The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Jeremy Nelson on May 24, 2010, 03:48:39 PM
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I'm on the staff for NAQT's High School National Championship this coming weekend in Chicago- Is anybody else from this forum going to be there attending/staffing? It'd be great to meet any of you!
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While I won't be at the NAQT tourney, I had the pleasure a couple of weeks ago to be on the staff at the Reach for the Top Ontario Provincial championships. The kids were great, very entertaining and our playoffs provided many exciting moments. In fact there are a couple of teams who didn't make it through the Provincials that are playing at NAQT. Jeremy please say hi to the kids from Lisgar CI if they are indeed there!
I am looking forward to being on staff at the Nationals this coming weekend as well.
Ryan.
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Sidebar: so, let's say you're a teacher who wants to start a quiz bowl team. What course of action do you recommend?
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[quote name=\'vtown7\' post=\'241380\' date=\'May 24 2010, 09:51 PM\']While I won't be at the NAQT tourney, I had the pleasure a couple of weeks ago to be on the staff at the Reach for the Top Ontario Provincial championships. The kids were great, very entertaining and our playoffs provided many exciting moments. In fact there are a couple of teams who didn't make it through the Provincials that are playing at NAQT. Jeremy please say hi to the kids from Lisgar CI if they are indeed there!
I am looking forward to being on staff at the Nationals this coming weekend as well.
Ryan.[/quote]
I might be biased, but one-time (February 2008) Jeopardy! Teen Tournament champion Rachel Horn is scheduled to be one of the members of the team at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati.
Brian
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[quote name=\'vtown7\' post=\'241380\' date=\'May 24 2010, 08:51 PM\']While I won't be at the NAQT tourney, I had the pleasure a couple of weeks ago to be on the staff at the Reach for the Top Ontario Provincial championships. The kids were great, very entertaining and our playoffs provided many exciting moments. In fact there are a couple of teams who didn't make it through the Provincials that are playing at NAQT. Jeremy please say hi to the kids from Lisgar CI if they are indeed there!
I am looking forward to being on staff at the Nationals this coming weekend as well.
Ryan.[/quote]
Looks like they're bringing two teams. (They're at the top of the list, no less!) (http://\"http://www.naqt.com/hsnct/2010/field.html\") I'll be sure to pass along the message, Ryan!
So Canadian Nationals are this weekend as well?
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The crew from Lisgar is great. They are a strong team and in 2008 won Reach for the Top Nationals - the same team they lost to for the Provincial championships they then beat - by 5 points - on a buzzer beater at nationals.
If you're interested to learn about reach, www.reachforthetop.com is your destination, and they've got a good presence on a certain social networking site. In the provincial finals they were blogging consistently with score updates.
Twelve teams representing seven provinces* - should be a great championship!
Ryan.
*Saskatchewan isn't coming this year, PEI plays in the Nova Scotia league, and Newfoundland doesn't have any teams playing.
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[quote name=\'parliboy\' post=\'241381\' date=\'May 24 2010, 10:08 PM\']Sidebar: so, let's say you're a teacher who wants to start a quiz bowl team. What course of action do you recommend?[/quote]
Step One is probably to find out whether other schools in your area have quiz bowl teams, and if they do, speak to the teachers who run them. Chances are that they probably already participate in some kind of league or other regular organized competition, which often is no more than students getting together in vacant classrooms after school to compete. There's a lot more to organized quiz bowl competition than these high-end tournaments or local television programs. Those nearby teachers would also know about area tournaments where your team can gain experience. They could also advise you about things like recruiting players (the kids with the best grades are rarely the best players you can find) and finding question suppliers and equipment.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'241396\' date=\'May 25 2010, 12:36 AM\'][quote name=\'parliboy\' post=\'241381\' date=\'May 24 2010, 10:08 PM\']Sidebar: so, let's say you're a teacher who wants to start a quiz bowl team. What course of action do you recommend?[/quote]
Step One is probably to find out whether other schools in your area have quiz bowl teams, and if they do, speak to the teachers who run them.[/quote]
Adding on a lesson I learned last year after inquiring about starting a quiz bowl/Academic Challenge team at my school... If you are unionized and there is nothing in the bargaining agreement about an academic team coach position, go no further. ("If there's no pay scale listed, such a position doesn't exist" was what I was told.) Apparently my district does not want to showcase their smartest...
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[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'241414\' date=\'May 25 2010, 03:39 PM\']Adding on a lesson I learned last year after inquiring about starting a quiz bowl/Academic Challenge team at my school... If you are unionized and there is nothing in the bargaining agreement about an academic team coach position, go no further. ("If there's no pay scale listed, such a position doesn't exist" was what I was told.) Apparently my district does not want to showcase their smartest...[/quote]
Interesting. In PA, which is a unionized teacher state (do they go by state? at least all of our nearby schools have unions, my mom was the head of her union for awhile), most schools offer a stipend at the beginning of the year to the quiz bowl coach. It never comes close to a decent hourly wage for as much work that goes into it in most cases, of course.
Sir Matt's point earlier about the kids with the best grades not being the best players is apt. The well-rounded kids who may very well tilt towards nerds are great. Perhaps you could hold an after-school J!-type tournament, and have the kids group into teams for a quick round-robin play, and feeding them wouldn't hurt. You'd be able to spot the stars very quickly. Our leagues ran October-March, so you would have to do this very early in the school year if your league would run at the same time.
Media aren't a bad place to turn to locate activity in your area. Our local newspaper sponsors the main league and posts results.
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Intelligent kids get shafted by a friggin' bargaining agreement and a union.
I know this is The Game Show Forum, but this is yet another reason why I dislike unions.
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[quote name=\'tvmitch\' post=\'241419\' date=\'May 25 2010, 04:57 PM\']Sir Matt's point earlier about the kids with the best grades not being the best players is apt. The well-rounded kids who may very well tilt towards nerds are great.[/quote]I hung out with the S-M-R-T crowd during school, and yet whenever we were at a party and a trivia game is put on the table, suddenly everyone wants to be on my team. Quiz bowl is more than just getting good marks, there's also being able to assimilate huge chunks of information into what you want; having the reflexes to buzz when you think you'll know it, and a desire to learn lots and lots of stuff.
Most of the crowd I hung out with were doing things like band/choir, drama and other stuff. I was in the library with some like minded friends who liked this sort of thing, pawing through material and pounding the bejeezus out of my Quizzard.
[quote name=\'Thunder\' post=\'241426\' date=\'May 25 2010, 08:55 PM\']I know this is The Game Show Forum, but this is yet another reason why I dislike unions.[/quote]Find me offline and we'll have some words about unions. :)
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[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'241429\' date=\'May 26 2010, 12:16 AM\']having the reflexes to buzz when you think you'll know it[/quote]Which is why I would never consider myself a good quiz/game show contestant (most of my adrenaline is of the "flight" variety). I was good at the math competitions, though.
[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'241429\' date=\'May 26 2010, 12:16 AM\'][quote name=\'Thunder\' post=\'241426\' date=\'May 25 2010, 08:55 PM\']I know this is The Game Show Forum, but this is yet another reason why I dislike unions.[/quote]Find me offline and we'll have some words about unions. :)[/quote]So, uh, how bout that Law & Order? ;-)
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[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'241429\' date=\'May 26 2010, 12:16 AM\'][quote name=\'Thunder\' post=\'241426\' date=\'May 25 2010, 08:55 PM\']I know this is The Game Show Forum, but this is yet another reason why I dislike unions.[/quote]Find me offline and we'll have some words about unions. :)
[/quote]
<litella>Why all this dispute over onions? Onions go great on lots of things--hamburgers, hot dogs, subs, pizzas. And how can you not like onion rings?</litella>
/I'm old.
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[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'241430\' date=\'May 25 2010, 11:22 PM\']So, uh, how bout that Law & Order? ;-)[/quote]
Jack McCoy for president.
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[quote name=\'bscripps\' post=\'241432\' date=\'May 25 2010, 10:19 PM\']<litella>Why all this dispute over onions? Onions go great on lots of things--hamburgers, hot dogs, subs, pizzas. And how can you not like onion rings?</litella>[/quote]
"...Never mind."
/well played, sir
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School competitions are a fun way to find out who's the "smartest" of the bunch. When I was in upstate New York, there was something called the "Blue & White Challenge"(aptly named because of our school colors). I was invited to participate in such a tournament during my junior year. About a couple weeks in, I was told I had to submit a certain number of questions(10 I think it was) in order to be "certified" as a team member. Needless to say, I wasn't the sharpest mind on the team I was on(I was 2nd in line to the captain), but I did pretty well. I answered 7 out of 9 questions that I attempted(one was an inadvertant buzz-in). The team managed to advance to a 3-team final. We won the first match, but lost the final match by 20 or 30 points. At least the experience was well worth it over the school year.
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[quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' post=\'241436\' date=\'May 26 2010, 03:36 AM\']Needless to say, I wasn't the sharpest mind on the team[/quote]
The jokes write themselves, folks.
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[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'241414\' date=\'May 25 2010, 03:39 PM\']If you are unionized and there is nothing in the bargaining agreement about an academic team coach position, go no further. ("If there's no pay scale listed, such a position doesn't exist" was what I was told.)[/quote]
That's disappointing, though not particularly surprising. Our union isn't nearly that rigid, though I'm having my own issues with them right now. Our district, like many in Michigan, is in serious financial straits. Our complicated situation has basically boiled down to a simple one. The teachers (along with every other employee in the district, from the superintendent down to a part-time secretary) would need to take no more than a two percent pay cut, or else we have to privatize custodial services and dramatically reduce bussing, costing dozens of long-time employees their jobs and seriously compromising our ability to function. So far, the teachers -- or at least their union -- won't budge.
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[quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' post=\'241436\' date=\'May 26 2010, 03:36 AM\']I answered 7 out of 9 questions that I attempted(one was an inadvertant buzz-in). The team managed to advance to a 3-team final. We won the first match, but lost the final match by 20 or 30 points. At least the experience was well worth it over the school year.[/quote]
Since you considered this important information, when I get home this evening I will detail every quizbowl match I ever appeared in as a player, dating back to 1987. I don't have an exact count handy, but it is well over 400. I invite colonial and any other quizbowler on this board, whether a long-time player or just for a season or two, to do the same. Because it's just that fascinating and relevant.
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[quote name=\'mmb5\' post=\'241443\' date=\'May 26 2010, 12:45 PM\']Since you considered this important information, when I get home this evening I will detail every quizbowl match I ever appeared in as a player, dating back to 1987. I don't have an exact count handy, but it is well over 400. I invite colonial and any other quizbowler on this board, whether a long-time player or just for a season or two, to do the same. Because it's just that fascinating and relevant.[/quote]
Can't wait!
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'241440\' date=\'May 26 2010, 11:12 AM\'][quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'241414\' date=\'May 25 2010, 03:39 PM\']If you are unionized and there is nothing in the bargaining agreement about an academic team coach position, go no further. ("If there's no pay scale listed, such a position doesn't exist" was what I was told.)[/quote]
That's disappointing, though not particularly surprising. Our union isn't nearly that rigid, though I'm having my own issues with them right now. Our district, like many in Michigan, is in serious financial straits.[/quote]
We're in the same boat. In Cleveland, over 500 teachers got laid off due to budget concerns. The Cleveland union is at an impasse with the Cleveland school district CEO since the bargaining agreement is up at the end of June. If the teachers union accepts a 4.6% budget cut, nobody will be laid off. From what I've heard, it'll get quite ugly during the summer.
Back to the academic team thing... I don't believe Cleveland high schools have participated in Academic Challenge for years, at least since the show returned to TV in 2005. Again, it could be a money issue, between having to reimburse the coach and any busing cost. If it doesn't make a profit, Cleveland schools doesn't know about it.
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[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'241453\' date=\'May 26 2010, 03:48 PM\']. Again, it could be a money issue, between having to reimburse the coach and any busing cost. If it doesn't make a profit, Cleveland schools doesn't know about it.[/quote]
Busing Cost?..I may be naive, but how much can it cost to bus maybe 6 students, (Players and alternates) A Teacher advisor or two and some parents to Downtown Cleveland?
I'm Assuming, of course that Academic Challenge is still taped at the WEWS studios at 30th and Euclid Ave.
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[quote name=\'Tim L\' post=\'241465\' date=\'May 26 2010, 05:28 PM\'][quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'241453\' date=\'May 26 2010, 03:48 PM\']. Again, it could be a money issue, between having to reimburse the coach and any busing cost. If it doesn't make a profit, Cleveland schools doesn't know about it.[/quote]
Busing Cost?..I may be naive, but how much can it cost to bus maybe 6 students, (Players and alternates) A Teacher advisor or two and some parents to Downtown Cleveland?
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Gas, cost of filling up a school bus, paying the driver the extra hour(s), etc. Unless I'm missing something, it's not so much how many are on the bus as much as it is a school bus having to go somewhere outside of a normal school route. Even though it counts as an extracurricular activity (like football games*), it's still extra driving and fuel for buses, not to mention how many schools probably compete and how many buses that would require each week.
*Transporting sports teams/bands/cheerleaders has become a financial issue in recent years as well.
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[quote name=\'Tim L\' post=\'241465\' date=\'May 26 2010, 05:28 PM\']Busing Cost?..I may be naive, but how much can it cost to bus maybe 6 students, (Players and alternates) A Teacher advisor or two and some parents to Downtown Cleveland?
I'm Assuming, of course that Academic Challenge is still taped at the WEWS studios at 30th and Euclid Ave.[/quote]
Last statement first--yes, Academic Challenge is still taped at E. 30th and Euclid, next door to where I taught for two years.
Brandon covered my response to part one quite well. An additional cost is paying overtime for the bus driver, assuming we're even talking about using a Cleveland school bus. I've seen more than a few private buses take sports teams from where I teach to away games. When I substitute coached our school's bowling team, we went to the lanes via 2 minivan taxis, and then those taxis dropped off each player at their house with one taxi's last stop being dropping me off at school.
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[quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' post=\'241436\' date=\'May 26 2010, 03:36 AM\']I answered 7 out of 9 questions that I attempted(one was an inadvertant buzz-in). The team managed to advance to a 3-team final. We won the first match, but lost the final match by 20 or 30 points. At least the experience was well worth it over the school year.[/quote]
I'll bet you post pictures of your sock drawer on Facebook.
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[quote name=\'J.R.\' post=\'241468\' date=\'May 26 2010, 03:03 PM\']I'll bet you post pictures of your sock drawer on Facebook.[/quote]
Who *doesn't*? :)
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[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'241467\' date=\'May 26 2010, 05:58 PM\']next door to where I taught for two years.[/quote]
So presumably, bussing would not have been a problem.
Of the 88 schools that play QuizBusters each season, my guess is that less than a quarter of them use their school busses to get there. Most of them just arrive on their own somehow.
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[quote name=\'brianhenke\' post=\'241382\' date=\'May 24 2010, 07:10 PM\']I might be biased, but one-time Jeopardy! Teen Tournament champion Rachel Horn is scheduled to be one of the members of the team at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati.[/quote]They're letting champs come back now?
[quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' post=\'241436\' date=\'May 26 2010, 12:36 AM\']About a couple weeks in, I was told I had to submit a certain number of questions(10 I think it was) in order to be "certified" as a team member.[/quote]I've heard of this as a requirement before. Can someone else explain it, please?
[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'241453\' date=\'May 26 2010, 12:48 PM\']If it doesn't make a profit, Cleveland schools doesn't know about it.[/quote]I was of the understanding that the public sector is supposed to do things that don't make a profit, because the private sector won't do 'em for that reason.
[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'241466\' date=\'May 26 2010, 02:41 PM\']Gas, cost of filling up a school bus, paying the driver the extra hour(s), etc. Unless I'm missing something, it's not so much how many are on the bus as much as it is a school bus having to go somewhere outside of a normal school route. Even though it counts as an extracurricular activity (like football games*), it's still extra driving and fuel for buses, not to mention how many schools probably compete and how many buses that would require each week.
*Transporting sports teams/bands/cheerleaders has become a financial issue in recent years as well.[/quote]And that's why the Kentwood Chess/Knowledge Bowl/Chinpoko-mon teams held fund raisers and paid dues and junk, so that we'd leave a neutral footprint on the school's books.
[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'241470\' date=\'May 26 2010, 03:28 PM\'][quote name=\'J.R.\' post=\'241468\' date=\'May 26 2010, 03:03 PM\']I'll bet you post pictures of your sock drawer on Facebook.[/quote]Who *doesn't*? :)[/quote]I was all ready to whip out my camera and post the picture and everything, except
1) I'm a lazy git and
2) Chris's reply is MUCH funnier than the sight gag would have been.
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[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'241484\' date=\'May 26 2010, 10:03 PM\'][quote name=\'brianhenke\' post=\'241382\' date=\'May 24 2010, 07:10 PM\']I might be biased, but one-time Jeopardy! Teen Tournament champion Rachel Horn is scheduled to be one of the members of the team at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati.[/quote]They're letting champs come back now?[/quote]
Why wouldn't they? If you win the Stanley Cup, you're not disqualified from playing again. And NAQT doesn't care if you played on Jeopardy. At one time they actually had a list of NAQT players who appeared on a game show.
[quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' post=\'241436\' date=\'May 26 2010, 12:36 AM\']About a couple weeks in, I was told I had to submit a certain number of questions(10 I think it was) in order to be "certified" as a team member.
I've heard of this as a requirement before. Can someone else explain it, please?[/quote]
The best way to becoming a player is to write questions, it's even more important than repetitive practice. It teaches you the structure of the question and what to expect while playing. Plus, if you do it right, you will have all of the facts of that subject burned into you. If you want to be a great player, get in the habit of writing 10 questions a week.
--Mike
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'241472\' date=\'May 26 2010, 06:43 PM\'][quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'241467\' date=\'May 26 2010, 05:58 PM\']next door to where I taught for two years.[/quote]
So presumably, bussing would not have been a problem.[/quote]
Taught. Past tense. Words have meanings, or some such stuff. ;-) Where I'm at now is 12 miles away.
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[quote name=\'mmb5\' post=\'241510\' date=\'May 27 2010, 05:44 AM\']Why wouldn't they? If you win the Stanley Cup, you're not disqualified from playing again. And NAQT doesn't care if you played on Jeopardy. At one time they actually had a list of NAQT players who appeared on a game show.[/quote] I was addressing Henke's awkwardness in calling someone a "one time Teen Tournament champion" or some such, as if you could win that particular tournament more than once.
The best way to becoming a player is to write questions, it's even more important than repetitive practice. It teaches you the structure of the question and what to expect while playing. Plus, if you do it right, you will have all of the facts of that subject burned into you. If you want to be a great player, get in the habit of writing 10 questions a week.
OK, that certainly makes sense, though if the lead in is "This character bought the pubic hair of an eighth-grader for $16.12," well, if you haven't seen that episode of South Park, you're up Excrement Creek, aren't you? Or haven't read that book. Or taken that computer programming class.
(Book learning is great, and is its own reward, but there's something to be said about learning by living life.)
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[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'241554\' date=\'May 27 2010, 08:12 PM\']OK, that certainly makes sense, though if the lead in is "This character bought the pubic hair of an eighth-grader for $16.12," well, if you haven't seen that episode of South Park, you're up Excrement Creek, aren't you? Or haven't read that book. Or taken that computer programming class.[/quote]
Yeah, there are some things you just won't know off the first clue, and you have to hope like hell that the question is still up for grabs at the gimme clue. Other things, you just won't know. It happens.
(Book learning is great, and is its own reward, but there's something to be said about learning by living life.)
Definitely Approves (http://\"http://theulot.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/slumdog_millionaire_movie_image.jpg\")
/Wikipedia surfing doesn't hurt, either.
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[quote name=\'rollercoaster87\' post=\'241582\' date=\'May 27 2010, 09:12 PM\']
(Book learning is great, and is its own reward, but there's something to be said about learning by living life.)
Definitely Approves (http://\"http://theulot.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/slumdog_millionaire_movie_image.jpg\")
/Wikipedia surfing doesn't hurt, either.[/quote]You sir? Win.
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Just an update if anyone's wondering - currently in the quarter finals at Reach National Championships - results are on facebook.com/reachforthetop, KVHS from Quispamsis, New Brunswick is the first semi finalist. Having a great time... stories to come!
Ryan.