James Blair Bowl and the Tribe Trash Tournament

Dormant threads from the high school sections are preserved here.
Locked
jdcole
Lulu
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 3:07 pm

James Blair Bowl and the Tribe Trash Tournament

Post by jdcole »

James Blair Bowl

The College of William and Mary Quizbowl team is proud to announce our first ever High School scholastic tournament. It is scheduled for Saturday, February 18th 2017. The tournament is open to all High School teams.
The Questions are house-written by members of the William and Mary team in the standard 20-20 tossup/bonus format. All questions will be made available to participating teams at the tournament’s end.
As of right now we are capping the number of teams at 18 but we may open it to more depending on the number of moderators we get. Prizes will be given to top ten scorers and the neg queen/king at the tournament’s end.
Registration:
Registration will be $70 for each school’s first team and $50 for additional teams. There will be no limit to the number of teams per school.
There will be a $5 discount for every fully functional buzzer system brought by a school.
There will be a $5 discount for every moderator/scorekeeper provided by a school.
There will be a $10 discount for every school that must travel more than 150 miles to attend the tournament.
The minimum fee is $40.
Teams may have up to four individuals during play and no more than six total. Alternates will be allowed to switch out with other players during the half of every round. If a team would have more than six players a second team must be registered to accommodate their extra players.
To register please contact James Cole at [email protected]

Tribe Trash Tournament

Tired of the constant academic slog of VHSL Scholastic Bowl? Looking to break free from the constraints of the usual quizbowl canon? Eager to show off your knowledge of all things colloquial, fashionable, and entertaining? Then the William and Mary Quizbowl team has just the tournament for you! After the award ceremony for VHSL States stick around for a brief Trash tournament to play for prestige and prizes. Utilizing a new format consisting of a short lightning round of tossups, a directed round, and even audio/visual clues, this tournament hopes to test your knowledge on a broad array of popular subjects such as film, television, sports, music, and much more!
The tournament will consist of five rounds of preliminary play along with one final round. Prizes will be awarded to top ten scorers, neg king/queen, and our top three teams. The tournament is open to all high school teams.
There will be a $30 fee for all teams, with $5 discounts for teams that provide buzzers/moderators. Teams are limited to four individuals during play and two alternates.
Teams must register prior to February 24th. To sign up please contact James Cole at [email protected]
James Cole
William and Mary
User avatar
SpanishSpy
Wakka
Posts: 138
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2016 1:19 am
Location: Arlington, Virginia

Re: James Blair Bowl and the Tribe Trash Tournament

Post by SpanishSpy »

For those curious, I am also a member of the William & Mary club and can take questions on this site.
Alex Wallace
Washington-Lee High School Class of 2015
College of William & Mary Class of 2019
User avatar
Agamemnon
Lulu
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2016 7:28 pm

Re: James Blair Bowl and the Tribe Trash Tournament

Post by Agamemnon »

What does the set distribution look like?
Last edited by Agamemnon on Fri Jan 06, 2017 9:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Alex Hu
Richard Montgomery '18
Yale '22
jdcole
Lulu
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 3:07 pm

Re: James Blair Bowl and the Tribe Trash Tournament

Post by jdcole »

Each packet will contain:
4 History TUs/Bonuses
4 Science TUs/Bonuses
4 Literature TUs/Bonuses
2 Fine Arts TUs/Bonuses
2 Social Science TUs/Bonuses
2 RMP TUs/Bonuses
1 Geography TU/Bonus
1 Trash TU/Bonus

Plus two random tiebreaker TUs/Bonuses
The distribution within each category will be fairly consistent as well. For example, in science you could probably expect at least one biology, chemistry, physics, comp sci etc.
James Cole
William and Mary
tuscumbiaqb
Wakka
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2011 6:15 pm

Re: James Blair Bowl and the Tribe Trash Tournament

Post by tuscumbiaqb »

jdcole wrote:Each packet will contain:
4 History TUs/Bonuses
4 Science TUs/Bonuses
4 Literature TUs/Bonuses
2 Fine Arts TUs/Bonuses
2 Social Science TUs/Bonuses
2 RMP TUs/Bonuses
1 Geography TU/Bonus
1 Trash TU/Bonus

Plus two random tiebreaker TUs/Bonuses
The distribution within each category will be fairly consistent as well. For example, in science you could probably expect at least one biology, chemistry, physics, comp sci etc.
2/2 social science, as currently considered in quiz bowl, is excessive for a high school tournament.
Jason Loy
Cutter Morning Star HS '00-'04
Harding '04-'08
Missouri State '08-'10
Coach, Tuscumbia High School
Member of HSAPQ, MOQBA, PACE
RexSueciae
Tidus
Posts: 546
Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 12:24 am

Re: James Blair Bowl and the Tribe Trash Tournament

Post by RexSueciae »

Your proposed distribution is alright with the proposed amount of literature, history, science, geography, and trash (I trust that the distribution within categories is standard as well), and fine arts is okay (1 visual, 1 auditory?) but 2 social science per round is very difficult at the high school level, especially at regular difficulty. You've got a certain number of fields to choose from -- you can get a few questions out of economics, a few from psychology, a few from anthropology, maybe a couple from sociology, something from linguistics, archaeology is somewhat underrepresented in quizbowl so you could get away with a few more here, but you've still got to fill out how many rounds? The bare minimum is 10, with one more in case of packet mishaps, but most teams do 14 or so. Even 10 rounds, you're going to have to write 10*2*2 = 40 social science questions, and that's insanely hard. Believe me, I've done this before and it's not fun.

Religion and Myth generally get 1/1 each because they're gettable and important at whatever level, and it's a shame to include less of them. Philosophy is like social science in that teams aren't as likely to get them, it's hard to write for them, and if you try to write too much for them you'll either get high difficulty stuff or have to use a bunch of stock answerlines.

Why not shift it so that philosophy / social science get a combined 1/1 per round? 4 history, 4 lit, 4 science, 2 RM, 2 Fine Arts, 1 P/SS, 1 Geography, 1 Trash, which leaves you one more tossup/bonus which you could fill in any number of ways (current events, mixed academic, another Fine Arts spot so you have Painting / Classical Music / Other, a second trash question???).

Also, uh, as someone who once had to organize writing and editing for GSAC, good luck. I hope you've gotten most of your questions written, or can write really fast and really well, because I have deep respect for the workload needed in this sort of thing.
Vasa Clarke

Maggie Walker '14
Virginia '18
William and Mary '21
User avatar
Ciorwrong
Tidus
Posts: 696
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2013 8:24 pm

Re: James Blair Bowl and the Tribe Trash Tournament

Post by Ciorwrong »

RexSueciae wrote:Your proposed distribution is alright with the proposed amount of literature, history, science, geography, and trash (I trust that the distribution within categories is standard as well), and fine arts is okay (1 visual, 1 auditory?) but 2 social science per round is very difficult at the high school level, especially at regular difficulty. You've got a certain number of fields to choose from -- you can get a few questions out of economics, a few from psychology, a few from anthropology, maybe a couple from sociology, something from linguistics, archaeology is somewhat underrepresented in quizbowl so you could get away with a few more here, but you've still got to fill out how many rounds? The bare minimum is 10, with one more in case of packet mishaps, but most teams do 14 or so. Even 10 rounds, you're going to have to write 10*2*2 = 40 social science questions, and that's insanely hard. Believe me, I've done this before and it's not fun.

Religion and Myth generally get 1/1 each because they're gettable and important at whatever level, and it's a shame to include less of them. Philosophy is like social science in that teams aren't as likely to get them, it's hard to write for them, and if you try to write too much for them you'll either get high difficulty stuff or have to use a bunch of stock answerlines.

Why not shift it so that philosophy / social science get a combined 1/1 per round? 4 history, 4 lit, 4 science, 2 RM, 2 Fine Arts, 1 P/SS, 1 Geography, 1 Trash, which leaves you one more tossup/bonus which you could fill in any number of ways (current events, mixed academic, another Fine Arts spot so you have Painting / Classical Music / Other, a second trash question???).

Also, uh, as someone who once had to organize writing and editing for GSAC, good luck. I hope you've gotten most of your questions written, or can write really fast and really well, because I have deep respect for the workload needed in this sort of thing.
Vasa is correct here. I wrote the philosophy and social science for our housewrite, POMMSS, and it is an exercise to get .5/.5 out of both social science and philosophy. Those are my favorite categories, but because they aren't studied very deeply in high school, with the exception of economics and psychology, they are hard to get. I also agree wih 2/2 Religion and Mythology partially because that is what our set has, and also because those questions are much more gettable for high school students. It is also helpful to have some leftover space for "miscellaneous academic" questions that do not fit neatly into a category or are a little outside the canonical answer space. Current events should also definitely be included along with other arts such jazz, opera, architecture, sculpture, etc.
Harris Bunker
Grosse Pointe North High School '15
Michigan State University '19
UC San Diego Economics 2019 -

at least semi-retired
jdcole
Lulu
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 3:07 pm

Re: James Blair Bowl and the Tribe Trash Tournament

Post by jdcole »

These are all legitimate concerns. We actually have all of our questions written and we managed to produce enough social science and philosophy questions that I think fall well within the high school canon. I should specify that we have included a good deal of music, architecture, and some current events in our packets as well. I feel fairly confident that the majority of our social science is accessible but I'll take these comments into account as we edit. If there are any major changes to the distribution we will let you all know.
James Cole
William and Mary
jdcole
Lulu
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 3:07 pm

Re: James Blair Bowl and the Tribe Trash Tournament

Post by jdcole »

Just an update for everyone: We still have ten spots open so if you're interested in registering remember to email me at [email protected]. We are now also a Platinum PACE Qualifier, so the top 4 teams will qualify for PACE Nationals!
James Cole
William and Mary
User avatar
SpanishSpy
Wakka
Posts: 138
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2016 1:19 am
Location: Arlington, Virginia

Re: James Blair Bowl and the Tribe Trash Tournament

Post by SpanishSpy »

Competitors as they currently stand:

Gar-field High School
Warhill High School
Home School Out of the Box (two teams)
Southampton Academy
Single player named Tony Elar
Last edited by SpanishSpy on Wed Feb 08, 2017 12:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
Alex Wallace
Washington-Lee High School Class of 2015
College of William & Mary Class of 2019
jdcole
Lulu
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 3:07 pm

Re: James Blair Bowl and the Tribe Trash Tournament

Post by jdcole »

Also, due to some unforeseen complications we will not be able to put on the Tribe Trash tournament. We hope to continue working on that particular set and perhaps put it on at a later date.
James Cole
William and Mary
jdcole
Lulu
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 3:07 pm

Re: James Blair Bowl and the Tribe Trash Tournament

Post by jdcole »

Thanks to all our teams that came out to the first ever James Blair Bowl! Despite some minor bracketing setbacks we managed to have a great tournament. Congratulations to Home School Out of the Box A who came in first with seven wins and one loss. As we are now a PACE qualifier they now have the opportunity to compete at PACE Nationals! Final and Prelim stats can be found here: http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournament ... ts/finals/. I will be emailing all of our packets out to our teams in the next week. We will also be making our set available for anyone interesting in mirroring. Thanks again to all our teams, if any of you have any questions about the set or the tournament please let me know!
James Cole
William and Mary
Locked