Colonia Arch Academic Challenge (4/12/08) at Colonia HS

[CHS Patriots]

The Colonia High School will be hosting an academic tournament on April 12th. Colonia High School is in Middlesex County, and is near exit 131 on the parkway. Our tournament will be a buzzer one. I'll be posting further details about our tournament as early as I can. Any school interested should post on this link, as I'll be posting the registration form very soon. We are looking forward to a great tournament this year (btw, it is our fourth annual tournament)!!!

[Ondes Martenot]

the bergen academies will be sending plenty of teams (3-4)

[TheCzarMan]

Juggernauts! We are definitely in!

Millburn, Bergen, Colonia, 3 weeks of QB goodness.

[CHS Patriots]

Here's some more information for those interested, this has been sent out to the advisors of most local teams along w/registration forms.

CAAC, as previously mentioned, is a buzzer tournament. We follow a 4-quarter format; the first with 20 five & ten pt toss up questions, toss ups w/bonuses in the second, lightning rounds in the third, and more toss-ups in the fourth.

There'll be 3 unseeded prelim rounds, followed by quarterfinals, seminals, and finals after lunch. Lunch is offsite but can be ordered in, details will be sent once registrations are recieved.

The fee is $85 for your school's first team & $45 for each additional. Any working buzzer systems brought for the day would be greatly appreciated, and we'll gladly deduct $15 from your expenses for each system you bring.

If you have any questions, please contact the Juggernauts advisor, Linda Rockmaker at [email protected] . You can also leave questions here, but seeing as we're students, we may not be able to answer all your questions immediately.

We're asking for all order forms by Mar. 7th. On behalf of the Juggernauts, hope to see you all there! =]

[Ondes Martenot]

who do i email to registrate?

it looks Bergen will send 3-4 teams, based on the number of students who said they'd come as well as a buzzer system

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

registrate?

Is that like when rappers say "conversate"?

[CHS Patriots]

If you already have the registration forms, please e-mail them to Mrs. Rockmaker, our advisor, to [email protected]. If you don't have the registration forms, I will be posting them online in a couple of days. Please be known that we will need all the required forms by March 7th.

[joaquinashcroft]

great! so waiting for the registration forms :D

[First Chairman]

What's the format? "A buzzer one" is a bit vague.

[Ondes Martenot]

I think it is like the one held at Half Hallow Hills West on January 12th

[First Chairman]

Oh my bad... didn't see the post that it was running with 4Q format. Also, would PACE affiliation be pursued?

[Ondes Martenot]

I doubt it

But i really don't make those decisions

[CHS Patriots]

The format for our tournament is a four quarter format.
In this first quarter, there will be five and ten point toss ups. In the 2nd quarter, the tossups will be accompanied with bonuses. In the 3rd quarter, there will be lightning rounds, and in the 4th quarter, there will be tossups worth 15 and 20 points. It is a buzzer tournament, so all the tossups will be buzzer. I hope that clears up all the doubts.
I don't know what PACE affiliation is, so i can't answer that question.

[CHS Patriots]

Colonia's tournaments aren't usually affiliated with NAQT/PACE

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

All you have to do to be affiliated with PACE is make a post saying "E.T. Chuck, can our tournament be affiliated with PACE?" and then you get people to qualify from your tournament. There is no required question source, and it's not really some huge big thing to do.

[CHS Patriots]

Colonia Arch Academic Challenge 2008
Registration Form


School Name: ________________________________________
School Address: _____________________________________
School Phone #: ______________________________________
School Fax #: ________________________________________
Advisor’s Name: _____________________________________
Advisor’s Phone #: ___________________________________
Advisor’s E-Mail Address: _____________________________

First Team: $ 85.00
Number of Additional Teams: _______ X $45.00 $ ________
Number of Buzzer Systems: ________ X $15.00 -$ ________
TOTAL $ ________


Please complete this form by March 7th and mail or fax it to:

Ms. Linda Rockmaker, Academic Team Advisor
Colonia High School JUGGERNAUTS
East Street
Colonia, NJ 07067
FAX #: (732) 574-2575

(Please also enclose your registration fee with purchase order or check made payable to Colonia High School.)

[CHS Patriots]

January 27, 2008

Dear Academic Coaches,

My name is Parth Shah and I am the captain of the Juggernauts, Colonia High School’s Quiz Bowl Team. Over the course of the year, we have visited many of your schools and had a great time, and now, we hope to return the favor. We will be hosting the 2008 C.A.A.C. (Colonia Arch Academic Challenge/Carol Ann Kiyak Memorial Challenge) on Saturday, April 12th. Colonia High School is centrally located near Garden State Parkway exit 131 and NJ Turnpike exit 11.

Our buzzer tournament follows a four-quarter format. In the first quarter, there will be twenty 5 and 10 points toss up question, toss-up questions with bonuses in the second quarter, lightning rounds in the third quarter, and end with more toss-up questions in the 4th quarter. There will be three preliminary unseeded rounds followed by quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals after lunch. Lunch will be offsite at any of the several local eating establishments, or can be in ordered in, and details of these establishments will be sent once your school’s registration is received.

The fee is $85 for your school’s first team and $45 for each additional team. If you would be so kind as to let us borrow a (working) buzzer system for the day, we will gladly deduct $15 for each system from your expenses. The top 8 teams will receive trophies as well as the four highest scoring individuals will receive “All-Star” trophies

If there is a conflict with another academic event, please inform Mrs. Rockmaker at [email protected]. Please mail or fax the attached registration form together with you check or purchase order by March 7th.

Many coaches, who receive this may have known Carol Ann Kiyak, who was the advisor for the Colonia High School Juggernauts for more than twenty years. She was an inspiring woman and since the 2005 C.A.A.C, the first in 10 years, we have honored her memory by using a majority of the proceeds by using a majority proceeds form this tournament for senior scholarships in her name. We hope this year to have an even better tournament than our prior years, and we would like you to help us this attain this goal.

Hope to see you all on April 12th!

Sincerely,

COLONIA HIGH SCHOOL

Linda H. Rockmaker
Juggernauts Advisor

Parth Shah
Team Captain

[CHS Patriots]

Our advisor would appreciate if only coaches would fill out the forms and send it to Colonia High School in order to avoid confusion that might occur otherwise. All correspondence through this email shall be official as the message will be relayed to our advisor, but we suggest that the coaches contact our advisor directly. Any questions about the tournament will be answered here though.

[Ondes Martenot]

yeah so our coach is going to email you guys with the registration. Look like we're sending four teams

[TheCzarMan]

I believe my advisor has sent the registration by now.

[CHS Patriots]

Students should check with their coaches if they have sent in the registration forms. We shall be seeing many of your teams at Rutgers this upcoming Saturday. The registration forms should be sent to Ms. Linda Rockmaker at [email protected]. Remeber the deadline is March 7th. We just need the forms right now, the money can be sent in later, if that helps.

[Ondes Martenot]

Have you gotten the forms from our advisor yet?

[Cashill]

Please send Verona High School the registration forms. Thanks. Would like to enter 2 teams if space available.

Bob Cashill
[email protected]

[CHS Patriots]

The registration form posted above is just fine- just copy and paste it into the email and get it back to us as soon as you can! We hope to see you on the 12th.

[CHS Patriots]

Have you gotten the forms from our advisor yet?

yes. =]

[TheCzarMan]

What time are we supposed to arrive?

[The Infanta]

We'll be there with two teams.

[TheCzarMan]

Any last field updates/a time to arrive at?

[The Infanta]

Un field update, por favor?

[SHP Pirate]

Colonia,

I realize that I am "piling-on" here, but could someone post the registration and start times today? I will not be providing a bus for my students on Saturday and I need to tell their parents what time to have their children at the school.

Gratias tibi ago!

[CHS Patriots]

Teams should be at the school around 8:30 (our advisor should have passed on the information to all the schools already.)
And, while I don't have the complete list of teams right now, there are 36 teams showing up.

[TheCzarMan]

(1) Seton Hall A vs. (8) Newark Academy
(2) Kellenberg A vs. (7) Seton Hall B
(3) Jonathan Dayton (245) vs. (6) Bloomfield A (170)
(4) St. Joe's A vs. (5) (I forget)


More results later when SHP and Kellenberg get back probably.

[SHP Pirate]

A few quick notes. (I will let Colonia post more fully as it was their tournament.)

Semifinal 1: SHP defeated St. Joseph's
Semifinal 2: Kellenberg defeated Jonathon Dayton

Finals: Kellenberg (345) defeated Seton Hall (240)

A very odd final match ...

End of Round 1: K-Berg 85, SHP 30
End of Round 2: SHP 110, K-Berg 105
End of Round 3: SHP230, K-Berg 225
Final: K-Berg 345, SHP 240

We have really enjoyed our rivalry with Kellenberg this year! (I and must apologize to James ... I called you "Nick" all day!)

[TheCzarMan]

My, what a huge rally in the 4th quarter!

If I might comment on question quality (And I assume I can discuss questions as there is no mirror for this and these questions will probably not be used again), I must say I have some issue when because of the transparency of the questions I can correctly answer "(Censored)" after just the first 7 words of "A poem written about this 1940 Evacuation..."

SHP, do you by chance have a list of the final Top 20 scorers, or will I have to wait for Colonia to post that. I do wish they had done it in PPG instead of total points, as that will probably knock me far down the list as I did not play past the quarters.

aarcoh, I was also incredibly suprised you were not one of the Top 8 teams for the playoffs? What happened there?

[SHP Pirate]

Neither Aaron nor Watson was at Colonia. (I am sure that they will chime-in later!) Bergen's team appeared to be mostly "B" and even some "C" players. Kellenberg just beat us in every buzzer race. James and Kevin seemed to singlehandedly put us away in the 4th quarter. Be careful mentioning any specifics as to the questions. While this tournament will not be mirrored, the board rules are rather specific about posting any specifics about current questions.

[CHS Patriots]

(1) Seton Hall A vs. (8) Newark Academy
(2) Kellenberg A vs. (7) Seton Hall B
(3) Jonathan Dayton (245) vs. (6) Bloomfield A (170)
(4) St. Joe's A vs. (5) (I forget)

St. Joe's A was up against High Tech C
And our advisor will try to email the list of top 20 scorers to everyone soon.

[Ondes Martenot]

Yeah...Bergen. This was the only tournament I've missed all year, and our team was composed of two B-team members, two C/D members and one kid who'd never been to a tournament. By no means assume that this is Bergen at its strongest. But have no fear-Watson and I shall reunite for KMO's, the odd Goldfish tournament, Chatham and Nationals. By the way, were the questions difficulty like Half Hallow Hills?

[TheCzarMan]

Yeah...Bergen. This was the only tournament I've missed all year, and our team was composed of two B-team members, two C/D members and one kid who'd never been to a tournament. By no means assume that this is Bergen at its strongest. But have no fear-Watson and I shall reunite for KMO's, the odd Goldfish tournament, Chatham and Nationals. By the way, were the questions difficulty like Half Hallow Hills?

I'd say quite a bit easier in my opinion. Not so much difficulty, but the transparency of the questions was a problem.

[The Infanta]

Although it was a Chip-style format, the questions weren't as bad as I was expecting them to be. Sure, you had a few misleading curveballs, but the 60 Second rounds made up for that. As for the tournament, it was well organized and the buzzers were all in working order. The rule about waiting to be recognized got annoying, but I got used to it in the end. All in all, Ms. Rockmaker and the Colonia team did a fantastic job of running this tournament. Thanks!


Congrats also to our worthy opponents, SHP! Great job!

[TheCzarMan]

Although it was a Chip-style format, the questions weren't as bad as I was expecting them to be. Sure, you had a few misleading curveballs, but the 60 Second rounds made up for that. As for the tournament, it was well organized and the buzzers were all in working order. The rule about waiting to be recognized got annoying, but I got used to it in the end. All in all, Ms. Rockmaker and the Colonia team did a fantastic job of running this tournament. Thanks!


Congrats also to our worthy opponents, SHP! Great job!

That waiting to be recognized rule completely swung our quarterfinal match against Dayton, as we're used to just giving the answer quickly after locking everyone out.

Great job as well SHP, although I didn't get to see any of your matches yesterday.

[Judson Laipply]

aarcoh wrote:
Yeah...Bergen. This was the only tournament I've missed all year, and our team was composed of two B-team members, two C/D members and one kid who'd never been to a tournament. By no means assume that this is Bergen at its strongest. But have no fear-Watson and I shall reunite for KMO's, the odd Goldfish tournament, Chatham and Nationals. By the way, were the questions difficulty like Half Hallow Hills?

TheCzarMan wrote:
I'd say quite a bit easier in my opinion. Not so much difficulty, but the transparency of the questions was a problem

What do you mean by "transparent?" Does that mean that the questions were too clear, because, although it is unusual for , it is not bad.

Mr.Z- I get called Nick a lot more times than you would believe. Apology accepted. Your team is awesome and it is a pleasure to have had 8 opportunities to play them this year.

[Captain Sinico]

What do you mean by "transparent?"

Transparent refers to questions that really strongly tip off their answers through non-uniquely identifying clues before they get to real, substantive clues.

MaS

[Mike Bentley]

aarcoh wrote:
Yeah...Bergen. This was the only tournament I've missed all year, and our team was composed of two B-team members, two C/D members and one kid who'd never been to a tournament. By no means assume that this is Bergen at its strongest. But have no fear-Watson and I shall reunite for KMO's, the odd Goldfish tournament, Chatham and Nationals. By the way, were the questions difficulty like Half Hallow Hills?

TheCzarMan wrote:
I'd say quite a bit easier in my opinion. Not so much difficulty, but the transparency of the questions was a problem

What do you mean by "transparent?" Does that mean that the questions were too clear, because, although it is unusual for , it is not bad.

Mr.Z- I get called Nick a lot more times than you would believe. Apology accepted. Your team is awesome and it is a pleasure to have had 8 opportunities to play them this year.

Typically transparency refers to questions written in such a way that a person can figure them out even though they may not have specific knowledge of the clues being given when they buzz.

For example, if you were to write a tossup on the Great Vowel Shift, pretty much any clue you're going to give is going to make it transparent. After hearing the line, "This event occured in German and Dutch and was coined by Otto Jespersen", I would be buzzing with Great Vowel Shift because it is the only reasonable linguistic event that could come up. My buzz would have little to do with knowing who exactly Otto Jespersen is or why the Great Vowel Shift is important.

Similarly, if you start mentioning dates and places of people I may buzz by figuring out rather than having "real knowledge". I believe I remember a tossup coming up in scobowl that began something like "He recounted his second term in 1904's Presidential Problems..." Such a clue leads me to buzz with Grover Cleveland, because he's the only two term president alive at this point who could have reasonably written such a book. My buzz would have nothing to do with the fact that I know Grover Cleveland wrote Presidential Problems, or that he did lots of other stuff in his administration.

While these questions are certainly better than Chip style hoses like, "Mark Twain wrote Tom Sawyer. What author described Tom Bombadil?", they still should ideally be avoided. I think it's not a big leap to say most people agree that the team with the most knowledge of a tossup should usually beat the other team to the tossup, so questions where it is very obvious what is being asked about to almost everyone aren't so great.

[Judson Laipply]

Thank you.

[CHS Patriots]

Sorry for the late response, but here are the final rankings. Seeds are in parentheses, the final scores for the games are in brackets.

quarterfinals
(1) Seton Hall [420] vs. (8) Newark Academy [185]
(4) St. Joe's A [335] vs. (5) High Tech C [275]
(2) Kellenberg A [345] vs. (7) Seton Hall B [225]
(3) Jonathan Dayton [285] vs. (6) Bloomfield A [170]

semifinals
Seton Hall A [355] vs. St. Joe's A [225]
Kellenberg A [400] vs. Jonathan Dayton [180]

finals
Seton Hall A [245] vs. Kellenberg A [395]

[TheCzarMan]

Any chance you could post the Top 20 scorers here? My advisor wouldn't give me a copy of it.

[Sir Thopas]

My advisor wouldn't give me a copy of it.

. . .