul 12, 2015 12:52 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open ‘15 @ VCU (8/8/15)
Replies: 67
Views: 32688

Re: VCU Open ‘15 @ VCU (8/8/15)

I also hope more people sign up for this tournament soon! The field list is quite small still. Might that have something to do with the rather strange way side events have been handled for this site, given that it's supposed to be a summer open? It seems to me like that drove almost everyone who tr...
by Tees-Exe Line
Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:15 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Writing for NAQT: policy changes; new payment rates
Replies: 6
Views: 4909

Re: Writing for NAQT: policy changes

NAQT has raised the rates it pays contract writers for the 2015-16 season. Writers may now earn between $3.35 and $6.00 per tossup and between $2.50 and $4.50 per bonus (depending on the difficulty level of the question and the writer's experience). We want to give the best writers every possible i...
by Tees-Exe Line
Wed Jul 08, 2015 10:27 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: How to become a good theoretical math player?
Replies: 29
Views: 12628

Re: How to become a good theoretical math player?

I might make a post about this in the future, but I think there is a very good argument for having .5/.5 math in every packet. I don't like cutting any of the other sciences for that (I'd prefer cutting bio - take that Eric!*). As Seth and I talked about once, the number of times in which we took n...
by Tees-Exe Line
Wed May 20, 2015 4:59 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Click Here to Become Sad
Replies: 59
Views: 34068

Re: CO History 2015

What you are calling "Liberal triumphalism" has been referred to as the " Laurentian Consensus ", which is on the brink of political irrelevance now. The linked author suggests that, thanks to demographic changes in immigration and the middle class, Canada has recently (2011) sh...
by Tees-Exe Line
Tue May 19, 2015 1:37 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Click Here to Become Sad
Replies: 59
Views: 34068

Re: your official Canadian cavalry regiment discussion threa

This isn't an ironclad principle and has many exceptions of course, but I think feedback from people who earnestly learn about an area in-depth can be quite useful for helping the game of quizbowl focus on what matters in rough proportion to how it matters / burst "canon bubbles" where th...
by Tees-Exe Line
Tue May 19, 2015 1:00 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Click Here to Become Sad
Replies: 59
Views: 34068

Re: your official Canadian cavalry regiment discussion threa

The Last 21 Stanley Cup Winners wrote:I am very confused as to why Quizbowl thinks the On-To-Ottawa Trek is the most important thing to happen in Canadian History.
ME TOO
by Tees-Exe Line
Tue May 19, 2015 9:45 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Click Here to Become Sad
Replies: 59
Views: 34068

Re: CO History 2015

I don't think any other country has its history as consistently misrepresented by quizbowl question writers as Canada's. This is supposed to be a thread announcing a history tournament, but I can't let this ridiculous whine go by unchallenged. I would stake a good deal of money on the contention th...
by Tees-Exe Line
Sun May 17, 2015 7:19 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: two styles of writing: a close reading
Replies: 77
Views: 31848

Re: two styles of writing: a close reading

This game is great at leading the horse to water, and while I certainly encourage said horse to drink, I don't know if, either "culturally" or on a game level, there's much to do that we aren't already doing to make it drink. Well, what sparked this whole discussion was the contention tha...
by Tees-Exe Line
Sun May 17, 2015 7:14 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: two styles of writing: a close reading
Replies: 77
Views: 31848

Re: two styles of writing: a close reading

Packet reading is a very good way to get you very competent very fast. Virtually no excellent (rather than just competent) players got good through packet-reading alone. These observations have relatively little moral weight. If you are actually a competent-to-good quizbowl player and really want t...
by Tees-Exe Line
Sun May 17, 2015 4:38 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: two styles of writing: a close reading
Replies: 77
Views: 31848

Re: two styles of writing: a close reading

And, 100 hours of packet reading!? That's just crazy. You should be doing way, way more packet reading than that. Packet reading is the equivalent of a basketball player practicing their free throws. Get to it, kids. I can't believe this isn't trolling, but if it is serious: no, don't. Do your home...
by Tees-Exe Line
Sun May 17, 2015 1:34 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Click Here to Become Sad
Replies: 59
Views: 34068

Click Here to Become Sad

Split from the CO History 2015 announcement. --JTH (The 2013 edition of CO History was one of my all-time favorite tournaments, precisely because it had bonuses of outrageous difficulty . Let's try to avoid writing eleven-line tossups on answers one or two people in this field have heard of.) Hey n...
by Tees-Exe Line
Sat May 16, 2015 8:52 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: two styles of writing: a close reading
Replies: 77
Views: 31848

Re: two styles of writing: a close reading

But, it does seem that certain books can covertly "make the rounds" in quizbowl at certain times, and magically appear as clues in questions after they do - my only issue is the insider nature of this effect. The packets (unlike several years ago) are all publicly available. This is also ...
by Tees-Exe Line
Sat May 16, 2015 7:52 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: two styles of writing: a close reading
Replies: 77
Views: 31848

Re: two styles of writing: a close reading

No Rules Westbrook wrote:This "insider quizbowl bookclub" phenomenon is a thing that happens, and an awful thing.
Wait, are you joking? Everyone reading a good book is an "awful thing," but everyone STUDYING PACKETS is the epitome of laudable quizbowl behavior??
by Tees-Exe Line
Fri May 15, 2015 10:43 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: two styles of writing: a close reading
Replies: 77
Views: 31848

Re: two styles of writing: a close reading

But, someone needs to make the incredibly obvious assertion that quizbowl is a game that has certain very specific limiting constraints. Spare me the inference that, in some perfect world, we could write tossups on "the withdrawal of Roman elites from public life." We can't ever do that, ...
by Tees-Exe Line
Thu May 14, 2015 9:36 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: two styles of writing: a close reading
Replies: 77
Views: 31848

Re: two styles of writing: a close reading

... but the brunt of what you do in those studies is not really reflective of what's helpful in quizbowl (i.e. you spend most of your time writing and reading about the family life of peasant women or the rice production quotas in some godforsaken province). See, I think this is why this sort of di...
by Tees-Exe Line
Wed May 13, 2015 3:58 pm
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

Ike Jose sure seems to know what is going on inside of people's heads merely from his observations of their external behavior. Perhaps instead of telling him to stop posting and start editing tournaments, we should be telling him to stop posting and start solving big problems in mind science and ps...
by Tees-Exe Line
Wed Apr 29, 2015 2:46 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Maryland Summer Practices
Replies: 11
Views: 7237

Re: Maryland Summer Practices

Where are they?
by Tees-Exe Line
Mon Apr 27, 2015 11:35 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VICO: Very Intense Conceptual Open/The New SCIENCE
Replies: 28
Views: 17055

Re: VICO: Very Intense Conceptual Open/The New SCIENCE

UPDATE: If there is interest, I will figure out how to host a mirror of VICO in DC on August 15th, 22nd, or 29th. It would have to have a field cap of like eight teams, unless one of the UMD players can get us rooms there or something. Please post here if you would be interested in that. If this som...
by Tees-Exe Line
Mon Apr 27, 2015 11:22 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open at Michigan - August 8
Replies: 122
Views: 60440

Re: VCU Open at Michigan - August 8

Cheynem wrote:Is this because of the death of VICO at the main site? Have we become the Brain Drain site? I like it!
Pretentious people from all over the country will be flocking to Ann Arbor.
by Tees-Exe Line
Mon Apr 27, 2015 11:19 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VICO: Very Intense Conceptual Open/The New SCIENCE
Replies: 28
Views: 17055

Re: VICO: Very Intense Conceptual Open/The New SCIENCE

As this apparently isn't being run at the VCU Open Richmond site, is it correct to assume that the nearest site to DC at which this might be played is Ann Arbor?
by Tees-Exe Line
Sun Apr 26, 2015 11:37 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The Future of College History Bowl
Replies: 9
Views: 5697

Re: The Future of College History Bowl

I have a basic question: is there an appetite out there for a tournament whose purpose is to decide the best history team of currently-constituted university quizbowl teams? Because I'd be friendly to the idea of co-head-editing a version of College History Bowl, but it seems to me like it's basical...
by Tees-Exe Line
Thu Apr 23, 2015 1:51 pm
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Becoming Part of the Community
Replies: 43
Views: 43325

Re: Becoming Part of the Community

Cheynem wrote:So in a way, that first practice ruined Marshall's life.
Wait, so all these years I've been pricking my voodoo doll of you, when in fact it should have been Andrew? FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.
by Tees-Exe Line
Tue Apr 21, 2015 12:55 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110451

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

I've been asked for a more complete philosophical statement, so I shall oblige. I am absolutely certain that Ryan is one of the most, if not the most, hard-working editors in quizbowl. And I sympathize with having one's hard work raked over the coals for sometimes-petty, sometimes-inconsistent, some...
by Tees-Exe Line
Mon Apr 20, 2015 5:04 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110451

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

(*) of course, answer lines should adhere to what people know. People "should" know about the Old Court/New Court controversy, but they don't. And my problem with this and other tossups is that it incentivizes studying unimportant minutia, rather than reading (and comprehending) good book...
by Tees-Exe Line
Mon Apr 20, 2015 4:54 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110451

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

I have nothing to do with the Old Court/New Court tossup, but I should note that I've seen this incident referenced in a number of books; in particular, discussion of this controversy occupies several pages of Sean Wilentz's The Rise of American Democracy as an example of a key point of friction be...
by Tees-Exe Line
Mon Apr 20, 2015 9:49 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110451

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

One thing I noticed was that the bonus consistency, especially in terms of "what's an easy part?", was a bit iffy at times. At times, I actually thought easy parts were too easy--did we really need easy parts asking for the "animal that delivers eggs on Easter" or "the sain...
by Tees-Exe Line
Mon Apr 20, 2015 9:38 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion
Replies: 227
Views: 110451

Re: ACF Nationals 2015 Discussion

Far be it from me to suggest there's anything wrong with sodomy, but for the record, the evidence suggests that John G. Lawrence did not, in fact, engage in it. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/ ... a-lithwick
by Tees-Exe Line
Wed Apr 15, 2015 2:53 pm
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Becoming Part of the Community
Replies: 43
Views: 43325

Re: Becoming Part of the Community

Alright, well. My high school disdained having anything to do with inter-school competitions in which there was some danger of being beaten by schools deemed "lesser" than ourselves. So my two-phase introduction to quizbowl was due entirely to the Virginia Diaspora. At the end of my first ...
by Tees-Exe Line
Tue Apr 14, 2015 11:42 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: On Leaving Tournaments Early
Replies: 47
Views: 13400

Re: On Leaving Tournaments Early

I don't agree with everything that Jordan said and obviously don't like it when people leave tournaments early for dumb reasons, but at the risk of hijacking the thread, I'm rather disturbed by the backlash against his describing tournaments as products, delivered by a vendor to customers. One of t...
by Tees-Exe Line
Mon Apr 13, 2015 7:44 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Where Are You Going Next Year? (2015 College)
Replies: 47
Views: 29904

Re: Where Are You Going Next Year? (2015 College)

Conquistador wrote:I'll be starting a history PhD at Berkeley, and expect to continue playing.
Finally a quizbowler does something worthwhile with his life.
by Tees-Exe Line
Mon Apr 13, 2015 5:36 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: On Leaving Tournaments Early
Replies: 47
Views: 13400

Re: On Leaving Tournaments Early

Also, I find the "tournament should not be charging money" analogy to be dumb as well. If you don't want to pay it, don't play it. I had someone demand their money back because they didn't like my CO History event, which I found fairly offensive, not because my questions are impeccable, b...