ANNOUNCEMENT: Urgent Call for Unity (July 21, 2013)

[Auks Ran Ova]

people who insist that tournaments can't be run efficiently

No one is insisting this; what people are actually suggesting is that it is overly optimistic to accept maximal machine-like efficiency from any tournament and, more critically, are offering such compromise options as moving your arbitrarily-selected deadline back slightly to accommodate the chance that something other than "quizbowlers being lazy time-wasters" could cause a delay in the tournament.

Since I've gotten in trouble for bringing economics to bear on here before, it is with reticence that I do so again, but here goes: what's going on here is known as the "hold-up problem," in which whoever goes first is in a position to jerk around whoever goes second. It's why P&G make their money from razor blades (though they have the technology to make cheap blades that never dull), or even why your ISP raises its fees with impunity: it's more costly for you to switch once you have their modem or their razor.

This talk about how things inevitably arise and it's just unrealistic to expect trash to be over at 2.00 is providing an excuse ex-ante for an inefficiently-run tournament, with everyone able to somehow transfer the guilt for that inefficiency onto me ex post for having been stupid enough to think it could be otherwise.

This...is not what's going on here at all. There are no shadowy conspirators fiendishly plotting to blame you for things. The suggestion was that, rather than arbitrarily selecting a deadline that requires near-perfect logistical execution just to reach satisfactorily, you instead allow reality to influence your decisions and plan for a start at, say, 2:30 or 3:00, which would result in fewer potential delays due to unforeseen circumstances and would still allow for the possibility of starting even earlier if the trash tournament did indeed run delay-free.

[Cheynem]

Here's an idea--why don't you (Marshall) TD the trash tournament and run it efficiently enough (i.e. masterminding lunch, enforcing start times) so that your history tournament can start as soon as possible?

[Habitat_Against_Humanity]

Here's an idea--why don't you (Marshall) TD the trash tournament and run it efficiently enough (i.e. masterminding lunch, enforcing start times) so that your history tournament can start as soon as possible?

This is surprisingly close to what's being discussed at the moment. I think I'm going to be Marshall's go-to person for UCU and he'll do the same for me on the Trash tournament. Right now, the trash and history contingents are in discussion about how to resolve the scheduling issues. Personally, I think Marshall would have a better chance of getting his tournament done by 2 than the trash event. However, as documented in the STP thread, this would inconvenience at least a few attendees. I fully believe that of all the people I know, Marshall is the person for whose differential between what they are like in person and who they are in an internet discussion is the greatest. As such, I totally believe that he's perfectly capable and willing to come to compromise here.

I think after all of the dust has settled from this, there has to be a discussion of what CO is really meant to be as well as the nature of "side events." In my mind, any event which has eight or more rounds is simply not a side event unless only a very limited number of teams play. Sunday currently has two ten-round events scheduled with a regular-tournament-sized field for each. The connotation of "Side event" has come to mean something of small and limited scale. While this is true of the events in relation to CO proper, they would be full-day tournaments anywhere else. This mentality leads to situations like this, in which we cram more events than is humanly possible into a two-day period.

There also needs to be a long, honest discussion with topics including, but not limited to, "Why tournaments actually need to start on time," "Why scheduling travel in any way that could conflict with an event I want to play is a terrible idea," and "What to do when things don't go my way," but that's for another time.

[Tees-Exe Line]

Alright, the decision has been made:

Urgent Call for Unity will be played on the Sunday afternoon and evening of CO weekend. The convening time (in Cobb, the same building where CO proper will be run) is 2.00 PM. The target end-time for CO trash/STP is also 2.00 PM, as is lunch from Uncle Joe's (i.e., there will be no lunch break during CO trash itself, so if surviving without food from 7.45 AM to 2.00 PM is an issue for you, bring something along). The idea is that the history people should convene at 2.00, possibly watch the trash finals, or immediately begin Urgent Call if the trash finals do not involve any history players. As many have said, it will be a logistical challenge to complete the trash tournament between 8 AM and 2 PM, but if you arrive after 2 PM for history you risk the tournament starting without you. The total time for CO History should be between 6 and 7 hrs, and there will not be a break for dinner during the tournament.

I will keep a master list of staffers and buzzers for both trash and history, so please EMAIL (don't PM) me at msteinbaum at gmail if you're planning to bring either, even if you've already signed up on the trash planning google doc. I will encourage as many people as possible to cross-staff if they're not playing one of the tournaments since it will aid the brisk completion of the day's events.

I am the TD for the trash tournament and I have complete discretion to run it, including beginning at a time of my choosing at or after 8 AM (ie, as soon as the rooms are ready) regardless of who is present, and I will be keeping the tournament on pace to target the 2.00 PM end time. So history players should ignore prior statements in this thread about the unfeasibility of completing trash by 2.00. IF YOU ARRIVE AFTER 2.00 YOU PUT YOURSELF AT RISK OF MISSING HISTORY ROUNDS.

[grapesmoker]

Unfortunately, I won't be able to play this.

[Mike Bentley]

To confirm, I am writing a packet. It will definitely be done by next weekend, but I can try to rush it earlier if needed.

[Tees-Exe Line]

To confirm, I am writing a packet. It will definitely be done by next weekend, but I can try to rush it earlier if needed.

No need to rush if it compromises quality, but that said, the sooner the better.

[Important Bird Area]

so long as all of the people who have promised late submissions actually do complete them.

Speaking as one of those miscreants: my 10/10 has been completed and submitted to Marshall.

[Harpie's Feather Duster]

I won't be able to make it to this.

[Smuttynose Island]

I'm still looking for a teammate for this. If anyone out there wants to play this tournament, but doesn't have a partner, then let me know.

EDIT: Or if you are on a two-person team and don't mind playing with a third person.

[Tees-Exe Line]

I still need staffers to make this tournament run smoothly. Please contact me by email (msteinbaum at gmail) if you are able to staff.

[Holla!]

I'm now out a partner for UCU. If anyone is interested not-quite-last-minute in playing with someone who just wants to go and compete, PM me and let me know.

Edit: I will be playing this with Trevor Davis

[Tees-Exe Line]

Edit: I will be playing this with Trevor Davis

Shit just got real.

[Tees-Exe Line]

I am going to decide on the final structure of this tournament shortly, so if the listed field is inaccurate for any reason (ie, you've decided to play/not play the tournament), please let me know. Anyone who wants to play is welcome.

[naan/steak-holding toll]

Daniel Hothem was interested in joining the Alston-Jing team, if that's acceptable.

[Mike Bentley]

Why are we allowing 3 person teams to be formed?

[Tees-Exe Line]

Why are we allowing 3 person teams to be formed?

Because everybody who wants to play should be able to and, at this point, 18 is the ideal number of teams.

[Cheynem]

I thought bleeding heart liberals were interested in equality.

[Tees-Exe Line]

Congratulations to CO History three-repeater Jeff Hoppes and Ankit Aggarwal for winning Urgent Call for Unity, and thanks to everyone who played and especially those who staffed. I will post a discussion thread later this evening.

[Fado Alexandrino]

Stats are up at: http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/1545/
Congratuations to Jeff Hoppes for being utterly dominating

[naan/steak-holding toll]

This tournament was enjoyable. Thanks to Marshall for editing and directing and to everyone else for coming out to play.

There are a few issues with the stats. I'm fairly sure we defeated the Davis/Haala team. We had either 155 or 165 points, I think; there's an issue with bonus points. My notes also say I powered a tossup against Aaron and Joe.

[Fado Alexandrino]

If there are any other mistakes in the stats message me and I'll fix it, but I'll do it all at once sometime later this week with all the errors corrected.