RESULTS: UIUC Earlybird 2006 (10/7/2006) at UIUC

[Captain Sinico]

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Academic Buzzer Team (UIUC ABT) is proud to announce that it will host the latest member of its annual series of fall high school academic quiz bowl tournaments, the UIUC Earlybird 2006, on Saturday, October 7th, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Tournament details are described below. Please contact me, Mike Sorice, by e-mail at [email protected] with any questions or to register your team. Come help us herald the return of an excellent high school tournament tradition to the University of Illinois.

Time:

The UIUC Earlybird 2006 will take place Saturday, October 7th, 2006 from approximately 8 am to approximately 5 pm. Exact times will be determined by the number of teams registering and will be announced to all participants in advance of the event.

Place:

The UIUC Earlybird 2006 will be held on the historic Urbana campus of the University of Illinois. The map of campus is available here. From this map, any building on campus may be easily located. The final location and very explicit directions to that location will be provided by e-mail to all participants well in advance of the event.

Match Format and Rules:

The match format will be the same as last year’s and is unique to the UIUC Earlybird. It is commonly described as an admixture of the IHSA and ACF formats. Rounds consist of 20 tossup questions and up to 20 bonus questions, a halftime of up to two minutes after question 10 but before question 11, and as many tiebreaker tossups as are necessary to change the score should it be tied after question 20.
Each team is allotted one one-minute timeout per game; this may be called by any playing member of a team or by any of its coaches during any natural pause. Requests for timeout at other times will be treated as extraneous talking and, in particular, timeout will not be granted. Quiz bowl competition will occur between two teams of up to four players, one of whom on each team is designated to serve as captain. Unlimited substitution is allowed at halftime or during either team’s timeout. Rounds are un-timed.

Tossups are read to both teams simultaneously. Each team may make up to one try at a tossup. To attempt to answer a tossup for a team, a player on that team must buzz. Once the buzzer system indicates that a player has buzzed, that player has five seconds to give an answer. Failure to provide a correct answer within five seconds constitutes an incorrect response in all cases. Unless otherwise specified, if a question has not been answered correctly five seconds after the moderator has completed it, that question is ruled dead.
A correct response to a tossup question earns the respondent's team 10 points and control of a subsequent bonus question, while an initial incorrect response offered before the end of a tossup question costs the respondent's team 5 points, which is referred to as an "interrupt" or "neg." Only one neg is available per question so, if a team has negged a question, no penalty can be assessed to the opposing team regardless of the location or correctitude of their answer.
Verbal communication is not allowed on tossups. Any talking or other verbal (spoken, written, signed, etc.) communication during a tossup by a player who has not validly buzzed in will be considered to constitute an incorrect response by that player with the proper penalty assessed. It may also be considered cheating.

Bonus questions are questions in several parts, to each of which a team may respond. Bonuses are all worth a total of 30 points and each part of a bonus will have an announced associated point value which will be obtained by a team that correctly answers that part. During a bonus question, verbal communication among playing members of a team is allowed, though communication regarding the answers with non-players is always strictly forbidden and will generally be considered cheating.
When a tossup question is answered, the moderator will begin a bonus with a brief introductory portion, then read the first part of the bonus. A period of time (five seconds unless otherwise specified) after having finished reading part of a bonus, the moderator will prompt the captain of the team with control of that bonus for an answer. The captain may, at this time, either answer for the team or designate a member of the team to answer and must do so within a second of being prompted. If the answer thus obtained is incorrect, the moderator will request an answer of the other team’s captain; this must be provided immediately in the same fashion. The captain of the team that controls the bonus may opt to provide an answer at any point during a bonus part; such an answer is just the same as an answer provided after a moderator prompt. Conversely, the team that does not control the bonus may only answer after being prompted by the moderator. In the event that the controlling team chooses to answer before a prompt and is incorrect, the moderator will prompt the non-controlling team, the captain of which must respond immediately.
Once all applicable parties have had a chance to answer, the moderator will either read the subsequent part of the bonus or, if the part just read was the last part, announce the answers to each part and the points obtained by each side.

Moderators have full authority regarding all rules and the fitness of answers in the scope of the match. A moderator’s ruling is binding and final during the match. Teams may air grievances with questions or procedural issues in the match and attempt to obtain redress by issuing protests. Issuing a protest is done verbally to the moderator by any member or coach of either team simply at any natural pause in the match, including between questions, halftime, or during a timeout. Protests with a bearing on the outcome of a match will be adjudicated by a protest committee including the tournament director; protest without bearing will be heard, considered and discussed by the same committee and will be acted on as appropriate. Protests must be announced during or immediately after the match in which the problem at issue took place to be considered; protests outside this timeframe will still be heard, but will not change the outcome of a match.
Frivolous protests are ill-advised and will probably be construed as insulting by the tournament staff, director, and other teams; as such, they are discouraged in the strongest terms. Conversely, teams are strongly encouraged to discuss any issues they may have with the moderator or tournament director and to issue as many legitimate protests as are necessary to cause examination and redress of any issues.
Cheating will be dealt with severely and may result in such consequences as forfeiture of the match in which cheating occurred and disqualification of the offending player(s). Please do not cheat.

As you can see, this is broadly similar to IHSA-style events, except for the inclusion of negs, the fact that teams will consist of four players rather than five, the use of 20 questions per round, the valuation of bonus questions at 30 rather than 20 points, the fact that bonuses are answered and bounce back part-by-part rather than all at once, and some minor timing and procedural issues.

Tournament Format:

The tournament format will be determined by the number of teams registering, but will be structured to provide a clear, unambiguous order of finish for each team and to maximize the number of rounds that each team is able to play and the number of different teams that each team is able to play. In the past, this tournament has used a full round robin format with a secondary playoff structure.

Questions:

The questions for the UIUC Earlybird 2006 are being produced in-house by the UIUC ABT. Questions will be written by the members of the UIUC ABT and edited by experienced question editors (chief editor Steven Canning, myself, et al.) The difficulty and tenor of the questions will be similar to that of NAQT's series of high school ("IS") sets and PACE “stretch roundâ€

[Trevkeeper]

Will there be powers this year? That's about the only thing that, personally, I think would make it better.

I can't wait to attend, it's a great tournament.

[Irreligion in Bangladesh]

Do you need any help staffing, or is the ABT going to be able to cover it all?

[Captain Sinico]

Will there be powers this year?

Very probably not.

Do you need any help staffing, or is the ABT going to be able to cover it all?

Well, we can do it alone if necessary, but any help we get can only make the tournament better. Please come on down and help out if you'd like to.

Later,
MaS

[Tegan]

Am I getting a bit anal in asking how October 7 qualifies as "late fall"? I mean the vernal equinox is only about two weeks before this, and the winter solstice is still well over two months down the highway.

Before you answer: yes..... yes it probably is.

[Siverus Snape]

Ummm...I think you're looking for the autumnal equinox there, Mr. Egan. The vernal equinox is in spring. But your point still remains the same.

[Maxwell Sniffingwell]

does the... um... "anality" imply that South will be sending a team this year?

beg...

Working on those questions. I swear... I'm just trying to keep myself from writing too many in the arts.

[Tegan]

Ummm...I think you're looking for the autumnal equinox there, Mr. Egan. The vernal equinox is in spring. But your point still remains the same.

Note to self: No questions re: equinoxes and solstices if Auburn will be playing. My ingeneous test was passed by Auburn player.

No one's buying that I suppose.

[Captain Sinico]

One item that I was remiss in not announcing is the fact that multiple teams from the same school will receive a $10 discount per team after the first, to a minimum of $30. This means that the first team from a school will play for $60, the second for $50, the third for $40, and the fourth and any subsequent teams for $30. Schools registering multiple teams are also still eligible for buzzer discounts.

MaS

[Captain Sinico]

The field for the UIUC Earlybird 2006 is steadily growing. Currently, there are 10 teams registered from 7 schools in 2 states. Teams in italics are at least somewhat tenative.

Bloomington (2 teams)
Harrison (West Lafayette, IN) (3 teams)
Illinois State University High
Maine South
New Trier
Rolling Meadows
St. Ignatius

It is highly likely that the field will be capped somewhere around 24 teams so, if you plan on registering, please do so soon!

Thanks,
Mike Sorice
Tournament Director, UIUC Earlybird 2006
University of Illinois Academic Buzzer Team

[Captain Sinico]

As of today, the Earlybird field has grown to 15 fine teams, a list of which follows. Once again, teams listed in italics have not yet finalized their registrations.

Auburn
Bloomington (2 teams)
Frankfurt
Harrison (4 teams)
Illinois State University High
Maine South
Meridian
New Trier
Rolling Meadows
St. Ignatius
Winnebago

The field will be closed if we reach 24 teams so, if you wish to register, please e-mail me at [email protected] at your earliest convenience.

Thanks,
Mike Sorice
Tournament Director, UIUC Earlybird 2006
University of Illinois Academic Buzzer Team

[David Riley]

Looks like a great field, I wish we could make it this year. Harrison is bringing FOUR teams?!!??! I can hear the cluck-clucking now. . .

[Tegan]

1. I wouldn't start the cluck-clucking so soon Hër Riley. Outside of Illinois, there are many teams that bring the whole squad along for tournaments. In Illinois where we have frosh-soph tournaments, most teams don't bring every player in the program along. If that were the case, Maine South would have been entering A, B, C, D, E, F, and G teams last year ..... This is all a matter of how different states operate. If Harrison is bringing four teams made up strictly of upper classmen, then THAT is a pretty awesome accomplishment. For the record, having played and lost to Harrison a few years ago, they are pretty darn good!

2. Is that Frankfurt, Illinois, Frankfurt's Lincoln-Way East from Illinois, or Frankfurt from some other state (Kentucky?)

[David Riley]

You misinterpet me my south side Herr--

I meant that the cluck-clucking would come form Illinois coaches, many of whom have had a prejudice against two or more teams unless it is the host team filling in for an emergency.

[Captain Sinico]

You misinterpet me my south side Herr--

I meant that the cluck-clucking would come form Illinois coaches, many of whom have had a prejudice against two or more teams unless it is the host team filling in for an emergency.

That's... too damn bad for them, then? Why would anyone have a problem with that anyway?

MaS

[Captain Sinico]

2. Is that Frankfurt, Illinois, Frankfurt's Lincoln-Way East from Illinois, or Frankfurt from some other state (Kentucky?)

It is neither, actually; it is Frankfort Community High School in West Frankfort, IL. Please excuse my (editing program's) typo.

MaS

[Tegan]

You misinterpet me my south side Herr--

I meant that the cluck-clucking would come form Illinois coaches, many of whom have had a prejudice against two or more teams unless it is the host team filling in for an emergency.

That's... too damn bad for them, then? Why would anyone have a problem with that anyway?

MaS

To my knowledge, I've never heard of anyone being upset about having more than two teams ..... I don't see it as a problem at all.

[David Riley]

Au contraire (actually, I hate any non-French person who uses that expression) but I've known several of our esteemed (?) colleagues who have had a problem with this. They interpret it as one school bettering their chances of winning the tournament.

And three guesses where these coaches hail from

[Tegan]

Hello all,

Just a warrning to everyone:

I jsut found out that October 7 is Homecoming Weekend at U of I.

I am fortunate to have gotten hotel rooms in Rantoul. Some of you may have been fortunate to get hotel rooms in Champaign/Urbana proper.

U of I folks: How sure are you about the parking spaces around Gregory Hall? Since I am driving my team, this is an important detail. I need to make sure that there will be parking within walking distance (walking dsitance being defined as less than 10-15 minutes walk).

Also, While I was not so concerned about lunch ...... the 6.5x10^240 people that will be there that day make me a bit worried .....

[Captain Sinico]

Hello all,

Just a warrning to everyone:

I jsut found out that October 7 is Homecoming Weekend at U of I.

I am fortunate to have gotten hotel rooms in Rantoul. Some of you may have been fortunate to get hotel rooms in Champaign/Urbana proper.

U of I folks: How sure are you about the parking spaces around Gregory Hall? Since I am driving my team, this is an important detail. I need to make sure that there will be parking within walking distance (walking dsitance being defined as less than 10-15 minutes walk).

Also, While I was not so concerned about lunch ...... the 6.5x10^240 people that will be there that day make me a bit worried .....

While you may have just become aware of these issues, we have known about them for some time. Cf: the e-mail I sent you about parking. To reiterate what I said in that, I'm fairly sure that the lot I've sent you guys to will be available (it is not within what you define as walking distance of the stadium) and we will additionally try to reserve spots to make positive of that. If that lot is full, there are three others within three blocks as well as a parking ramp a block away and copuous street parking. I really can't see any way you won't be able to find parking if you arrive on time.
Also, I'm going to have to suspect that whatever few thousand people are foolish enough to come see the football game will be, you know, at the football game, which begins at 11 A.M., rather than making it difficult for anyone to get lunch. We've run many tournaments during football games and at least one during homecoming and never had an issue (people have previously had problems getting hotel rooms due to country music concerts, but I know for a fact that some rooms were available when all but the latest registrants registered, so that shouldn't have been an issue.)

Later,
MaS

[Captain Sinico]

Congratulations to Carbondale for topping a field of fifteen teams over nine rounds to win the UIUC Earlybird 2006. Maine South, Bloomington, and New Trier rounded-out the top four. The top three individual scorers were: Justin from Carbondale, Hunter from Bloomington, and Luke from St. Ignatius. Full stats will be posted shortly.

MaS

[Maxwell Sniffingwell]

awaiting them eagerly...

[Tegan]

The tournament ran very well ... as well as last year when we did not participate (which given the short handedness of the tournament personnel was an accomplishment).

There was one moderator in particular who told us he was new to this, and was at times difficult to understand (not because he was going fast ... just difficult to understand). The few issues that did come up were dealt with professionally and quickly. I really felt that the staff was very accomodating.

What few question issues arose stuck out because the questions were generally of high quality. The pop culture was kept to a barest of minimum, and there were really very few "out there" questions (maybe like two the entire tournament).

Kudos to the UIUC ABT!

[Captain Sinico]

Hi everybody,
The full stats from the UIUC Earlybird 2006 have been posted here. As you can see, the top three scorers as previously announced were incorrect (an error in stats entry occurred, for which we apologize; we are rectifying the situation.) Thanks again to all the teams, coaches, and players who made this event everything it was.

Later,
MaS

[Trevkeeper]

I just realized I forgot to thank the UIUC ABT. It was really a great tournament, the questions and moderators were great. My only regret is that it's the last time I'll get to play in it. Hopefully we'll be able to make it down for the Solo tournament.