The Quizbowl Resource Center

Yea, most tournaments in that part of the state still do a format of bracketed pools, then single-elim playoffs.

EDIT: geographical qualifier

Riot In Cell Block Nine wrote:So uh, Auburn's freshmen/sophomores went to the Moline F/S tournament today. I don't know much, but from what my little brother and other players tell me, the questions were "atrocious" (although this doesn't really surprise me, I guess) and they notably played just four games, going 2-2, at which point they were eliminated.

I don't really know anything else.

I thought Moline was using Fall Novice? What happened with that?

Also, four matches blah blah blah welcome back to 2006 blah blah somebody find Egan and make him post

I dunno. I don't know much, and I could be wrong, but I think Ms. Greene was under the impression that they were using a decent set; I'm not entirely sure. I was, of course, quite disappointed with the poor experience our underclassmen had.

Bone seeker wrote:I thought Moline was using Fall Novice? What happened with that?

That's Macomb's frosh-soph tournament. I made that same mistake myself.

jonah wrote:

Bone seeker wrote:I thought Moline was using Fall Novice? What happened with that?

That's Macomb's frosh-soph tournament. I made that same mistake myself.

No! They both were! Unless by "made that same mistake myself," you mean "I, the IHSSBCA webmaster, screwed up the tourney calendar page."

Bone seeker wrote:

jonah wrote:

Bone seeker wrote:I thought Moline was using Fall Novice? What happened with that?

That's Macomb's frosh-soph tournament. I made that same mistake myself.

No! They both were! Unless by "made that same mistake myself," you mean "I, the IHSSBCA webmaster, screwed up the tourney calendar page."

That is what I mean. It's been fixed since September 23.

jonah wrote:

Bone seeker wrote:

jonah wrote:

Bone seeker wrote:I thought Moline was using Fall Novice? What happened with that?

That's Macomb's frosh-soph tournament. I made that same mistake myself.

No! They both were! Unless by "made that same mistake myself," you mean "I, the IHSSBCA webmaster, screwed up the tourney calendar page."

That is what I mean. It's been fixed since September 23.

If you caused Coach Greene to waste some of her limited budget on Moline's apparent dreck....I'd bill you for that, imo.

Can you guys stop talking in code and explain what's going on?

I have no idea what's supposed to be code about that. The IHSSBCA website incorrectly listed both Moline's and Macomb's fall frosh-soph tournaments as using the Fall Novice set for about a month; this error was entirely my fault, and was rectified on September 23.

Perhaps this error was why Coach Greene thought Moline's tournament was using good questions and thus registered for it; if so, I do indeed feel bad about it and will personally apologize next time I see her (namely Saturday).

Sorry, I just don't know all the particulars of our underclassmen being sent to this tournament. When I spoke to Ms. Greene about it briefly in varsity practice, she said something along the lines of, "Oh, it's actually going to be held on a decent set, it seems." I do not know to which set she was alluding. I'd rather not make any assumptions otherwise. I'll be emailing her about it, or she might just post about it here.

Yes, indeed, I thought the Fall Novice set was going to be used at Moline, both because I heard the coach say at a meeting in August that he was going with that set instead of his previous question supplier, and then I saw it listed on the IHSSBCA web site tournament calendar when I was working on our schedule for the season in September. I did not find out that the questions were NOT the Fall Novice set until the coaches' meeting Saturday morning, at which point I bit my tongue, thought some things that I will not put in writing, and. . .What can you do? We had driven two vans with two teams two hours to play teams like Bloomington and Peoria-area teams that we don't otherwise get to play, thinking that it would be on good questions. ¡Ay, ay, ay! Lesson learned: even if you think you know what questions will be used, and you have seen it posted somewhere, check again with the host before confirming your participation and sending in the $$$.

Coach G wrote:I heard the coach say at a meeting in August that he was going with that set instead of his previous question supplier

I thought I had heard that too, which is why I put it on the website, but when Coach Pitz emailed me saying the website was mistaken, I figured I must have misheard. I feel a tiny bit better knowing that someone else heard that claim.

In an attempt to rival the HFT liveblog for "worst liveblog of a tournament on 11/12/11," IMSA defeated Loyola 11-9 in basketball. We look forward to the football lunch game at Kickoff next week.

Bone seeker wrote:We look forward to the football lunch game at Kickoff next week.

I'm in for this!

Bone seeker wrote:In an attempt to rival the HFT liveblog for "worst liveblog of a tournament on 11/12/11," IMSA defeated Loyola 11-9 in basketball. We look forward to the football lunch game at Kickoff next week.

I could beat IMSA and Loyola combined in basketball solo.

Bone seeker wrote:We look forward to the football lunch game at Kickoff next week.

I actually might have access to flags that we can use.

Gus Honeybun wrote:That one Ashok? Asoka? kid from like 5 years ago back before good quizbowl happened's brother was there too, so IIRC and he went to WWS, then they sent at least 1.

Anand (Ashok's brother) went to UIUC and Ned (myself) went to Campbellsville.

is that SO, ihsa.org?

Scholastic Bowl Schedule & Results

Scholastic Bowl pairings will be posted about 4 pm on Sunday, December 31, 1899.

cornfused wrote:is that SO, ihsa.org?

Scholastic Bowl Schedule & Results

Scholastic Bowl pairings will be posted about 4 pm on Sunday, December 31, 1899.

Confirmed: ihsa.org is not Y1.9K compliant.

Dominator wrote:

cornfused wrote:is that SO, ihsa.org?

Scholastic Bowl Schedule & Results

Scholastic Bowl pairings will be posted about 4 pm on Sunday, December 31, 1899.

Confirmed: ihsa.org is not Y1.9K compliant.

This is what you get from an organization run by people who were around for the turn of the 20th century.

FYI, the IHSA has posted sectional assignments for class AA. And once again... North Chicago?


Class A is up, too.

I'm told that the sectionals without hosts are in danger of being canceled.

Someone will step up. Usually a team that feels they have a good sporting chance of actually playing in it.

Moving Day wrote:Someone will step up. Usually a team that feels they have a good sporting chance of actually playing in it.

Like North Chicago?

Anyway, I know. I posted that as a public service announcement to people who might want to consider stepping up.

Looks like the Maine South Sectional's gonna be pretty intense again between Loyola, Latin, and New Trier.

King of Carrot Flowers wrote:Looks like the Maine South Sectional's gonna be pretty intense again between Loyola, Latin, and New Trier.

At least there is a nonzero chance of decent teams from southern IL going to state. I see Macomb coming out of the 35-team sectional, and either Centennial or Bloomington out of the other central IL sectional. Please, PLEASE, one of those teams please [a certain coach] .

Post sanitized by the capybara --Mgmt.

jonah wrote:I'm told that the sectionals without hosts are in danger of being canceled.

Moving Day wrote:Someone will step up. Usually a team that feels they have a good sporting chance of actually playing in it.

IMSA has offered to host its sectional. I have not yet heard if our offer is accepted or official.

The results of the first IHSSBCA Members Poll of the year are in! In one poll, voters were asked to rank the top 15 teams in the state of Illinois (Class A or Class AA; B teams could be voted for); in the other poll, voters were asked to rank the top 10 teams in the current definition of Class A (B teams could be voted for).

Congratulations to IMSA A and Keith Country Day School A for ranking first in the Overall and Class A polls, respectively! Full results* are available in the attached PDFs.

The next poll will be published in the February issue of Scholastic Visions; if you're an IHSSBCA member interested in joining the panel, just email me anytime between now and Januaryish, and I'll send you the voting information when voting opens!

*Ballot scoring procedures: In overall, 15 points for 1st, 14 for 2nd, etc., down to 1 pt for 15th. In Class A, 10 for 1st, 9 for 2nd...1 for 10th.
Whither fractional points?: If multiple voters from a single school voted, their separate ballots were given appropriate fractional weighting to give each school one ballot's worth of points - therefore, the four IMSA voters (myself, Dr. Prince, Kristin Strey, Mike Wong) submitted ballots separately, which each gave 15/4 = 3.75 points for 1st, 3.5 points for 2nd....0.25 points for 15th. Carbondale and Loyola were each represented by two voters, so their point values were halved. In addition, one voter placed IMSA and Auburn in a tie for 1st.

That's a lot of people submitting ballots. I liked how there wasn't a single placing that Stevenson got more than 4 votes for. They're coming to Harvard Fall and lots of other tournaments coming up, though, so I bet we'll get a better idea of how good they are soon.

whitesoxfan wrote:That's a lot of people submitting ballots. I liked how there wasn't a single placing that Stevenson got more than 4 votes for. They're coming to Harvard Fall and lots of other tournaments coming up, though, so I bet we'll get a better idea of how good they are soon.

Yeah, if I get time today I'm going to post some commentary on the results (and on teams in general) but I was very, very pleased with voter turnout.

Here was my ballot:

1.)IMSA A
2.)Auburn A
3.)Loyola A
4.)Latin
5.)Carbondale
6.)Macomb
7.)Stevenson A
8.)Belvidere North
9.)New Trier
10.)IMSA B
11.)Metea Valley
12.)Buffalo Grove
13.)Wheaton Warrenville South
14.)Fenton
15.)Loyola B

Yes, my 15th place is home team favoritism.

My ballot:
1 IMSA A
2 Auburn A
3 Loyola A
4 Carbondale
5 Latin
6 Macomb
7 Belvidere North
8 New Trier
9 IMSA B
10 Wheaton Warrenville South
11 Stevenson
12 Loyola B
13 Buffalo Grove
14 Fenton
15 Centennial

mlaird wrote:Here was my ballot:
15.)Loyola B
Yes, my 15th place is home team favoritism.

No problem there -- the whole point of 15th place votes (in my opinion) is to give shoutouts to teams that deserve some mention; without going into specifics, several voters noted to me that their 15th place vote was going to a team that, while not 100% certainly better than all the teams they didn't rank, was certainly good enough to earn at least their one vote.

/spoken like a true Northern Illinois University football fan
//we were ranked last year!

Given their propensity for playing more Illinois tournaments than many Illinois schools, would ranking DCC be out of bounds???

mlaird wrote: 4.)Latin

The tallies don't seem to show any 4th place votes for Latin?

My ballot:

1 IMSA A
2 Rockford Auburn
3 Loyola A
4 Carbondale
5 Latin
6 New Trier
7 IMSA B
8 Macomb
9 Stevenson
10 Belvidere North
11 Springfield
12 Champaign Centennial
13 Wheaton-Warrenville South
14 Wauconda
15 Loyola B

Some commentary:

(1) Stevenson was very impressive at Kickoffs. If they can repeat that kind of performance, they will shoot up the list fast. The same comment essentially holds for Wheaton-Warrenville South.
(2) I ranked IMSA B higher than probably anyone. Since they are an inexperienced bunch, I based this mostly off of my insider knowledge and staaaaaaats. This is a speculative ranking, and they will have to prove in tournaments that they belong there or I will rank them lower next time.
(3) I don't think teams south of Chicago get enough love. Teams like Centennial, Bloomington, and Springfield are strong contenders for Top 15 (possibly also Top 10). I look forward to moderating for all of them at BMI 2 in January to get a better idea of where they stand.

whitesoxfan wrote:

mlaird wrote: 4.)Latin

The tallies don't seem to show any 4th place votes for Latin?

Yeah, that's not the ballot I have for you. Lemme look.

ETA: what is this double post doing here

whitesoxfan wrote:

mlaird wrote: 4.)Latin

The tallies don't seem to show any 4th place votes for Latin?

Yeah, that's not the ballot I have for you. Lemme look.

ETA: Yeah, that was your first draft; you then asked me a question in Google chat and ended up switching some things around, that being one of them.

My ballot and commentary:
1. IMSA A: Of the three tournaments so far, IMSA's won two of them in field-clearing fashion, putting up power rates that no one in the nation has beaten. It's a close race between IMSA and Auburn, but given that this poll is basically a study of those three tournaments, the nod goes to the team with two trophies. Many voters agreed with that sentiment.
2. Auburn A: A very, very good team that really missed Abid at Kickoff. They'll assuredly build some science knowledge over time, but it's a noticeable lack at the moment.
3. Loyola A: It's really unfair that no one voted Loyola 2nd place in the poll, because the race for second is certainly closer than the point spread indicates. Prediction: they're going to win a tournament over IMSA and/or Auburn at some point this year. Carbondale and Latin also have the talent to beat anyone in the top 3, but I'm not making this prediction about them.
4. Carbondale: Ben and Srinivas form a great buzzing tandem, but they neg way too much. Prerak is going to be a good player in time.

(very, very small gap between the top 4 and next 2)

5. Latin: I was very interested in seeing how Latin would fare without Alex and Ben; they picked up an impressive 17 points per bonus on IS-109, showing that there's some really good knowledge supporting Alex's buzzes. While the "one-man team" moniker is probably still warranted (it's a moniker mostly reserved for tossup staaaats anyway, so I mean this with no disrespect to Latin's players), they showed that they are a very good team without Alex.
6. Macomb: You will not win a buzzer race against Tristan Willey. In addition, you do not work as hard as Tristan Willey works (he writes questions for every tournament, it seems); therefore, in time, Tristan won't even be in buzzer races with you. Oh, and he solo-grailed at ACF Fall. Be afraid.


(gap between the top 6 and second tier)


7. Stevenson: I have not seen them play. I really, really hope I get to at some point this month (hint hint, tournament directors). Wouldn't surprise me to see this team as a top-tier team by the end of December.
8. IMSA B: Anton, Saieesh, and Sabrina form a great trio of specialized knowledge with some good buzzer skills. If they find a fourth player to solidly complement them, I can see them going far at nationals (especially HSNCT - Saieesh is a geography beast). If they can break into a top playoff bracket, then I think they can make some noise.
9. Belvidere North: Dylan and co. actually answered 11 of 20 tossups (with 8 powers) against Auburn at Loyburn. Dylan's buzzing skills are great (I'd put him second behind Tristan), and he and his teammates are motivated to improve. Prior to Kickoff, I had Belvidere North 7th - Stevenson's surge and IMSA B's win over Loyola A bumped them down a bit, but certainly no fault of their own.

(very, very small gap in this tier of 5 teams)

10. Wheaton Warrenville South: I moderated the WWS over Auburn game at Kickoff; while Auburn had its share of negs, WWS nailed the last 6 tossups with some really good play, especially from Ned. If they can get some deeper knowledge and improve their power rate, you can expect to see them in top playoff brackets the rest of the year.
11. New Trier: If Andrew Wang focuses, he can will himself to some victories over top teams. While only an Earlybird win over Tristan has come of it so far, I don't expect that to remain the status quo.


(gap between the second and third tiers)


12. Buffalo Grove: Matt and Bernard put up great numbers in the middle bracket at Loyburn (and really really good showing in games against Loyola A and Belvidere North, and a close win over IMSA B), and I look forward to seeing them try to repeat that showing at New Trier Varsity. If they're able to get some good games/win in against the top teams there, expect them to rise.
13. Fenton: They've won some good games to get into top playoff brackets, but there's room for improvement. This vote is essentially a recognition of their high finishes, but as stats from Springfield and Centennial come in (especially at New Trier Varsity), I expect Fenton to probably drop off my top 15. Very dedicated team with potential, though.
14. Wheaton North: They played very well in my room at Kickoff, getting some early buzzes and generally knowing many things. They're improving well week after week - it would not surprise me to see this team make a top playoff bracket this year.
15. Wauconda: I gave Wauconda the nod at #15 over Centennial because I was pleasantly surprised by their level of knowledge at Loyburn and Kickoff and wanted to make sure they got a mention.

I include these last four teams, along with Centennial, Springfield, Glenwood, Libertyville, and Loyola B in my non-exhaustive list of solid third tier teams. That said, I expect Centennial (and quite probably Springfield) to prove themselves as second-tier material at NTV.

Soooo I obviously didn't vote in this, but here's what my ballot would be.

1. IMSA
2. Auburn
3. Loyola
4. Carbondale
5. Latin
6. Belvidere North-We really need to play Macomb again and play harder questions before this can be more justified, but I put us above Macomb because of the W against Carbondale and the Auburn game at Loyburn. Our PPB does need work though. I guess time will tell.
7. Macomb
8. New Trier
9. IMSA B
10. Stevenson-I haven't seen them play this year so this is probably gonna change.
11. Buffalo Grove
12. WWS
13. Fenton
14. Springfield
15. Centennial

King of Carrot Flowers wrote:Soooo I obviously didn't vote in this, but here's what my ballot would be.

You should join IHSSBCA and vote.

This was my ballot:

1. Auburn - I thought a lot about this decision and ended up going with my gut feeling.
2. IMSA
3. Loyola
4. Carbondale
5. Latin
6. Belvidere North
7. New Trier
8. Macomb
9. Buffalo Grove
10. IMSA B
11. Stevenson - They'll probably get higher as they play more tournaments.
12. Springfield - They have a lot of nice pockets of depth in several areas.
13. Wheaton-Warrenville South
14. Champaign Centennial
15. Loyola B

I kept switching Belvidere North, New Trier, and us around and never quite figured out how I wanted it.

If anyone is interested, this was my class A ballot:
1. Litchfield - I have no idea what's going on with them, but I think David can put them at the top of the other class A schools.
2. PORTA
3. Keith Country Day
4. Warrensburg-Latham
5. Decatur (D. Lutheran)
6. Peoria Christian
7. Alton (Marquette)
8. New Berlin
9. Peoria Heights
10. Toledo (Cumberland)

My ballot:
1. Rockford Auburn
2. IMSA A
3. Loyola A
4. Carbondale
5. Latin A
6. Belvidere North
7. Macomb (Tristan Willey)
8. New Trier
9. IMSA B
10. Wheaton-Warrenville South
11. Buffalo Grove
12.Wheaton North
13. Stevenson
14. Loyola B
15. Springfield

While I think I under-ranked Stevenson, I don't feel like their Kickoff performance is really going to hold up. Then again, I haven't seen them, so someone who has can set me straight. Putting Auburn over IMSA was also mainly because Auburn feels winninger. Tristan is awesome, but I feel like Minarik has a pretty substantial advantage from his backup, which is pretty solid. Everything below IMSA B (who are putting up some baller stats) is almost entirely based on ppb and tournament attendance.

1. Auburn
2. IMSA A
3. Carbondale
4. Loyola A
5. Latin
6. Belvidere North
7. IMSA B
8. Macomb
9. New Trier
10. Stevenson
11. WWS
12. Fenton
13. BG
14. Loyola B
15. Wheaton North

1. Keith Country Day A
2. Litchfield A
3. PORTA
4. Warrensburg-Latham
5. Decatur Lutheran
6. New Berlin
7. Keith Country Day B
8. Peoria Christian
9. Dwight
10. Peoria Heights

Bone seeker wrote:My ballot and commentary:
7. Stevenson: I have not seen them play. I really, really hope I get to at some point this month (hint hint, tournament directors). Wouldn't surprise me to see this team as a top-tier team by the end of December.

They're registered for the Niles West tournament on January 7th and we could definitely use another competent moderator.

Aaron Goldfein wrote:

Bone seeker wrote:My ballot and commentary:
7. Stevenson: I have not seen them play. I really, really hope I get to at some point this month (hint hint, tournament directors). Wouldn't surprise me to see this team as a top-tier team by the end of December.

They're registered for the Niles West tournament on January 7th and we could definitely use another competent moderator.

With Turnabouts and Auburn's JV tournament on the same date, the supply moderators are going to be stretched pretty thin.

I don't feel qualified beyond the obvious top 4 in the overall poll, which does aline with most of yours. But on a Class A note I balloted as follows:

Class A Only (Which I know doesn't matter for much, but we do have a few surprises from time to time)

1) Peoria Christian (Three great Ace Camp Veterans) this is perhaps the best Class A team that no one will see play until perhaps the Springfield invite in January. They are very well balanced and strong in most every area. The just don't leave the Peoria Area for much of anything.
2) Litchfield (waiting to see how coaching change affects the program)
3) Keith Country Day (early numbers look good, this is a great program that has developed over the past couple of years)
4) Warrensburg Latham (returning several strong players and they have always played well)
5) PORTA (we lost Justin which we knew, but also Taylor that we didn't plan on, but the team has worked very hard and I truly like how they are playing)
6) Decatur LSA (basically one guy but what a guy)
7) Fairfield
8) Galena
9) Auburn (the town, no relation) they are also returning alot of veterans, but they are also in Litchfield's Sectional so who knows.
*10) Granville Putnam County (perhaps not worthy of top ten but my alma mater, and they are playing more tournaments)
10) New Berlin (always strong come tournament time)

mrgsmath wrote:I don't feel qualified beyond the obvious top 4 in the overall poll, which does aline with most of yours. But on a Class A note I balloted as follows:

Class A Only (Which I know doesn't matter for much, but we do have a few surprises from time to time)

1) Peoria Christian (Three great Ace Camp Veterans) this is perhaps the best Class A team that no one will see play until perhaps the Springfield invite in January. They are very well balanced and strong in most every area. The just don't leave the Peoria Area for much of anything.
2) Litchfield (waiting to see how coaching change affects the program)
3) Keith Country Day (early numbers look good, this is a great program that has developed over the past couple of years)
4) Warrensburg Latham (returning several strong players and they have always played well)
5) PORTA (we lost Justin which we knew, but also Taylor that we didn't plan on, but the team has worked very hard and I truly like how they are playing)
6) Decatur LSA (basically one guy but what a guy)
7) Fairfield
8) Galena
9) Auburn (the town, no relation) they are also returning alot of veterans, but they are also in Litchfield's Sectional so who knows.
*10) Granville Putnam County (perhaps not worthy of top ten but my alma mater, and they are playing more tournaments)
10) New Berlin (always strong come tournament time)

Do you know who the current coach is for Litchfield? I have heard nothing lately.

TheTeen wrote:Do you know who the current coach is for Litchfield? I have heard nothing lately.

I think it's Amanda Lamore.

TheTeen wrote:
Do you know who the current coach is for Litchfield? I have heard nothing lately.

jonah wrote:
I think it's Amanda Lamore.

Confirmed by a Litchfield player. I'm really wondering how the coaching change/graduating seniors will affect them. David York will probably carry the team pretty far, regardless.