Panasonic teams

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Panasonic teams

Post by mknupp »

We are pleased to announce the following players have been chosen to represent Kentucky at the Panasonic Academic Challenge:

Rachel Beckman
Kevin Cantrell
Papa Chakravarthy
Kipp Mayne
DJ Sterling
John Liu

Have other states chosen their team?
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Post by David Riley »

Team Illinois:

Carlo Angiuli
Hunter Fast
Greg Gauthier
Greg Peterson
Justin Stoncius
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Post by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) »

Team Missouri (I think it's about set, I'll edit if not):

John Ahlfield - Liberty
Terin Budine - Savannah
Charles Dees - North Kansas City
Stephanie Hull - Liberty
Nate Kinast - Thomas Jefferson IDS

--Edited to include Stephanie--
Last edited by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) on Mon Apr 23, 2007 3:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by David Riley »

Charlie--let's have a scrimmage if we aren't in the same room, initially.
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Post by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) »

I'll tell Mr. Allen, see what he says. Although I'd be down.
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Oklahoma

Post by ok_quizbowl »

Martin Ye, jr, Jenks
Peter Zhang, jr, Holland Hall
Chris Chesny, jr, Claremore
Eric Park, sr, Jenks
Brandon Ranallo, soph, Haileyville

a 6th may be added later

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Post by aestheteboy »

MD:
David Gootenberg - Blair
Adam Marshall - Whitman
Tianhui Shen - Walter Johnson
Henry Sher - Blair
Daichi Ueda - Walter Johnson
Christine Wirth - Hammond

As unofficial representative of the Maryland team, I respectfully submit that we will wipe the floor with our esteemed colleagues from Virginia . . . not really. RM was being picky about the format, although I wouldn't blame them.
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Post by Byko »

aestheteboy wrote:MD:
David Gootenberg - Blair
Adam Marshall - Whitman
Tianhui Shen - Walter Johnson
Henry Sher - Blair
Daichi Ueda - Walter Johnson
Christine Wirth - Hammond

As unofficial representative of the Maryland team, I respectfully submit that we will wipe the floor with our esteemed colleagues from Virginia . . . not really. RM was being picky about the format, although I wouldn't blame them.
I can probably speak more officially for Team Maryland, though, being one of the coaches this year. We would certainly consider scrimmaging teams on Saturday that we aren't playing against in the first round on Sunday.
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Post by BuzzerZen »

aestheteboy wrote: As unofficial representative of the Maryland team, I respectfully submit that we will wipe the floor with our esteemed colleagues from Virginia . . . not really. RM was being picky about the format, although I wouldn't blame them.
...if there is a Team Virginia.
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Post by Zip Zap Rap Pants »

yeah is MLW going to boycott like I heard?

Edit: also, why no RM players on team Maryland?
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Post by bigtrain »

Matt Morrison wrote: Edit: also, why no RM players on team Maryland?
Quizbowl snobbery. I don't blame them, the format blows. Although, if I had to do it all over, I'd go to Panasonic again. It's worth the fun of the trip.
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Post by jbarnes112358 »

aestheteboy wrote:
As unofficial representative of the Maryland team, I respectfully submit that we will wipe the floor with our esteemed colleagues from Virginia . . . not really. RM was being picky about the format, although I wouldn't blame them.

I have no doubt that the Commonwealth could muster a credible team to respond to your challenging taunt. However, it appears that no team will be forthcoming. MW was "invited" by a representative of VHSL to be the core of such a team. But we will not be attending. It is not the case that we are boycotting, per se. While it is true that our current players find the format of Panasonic not to be of their liking, we are not necessarily trying to make a political statement against it. I believe we would still go to Panasonic if the trip were funded. But, no individual or group, private or public, has stepped up to sponsor a Virginia team. With our team attending two expensive national trips already, we have exhausted our resources.

So unless TJ or others step up to form a team on their own initiative, assuming there is even still time to do it, it would appear that Virginia will not be represented this year.

Good luck to our northern neighbors. But you will need to mop the floor with some other state :smile:
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Post by First Chairman »

Ditto lack of funding mention for North Carolina... specifically lack of a major organizational sponsor to underwrite the costs of participation.
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Post by Zip Zap Rap Pants »

I thought it was a boycott not so much of the format but of the informality/unfairness with which the Virginia team is always selected.
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Post by BuzzerZen »

Well, I'm boycotting the format. Panasonic is essentially a trip to Disney World with an inordinately crappy tournament interrupting your time in the parks. I think the VA-MD chicken-fight that took place after the banquet at the end did more to differentiate between the teams than the finals themselves did. Though I wouldn't give up shooting craps with Chris Ray betting against me for anything.
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Post by vcuEvan »

Having played on Panasonic before, I would rather sit in a dentist's chair than
play a whole tournament of it. Sure, if it was free I would go for the Disney World. But I'm not paying money to support Polk County Florida's sorry excuse for quizbowl.
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Post by jbarnes112358 »

The concept of an interstate championship is an interesting one. The Panasonic problems seem fixable:

1. Reform the format.

2. Provide funding. If Panasonic ( or some other corporation) is going to sponsor it and put their name all over it, why can't they cough up the 200K needed to pay for the expenses of the participants. This would be chump change for a large corporation. You would probably get 50-state participation ( DC, too!), raise the profile of the event, and thereby increase the value of the event to the corporation.

3. Try to get some mechanism whereby the states truly get their best all-stars. I realize that almost any system will have controversy.
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Post by David Riley »

In Illinois, we have tryouts in February and choose the 5-6 team members based upon the tryout and other criteria. The system isn't perfect, but it has served us well since 2000 or so.

It has been suggested that we choose the team by geographical representation (over my dead body), or by sending a single team (winner of IHSA), but either of those choices would not provide a true all-star team.

As to the format, it is what it is, and I second Tegan's comment above that no pop culture earns a lot of stars in my book as well. And if you accept the premise that quiz bowl should emphasize deeper knowledge and critical thinking skils rather than quick recall, some of those 15-point questions are really tough. I like the art reproductions and music recordings, and in Illinois we are used to tough math. I know the multiple choice and matching questions bother a lot of people, but they don't bother me.

I would like more than two guaranteed games, however, but I have no idea how to accomplish that with the current tournament format.
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Post by First Chairman »

Well, I think a couple of structural re-organization suggestions.

As much as I appreciate having such an office in the Polk County Office of Education, I would rather see it run as a separate non-profit entity similar to USAD. I'm sure there are some advantages of staying local, but a board of trustees that represents a national perspective wouldn't be a bad idea in recruitment efforts to expand the field. As such, I don't know if there is any financial incentive to get back to near 50.

Yes, provide some funding for the teams, at least to knock down the cost per team. Most programs don't have the infrastructure to fund an all-star team, even if we are talking about Departments of Education. Not all the states have an office to coordinate sending their team out, and fundraising for a single school to take on the costs is way too much effort.

Of course, I will state USAD Nationals is not the outcome I prefer. In this case, one team per state goes, but some states can underwrite travel; other states cannot. At any rate, most teams have 3-6 weeks to arrange all their costs for the competition, and there is no subsidy. I'd rather things change, especially given that this year's nationals are in Hawaii. This is because it's the state directors who choose nationals sites and not the national office. That has some advantages at times, but the egos and politics that can run through the state directors body can be ridiculous.
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Vermont Panasonic Team

Post by kcommo »

Champlain Valley Union High School won the Vermont-NEA Scholars' Bowl championship today and will represent the state at Panasonic. Team members are:

Tyrone Greenfield
Eliza Goldberg
Max Keve
Nate Petter
Bryan Petrow
Caleb Miles
Noah Mease

CVU and runner-up Hanover will also be headed to Chicago for NAQT nationals.
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Post by David Riley »

Hey Kevin, glad you're back!

BTW--Team Illinois is willing to scrimmage with any Panasonic team (provided we aren't assigned to play them in our first round).

Let me know at [email protected].
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Re: Vermont Panasonic Team

Post by Byko »

kcommo wrote:Champlain Valley Union High School won the Vermont-NEA Scholars' Bowl championship today and will represent the state at Panasonic. Team members are:

Tyrone Greenfield
Eliza Goldberg
Max Keve
Nate Petter
Bryan Petrow
Caleb Miles
Noah Mease

CVU and runner-up Hanover will also be headed to Chicago for NAQT nationals.
Congratulations to them! Any chance that Hanover will at least be able to represent New Hampshire at Panasonic? Is the New Hampshire Quiz Bowl League still running (I haven't seen a website from them in years)?
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Post by sweaver »

The Parkersburg Catholic HS team will represent West Virginia at the Panasonic.
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Re: Vermont Panasonic Team

Post by bigtrain »

kcommo wrote:Champlain Valley Union High School won the Vermont-NEA Scholars' Bowl championship today and will represent the state at Panasonic. Team members are:

Tyrone Greenfield
Eliza Goldberg
Max Keve
Nate Petter
Bryan Petrow
Caleb Miles
Noah Mease

CVU and runner-up Hanover will also be headed to Chicago for NAQT nationals.
Champlain Valley is a legit team. I saw them at Yale last year...very good team.
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Re: Vermont Panasonic Team

Post by kcommo »

Byko wrote:Congratulations to them! Any chance that Hanover will at least be able to represent New Hampshire at Panasonic? Is the New Hampshire Quiz Bowl League still running (I haven't seen a website from them in years)?
The NHQBL is still going and will send the usual all-star team to Panasonic. Hanover's six-year reign as New Hampshire state champion ended last weekend, though, so the bulk of the team will be from one of the Manchester schools (East, I think). I'm also not sure if Bill Murphy will be coaching the team as usual or if the Manchester coach is going.
David Riley wrote:Hey Kevin, glad you're back!

BTW--Team Illinois is willing to scrimmage with any Panasonic team (provided we aren't assigned to play them in our first round).

Let me know at [email protected].
Thanks, David. John Bennett is the coach at CVU. I'll be sure to pass that along to him.

-Kevin
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Re: Vermont Panasonic Team

Post by jbennett »

bigtrain wrote:
kcommo wrote:Champlain Valley Union High School won the Vermont-NEA Scholars' Bowl championship today and will represent the state at Panasonic. Team members are:

Tyrone Greenfield
Eliza Goldberg
Max Keve
Nate Petter
Bryan Petrow
Caleb Miles
Noah Mease

CVU and runner-up Hanover will also be headed to Chicago for NAQT nationals.
Champlain Valley is a legit team. I saw them at Yale last year...very good team.
Thanks for the compliment (I'm their coach). We returned all four players from our best Yale team in 2006 this year. We have also finished 5th overall in the past two KMO's, although that reflects the depth of our school rather than just the team. We usually bring in about 2 dozen students, only some of whom play quiz bowl for us regularly. We are doing the spring one tomorrow due to school vacation, but it looks like a smaller turnout this year.
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Team Selection

Post by ok_quizbowl »

Oklahoma has used an all-star format since the very beginning. Neither the coaches' association nor OSSAA will mess with it, and I think this is one time when the coaches' association's semi-official stance of "if it's not OSSAA format academic bowl, it's crap" serves us well, because I can only imagine what they'd do with it.

Gail Bliss and I do this through the Oklahoma Association for Academic Competition. We spread the word to various teams, hold preliminary written exams at various places in Oklahoma, and invite the top players to Oklahoma City for a final tryout.

Without any sort of endorsement or approval from OSSAA or the coaches' association, a lot for us depends on who we can get to tryout. Several of Oklahoma's top teams (notably Booker T. Washington) rarely to never send anyone to tryout, despite repeated invites. I think a lot of the coaches just don't feel like messing with it, and getting around them to invite the students directly has been a pain at best. The students have to pay part of their expenses (we raise the rest, or try to) and several people have balked at that.
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Post by David Riley »

(see my note above) Sounds like Oklahoma's method is similar to Illinois, though students from our top teams usually try out. Quite a few don't make it, however, because they are too married to (strategies involving) Illinois format.

As far as having to work independently, count your blessings. One student several years ago complained to the IHSA when he wasn't chosen, and the IHSA refused to get involved. More recently, someone at our Board of Education insisted that at least one member of the team be from "downstate" (for those of you outside Illinois, "downstate" has about five or six definitiions). When I asked her to clarify, she dropped the concern.
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Post by ecks »

David Riley wrote:More recently, someone at our Board of Education insisted that at least one member of the team be from "downstate" (for those of you outside Illinois, "downstate" has about five or six definitiions). When I asked her to clarify, she dropped the concern.
Good to hear she dropped the concern - requiring a 'downstate' (for what it's worth, I tend to consider 'downstate' as anything south of I-80) player on every team is rather ridiculous. And anyway, I feel like S-field/Decatur/C-dale/Peoria/Chambana/B-town/Metro East are capable enough themselves to produce good individual players (like Donald Taylor or Eric... something from Bunker Hill, or Hunter this year) that they don't need a pity handout from the BoE.
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Post by David Riley »

Granted. (BTW, my definition of downstate is anything south of I-72).
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Post by ecks »

David Riley wrote:Granted. (BTW, my definition of downstate is anything south of I-72).
Does that mean I get to tell my roommate from Oak Park that I'm an upstater, too? Or do cities that sit on I-72 (Decatur, Chambana, Springfield) not count?
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Post by David Riley »

Whichever...you're a border state. :grin:
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Post by CoachJET »

Team Florida was selected last week at the 2007 Commissioner's Academic Challenge. The team members are:

David Flowers
Emily Hooper
Kevin Kong
Bharath Rathakrishnan
James "Bud" Shinn
Blake Stagg
Sara
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Post by Sara »

Team Alabama is from Indian Springs School.

Jenna Caldwell
Will Matheson
Zach Martin
Robert Vance
Sara Lowery
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Re: Oklahoma

Post by ok_quizbowl »

ok_quizbowl wrote:Martin Ye, jr, Jenks
Peter Zhang, jr, Holland Hall
Chris Chesny, jr, Claremore
Eric Park, sr, Jenks
Brandon Ranallo, soph, Haileyville

a 6th may be added later

Eric
Oklahoma's 6th player is Frank Han, sophomore from Edmond North.
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Post by STPickrell »

Any Virginia team that attends will be news to me.
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Post by Byko »

Pennsylvania had their unusual state tournament this past Friday to determine their Panasonic representative. It looks like it'll be Scranton High School:

http://www.cciu.org/Departments/LER/Spe ... 7pacscores
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Post by First Chairman »

Though we will not be present at Panasonic, here is the all-state team for North Carolina.

Player of the Year
Nancy Vander Veer

Team members
Katie Huddleston (Raleigh Charter)
Stephen Lin (NCSSM)
John Mace (Robinson)
Josh Sokol (Raleigh Charter)
Nick Tarleton (Cary Academy)
Nancy Vander Veer (St. Mary’s)
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competition schedule

Post by CoachJET »

Looks like the PAC competition schedule is up.

http://www.polk-fl.net/ac/PAC07CompSched.htm

Room of Death this year? Nothing really jumps out at me. "Fantasia KL" in Round 2 looks pretty competitive, considering those teams' past performances.
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Post by jrbarry »

No teams from Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, and New York.

Only 29 states represented. I wonder how much longer this "nationals" will survive?
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Post by First Chairman »

Hmmm... I didn't know I put in a team from North Carolina. Anyone know what's going on with this?
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Post by Byko »

jrbarry wrote:No teams from Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, and New York.

Only 29 states represented. I wonder how much longer this "nationals" will survive?
It all depends on corporate sponsorship. Panasonic, I think, isn't giving as much as in the past, so the entry fee has gone up. It is prohibitively expensive to attend this tournament, which is a real problem. Add to this the fact that the era of ASCN, NAC, and PAC being the only nationals is over, and there is true competition in the quiz bowl marketplace.

I had been told that Jim Garrick was putting together a team from South Carolina but because funding didn't come through, they couldn't afford to come. Nobody from TJ or Gov wanted to go this year, and other schools that were worthy couldn't afford it. Teams that win Michigan's state championship are offered the chance to go but are not given any funding--hence, Michigan hasn't been for a few years. The only reason New York had representation two years ago is because Half Hollow Hills West's coach, Alan Blayne, found money and had a decent team and decided to take them down there (in New York, there is no organized process to choose a team).

I like this tournament for what it is (and I recognize from the get-go and make sure my players recognize that IT IS NOT QUIZ BOWL), but changes will have to happen to make it more viable and sustainable. The biggest change will have to be a reduction in cost, which probably would have to be fueled by increased corporate sponsorship, something that may be completely out of our control.

One other note I'll tack on: Team Maryland is willing to scrimmage opponents not named Louisiana, North Carolina, or Wisconsin in advance of our first match. Among the teams we'd be particularly interested in are Oklahoma, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Ohio.

And if you want my editorial opinion, I don't know who Colorado's representative is this year, but watch for an interesting battle in Fantasia MN in round one--the USVI is the only one I'd count out in that battle.
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Post by ieppler »

Is there any reason why NAQT, PACE, et al. couldn't submit a question-writing bid to the underpaid intern in the Panasonic PR department who works on this tournament? There's no reason why Panasonic can't be played with a standard quizbowl format, and a better format would probably result in more teams attending.
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Post by First Chairman »

Sure there's a reason... it's called the Polk County (FL) Division of Education. :) Seriously the format they desire is one in which there is a rapid reduction of teams based on the number of counties they have in Florida. That's why they have this odd six-team track meet format.
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Post by Byko »

Hopper wrote:Is there any reason why NAQT, PACE, et al. couldn't submit a question-writing bid to the underpaid intern in the Panasonic PR department who works on this tournament? There's no reason why Panasonic can't be played with a standard quizbowl format, and a better format would probably result in more teams attending.
Along with what Tom said, Panasonic takes pride in having its own writers (that they call something like The Mighty Nine) to write the tournament. It's their tournament, so they can do what they want. Remember, they don't WANT it to be quiz bowl, much less standard quiz bowl.
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Post by embily718 »

jbarnes112358 wrote:The concept of an interstate championship is an interesting one. The Panasonic problems seem fixable:

1. Reform the format.

2. Provide funding. If Panasonic ( or some other corporation) is going to sponsor it and put their name all over it, why can't they cough up the 200K needed to pay for the expenses of the participants. This would be chump change for a large corporation. You would probably get 50-state participation ( DC, too!), raise the profile of the event, and thereby increase the value of the event to the corporation.

3. Try to get some mechanism whereby the states truly get their best all-stars. I realize that almost any system will have controversy.
As a member of Team Florida for this year, I can tell you that our state does two of the three reformations that you mentioned.

1. There's nothing wrong with the tournament style if you practice it. What exactly are your complaints about it?

2. Our team seeks out sponsors so that it will be free of charge for the students.

3. To find the members of the All-Star team, we have a tournament with a team form each county in our state. To get onto that team, individuals in the county must try-out. In my county, we start with 12 members then have cuts until we get to the 6-person playing team. The tournament that we hold is very similar to the PAC. To find our final Team Florida, three players are selected by their coaches. (The winning teams in each division each get to submit a player.) The final three players are selected by the Team Florida judges, who watch every round and judge individual performance. They are selected based on over skill and how well their areas of knowledge complement the three team members selected from the winning teams. This is pretty fair and accurate, I think.
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Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)
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Post by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) »

There certainly is a problem with the tournament style. It doesn't truly allow for teams with deep knowledge of a subject to show their understanding because its structure is designed for buzzer racing.
Charlie Dees, North Kansas City HS '08
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swwFCqb
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Post by swwFCqb »

embily718 wrote:
jbarnes112358 wrote:The concept of an interstate championship is an interesting one. The Panasonic problems seem fixable:

1. Reform the format.

2. Provide funding. If Panasonic ( or some other corporation) is going to sponsor it and put their name all over it, why can't they cough up the 200K needed to pay for the expenses of the participants. This would be chump change for a large corporation. You would probably get 50-state participation ( DC, too!), raise the profile of the event, and thereby increase the value of the event to the corporation.

3. Try to get some mechanism whereby the states truly get their best all-stars. I realize that almost any system will have controversy.
As a member of Team Florida for this year, I can tell you that our state does two of the three reformations that you mentioned.

1. There's nothing wrong with the tournament style if you practice it. What exactly are your complaints about it?

2. Our team seeks out sponsors so that it will be free of charge for the students.

3. To find the members of the All-Star team, we have a tournament with a team form each county in our state. To get onto that team, individuals in the county must try-out. In my county, we start with 12 members then have cuts until we get to the 6-person playing team. The tournament that we hold is very similar to the PAC. To find our final Team Florida, three players are selected by their coaches. (The winning teams in each division each get to submit a player.) The final three players are selected by the Team Florida judges, who watch every round and judge individual performance. They are selected based on over skill and how well their areas of knowledge complement the three team members selected from the winning teams. This is pretty fair and accurate, I think.
Umm...maybe that it doesn't reward in depth knowledge as much as it rewards buzzer speed.
Steven Wellstead
Fisher Catholic High School '07
Case Western Reserve University '11
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embily718
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Post by embily718 »

Any academic team tournament is going to involve some measure of buzzer speed. Obviously, the faster teams will have an opportunity to answer more questions. But you do also have to KNOW the answers. And they aren't all easy, at least not at our state level.
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swwFCqb
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Post by swwFCqb »

embily718 wrote:Any academic team tournament is going to involve some measure of buzzer speed. Obviously, the faster teams will have an opportunity to answer more questions. But you do also have to KNOW the answers. And they aren't all easy, at least not at our state level.
Well, obviously it will play some part, but buzzer speed is just such a big part of PAC, with all the multiple choice, matching, and one line questions. You're just not going to find those in NAQT, PACE, or any other good formats.
Steven Wellstead
Fisher Catholic High School '07
Case Western Reserve University '11
NAQT writer
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