2008 Panasonic Schedule

[Byko]

The first round schedule came out either just today or sometime late yesterday:

Early games (1:30-3:30)

Nutcracker 1:
DC
Indiana
Washington
Maryland

Fantasia KL:
Oklahoma
West Virginia
Louisiana
New Jersey

Fantasia MN:
Colorado
California
Illinois

Fantasia PQ:
New Mexico
Wyoming
South Carolina

Late games (4:00-6:00):

Nutcracker 1:
Wisconsin
Ohio
Montana
Idaho

Fantasia KL:
Guam
Kentucky
Florida
Alabama

Fantasia MN:
New Hampshire
Maine
Pennsylvania

Fantasia PQ:
Iowa
Vermont
Tennessee


Second round and semifinal matchups are based on placement and a pre-set random draw, so that won't be known until the day of the competition. I'll have my computer down in Orlando to provide online updates if there's internet access that I'm willing to pay for--if I recall correctly, it was a bit pricy in the past. Then again, this is Disneyworld, so that isn't exactly a surprise.

Prognosticate away. I'm one of the coaches for Maryland, so I will not make any comments about our game. However, here's my thinking right now on the other games:

1. That NM-SC-WY game is going to be VERY ugly.
2. Slightly less ugly (though ugly nonetheless) will be the NH-ME-PA game.
3. CO-CA-IL looks like the best all-around matchup of the first round.
4. Close behind is Guam-KY-FL-AL for a tight battle.
5. WI-OH could be a close battle--some years, Wisconsin has been very strong; other years, not so much.
6. There isn't a single room that has all weak teams in it. Oklahoma and Tennessee are two well-coached teams that I expect to make noise in the semifinals again.

[lasercats]

Go Dylan and Onkur on Team Oklahoma!

[TheCzarMan]

Who's on the New Jersey team, East Brunswick?

[Ondes Martenot]

No...it's some school Indian Hills, mainly because most other schools didn't even apply. Ummm...after I heard how sucky/non-legit/incompetent/poorly run Panasonic is I kind of lost interest in it.

[TheCzarMan]

No...it's some school Indian Hills, mainly because most other schools didn't even apply. Ummm...after I heard how sucky/non-legit/incompetent/poorly run Panasonic is I kind of lost interest in it.

Still, free trip to Disney World.

[Matt Weiner]

Still, free trip to Disney World.

$375 per person plus transportation costs = free ?

[TheCzarMan]

Still, free trip to Disney World.

$375 per person plus transportation costs = free ?

Costs less than a normal trip.

And I've never seen Disney World

[Stat Boy]

Nutcracker:
DC
Maryland

It's on, Puma.

[ieppler]

Nutcracker:
DC
Maryland

It's on, Puma.

Puma is not going. In fact, Leahy, myself, and all actual quizbowlers from DC will also not be going.

[Stat Boy]

So team DC is...

[Mr Foster]

the SC group will be really ugly think of UGA-Hawaii ugly

[ClemsonQB]

What schools, if any, play quizbowl in WY and NM? Also, are there schools from those states attending HSNCT or NSC?

[Gonzagapuma1]

So team DC is...

Banneker B?

[evilmonkey]

Who is team Indiana? I don't think we've sent a representative in the past.

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

Actually, Daichi Ueda can confirm that there was a team Indiana last year.

[Stat Boy]

Daichi Ueda can confirm that there was a team Indiana last year

Why, yes. Indeed he can. And it looks like we're playing them first round.

[Byko]

Last year, Indiana was represented by Ben Davis High School. Prior to last year, I had never heard of them.

Wyoming has some sort of competition each year and selects an all-star team to represent them annually. Their coach has been coming for quite a long time. I'm sure there are numerous challenges in getting quiz bowl going out there.

New Mexico usually has the Southwest Secondary Learning Center as their representative. Their coach is nice (I played with her in the coach's game last year), but beyond that, I really don't know much about them. I know that there's some quiz bowl starting to take shape out there, but again, like Wyoming, I'm sure there are numerous challenges, especially with regards to geography.

I know nothing about who is representing DC. Seriously.

[aestheteboy]

So team DC is...

Banneker B?

Hey, players on Banneker B are "actual quizbowlers," man.

Actually, Daichi Ueda can confirm that there was a team Indiana last year.

Yeah. In fact, according to the girl who attended last year, Ben Davis will represent Indiana again.

[evilmonkey]

Yeah. In fact, according to the girl who attended last year, Ben Davis will represent Indiana again.

Yikes. Ben Davis does very little in the state. Except play a televised, single-elim tournament. With bad questions. I'm confused.

I'd also like to know who writes the question for that competition (The Brain Game). "Within 5,000, how many US troops are on active duty in Afghanistan". Or, visual question "Which movie is this picture from - Ben Hur riding a chariot". Or audio question on Bruce Springsteen song.

EDIT: Oh God, I just finished watching a 50-49 game (most questions are 1 point). The deciding question involved the Dewey Decimal System.

[Tegan]

I'd also like to know who writes the question <sic>: "Within 5,000, how many US troops are on active duty in Afghanistan". Or, visual question "Which movie is this picture from - Ben Hur riding a chariot". Or audio question on Bruce Springsteen song.

Showwww meyah "Chip Beall".

DING

Numbah One Answer

[etchdulac]

Indeed -- those last two would be textbook "warm-up" quarter questions. Some of my all-time favorites included an audio clue asking you identify the voice of John Madden and a video clue asking you to derive from a super-close-up photo that the subject was in fact "our old friend, the obsolete typewriter."

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

I definitely don't remember much about when i attended the Panasonic in the summer of 2001 representing Delaware (our slogan, "Delaware: Caution - may cause drowsiness") except that i answered a question where the answer was "subjunctive," and screwing around a lot in Disney World after we got our butts kicked that first day. At least were weren't in 4th in the matches we played in, merely a distant 3rd each time.

All in all, a bizarre but fun tournament, largely for Disney and for the mountains of quarters we used in the arcade at the hotel.

We could have represented Delaware this year (no one is), but we just don't have the money. If we don't qualify for anything next year (50/50 shot i think), we'll try to go to this. But we'll see.

[marnold]

Colorado

As long as team-composition questions are being asked: does anyone know if this is just Grand Junction as it has been in the past? As a Coloradoan, I'm always hopeful that some other team will one day realize that quiz bowl, like, exists...

[Byko]

Colorado

As long as team-composition questions are being asked: does anyone know if this is just Grand Junction as it has been in the past? As a Coloradoan, I'm always hopeful that some other team will one day realize that quiz bowl, like, exists...

Probably. But there are other teams that know that quiz bowl, in some form, exists: at least a few teams usually go to every year. This year, Fruita Monument A and B will be. Last year, I think there were one or two more. So there's something, but outreach to Colorado would be good.

[marnold]

Hmm, looking at results from KMO (pretty much the only thing that I know exists in Colorado), I see Fruita won state and Grand Junction didn't even play. If I were a betting man, I would guess that the GJ coach just moved 10 miles down the road and started another solid team and continued the tradition of sending teams to NAC. I was excited to learn there were multiple teams on the Western Slope - maybe even a little circuit - but apparently its still just one team. Even more discouragingly, I don't see Fairview playing any more; they were one of the only large schools from the Denver/Boulder area that consistently played and if they're done, that sucks. If KMO is losing steam, I'm none too optimistic about the future of live, in-person tournaments working out...

[Byko]

Hmm, looking at results from KMO (pretty much the only thing that I know exists in Colorado), I see Fruita won state and Grand Junction didn't even play. If I were a betting man, I would guess that the GJ coach just moved 10 miles down the road and started another solid team and continued the tradition of sending teams to NAC. I was excited to learn there were multiple teams on the Western Slope - maybe even a little circuit - but apparently its still just one team. Even more discouragingly, I don't see Fairview playing any more; they were one of the only large schools from the Denver/Boulder area that consistently played and if they're done, that sucks. If KMO is losing steam, I'm none too optimistic about the future of live, in-person tournaments working out...

When I was at Panasonic last year, I got to speak to Lorena, who was (as of last year) the coach at Grand Junction. Her feeling seemed to be that quiz bowl is small and regional, except for some sort of state tournament (though that may be more in name than reality). I know that they use KMO as their question provider for any tournaments they do have out there, but beyond that, I really don't know a lot. It would be a good place to try to make some sort of in-roads, but it would probably require having someone out there in person to do that successfully.