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by Awehrman
Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:31 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: College Movement
Replies: 34
Views: 6742

Re: College Movement

I will be attending Northwestern University in the fall and playing quiz bowl there as well! Can't wait for the NSC ahahaha That's great! NU's quizbowl team has been much improved this year thanks in large part to Dan Donohue. You might want to contact him if you haven't already. I haven't had anyt...
by Awehrman
Thu Aug 06, 2009 8:45 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: MSHSAA bidding discussion
Replies: 77
Views: 11820

MSHSAA bidding discussion

In the '03-'04 and '04-'05 school years, there were zero pyramidal tournaments in central Arkansas (where I am from); in fact, this was true of the entire state. Beginning in the fall of '05, my college club (Harding) hosted two to three pyramidal tournaments per year (for three years) and got noth...
by Awehrman
Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:45 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: middle school quiz bowl help
Replies: 21
Views: 3201

middle school quiz bowl help

As Jason mentioned above, I ran a middle school tournament at Northwestern in February. I would be glad to send your mother the questions for her students to practice on. The University of Oklahoma ran a large middle school tournament for years and may be able to provide her additional questions fro...
by Awehrman
Wed Jun 24, 2009 10:41 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: MSA
Replies: 66
Views: 7346

MSA

I'll echo what others have said and say that these questions seem pretty good overall. I think you could have included at least one more US history question (I think the Iran Contra question was the only one). The smallpox question has some serious problems, though. The first clue is not uniquely id...
by Awehrman
Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:14 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: MSHSAA bidding discussion
Replies: 77
Views: 11820

MSHSAA bidding discussion

Here, for instance, is a packet from BOB in 2005 written and edited by Mike. Although it's a college packet from a few years ago, I think you can infer that a high school tournament written by the same person would be light years ahead of anything Questions Galore has ever produced to say the least....
by Awehrman
Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:01 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: MSHSAA bidding discussion
Replies: 77
Views: 11820

MSHSAA bidding discussion

I cannot say whether or not those BHSAT rounds will be posted or not. I assume Mike will chime in on that when he returns from Florida. I don't know if he has the packets still or if he would have to contact other Yale people to get them. That said it is not difficult to find questions that he has w...
by Awehrman
Wed Jun 10, 2009 10:51 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: MSHSAA bidding discussion
Replies: 77
Views: 11820

MSHSAA bidding discussion

To Andy, I think it is unfair to say that I was using concerns over Mike's ability to produce a good set as a mask for attacking MSHSAA or whatever. They are two separate issues, as I both believe that MSHSAA needs to be taken apart, and I simultaneously don't trust this Wehrman set to be good inde...
by Awehrman
Sat Jun 06, 2009 7:58 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: MSHSAA bidding discussion
Replies: 77
Views: 11820

MSHSAA bidding discussion

I just wanted to mention that Mike is on vacation in Florida, so he likely won't respond to questions about his potential bid for a while.
by Awehrman
Fri Jun 05, 2009 6:41 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Calling Former Players
Replies: 16
Views: 2845

Calling Former Players

While the other thread on what to do about MSHSAA questions cools down (or heats up?), I wanted to post in this thread about my own playing career. I want to do this partially because I think that it may shed some light on my point of view, partially because many of the other frequent readers of thi...
by Awehrman
Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:18 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: MSHSAA bidding discussion
Replies: 77
Views: 11820

MSHSAA bidding discussion

Well said, Charlie. I'm not sure why it has to take so long to get to the heart of the matter, but I'm glad that we're there. I don't think this is really about having a proper quizbowl resume or about "good" vs. "bad" quizbowl (at least not in the sense that we are on opposite s...
by Awehrman
Thu Jun 04, 2009 8:15 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: MSHSAA bidding discussion
Replies: 77
Views: 11820

MSHSAA bidding discussion

I don't think I argued that Mike's winning of the state tournament qualified him to be able to write the state questions nor that his academic background was sufficient proof. I was mostly responding to the very odd assertion that since Mike was communicating with Jeremy Gibbs and showed some willin...
by Awehrman
Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:03 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: MSHSAA bidding discussion
Replies: 77
Views: 11820

MSHSAA bidding discussion

Perhaps not surprisingly, I am in nearly complete agreement with Mike here, but since this was a call to former Missouri quizbowl players to weigh in, I will. Although he certainly holds some hard-headed views about his ideal quizbowl universe and does not always respond particularly well to critici...
by Awehrman
Tue May 12, 2009 1:32 pm
Forum: Tournament Announcements and Discussion
Topic: 2009 MSHSAA State Tournament Discussion
Replies: 113
Views: 25980

2009 MSHSAA State Tournament Discussion

I think it would be great for Missouri if Mike wrote the state questions (provided that he thinks he would have enough time to write them). His credentials as a real academic as well as an excellent college quizbowl player and as probably the best ever quizbowl player in Missouri would more than qua...
by Awehrman
Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:29 pm
Forum: Tournament Announcements and Discussion
Topic: First Districts Results
Replies: 78
Views: 7622

First Districts Results

While it may be true that some admissions officers do not know much about quizbowl, this is not particularly good or constructive advice. If it is something important to you and something that has shaped your academic and personal outlook, and something that you've found success with, it needs to be...
by Awehrman
Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:27 am
Forum: Tournament Announcements and Discussion
Topic: First Districts Results
Replies: 78
Views: 7622

First Districts Results

I don't have much to add to the prom thing, but I wanted to address this: What on earth? Let me clarify: THERE IS NOT A COLLEGE ON EARTH THAT ACTUALLY CARES WHETHER YOU MADE ALL DISTRICT OR PLACED 4TH AT STATE ANY MORE THAN THEY WILL CARE JUST THAT YOU SAID ON YOUR APPLICATION THAT YOU PLAYED QUIZBO...
by Awehrman
Thu Mar 26, 2009 1:53 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: General Questions Galore comments post Lexington
Replies: 24
Views: 4074

General Questions Galore comments post Lexington

Just quickly, I want to mention that the wikipedia (not the QB Wiki) article on "quizbowl" includes the standard state formats of a number of states, but it is certainly not a complete list nor can I speak for its accuracy. Missouri is considered something of a quizbowl backwater as Paul, ...
by Awehrman
Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:39 am
Forum: Tournament Announcements and Discussion
Topic: Savannah Varsity
Replies: 19
Views: 2189

Savannah Varsity

Savannah's field's drawing power seems to have fallen pretty starkly. Just 2 years ago weren't there like 30 teams with people coming from out of state in old ASCN stomping grounds? What's happening? I think the answer is partly in your question. I think the fall of ASCN has adversely affected quiz...
by Awehrman
Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:59 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: MSHSAA/tossup-bonus format discussion
Replies: 28
Views: 3180

MSHSAA/tossup-bonus format discussion

Whether they were bad by 1997 standards or not, they are certainly considered bad by 2009 standards when the major national tournaments are no longer NAC, Panasonic, or ASCN. I've seen questions from the Wichita State tournament, and they're not wholly unacceptable but they wouldn't go over well in...
by Awehrman
Tue Mar 10, 2009 6:11 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: MSHSAA/tossup-bonus format discussion
Replies: 28
Views: 3180

MSHSAA/tossup-bonus format discussion

Right. I just made that argument to show that things like upsets are hard to quantify and that good teams tend to win even on bad questions. Imagine if Questions Galore wrote 20/20 rounds. There would certainly be more outrage and upsets than what you're seeing with 50/20. I think question quality t...
by Awehrman
Tue Mar 10, 2009 4:46 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: MSHSAA/tossup-bonus format discussion
Replies: 28
Views: 3180

MSHSAA/tossup-bonus format discussion

I disagree. MSHSAA's format does not guarantee that you will find the best team in the tournament. If anything, the lack of bonuses, and the length of games makes it less likely to determine the better team, because there is too much time for the game to swing, whereas a 20/20 format with rebounds ...
by Awehrman
Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:58 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Epic Fail thread
Replies: 35
Views: 3680

Epic Fail thread

The "NKC is too noisy and disrespectful" theme is well over a decade old. Many people who who have run tournaments or have watched NKC's games compliment NKC on being loose and friendly rather than having the gloomy intensity that other elite teams often show. Mr. Allen certainly has room ...
by Awehrman
Wed Dec 31, 2008 10:07 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: College destinations
Replies: 70
Views: 11732

College destinations

Of course heavily favored Missouri only beat NU in overtime, and NU controlled the rest of the game... Northwestern does have an active quizbowl team (although not always as active as I might like). Since it's located just outside Chicago, there are always quite a few tournaments held locally, which...
by Awehrman
Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:23 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: 2008\2009 State Question Provider
Replies: 43
Views: 9613

2008\2009 State Question Provider

You can't get fast at math from practicing, at least not fast like Me, Grant, and Ravi. Though I can't speak for the other two, I can say that I never spent time practicing math, it just comes naturally to me and I can quickly do it in my head. Judging from their similar speed I imagine they are th...
by Awehrman
Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:40 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: 2009 MSHSAA contract
Replies: 57
Views: 5324

2009 MSHSAA contract

Bob, thanks for clarifying my confusion regarding the question providers. I knew that the questions for MSHSAA changed between my junior and senior years, but it's been a long time. I hope that you're right about the new owner's willingness to improve his question set and that he is open to some pol...
by Awehrman
Tue Sep 09, 2008 8:51 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: 2009 MSHSAA contract
Replies: 57
Views: 5324

2009 MSHSAA contract

I don't have time to weigh in more fully, but I think that Matt and Charlie have done a pretty good job in making their arguments here and on the high school board. Calling it a step backwards doesn't come close to describing what an awful move this is. Questions Galore was without a doubt the worst...
by Awehrman
Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:35 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Protests
Replies: 29
Views: 2321

Protests

Analogies are fun. Try this one. I'd argue that quizbowl is superior to all of those other bowls (not that they are really in competition), because quizbowl is really an aggregate of them. It's not like arguing that baseball is better than football, but more like arguing that the Olympics is better ...
by Awehrman
Fri May 30, 2008 8:31 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Player movement
Replies: 79
Views: 12271

Player movement

Is Jason in a graduate program there? Nice of him to attend Springfield and not Fayetteville. :huh: Yeah, I tried to get him to come to Arkansas when he was in high school at Cutter-Morning Star. He was a great high school player. I've met him several times, but don't know him well. I'm not sure wh...
by Awehrman
Wed May 21, 2008 8:28 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Mizzou tournaments
Replies: 16
Views: 2144

Mizzou tournaments

Oh, and the other big event to try to avoid if possible when holding a tournament is the ACT (especially for fall tournaments). It's on the October 25th next year. I've run tournaments against the ACT before, but it will limit your field somewhat.
by Awehrman
Wed May 21, 2008 8:15 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Mizzou tournaments
Replies: 16
Views: 2144

Mizzou tournaments

A few thoughts...I'm glad to see that you're trying to get Mizzou back on the high school tournament circuit. As something of a Big XII football fan, I noticed that MU has home football games on the 11th and 25th (hosting Oklahoma State and Colorado respectively). I'm not sure how much of a problem ...
by Awehrman
Thu May 08, 2008 10:27 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Quiz Bowl's status in MSHSAA
Replies: 18
Views: 1787

Quiz Bowl's status in MSHSAA

Also, I think there is some misunderstanding in that I have no actual problem with dividing up the state championships into size classes Yeah, telling small schools to "cry me a river" might lead to that "misunderstanding," Charlie. Perhaps I was a bit cryptic in my reasoning ab...
by Awehrman
Thu May 08, 2008 9:23 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Quiz Bowl's status in MSHSAA
Replies: 18
Views: 1787

Quiz Bowl's status in MSHSAA

No, your soluton will find the best quizbowl team within the state lines. This is different than a state championship, which awards the best teams in each level of the state's unequal school system. The state championship should reflect the actual conditions of education within the state not the ima...
by Awehrman
Thu May 08, 2008 8:34 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Quiz Bowl's status in MSHSAA
Replies: 18
Views: 1787

Quiz Bowl's status in MSHSAA

Would anyone be in support of a MSHSAA-like organization which oversaw non-athletic competitions like quiz bowl, music, and speech/debate? To me, it seems like we could get more knowledgeable leadership with a smaller organization. I know that MSHSAA is overwhelmed with athletics and not much work ...
by Awehrman
Fri Apr 25, 2008 3:57 pm
Forum: Tournament Announcements and Discussion
Topic: 2008 District Results
Replies: 180
Views: 44406

2008 District Results

Unless my eyes deceive me, an even more astounding stat from that district is that the high scorer for one of the teams (Clearwater) averaged .66 tossups per game. If they played 3 games, then that team's best player answered a total of 2 questions. Also worth noting is that all four players from bo...
by Awehrman
Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:21 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: My withdrawal from the Missouri market
Replies: 48
Views: 12349

My withdrawal from the Missouri market

I got to thinking about this a bit more and came up with a hypothetical solution. Do you think that MSHSAA and the coaches would be amenable to my Missouri Academic Competition Veteran Consortium (MACVC)? Here's how it would work, we would gather up say 10 or so former Missouri quizbowl veterans who...
by Awehrman
Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:14 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: My withdrawal from the Missouri market
Replies: 48
Views: 12349

My withdrawal from the Missouri market

Does anyone else find it a bit ironic that a state that has placed so much restriction on out of state travel requires its questions to come from out of state? I also knew that this was the case. Years ago when Mike graduated from NKC, he wanted to get the state question contract. Many teams were in...
by Awehrman
Tue Apr 01, 2008 3:28 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Districts (Class 4 District 8)
Replies: 20
Views: 2118

Districts (Class 4 District 8)

Liberty won districts from 2001 (the first time Savannah was in class 3) to 2006, and made the finals in 2007.  Liberty also made the final in 2000, losing to Savannah. They were more than a bit ticked about that iirc. Yeah, this was pretty much what I was thinking above. Liberty lost in the distri...
by Awehrman
Tue Apr 01, 2008 8:23 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Districts (Class 4 District 8)
Replies: 20
Views: 2118

Districts (Class 4 District 8)

Out of curiosity, when was the last time that Liberty has not made the final match of Districts? I'm pretty sure that NKC did not make the top two several times between 2000 and 2006. Liberty has been incredibly consistent, it seems to me. I know that when Savannah was in that district, the final ma...
by Awehrman
Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:14 pm
Forum: Tournament Announcements and Discussion
Topic: 2008 Maple Woods Worksheet tournament
Replies: 57
Views: 4626

2008 Maple Woods Worksheet tournament

Hey, didn't I already win this argument? What's next? Are you going to give a more detailed version of what I said in the children's lit debate (suburban conference thread) too? I like what Mike said here. I haven't mentioned it before, I don't think, but it always kind of bugs me when people argue ...
by Awehrman
Thu Mar 20, 2008 3:18 pm
Forum: Tournament Announcements and Discussion
Topic: Suburban Conference Big 7 Championship
Replies: 33
Views: 2426

Suburban Conference Big 7 Championship

Oh, come on! Are you telling me that there is no value judgment involved when labeling one book "literature" and another book "trash"? I'm well aware of the quizbowl community's use of the terms, but trash implies that the subject material is lower than than the other material an...
by Awehrman
Thu Mar 20, 2008 2:06 pm
Forum: Tournament Announcements and Discussion
Topic: Suburban Conference Big 7 Championship
Replies: 33
Views: 2426

Suburban Conference Big 7 Championship

I was going to stay out of this one, but I couldn't resist. I agree with Kyle here, but not with his reasoning. Even though math teachers read a variety of mathematics textbooks, I don't think we need any tossups on those. I do agree with him that a placing a hard ban on all children's literature is...
by Awehrman
Sat Mar 08, 2008 11:42 am
Forum: Tournament Announcements and Discussion
Topic: 2008 Maple Woods Worksheet tournament
Replies: 57
Views: 4626

2008 Maple Woods Worksheet tournament

no it is not a shame that we dropped worksheets. because worksheets automatically=BAD QUIZ BOWL.  Worksheets were appropriate twenty years ago(prehistoric quiz bowl).  Now the rest of the nation has moved on because they realize you can't write a pyrimidal worksheet round and us Missouruh folk are ...
by Awehrman
Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:47 pm
Forum: Tournament Announcements and Discussion
Topic: Warrenton High School Tournament
Replies: 53
Views: 5439

Warrenton High School Tournament

I understand your argument, Charlie, but I don't totally agree with it. Certainly good teams can lose to lesser teams because of bad questions. By bad questions I mean truly awful ones with hoses and incorrect infomration (Chip Beall, Avery type stuff), but I don't think that all short questions fit...
by Awehrman
Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:55 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Proposal for a new rule on team sizes
Replies: 26
Views: 1683

Proposal for a new rule on team sizes

Charlie is right in theory that teams who have a lot of kids should in most cases split into several teams to enrich the tournament field and give those players more experience. Tournament directors should encourage this and offer incentives for teams to do so. A rule mandating such an action is sil...
by Awehrman
Thu Nov 15, 2007 2:45 pm
Forum: Tournament Announcements and Discussion
Topic: Two Saints Conference
Replies: 115
Views: 8062

Two Saints Conference

Greetings all from the lovely metropolis of Little Rock.  It's always sunny in Little Rock, so I'm keeping busy by doing a lot of internet surfing and trying to avoid contact with Razorbacks.  May try to do some asst coaching in the spring with a local high school. And what, may I ask, is wrong wit...
by Awehrman
Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:10 pm
Forum: Tournament Announcements and Discussion
Topic: Smithville Tournament
Replies: 36
Views: 5604

Smithville Tournament

This is what I thought you were getting at, Bill. I agree that in most circumstances an athlete who became upset and left the field during a game would not see the field again any time soon. That said, I think that the decision belongs to Mr. Allen, the team, and the school. If they can come to an a...
by Awehrman
Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:27 pm
Forum: Tournament Announcements and Discussion
Topic: Smithville Tournament
Replies: 36
Views: 5604

Smithville Tournament

I'm not sure that it's fair to detract from Mr. Allen's coaching credentials becuase of this incident. Certainly not all of his players and former players have acted this way. In fact, I'm pretty sure this is the only time in his 15 or so years of coaching that one of his players has walked out on a...
by Awehrman
Sun Oct 28, 2007 8:54 am
Forum: Tournament Announcements and Discussion
Topic: Vanderbilt ABC XXXIV
Replies: 6
Views: 888

Vanderbilt ABC XXXIV

Congrats on the finish NKC! That's quite an accomplishment! Will you be going again in the spring to take revenge on Dorman? I might be wrong, but I don't think NKC has ever beaten Dorman A, nor Detroit Catholic. What do you think it will take to bring them down? As has probably been said before, NK...
by Awehrman
Mon Aug 13, 2007 4:51 pm
Forum: Miscellaneous
Topic: Fantasy Football
Replies: 10
Views: 1288

Fantasy Football

Hey, I'm down for this. How do I sign up?
by Awehrman
Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:05 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Creation of a new question archive
Replies: 30
Views: 2436

Creation of a new question archive

I suppose that Rolla (or other tournament hosts) should be able to decide whether their questions should go on the archive, but I think it is silly to think that coaches would be upset to see something they paid for several years ago appear for free on the archive. Do people complain when that new b...
by Awehrman
Tue May 08, 2007 7:53 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Charles Dees
Replies: 19
Views: 1627

Charles Dees

Hmmm. Let's see how long it takes to get this person booted. You do realize that by posting in a public internet forum, you are basically shouting racial epithets (and poor spelling) to the world. Would you say this in front of a group of people in person? Would you want your parents, school, or fut...