AndyShootsAndyScores wrote:wowitsquinthaha wrote:dude, Guam sucks.
Since they're the only team Alabama beat, I feel SO proud.
Don't worry, Andy. We didn't humiliate the state too badly. The three teams that beat us (California, Florida, and Kentucky) all made the finals.
But thanks for the vote of confidence. :)
My personal experience this year with PAC was a pretty good one. It certainly is NOT a traditional competition, and it tells you that up front, but as a coach, I have two priorities for an end of the year tourney:
1) Do the kids enjoy themselves, since it is largely their money and effort that gets them there?
2) Is the competition worthwhile and legitimate?
Many of you could rip me on these priorities, I'm sure, but unlike a lot of teams that post regularly on this board, we aren't in contention for the national championship. Would I like to be? Of course! Would my kids like to be? Sure! Will they do the work it would take to catch up to a TJ or Dorman-class team? Heck, no!
We attended NAQT this year, and we had a good time. We're planning on going to PACE next year to see how we enjoy that. This was our first trip to PAC, and we had fun there, too. The kids felt like they got more than their money's worth (we did fundraising, so individual costs weren't too bad), and we felt like we played reasonably well for a first-time team. I met Byko, which was a treat, along with some other great coaches who gave me excellent advice, and did some useful networking.
All of our players agreed that they really would have liked more playing time. They were just getting the hang of the format by the end of the second round, and that was it; we were eliminated. Two games is not a lot of chance to show what you know. We HATED the matching questions (they are purely buzzer races), and got clobbered on the science and math computations--we managed to get in for only one math question in two games, and anyone who played us this year knows we're a fairly strong team in math. At the same time, however, we knew it was going to be an odd format, and we decided we wanted to come and try it. Most of the kids on the team would like another shot at it next year if we get the opportunity.
I guess what I'm saying about PAC is that it really needs to be taken for what it is--a specialized format tourney that tells you exactly what you're getting for your money, and lets you make the call. For a team that wants a guns-blazing head-to-head day of traditional quizbowl, PAC is bad. For us, it was pretty good.