The Quizbowl Resource Center

Joshua Rutsky

Congratulations to Liberty Middle School, who defeated Discovery Middle School in the Hoover MS Melee this past Saturday. Liberty averaged over 600 points per game in this tournament, and won handily in each match, even against other strong teams. They are a very strong team that ought to be plannin...

Joshua Rutsky

Results are in, but individual scores are not. Those are awaiting processing by one of the board members, who has to enter all the matches into SQBS when he gets a couple free hours. Expect them shortly, but not immediately.

Joshua Rutsky

Joshua, this is an odd error. I got the same results, and even tried doing a little fiddling to get something back that was more usable. When I went to the stats to see what I could learn, it appears to me that what happened with these matches is that your scorekeeper or your data person who did the...

Joshua Rutsky

If you could be a bit more specific, I might be able to help. Alternatively, if you give full rights to my account (jrutsky), I will look at the event from here and see if I can figure out what is happening.

Joshua Rutsky

Results are up: https://www.naqt.com/stats/tournament/s ... nt_id=9710

Joshua Rutsky

Currently , Liberty is definitely the best middle school team in AL. At today's Decatur Middle School tournament, Liberty finished prelims with ~550 ppg, and the closest competitor was Baldwin with ~440 ppg. Liberty continued to sweep the playoffs and got 1st, even without Ethan Xu, one of their co...

Joshua Rutsky

Probably, yes. Field update: Monrovia Middle : 3 teams, no buzzers Gadsden Middle : 4 teams, 1 buzzer Highlands School: 2 teams, 1 buzzer Thompson Middle: 1 team, 1 buzzer West Point Middle: 3 teams, 2 buzzers Haleyville Middle: 4 teams, no buzzers Opelika Middle: 2 teams, no buzzers Columbiana Midd...

Joshua Rutsky

Here is an update on the Hoover Middle School Melee , which is near capacity at this time. As we are currently almost full, we are asking coaches to please double-check your reservation on the list below, and update it if necessary. We understand that there are times when you are planning far in adv...

Joshua Rutsky

According to the ASCA MS Rules , The moderator shall not read the correct answers. At the LAMP Fun Tournament last month, there was a particular worksheet where the question was looking for Black Thursday, as in the beginning of the Great Depression. However, the answer was listed as Black Friday. ...

Joshua Rutsky

Would it be plausable for ASCA to write good, letter categorized worksheets and distribute them to tournaments that use worksheets? I feel like that this would be a good way to make sure that at least we have good quality worksheets (for however long we still have to have them). Short answer: No, f...

Joshua Rutsky

All of the errors I get are syntax errors.

Joshua Rutsky

We are excited to announce the launch of Qwiz Camps! Our mission is to provide a place where people who love quizbowl can learn, compete, and make friends, all with the help of experienced staff members who care about teaching as well as winning. Quizbowl season runs from September to June, but what...

Joshua Rutsky

I have tried to do this multiple times, and I keep getting syntax errors when entering the command to launch the parser. My QBJ file is titled HIT, and my json file is HITSET; would you please post the syntax as it should be entered into the python prompt using these names to see if I'm making a big...

Joshua Rutsky

Just off the top of my head, I like three things in a moderator: consistency, confidence, and clarity. When we hold events, I try to remind moderators to count anything involving timing with generous hand gestures to make sure everyone sees that they are doing so in a consistent manner from toss-up ...

Joshua Rutsky

Last update from Sylacuaga on field - Arab High School- 1 team, 1 buzzer set Hoover High School- 4 teams, 3 buzzer sets Shelby County High School- 1 team, 0 buzzers Smiths Station High School- 2 teams, 2 buzzers sets Southside High School- 1 team, 0 buzzers Spain Park High School- 2 teams, 0 buzzers...

Joshua Rutsky

What about LAMP? LAMP has two strong sophomores, Ani Harishankar and Jenny Baek, specializing in History and literature respectively. Both really good players, especially Jenny, who could be neck and neck with Claire Tumlin as 2nd best lit player in state. Still, I haven't seen them play this year,...

Joshua Rutsky

Sorry about the lack of field updates. The field was in flux all the way to the night before the event. Quick results: Novice - Spain Park d. Woodford County for the championship. JV - Altamont and Oak Mountain finished tied for first by agreement due to the late hour; James Clemens and Smiths Stati...

Joshua Rutsky

Sure. Basically, Kuleen Sasse, Lewis Fuller, Kapil Nathan, Mackenzie Ensley, Andy Schwebel, and Joseph Katz are extremely strong players. We didn't get to see what would likely have been the best match of the day at HIT JV, the Altamont/Oak Mountain match, because of the late hour stoppage, but Alta...

Joshua Rutsky

I'd also point out that under PACE's NSC rules, it is considered unsportsmanlike and persons doing it can be ejected from a match by the moderator.

Joshua Rutsky

Any sort of results would be great!

Joshua Rutsky

Coach:

What set was the IQBL event on the 6th played on? Are there any stats or results available?

Thanks!

Joshua Rutsky

Please count me among those who are confused as to the reason this change was needed. Is NAQT concerned that someone who is taking night school or GED classes, and is technically enrolled at a high school, would be able to play under existing rules? Is the theoretical number of people who might abus...

Joshua Rutsky

OK, so I don't know if this is going to motivate anyone anywhere to do anything with this project, but I'm still hopeful that there is a person out there willing to take it on, so I'll give it a shot. ASCA, the Alabama Scholastic Competition Association, has undergone a number of changes in the past...

Joshua Rutsky

Francesca, not to take away from your solution or to bring more problems in, but your situation (the only female player on a team of male players, with issues with a male player who feels like he should be captain), is an all-too-common one faced by women in quizbowl. In addition to the good advice ...

Joshua Rutsky

Ethan, I think it is also important for you to note that there is a difference between an ASCA event and an invitational. Invitational tournaments that use worksheets write them on their own or contract with someone; ASCA only writes the worksheets for the ASCA district and state tournaments. I beli...

Joshua Rutsky

Short answer: Worksheets are the remnants of the old format ASCA used years ago. We voted to eliminate them from the JV/HS level last year, but left them in place in Middle at the request of a plurality of polled coaches. Although they are not good quizbowl as defined within the context of the quizb...

Joshua Rutsky

Field Update: Altamont 1/2 Indian Springs 2/2 Oxford 0/1 Whitesburg Christian 1/0 Oak Mountain 1/2 Vestavia Hills 1/1 Spain Park 1/1 St. Bernard 1/0 American Christian Academy 1/1 Mountain Brook 2/0 Smiths Station 1/1 Grissom 1/0 Sylacauga 1/1 Woodford, KY 3/2 Evangel Classical 0/1 LAMP 1/0 Helena 1...

Joshua Rutsky

I assume you are talking about the "You Gotta Know" guides, not the frequency or Power Up materials they produce, as those are a commercial product. If that's the case, you can go directly to NAQT's web site and use your right click to download the pages in question.

Joshua Rutsky

No. In this case, you are using the clock as part of your game, but your taking the full allotted time to answer and "running clock" in doing so is something you are doing that is neither a fraud on your part nor an attempt to unfairly or misleadingly affect the other team. It is a strateg...

Joshua Rutsky

If you are tempted to use "buzzer fakes", loud whispering of incorrect answers with your teammates, deliberate overacting or showiness, or any other type of psychological or so-called "gamesmanship" practices, DON'T. I have actually had people tell me that they were coached to an...

Joshua Rutsky

Coaches: We would like to officially invite you to register your team(s) for the Hoover Middle School Melee 2019! This tournament will be held on JANUARY 19th, 2019. MSM will be played on NMMS 2, a set provided by David Jones and the Northmont, Ohio Quiz Bowl team. David is an experienced writer/edi...

Joshua Rutsky

Fred, it might be really helpful here to provide some data from previous NASATs - specifically, what was the rough attendance last year, how many rooms did the tourney itself use, and what was the staffer count?

Joshua Rutsky

A tweet from the NAQT Middle School National Championship Tournament sparked discussion this summer about the role of girls in quiz bowl (#girlsinquizbowl). The ASCA board members who met this summer felt strongly that, while girls are well represented on many of our teams, we could do more to encou...

Joshua Rutsky

Please note the date change above.

Joshua Rutsky

I'm going to add one more thing to this that I haven't heard yet - know WHY you want to expand and study more. Whatever you do in quizbowl, as in life, you should do for the right reasons if you want it to be meaningful. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be able to produce more for your team. A...

Joshua Rutsky

We will hold the 14th Annual Hoover Invitational this year on Saturday, November 10th, 2018, on NAQT's IS-177, with a JV division run on SCOP 9. We will likely not offer a novice bracket this year due to space issues, but teams that are interested in fielding a novice squad (any grade, but with two ...

Joshua Rutsky

HIT will be held using IS-177 this year. We appreciate the help of many people, particularly Chandler West, in making this possible.

Joshua Rutsky

Hoover High School would like to mirror SCOP on November 10th.

Joshua Rutsky

A couple of things to mention here: 1) ASCA coaches should be aware that our Fall Conference will be at the Alabama Power Conference Center in Clanton, AL on Wednesday, October 3. We will offer breakout sessions, open the floor for discussion of rules and changes needed, and talk about our upcoming ...

Joshua Rutsky

Calendar for Alabama Scholars Bowl, 2018-2019: August 25: West Point Kickoff Invitational (SCOTTIE mirror) October 6: Auburn (WHAQ) October 20: ASCA MS/HS Fun Tournament @ LAMP (Montgomery) October 27: ASCA Fun Tourney @ Liberty Middle School NOTE TENTATIVE DATE CHANGE: November 10: 14th Hoover Invi...

Joshua Rutsky

Does anyone happen to have a copy of ACRONYM from 2014 or previous? Not currently archived on the trash site.

Joshua Rutsky

Congratulations to West Point for another great finish at SSNCT. Some way too early thoughts about next year in Alabama, looking at teams that finished well this year: #1 Hoover will lose three of its four starters, but keeps Anna Muthalaly to anchor what should be a solid team next year. Much will ...

Joshua Rutsky

Texas Invitational: Stevenson set: http://texasquizbowl.org/d/@180414SMT/ D2 ICT: http://texasquizbowl.org/d/@180415NAQTD2ICT/ ASCA State Championships (Alabama), Division 1 https://stats.neg5.org/t/SkgTZb4sz/2018-asca-state-hs-div-1-championship/team-standings ASCA State Championships, Division 2 h...

Joshua Rutsky

Hoover would very much like to mirror this again next season.

Joshua Rutsky

I believe that we decided that ASCA would offer the NASAT coach position to the winner of the state event, but I know that I will be unable to coach a NASAT squad this year. I also am pretty sure that the bulk of my team is unable to attend, but if there was interest, I am sure someone would be will...

Joshua Rutsky

Please note that the West Point Spring event this weekend is the last one currently on the schedule in Alabama. If you know of any other tourneys in-state prior to Nationals, please let me know.

Thanks!

Joshua Rutsky

I've seen Orthodox Jews simply say "buzz" instead of pressing a buzzer. It's then up to the moderator to figure out if the verbal "buzz" came before or after another player rang in with a buzzer. NAQT rules explicitly allow a player to "signal in an appropriate manner"...

Joshua Rutsky

I once had the thought that if you filmed a hundred seders across the United States, you could cut together the footage almost seamlessly and it would feel totally natural, largely because almost any event that involves multiple members of a Jewish family in a single place is conducted at the same h...

Joshua Rutsky

Conga line for Chad Gadya. 'Nuff said.

Joshua Rutsky

Specialty Design may have been purchased by the outfit out of Georgia for sales purposes, but they are still located in the same place in Bessemer, AL (about 15 minutes from my school, in the back of a TV repair shop.) I personally have never had a problem with their costs; they will generally overh...

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