The Quizbowl Resource Center

As much as I love tifton japanese quisine, it would be really awesome if this did not get cancelled. We will continue driving until we become aware of the final decision. I can be reached at 8133007654

As one of South Carolina's 2 drivers, I would be up for any arrangement tomorrow, including a delay and/or change of venue.

gwaustin4 wrote:When will you know whether or not this is officially canceled?

Well, I can't "officially" declare anything about this tournament until Ben Cole gets out of class, since he has a say. Nor can I cite an official cancellation of activities from Furman, because the school has not yet decided, and is not required to do so until 6am tomorrow morning. All I can say at this point is that I'm personally doubtful we will be able to get into our rooms.

I know the people coming from Florida have already rented a car and left, and were supposed to be arriving in Athens around six. I don't have their numbers, but they should really be warned somehow.

I don't think I know their numbers either, but, yeah, someone who does should let them know. I'm sorry about that.

Nick wrote:We only need like 3 or 4 rooms. We ought to just have this at somebody's house, if somebody doesn't mind volunteering. I actually already asked my mother but surprise surprise, she said no, hahaha.

I'm giving this some thought. Possible issues:
-We would have to arrange some sort of carpool to get me and the other Furman staffers to the house early enough, because our only driver (a local student's parent) probably wouldn't be available on short notice.
- We have to make sure that whatever house this is has a wireless, a printer, an can accommodate the teams.

I've attended successful Scrabble tournaments held in people's houses, although quizbowl is a bit more difficult because you have to separate the teams well enough that they can't clearly hear other matches going on. I guess I'd like to hear from someone who's done this about any possible pitfalls.

Then again, if the majority of the teams ultimately can't make it to Greenville, we'll have to cancel anyhow.

If carpooling is necessary, I'd be willing to leave Columbia anytime tomorrow morning to facilitate that. Just fill me and Bryn in on the wheres and whens and we'll be there to transport whoever to wherever. I'll be checking the board and e-mail throughout the evening.

Just an update: In athens it is currently snowing very hard, and has been for a while. The snow is sticking to cars and any non-pavement surface. It's also still snowing in Atlanta, so I don't think this will end soon. I believe it is still slightly above freezing, though.

gwaustin4 wrote:Just an update: In athens it is currently snowing very hard, and has been for a while. The snow is sticking to cars and any non-pavement surface. It's also still snowing in Atlanta, so I don't think this will end soon. I believe it is still slightly above freezing, though.

Yep, pretty much the same deal here in the ATL. Weather Channel says it'll go below freezing later in the evening (it's already 33°F now).

Edit: okay I definitely did not type an exclamation mark there.
argh what is happening

Yeah all of my periods were turning into exclamation points too.

It made my ellipse seem really hardcore.

It started to snow in Clemson about 30 minutes ago, but its still 37° here.

The primary problem right now is that Furman may close their buildings because of the weather, BUT they are not required to tell us whether they are closing the buildings until tomorrow at 6:00 AM.

Nick Clusserath suggested a solution which is a little laughable, but which might actually work. He suggested that we run the tournament in someone's house. As of yet, I haven't been able to find any willing participants among my teammates, but I'm searching feverishly. I wanted to know if anyone in the Greenville area would be willing to donate his or her house in which to hold this tournament in the event that Furman decides to screw us and not let us know about the buildings.

If furman is closed, Is having this tournament at the cheapest motel in Greenville an option at all?

I was also thinking a hotel could be possible. Ahmad and FSU are going to keep driving until it's officially canceled, and if they end up making it maybe we could just do it at whatever hotel they stop at. (each team may need to throw down $10 each or something in order to rent the extra three rooms or whatever, but whoever's willing to drive through the snow I'm sure would be willing to do that). A conceivable problem is that too many teams will simply drop out and not come even if you do find a place.

In athens the roads are now building up an inch or so, and my internet has been going out, but I'm still totally willing to drive up tomorrow morning if you guys can find a place. . . any place.

gwaustin4 wrote:I was also thinking a hotel could be possible. Ahmad and FSU are going to keep driving until it's officially canceled, and if they end up making it maybe we could just do it at whatever hotel they stop at. (each team may need to throw down $10 each or something in order to rent the extra three rooms or whatever, but whoever's willing to drive through the snow I'm sure would be willing to do that). A conceivable problem is that too many teams will simply drop out and not come even if you do find a place.

In athens the roads are now building up an inch or so, and my internet has been going out, but I'm still totally willing to drive up tomorrow morning if you guys can find a place. . . any place.

This sounds like a good idea to me. If we can't find a person willing to donate a house, Nathan and I will consider this. Cancelling this tournament is the last thing we want to do, since everyone from far away is still driving, and since if we cancel this there is a real possibility it may not happen.

Yeah, having it at a hotel might be an option, although not a great one. My biggest concern is cost, which might be prohibitive even at the cheapest places -- would a hotel charge us for two days' stay if we wanted to get started before the checkout time? We probably would have to collect the money in cash from the individual teams attending first, as I don't think either Ben or I could afford the cash up front. There might also be issues with access to printers, hotels charging for wireless, etc. -- and that's assuming it's not one of the cheapest motels, which might lack internet access at all.

Also, what Ben said -- this tournament may never happen if we don't have it this weekend. I think the earliest possible date we'd be able to reschedule it to is 3/13, which is not within Andy's preferred dates for mirrors (and even that would require us to come back early from spring break.)

Video nasty wrote:Yeah, having it at a hotel might be an option, although not a great one. My biggest concern is cost, which might be prohibitive even at the cheapest places -- would a hotel charge us for two days' stay if we wanted to get started before the checkout time? We probably would have to collect the money in cash from the individual teams attending first, as I don't think either Ben or I could afford the cash up front. There might also be issues with access to printers, hotels charging for wireless, etc. -- and that's assuming it's not one of the cheapest motels, which might lack internet access at all.

Also, what Ben said -- this tournament may never happen if we don't have it this weekend. I think the earliest possible date we'd be able to reschedule it to is 3/13, which is not within Andy's preferred dates for mirrors.

Because of the magic of secret question discussion forums that would be much more okay (and, you know, emergencies are emergencies). So if there's absolutely no other option, please do reschedule to then. If there's another option for doing it today, though, like running it in a hotel or on rooftops or whatever, that's best.

I've heard that the weather is supposed to be much better tomorrow if thats any consolation. I think Clemson supports the greenville hotel idea too.

Some hotels will let you rent rooms just for the day, if you tell them your exact circumstances. Oftentimes they're underbooked and looking for any way to make money on their empty rooms.

OK, so I got in touch with campus police. According to the person I spoke to, we should be able to get into the building and the classrooms tomorrow regardless of whether the campus closes down. And we've only had one team drop so far. So, for the moment, this tournament is occurring at the original time and place. There is a strong possibility that campus dining facilities will be closed, in which case we may need to do some sort of carpool to University Square or Cherrydale Plaza for lunch, but other than that, we should be fine.

Would it be at all possible to delay the start of the tournament to something like 10:30 or so? Reason being is that the roads in Columbia and the Midlands are covered, and it would be great to give us a little more sunlight on the way up and a little more leeway in terms of time. For our safety, we'd appreciate it.

Ethnic history of the Vilnius region wrote:Would it be at all possible to delay the start of the tournament to something like 10:30 or so? Reason being is that the roads in Columbia and the Midlands are covered, and it would be great to give us a little more sunlight on the way up and a little more leeway in terms of time. For our safety, we'd appreciate it.

Fine with me. I am concerned about the people traveling from Florida being able to get home, but we probably will be able to abbreviate the format if it looks like we're not getting out at a reasonable time. So, sure: something like registration from 9 to 10, and play starting at 10:30, or earlier if everyone happens to make it, I guess.

Hey everyone, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but we've made the decision not to attend tomorrow. Quite frankly, we're pretty disappointed, since this might have been the first time any of us played in a tournament hosted in South Carolina, but a majority of our members feel like it's not going to be safe to be on the roads tomorrow. Hope it goes well, though.

Yeah, sorry. Columbia's gotten a few more inches over the past 2 hours with no end in site, and I damn near just ran off the road into a creek going, like, 10 MPH. No way we're going to risk the drive to Greenville. I'm absolutely angry about this situation, sorry that we can't make it, and hope that you all can have some sort of event. But safety first.

so that brings this down to 4 teams? are we still starting at 10:30?

I'm still planning to show up at the tournament site and hope that teams make it, because, after some discussion with Ben and some additional research, I don't think there's any date to which we can plausibly reschedule this tournament, inside or outside of Andy's recommended dates. (3/13 is looking unlikely, and everything else is looking worse.) We may be able to fill out the field with house teams unless it gets really tiny.

Unless there is some team that would prefer to start earlier, I still think starting at 10:30 is the safest idea, as it gives more of a chance for roads to be cleared.

Sorry for the late notice, especially after some generous accommodations by multiple parties to allow us to participate in this, but we just are not going to be able to make it. Getting out of Metro Atlanta right now is just not an option.

We are sorry to mention but due to a parent of a certain person not letting him go, we will be unable to attend. We are so sorry we could not make it, we would have loved too! Hope ya'll have a great tourney and enjoy!

Just wanted to let everyone know before I head to bed that this tournament is still happening. Registration will be from 9:00 to 10:00, as stated above. If nothing goes wrong, the tournament will start by 10:30. We are still in the same buildings, and everything else sent in the email is still applicable.

See you all in the morning. Contact Nathan's or my phone number from the email that was sent out if you need anything from us in the morning.

Hi, it looks like they cleared and salted the main roads during the night. The USC teams is interested in coming up. We're preparing to leave now, though it might be difficult to make it right on time. I will call Nathan and Ben's numbers frequently with updates on our travels, but expect USC to be there.

Snow vs T-Party Day Two Liveblog: Deserted like the Dwarves at Dawn.

8:00: arrive at Johns Hall. Fortunately, JH 101 is on the side with the obvious card access.

8:03: Discover that the JH 101 computer tower is locked down, unlike the towers in any of the classrooms. If we want to use the projector there, we may have to call Public Safety to get it unlocked, or there may be some obvious workaround I don't understand. Either way, I'm posting this in JH 107, and periodically checking outside.

8:20: Attempt to take a circuitous route to the side of the building with a vending machine without leaving the building, due to the aforementioned lack of obvious card access on the other side. My attempt leads me to a darkened stairwell with a bizarrely nonfunctional door on one side, and one door to the outside, bearing a posted warning: "Honeybees may be present!" I choose to interpret this as a good omen that quizbowl will indeed take place here.

8:26: The first Furman staffer arrives. She is actually early. Things are looking up.

8:36: Manage to reach Ben Cole; he's pessimistic about the roads but planning to arrive in 30-45 minutes.

8:53: Hannah arrives, and is talked into practicing reading questions to us on her laptop.

9:39: Ming and Ben are here.

10:18-23: Clemson, FSU and Ahmad arrive, all practically at the same time. We're now only waiting on USC, who's about 40 minutes out.

Billy beyer gets up early and stays up late. I'm surprised he didn't beat you there.

User was warned for lacking a signature.

12:04 PM: Games begin. The new TD is quaking in his boots.

This happened, despite the adverse weather. The field played a double round robin (10 games), and USC A cleared the field, going 9-1. The House team finished with the second-highest record, 8-2, but was ineligible for the championship.

Final Standings:
USC A, 9-1
House, 8-2
FSU, 5-5
Ahmad/Wes, 5-5
Clemson, 3-7
USC B, 0-10

Ahmad was the top scorer, at 68.5 ppg, followed by Billy Beyer at 67. 5.

A full report is available at http://results.scobo.net/SQBS.aspx?org= ... =standings

I want to thank all of the teams for making the trek up to Furman despite the ice: USC for driving up even though the night before they had said they would not be able to make it, the Florida teams for driving so far up and through the storm, Wes for driving up once the ice was clear, and Clemson.
I'd also like to thank Furman (and USC) for providing moderators, and specifically to Nathan for setting this tournament up as well as he did, and for not canceling despite the weather. Nathan's set-up made my 8 rounds worth of TD-ing run very smoothly.

Ben Cole wrote:This happened, despite the adverse weather. The field played a double round robin (10 games), and USC A cleared the field, going 9-1. The House team finished with the second highest record, 7-2. A full report will be issued later; a statistics anomaly makes it appear that some teams played 11 games. This will be fixed as soon as possible.

I think the records were something along the lines of USC A 9-1, House (Nathan/Ming) 8-2, Ahmad/Wes 5-5, FSU 5-5, Clemson 3-7, USC B 0-10. I didn't see all the last round resuls, though, so feel free to correct me. I'm pretty sure Ahmad was the leading scorer, followed by Billy and Nick.

Just got home, while there were some logistical issues, I am glad this happened, despite OMG SNOW. Furman is a beautiful campus! More later after some much needed sleep. Thanks of course to Bryn and Eric for reading, Ben Cole for keeping stats, and Nathan James...well for just being Nathan James!

Thanks to Furman/Southside for hosting. Bryn and I enjoyed reading, and the USC teams enjoyed playing. Thanks especially to Nathan and Ben for being in constant touch from the time the snow started coming down until the time the tournament started. You all kept this tournament going despite very adverse circumstances. Finally, thanks to all of the teams who waited around for me, Bryn, and the USC people to show up. With our late start due to the snow combined with the closure of I-385 North, there was really no way we could have made it any earlier, but all participants were quite gracious for waiting. Thanks again for a good tournament.

Edited post above contains the full report, as well as my thanks to everyone who made this tournament possible.