The Quizbowl Resource Center

This is an announcement for ACF Nationals 2008, to be held on the weekend of April 26th in the Boston area at Brandeis University. Please note that this is roughly a month after the weekend it has occupied in the last few years.

The editing staff will be:

Chris Romero — Head Editor
Eric Kwartler
Ryan Westbrook
Chris Frankel
Trey Morris
Susan Mitchell

ACF editor emeritus and noted lover of the hip-hop Ezequiel Berdichevsky will also be helping with the tournament in an advisory capacity.

Here are the costs:

Base Fee: $120
Buzzer Discount: -$10 per used, working buzzer
Moderator Discount: -$10 per used, working moderator

We are introducing a few new things into the fee structure this year. Teams will be allowed to submit a packet without science questions for an additional $35. Additionally, the no packet fee for teams who have played ACF nationals anytime in the last 3 years will be $120.

The tournament is being held on the weekend on which CBI Nationals is expected to be held. If you qualify for CBI Nationals and turn them down to play ACF instead, we will let you play ACF Nationals for a total fee of 1 dollar.

The packet distribution is much like that of other ACF tournaments:

5/5 Literature
5/5 History
5/5 Science
3/3 RMP
3/3 Arts
2/2 SS/Geography
1/1 Trash
1/1 Extra Big Three
1/1 Your Choice

All packets should contain 26 tossups and 26 bonuses. Please remember to vary your answers with respect to time and place. Tossups should be no longer than 8 lines in 10 pt TNR.

We encourage everyone who is writing an ACF Nationals packet to consult the question writing guides and old ACF packets that can be found on ACF's website, http://www.acf-quizbowl.com/.

We will expect all packets to be in by 11:59 PM on March 31st. The discount/penalty schedule will be:

Packet in by 03/01: -$50
Packet in by 03/08: -$25
Packet in by 03/15: Even Money
Packet in by 03/22: +$25
Packet in by 03/31: +$50

We want the packets in early because people have been so atrocious about getting their packets in late in the past (myself being no exception). If your packet isn't in by the 31st, you will be charged the no packet fee of $120 dollars.

Please send all packets to Eric Kwartler.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Looking forward to seeing you all in late April!

I'm curious why so late this year? Vandy has finals starting April 24, with them being held on that Friday and Saturday as well. Although it doesn't affect me personally, it would almost certainly affect my teammates. Any other schools have this similar problem?

That is right at the end of the semester... a week before finals for us. I don't know if there just weren't any other options or what but that will probably be a horrible weekend for most people with end of semester projects and finals for some.

If we turned down CBI, and sent in a packet really early, would you pay us $49 to play? Please?

On a more serious note, the date is kinda bad for the reasons state above, but I really appreciate Maryland hosting and the early notification. I think most teams should be able to work stuff out, given the early announcement. Is a late April tournament to be the norm from now on, or was this just the best date for Maryland, the editors, etc.?

Unless Jonathan had some role in picking this date that I was not aware of, this was a decision by the ACF Editors and not Maryland.

From the Maryland side, this date can be changed without too much hassle. But I leave that up to the editors.

W&M will likely be there - the date sounds good to me, but then again W&M does everything about two weeks later than everyone else.

Perhaps they chose the date as a means to slowly destroy CBI? That alone is a very commendable reason.

Is the late April date really a killer for that many schools? I thought most finals tended to start in mid-May.

grapesmoker wrote:Is the late April date really a killer for that many schools? I thought most finals tended to start in mid-May.

More importantly, I thought the period right before finals week was traditionally considered prime goof-off time. Also, I thought everyone had realized by now that there is no better prep for a big test than a quizbowl tournament.

-Seth

Haha, yeah that advanced eukaryotic genetics just osmosifies into your brain while playing quiz bowl :-P.

I really wish the week before finals were goof off week ... that would be great for my sanity... but I had 2-3 tests during that week last semester including organic and genetics. Ok, I know, some of you will be like organic isn't really hard at all but I had to study a lot.

But seriously, there will never be a weekend that suits everyone .... while we would have liked to make our first ACF Nats trip this year, unless I have a serious lapse in judgement that tells me to screw my classes, we will probably have to sit it out.

Kentb426 wrote:Haha, yeah that advanced eukaryotic genetics just osmosifies into your brain while playing quiz bowl :-P.

Laugh all you want, but stuff that came up at nationals actually came up on my finals. I killed two birds with one stone.

Kentb426 wrote:Ok, I know, some of you will be like organic isn't really hard at all but I had to study a lot.

You won't hear anything of the sort from me.

Kentb426 wrote:But seriously, there will never be a weekend that suits everyone .... while we would have liked to make our first ACF Nats trip this year, unless I have a serious lapse in judgement that tells me to screw my classes, we will probably have to sit it out.

Rats. I was looking forward to playing against you guys.

If you're that worried, just carry around a binder with your notes for one or two of your finals in it. You can study for finals and quizbowl at the same time.

And our finals start May 7, so we're good.

I am a chronic freaker outer though for school stuff ... it's just the way I have always been and it takes many years off my life but ......

we'll see on this one .. I would have to have a team willing to go with me and we would have to have the monies.

We still have a month to go before finals at that point, so I think we'll be attending. I think this is the first time we'll ever be sending a team to ACF Nats (save for the chance my teammates rebel). We probably won't do so hot, but it should be fun.

I can say with some definitiveness that that weekend is likely smack in the middle of finals for both UCLA and UCI, and there is a good chance that at least one of those teams will be there. I don't know whether this is better or worse than the previous years where it was during our spring break and caused all sorts of weird travel problems for us.

cvdwightw wrote:I can say with some definitiveness that that weekend is likely smack in the middle of finals for both UCLA and UCI, and there is a good chance that at least one of those teams will be there. I don't know whether this is better or worse than the previous years where it was during our spring break and caused all sorts of weird travel problems for us.

http://nka.reg.uci.edu/uci/calendars/ac ... r2008.html

http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/calendar/acadcal07.htm

April 26 might be near Spring Quarter Midterms, but it's nowhere near any finals week for either school.

I'm somehow compelled to say again that not attending a tourney because of finals is really silly. For one thing, you can study on the trip or ahead of time...you're only losing parts of two days here, and you know which days they'll be. For another thing, I find it completely implausible that the vast majority of reasonably intelligent undergraduates (which many of you probably are) need to study all that much or all that intently anyway. I mean, maybe if we're talking about an astrophysics program at MIT, I don't know...but not a random undergraduate set of classes.

I honestly think that the idea most undergraduates, or graduates for that matter, don't need to study for finals is idiotic. Most players I know study just as much as most successful students, that's just the way people with good grades, and academic habits, are. I mean more power to those elite of you who do not need to study, but count most people in the gang of "studies for finals." I would also think something might be wrong if you didn't have to study that much for a final in a class, I mean classes are supposed to be challenging right? Even here at Alabama most classes are no joking matter, especially once you get above 200 level.

There are also those in quiz bowl who liked getting through classes purely on information gleaned from old ACF packets. I won't name names.

So have the ACF Nationals editors settled on 4/26 as the final date for this tournament? I would like to know before I finalize room reservations.

so this tourney is happening on my 21st birthday.....decisions.....

Kent B wrote:so this tourney is happening on my 21st birthday.....decisions.....

What decisions? The only correct action in this case is to go to ACF Nationals, play some quality quizbowl, and then drink yourself stupid.

edit: drinking may also happen during tournament proper

Kent B wrote:so this tourney is happening on my 21st birthday.....decisions.....

Clearly you have never been to ACF nationals.

Also yeah, the date is set.

Kent B wrote:so this tourney is happening on my 21st birthday.....decisions.....

NAQT ICT is the first weekend after I turn 21. Ahh, the hotel room scene if we win D2...put cha cris' up!

Barring any problems with scheduling, I have also reserved rooms on Friday night and Sunday morning if anyone is planning side events.

They kick us out of the buildings at 11 supposedly, so running tournaments really late on Friday or Saturday night is probably not a good idea.

grapesmoker wrote:edit: drinking may also happen during tournament proper

Someone's channeling Chris Frankel...

Bentley Like Beckham wrote:Barring any problems with scheduling, I have also reserved rooms on Friday night and Sunday morning if anyone is planning side events.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't know that my brain can handle events on either side of ACF Nats.

Ok, we have at least 25 rooms reserved for Saturday so now it´s up to the ACF Marketing Cabal to fill that 50 team initial cap.

Also, if you´re thinking about holding a side event, the room situation makes it much better to do on Friday night rather than Sunday. We have a good number of classrooms reserved on Friday but scheduling was only able to give me a few scattered classrooms on Sunday.

Finally, could a moderator sticky this thread?

Just in case anyone is planning on booking tickets between now and when we resolve a conflict with the scheduling office (of 2006 ICT Building Change fame) out, I would hold off until further announcements.

We're waiting on full confirmation, but for now ACF Nationals has been tentatively rescheduled for April 19th due to the scheduling conflict mentioned by Mike. It will still be held at Maryland. The deadlines will be the same, so please adhere to them all the more strictly, as we the editors will have less time to do our jobs. If you have any questions please post them here or email me.

A date other than April 19th would be much better for me and several others, as that night is the first Passover seder.

Evan's right, it is Passover. I stupidly thought it was a month earlier. Truthfully, considering that the 19th is right after ICT and it would be kind of hard for us to change the date, overall that weekend is probably not the best. Right now, ACF is considering relocating the tournament for the 26th, and we are informally asking for anyone who thinks they might want to host to let us know that. Any other general comments and/or suggestions would also be appreciated.

Is the date of May 3rd being considered at all?

It seems to me that since some people already had exam issues with April 26, May 3 might only exacerbate those problems. Nonetheless, this thread is open for any comments on your own team's preference about when and where ACF Nationals should be.

We have confirmed that ACF Nationals 2008 will take place on April 26, 2008 at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts . It will be staffed by ACF members and a coalition of local schools and individuals. All of the deadlines etc are the same. If you have any questions email me.

Darn, no Sox games in Boston that weekend

If anyone is making travel plans already, if you would like a bit of guidance, feel free to email me at enagler [at] brandeis [dot] edu.

wd4gdz wrote:Darn, no Sox games in Boston that weekend

But that doesn't mean there will be a shortage of sporting events in the Boston Area. The Wonderland Greyhound Track has live racing six days a week and should be back up and running for the spring season by 4/26.

Bruce wrote:

wd4gdz wrote:Darn, no Sox games in Boston that weekend

But that doesn't mean there will be a shortage of sporting events in the Boston Area. The Wonderland Greyhound Track has live racing six days a week and should be back up and running for the spring season by 4/26.

As someone who learned to read the Daily Racing Form at age 8, I heartily approve of this message.

I have prepared a travel guide for people to consult in making plans. I will be updating this guide more in the coming days, as I think of useful things to add.

As I stated above, if you have any travel questions, email me at enagler [at] brandeis [dot] edu.

wd4gdz wrote:Darn, no Sox games in Boston that weekend

Well the weekend of 4/26 is the second week of the NBA playoffs which means that the Celtics will be on the road playing some bottom-feeding Eastern Conference team in a road playoff game. Darn.

Also, Eric, the first post in this thread still states that nats will be held at UMCP.

I have heard from several sources that people are planning side events to ACF Nationals. If you are planning such an event, you need to contact me at enagler at brandeis dot edu as soon as possible. If there are to be side events, you need to claim your time slot and I need to get rooms. Right now, we only have rooms for the main tournament, on 4/26 from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM.

EDIT: Please also include a description of the event you're planning and an estimate of how long the event should last.

So, now that ACF Regionals is over it is time to look forward to Nationals. I'd like to remind everyone that the first packet deadline is coming up in less than two weeks, so get cracking. I want to make it clear that the packet deadlines are absolute; barring the unexpected death of your beast frosh, you will not be given an extension, and that is final.

Also, I would greatly appreciate it if teams that plan on attending would email me with your school name, how many teams you'll be bringing, and contact information for whoever is in charge of your club. We're capping the field at 40 (I'm the King of wishful thinking...), and right now I believe I have 10 or so confirmed teams. I think we can make this this biggest and best Nationals yet; there are a lot of newer teams that have expressed interest, and I know the regulars will inevitably show their faces. If you have any questions email me at ekwartler at gmail dot com.

If anyone besides me going to ACF Nationals is a Bad Religion fan, you should join me in going to this event, where Greg Graffin will be winning an award and doing an acoustic performance: http://www.harvardhumanist.org/2008/02/ ... g-graffin/

Banana paper wrote:If anyone besides me going to ACF Nationals is a Bad Religion fan, you should join me in going to this event, where Greg Graffin will be winning an award and doing an acoustic performance: http://www.harvardhumanist.org/2008/02/ ... g-graffin/

Why couldn't this have happened at Vanderbilt last year?!

Dolemite wrote:

Banana paper wrote:If anyone besides me going to ACF Nationals is a Bad Religion fan, you should join me in going to this event, where Greg Graffin will be winning an award and doing an acoustic performance: http://www.harvardhumanist.org/2008/02/ ... g-graffin/

Why couldn't this have happened at Vanderbilt last year?!

You know, you could actually come to Nats this year and go to this.

Space geostrategy wrote:

Dolemite wrote:

Banana paper wrote:If anyone besides me going to ACF Nationals is a Bad Religion fan, you should join me in going to this event, where Greg Graffin will be winning an award and doing an acoustic performance: http://www.harvardhumanist.org/2008/02/ ... g-graffin/

Why couldn't this have happened at Vanderbilt last year?!

You know, you could actually come to Nats this year and go to this.

Yeah I could do a lot of things.

Banana paper wrote:If anyone besides me going to ACF Nationals is a Bad Religion fan, you should join me in going to this event, where Greg Graffin will be winning an award and doing an acoustic performance: http://www.harvardhumanist.org/2008/02/ ... g-graffin/

Mike, you are my hero for finding this. I'm seriously interested in going.

Banana paper wrote:If anyone besides me going to ACF Nationals is a Bad Religion fan, you should join me in going to this event, where Greg Graffin will be winning an award and doing an acoustic performance: http://www.harvardhumanist.org/2008/02/ ... g-graffin/

I might be up for this too.

You guys do realize ACF Nats tends to get out quite late, right?

That might matter for you punks in the top bracket, but I imagine if I leave around 7 it won't make too much of a difference.