RESULTS: Chris McCray Tournament For Academic Excellence

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 1:59 pm

The Chris McCray Tournament For Academic Excellence – A Summer Trash Tournament at the University of Maryland
Sunday, June 24th, 2007

The Maryland Academic Quiz Team is pleased to announce our first ever (to our knowledge) summer trash tournament to be held on Sunday, June 24th, 2007, following our Sun 'n Fun mirror. This primarily packet submission trash tournament is open to all players, including high school players, high school coaches, undergraduate players, graduate players, and unaffiliated players. The goal of this tournament is to offer competitive matches between players of all age levels by focusing on more recent pop culture and “culturally significant” older pop culture.

Since there will be so many different age groups represented at this tournament, we will make an effort to distribute prizes amongst the different groups so long as there are enough teams for each division (high school, college, open).

We are looking to do some form of a round robin followed by a rebracketed playoffs. The total number of rounds will be between 10 and 12.

Pricing:
+ $100 – Base Entrance Fee Per Team.
- $10 – Automatic discount for an additional team from the same school.
- $60 – Acceptable Packet Submitted by May 26th.
- $20 – Acceptable Half-Packet Submitted by May 26th.
- $30 – Acceptable Packet Submitted by June 2nd.
+ $0 – Acceptable Packet Submitted by June 9th.
+ $30 – No packet submitted. Must inform the Tournament Director by May 26th if you are not writing a packet, or else you may be dropped from the tournament.
- $5 – Per working buzzer system per school.
- $10 – Per competent moderator (as determined by the Tournament Director) per school.
- $10 – Per competent moderator (as determined by the Tournament Director) that helped out at our Sun 'n Fun mirror that did not apply his or her discount at that tournament.
- $10 – Travel discount for coming from over 250 miles away per school.

Minimum Fee : $35 Per Team

Packet Guidelines:

Each team wishing to submit a packet must write 26 tossup and 26 bonuses according to the specifications below. If the packet does not meet the specifications, it will be rejected and the team will be asked to revise the packet so that it meets those expectations.

Distribution:

26/26 Total:

4/4 Movies – Please vary across genres, films, actors, directors, etc.
4/4 TV – Please vary across genres, shows, actors, creators, etc.
4/4 Music – Please vary across genres, albums, songs, singers, bands, etc.
4/4 Sports – 1/1 on Baseball, 1/1 on Football, 1/1 on Basketball, 1/1 on Other
1/1 Extra on Movies / TV / Music / Sports - Please write on two different subjects for your tossup / bonus.
1/1 Video and Computer Games
1/1 Consumerama – Inventions, weird products, advertisements, companies, etc.
1/1 Comic Strips and Comic Books
1/1 Food and Drink
1/1 Internet Trash – Non-academic things on the Internet, i.e. Hamsterdance. Update (5/5/07): One or both of these questions may be replaced with an extra videogame question. If you replace both, you are encouraged to use at least one of your 4/4 below for this subject.
4/4 Any Subject Not Mentioned Above – This can include recent, sci-fi, and trashy literature, trashy current events, board games and card games, road trip stuff, general knowledge, and anything else that relates to pop culture but has yet to be mentioned. Please do not write more than 1/1 in any particular category.
0/0 Meta Questions – Absolutely do not write a meta question (i.e. your cute tossup on the terrible trash tournament you lost in the final round on when you were an undergraduate five years ago) for this tournament, your packet will be rejected.
0/0 “Adult” Questions – Please refrain from writing about sexually explicit subjects like adult films for this tournament since there may be high school teams playing. While we all may have our opinions on what is appropriate for high school students and what isn’t, just to avoid any problems just refrain from writing questions on these subjects.

Update (4/15/07): Please do not write a theme packet. They add extra editing hassle and usually do not turn out well.

Update (5/3/07): I may be willing to entertain a limited number of audio or visual tossups or bonuses in a packet (no more than 1/1). If you plan to write any such questions, please contact me before you write them.

General note on the Movies, TV, Music, and Sports questions:
2/2 for each of these categories should be on subjects that occurred in the 2000s and 1990s (1/1 for each decade). The remaining 2/2 should be on subjects that occurred in the 1980s or earlier (no more than 1/1 per decade). When writing about early ‘90’s and earlier subjects, make sure that the answer is something that is still notable today. This is not the tournament to be asking about some awful band of the 1980s or some canceled sitcom that has never been released on DVD or in syndication.

Half-Packet Distribution:
13/13 Total:
2/2 Movies
2/2 TV
2/2 Music
2/2 Sports
1/1 Extra Movies, TV, Music, Sports
4/4 Anything else (see above for possible subjects)

Difficulty:

Aim for each tossup to be answered in 90% of the rooms. Aim for the average points per bonus to be above 15 points (i.e. more teams should 30 a bonus than 0 it).

First time writers: Remember to write your tossups in such a way that the clues get easier as the tossup goes on. The first clue should be answered by people who have really in-depth knowledge on a subject, while the last clue should be able to be answered by someone who has very little knowledge of a subject (although still a little bit of familiarity with what is being asked).

Also, remember to give specific, identifying information about your answers in your tossups and bonuses. Writing a lead in like, “this show lasted for eight seasons and was universally liked by critics” isn’t very helpful. Instead you would want to mention something like, “this show ran from 1980 to 1988 and its character, Mike Bentley,…” provides much more detailed information.

Length:

Questions should be between 5.5 and 7.5 complete lines in Size 12, Times New Roman Font with 1.25 inch margins on the left and right (the default when opening documents in Word).

Bonus questions should in general be no longer than two complete lines per part. Bonus leadins should generally not be longer than two lines as well, but occasionally going over this limit is acceptable.

Try to have around 75 percent of your bonuses be in the 10-10-10 format, with the other 25 percent being in other formats like 40-30-20-10-1, and 10-5. Please do not write any 15-15 bonuses, or more than one or two bonuses with 5 or more parts. Please do not write more than one or two list bonuses (i.e. “For five points each, name all six kids on the Brady Bunch.”)

Formatting:

Please group your questions by distribution. Here is what a sample of what your videogame distribution might look like:

1/1 Videogames:
1) By holding the joystick down and pressing every button on the machine it was possible to play a Battlezone-esque game even in the attract mode. Inputting certain initials on various birthdays made unlocked characters such as Godzilla and Raiden of Mortal Kombat. It was one of the first games to feature digital likenesses of its players, although Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan were conspicuous absences. FTP, identify this 1993 2 on 2 basketball game known for players being “on fire” and show boating slam dunks.
ANSWER: NBA Jam

1) Nintendo consoles have always had some pretty unusual controllers, long before the “Wiimote” was dreamed up. Answer some questions about these crazy peripherals, FTPE.
[10] Perhaps the predecessor to the DDR Dance Mat, this NES peripheral came packed with World Class Track Meet, a game where the player would pound his feet as fast as possible on the feet pads.
ANSWER: Power Pad (also accept Family Fun Fitness but not "Pad of Power")
[10] It was rumored to be developed to allow Japanese gamers a free hand for adult videogames. The NES version was featured in the movie The Wizard, with Lucas Barton proclaiming he loves the device, it’s so bad!
ANSWER: Power Glove
[10] This bazooka-like Super Nintendo peripheral was seen as the successor to the Zapper, and Yoshi’s Safari was the most popular game to take advantage of it.
ANSWER: Super Scope (also accept Nintendo Scope and Example Third Answer)

Please format your questions as they appear above. Note that all required parts of an answer should be bolded and underlined.

Please do not use any automatic Word formatting like numbers or tabs.

Do not add power marks to your own questions, they will be added by the editing staff.

Mirroring and Obtaining Questions:

The University of Oklahoma will be conducting a mirror of this tournament (look for that announcement). UTC is also conducting a mirror. Any other schools interested in mirroring this tournament should contact me, Mike Bentley, at mike000 at umd dot edu (that’s three zeros).

Questions will be distributed for free to those teams that participate in the tournament. People not participating may trade for the questions, or purchase them for $15. The questions will be submitted to the Stanford Archive in January 2008.

Freelancing:

Anyone willing to write 8/8 or more in any subject (varied subjects preferred) for this tournament will receive the question set for free. Please contact me immediately if you plan on doing this.

Registration:

To register, please contact me, Mike Bentley, at mike000 at umd dot edu (that’s three zeros). Please include your real team name (i.e. your school or who is on your team for open teams), your level (high school, college, or open), how many buzzers you’re bringing, how many extra moderators you’re bringing, any reader discounts you may qualify for by reading for the HSNCT mirror on the previous day, and any travel discounts you think you might qualify for.

Please also include whether you plan on writing a packet, a half packet, or no packet, as well as a projection of what deadline you’re going to submit your packet by.

More details on the time and place of registration will be posted soon.

Bigfoot isn't the pr · Wed Apr 04, 2007 11:56 pm

I know that the Charter School of Wilmington will be interested in fielding atleast two teams. A more specific team count will be given soon

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 1:35 pm

With about a month before the first packet deadline, here's a little field update:

Wilmington Charter School (3 High School, 1 Open)
University of Delaware (2 College)
Garfield Heights, Ohio (1 High School)
Rgoer Craig et. al (1 Open)

I think the following people are also coming:
Jason Keller et al
David Seal from the University of Chicago

And a few other teams also expressed a little interest when I talked to them at TRASHionals about this tournament.

Again, if you're a freelance player, contact me as soon as possible ([email protected]) so I can work out matching you up with other players.

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Tue May 01, 2007 8:07 pm

A small update: Teams with seniors who will be graduating this spring will still count as high-school only teams.

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Thu May 03, 2007 9:23 pm

I made a few more updates to this announcement regarding audio questions and that we're now hosting a Sun 'n Fun mirror rather than an HSNCT mirror the day before this tournament.

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Tue May 15, 2007 6:50 pm

Re that warning about not writing a packet: If you just want to pay the penalty and not write a packet, I think we have enough submissions coming in for teams to be able to do that. But still contact me as soon as you can if you want to register but aren't writing a packet.

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Sun May 27, 2007 11:32 pm

Continuing the long series of posts replying to myself, here's an update on the field now that the first packet deadline has passed:

Wilmington Charter School (4)
University of Delaware (2)
Roger Craig and Co. (1)
Jason Dettlebach and Co. (1)
Rutgers (1)
Howard High School (1)
Whitman High School (1)
Rochester (1)
Dan Shafer / Carnegie Mellon (1)
Probable Maryland House Team (1)

So we have around 15 teams right now.

If I somehow missed you, please contact me immediately. Or if you are on this list and are no longer attending the tournament, please contact me as well.

Nav · Post by **Nav** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 11:51 pm

Is the Garfield Heights team still attending this tournament?

Frater Taciturnus · Post by **Frater Taciturnus** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 12:36 am

Darn you and your having both your tournaments at the exact time I'm out of the country! I WILL have revenge for this.

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 12:42 am

Nav wrote:Is the Garfield Heights team still attending this tournament?

No, they are attending Panasonic instead.

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:56 pm

Hey, if anyone is still looking to write some freelance questions for this tournament, please contact me as soon as possible. Even a small contribution of something like 4/4 in one or more of the major categories (movies, music, sports, TV) would be a big help. Good questions on less current subjects are preferable, but we'll take anything you've got.

Writing at least 4/4 will get you the whole set for free when the tournament and its mirrors are over, although I would prefer that you submit more just to help us out mending some holes in a few packets.

sobek22 · Post by **sobek22** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 4:47 pm

I think I'm interested in playing at this tournament as a free agent. Please contact me at [email protected] if you have an open spot and are interested.

Thanks!
-Adam

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 8:59 pm

Field Update:

Wilmington Charter School (3)
University of Delaware (2)
Dan Schafer and Friends (1)
Jason Dettlebach and Friends (1)
Jason Keller and Friends (1)
Howard High School (1)
Rochester (1)
Whitman High School (1)
Maryland House Team (1 or 2)

I have am unsure about:
Roger Craig and Friends (1)

We are still accepting registrations for all of these tournaments. If you do not yet have a team, please still register and we can match you up with other freelance players. To register, please contact me at [email protected].

Remember that all of these tournaments are open to all players (whether you’re on a high school team, college team, or not on any team). For details on any of the tournaments, please see previous announcements. When and where registration will be happening for these tournaments will be sent to teams soon.

Howard · Post by **Howard** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 12:14 pm

Mike:

Will the pretournament meeting be in Jiminez at about 8:30 as is the case for most of your collegiate tournaments?

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 12:31 pm

Yes, registration will be from 8:30-9:00 AM in 0105 Jimenez (the smaller of the two lecture halls). More details about how to get to Jimenez and where to park and eat lunch will be posted shortly.

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:45 am

If any freelance player still has not found a team, please send me an e-mail with your name even if you have already contacted me.

Post by **theMoMA** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 5:23 pm

Mike, I already wrote a freelance 4/4 for you, but if you have more needs I'd be happy to fill in some cracks. Drop me a line [email protected].

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 7:19 pm

theMoMA wrote:Mike, I already wrote a freelance 4/4 for you, but if you have more needs I'd be happy to fill in some cracks. Drop me a line [email protected].

Thanks, but we're solid on questions at the moment (although several of them still need to be edited).

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 11:15 am

Hey if anyone in the DC area is available to moderate / scorekeep at this tournament, please let me know.

First Chairman · Post by **First Chairman** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 12:39 pm

How many people do you need?

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:02 pm

I think we'll definitely need one person, although it would be nice if we could get more people to scorekeep. Although we will have a team on a bye each round so we can get those people to help out for scoring.

Anyways, we're also in need of one more laptop since we're trying to run the tournament electronically. In the worst case we can always print out a set of questions, but it would make things a lot easier if we could have another laptop.

First Chairman · Post by **First Chairman** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:21 pm

Hmm... I can see if I can get up early enough and drive out. Just remind me of the time/date, and I'll try to get up in time. :)

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 3:17 pm

E.T. Chuck wrote:Hmm... I can see if I can get up early enough and drive out. Just remind me of the time/date, and I'll try to get up in time. :)

The date is tomorrow and the time is 8:30 (although you could sneak in at 8:45 or so). Also, the location is 0105 Jimenez Hall.

Post by **DumbJaques** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:50 am

Trash makes the baby jesus cry.

Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) · Sun Jun 24, 2007 10:22 am

Chris Ray is the baby Jesus.

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 12:42 pm

THIS TOURNAMENT IS SUCKING RIGHT NOW. EVERYONE LEAVE IF YOU CAN. WORST TOURNAMENT EVER IN THE HISTORY OF QUIZBOWL.

Edit: In case anyone was confused, the text above was sarcasm.

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:10 pm

Full results will be posted later tonight / tomorrow.

For now, the winners were:

Jason Keller et al - Overall winners
Maryland House Team - College division winner
Charter A - High School division winner

Remember, please do not discuss specific questions here since OU is running a mirror on the 30th. You can send comments directly to me at [email protected].

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:03 pm

Full stats:

http://www.studentorg.umd.edu/maqt/2007 ... dings.html

Thank yous and such coming tomorrow when my website gets back up and I can go through the myriad of people who helped make this tournament happen.

Mike Bentley · Post by **Mike Bentley** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:58 am

Hey everyone,

First off, Iâ€™d like to thank all of the teams attended the tournament. I hope that you all enjoyed yourself over the eleven rounds we played.

Iâ€™d like to extend a big thanks to all of the people who helped me edit this tournament. Without the help of Dan Goff, Jonathan Magin, Brittany Clark, Jeremy Eaton, Chris Ray, and Jeremy Hixson the questions wouldnâ€™t have been nearly as good.

Iâ€™d also like to give my appreciation to our mirror, Oklahoma University, who submitted four quality packets for this tournament, helping me concentrate on editing and not creating original content for the playoffs. Jeremy Hixson and the rest of the Oklahoma University team really helped us out. Charlie Steinhice also deserves my gratitude as he stayed up late printing packets because we were running behind.

I was also fortunate to get a great response from freelance writers all over the country. A big thanks to both Dave Letzler and Brick Barientos for submitting entire an entire packet of freelance material each. We also received question contributions from Dan Goff, Anthony de Jesus, Ben Gutscher, Joe Wells, Andrew Hart, Shawn Pickrell, Jack Brounstein, Tricia Southard, and Dan Greenstein.

And of course, I owe a deep thanks to the moderators who responded to our last minute call for staff. Without the help of Arthur Fleming, Dr. Chuck, Jessie Bykowski, and the other volunteer who unfortunately I cannot remember the name of (sorry!), the tournament would not have run nearly as smooth.

If anyone wants feedback on their questions, please e-mail me directly. Please also include your original questions in the e-mail so I donâ€™t have to go through my archives looking them up. Also, if you noticed any factual errors or egregiously offensive questions that you think I should change before the mirror is run, please contact me as well. And, of course, Iâ€™d be glad to hear any additional commentary you have before the floodgates open on Saturday night.

I will be sending out the entire set to all of the teams that attended the tournament and all freelance writers once the Oklahoma mirror is over. Iâ€™m also willing to trade the questions for other sets or for help contributions for future tournaments. Contact me at [email protected] if youâ€™re interested.

Hope to see many of you again this weekend at our HSNCT and Sun â€˜n Fun Mirrors.

Mike Bentley
Tournament Director, The Chris McCray Tournament For Academic Excellence

The Quizbowl Resource Center

RESULTS: Chris McCray Tournament For Academic Excellence

RESULTS: Chris McCray Tournament For Academic Excellence

Free Agent?