Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence

2014 NSC Hosting Bids

Sarah — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:11:56 +0000

PACE is currently seeking bids to host the 2014 NSC on Memorial Day Weekend (5/24-5/25/14). If you wish to submit a bid on behalf of your institution, please include:

1. Number of total game rooms available.
2. Ability to provide all game rooms in one building or a very closely situated group of buildings. Please indicate whether or not one building would be possible at your site.
3. Number of auditoriums available and their approximate capacity.
4. Number of house and otherwise local staffers available.
5. Proximity to local airports.
6. Proximity to local affordable hotels.
7. Public transportation options.
8. Earliest date when game rooms can be reserved.
9. Weekends around the usual high school national championship range of May and June game rooms would be available, though Memorial Day Weekend is currently our first choice.
10. List of large tournaments hosted at this venue in the past.
11. Whether or not we would be able to reserve rooms for the Friday preceding the tournament for set-up purposes.
12. The earliest rooms will be available on Saturday and Sunday, as well as the latest in the evening we will be able to use the rooms.
13. Whether or not we will be able to lock rooms in order to safely leave buzzers set up on Friday and/or Saturday night and be able to get those rooms unlocked in a timely fashion the next morning. If someone on your team physically has or can easily get keys to the relevant buildings, let us know that as well.
14. Proximity to food–will these food options be open on weekends and during the summer?
15. Availability of reliable wireless Internet access, which will be needed for at least the control room staff.
16. Any other information that may be relevant, such as scheduled construction that could cause a lot of noise and/or travel difficulties or summer classes that we would need to avoid disturbing.
17. Contact person for this bid.

Bids should be sent to me (Sarah Angelo) at sangelo147@gmail.com any time between now and July 13, 2013. Thank you very much for your interest.

NSC 2013 Photos

Mike Bentley — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 04:18:52 +0000

Here are some photos from the 2013 NSC.

NSC 2013 Champions Ladue

NSC 2013 2nd Place Team LASA

NSC 2013 Finals Match

Some of the 2013 NSC All-Stars

2013 NSC Stats and Final Standings

Sarah — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 21:31:09 +0000

Thank you to everyone who attended the 2013 NSC! All statistics from this tournament can be found on its entry on the Quizbowl Resource Database.

Full standings are listed below. I know in some cases the standings are otherwise than the stats indicate; I’m happy to make any corrections sent to me if I miss an instance of that.

1 Ladue
2 LASA A
3 Loyola Academy
4 Paul M. Dorman A
5 DCC A
6 LASA B
7 TJ A
8 Montgomery Blair
9 Maggie Walker A

10 “Robert E. Lee”
11 Cistercian
12 IMSA A
13 Hunter A
14 Dorman B
15 High Tech A
16 Richard Montgomery A
17 Ridgewood
18 Raleigh Charter A

19 Belvidere North
19 Northmont
21 Norcross
22 Torrey Pines
22 Stevenson A
24 Carbondale

25 Auburn
26 DMHS
27 Dunbar A
28 Olmsted Falls
28 LASA C
28 DCC B

31 Detroit Country Day
31 Oakland Mills
31 Hickman A
34 High Tech B
35 Wilmington Charter A
36 Mountain Lakes

37 Pikeville
38 Richard Montgomery B
38 Kellenberg
40 High Tech C
41 Metea Valley
41 Manheim Township

43 Maggie Walker B
43 Centennial
43 St. Anselm’s
46 Gonzaga
47 Sidney
48 Blacksburg

49 Raleigh Charter B
50 IMSA B
50 Bergen
52 Wilmington Charter B
52 Hunter B
54 AMSA B

55 Walnut Hills
55 Hanover
57 George Mason
58 Dublin Scioto
59 Stevenson B
59 Harmony

61 Summit North
61 Lisgar
63 Bloomington
63 AMSA A
65 TJ B
66 Norman

67 Dunbar B
67 Sharon
69 TJ C
69 Hickman B
71 Divine Child
72 Fort Osage

PACE NSC 2013 Superplayoff Seeds

Mike Bentley — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 11:20:57 +0000

Here are the seeds for the 2013 superplayoffs.

Full stats are at http://www.hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/1431/stats/2013_nsc_playoffs/.

A1 Ladue
A2 Montgomery Blair
A3 Maggie Walker A
A4 Dorman B
A5 High Tech A
A6 Richard Montgomery A
B1 LASA A
B2 LASA B
B3 Thomas Jefferson A
B4 Robert E. Lee
B5 Hunter A
B6 IMSA A
C1 Paul M. Dorman A
C2 Loyola Academy
C3 DCC A
C4 Cistercian
C5 Raleigh Charter A
C6 Ridgewood
D1 Torrey Pines
D2 Carbondale
D3 Olmsted Falls
D4 DCC B
D5 Mountain Lakes
D6 Wilmington Charter A
E1 Northmont
E2 Stevenson A
E3 Auburn
E4 LASA C
E5 David H. Hickman A
E6 High Tech B
F1 Belvidere North
F2 Norcross
F3 DMHS
F4 Paul L. Dunbar A
F5 Detroit Country Day
F6 Oakland Mills
G1 Pikeville
G2 Richard Montgomery B
G3 St. Anselm’s
G4 Sidney
G5 Hunter B
G6 W. Charter B
H1 High Tech C
H2 Metea Valley
H3 Centennial
H4 Gonzaga
H5 Raleigh Charter B
H6 Bergen County Academies
I1 Manheim
I2 Kellenberg
I3 Maggie Walker B
I4 Blacksburg
I5 IMSA B
I6 AMSA B
J1 Walnut Hills
J2 Dublin Scioto
J3 Summit North
J4 AMSA A
J5 Sharon
J6 Thomas Jefferson C
K1 Hanover
K2 Stevenson B
K3 Lisgar
K4 Norman
K5 David H. Hickman B
K6 Divine Child
L1 George Mason
L2 Harmony
L3 Bloomington
L4 Thomas Jefferson B
L5 Dunbar B
L6 Fort Osage

We’ll see everyone at 8:15 in the round 13 room scheduled for your seed tomorrow morning!

2013 NSC Logistics Information

Sarah — Thu, 30 May 2013 20:52:05 +0000

This post contains important information about various aspects of tournament logistics. If any questions or concerns remain unanswered after you have read this message, please feel free to contact our tournament director, Matt Weiner (mattweiner.vcu@gmail.com).SCHEDULE OUTLINEMost importantly, the basic when and where is as follows:

All registration & meeting activities will take place in the Physics Building (http://www.umd.edu/CampusMaps/bld_detail.cfm?bld_code=PHY). The team meeting will be in lecture hall 1412 and signs will be posted in and near that room regarding where to line up for registration & so forth.

Instructions on accessing the Maryland campus through various means of transportation are found at the bottom of this post: http://www.hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=252055#p252055

Some important information is recapped here:

For teams staying at the on-campus Marriott: You can get to the building by walking about one mile east (i.e., towards Route 1) on Campus Drive or Fieldhouse Drive. If weather or other circumstances prevent you from walking, you should drive south to the Campus Drive roundabout and turn left (north) to reach the Regents Drive parking garage.

For those staying at Route 1 hotels or traveling to the tournament from outside of College Park using the Metro system or the interstate, you will enter campus from the Campus Drive/Paint Branch Parkway/Route 1 entrance, travel straight (west) to the large Campus Drive roundabout with the M on it, and turn right (north) at the roundabout to reach the Regents Drive parking garage. Do not use the University Boulevard entrance on Route 1 if you are coming from the north; continue moving south to the Campus Drive entrance and you will have a much quicker & easier time finding the buildings from there.

The Physics building is just across the street and a few dozen feet south of the parking garage.Anyone who is staying outside of College Park and using the Metro on Saturday morning should have a backup plan. The system does not open until 7 AM on weekends. This means that your first opportunity to depart at the College Park station and walk to the campus is somewhat later than 7 AM, with how late being determined by where exactly you are coming from. If you miss the first train or there is a delay in the system, be prepared to call a cab so that you do not arrive late.Registration will begin at 7:00 AM on Saturday, June 8 and run until 8:15 AM, when the team meeting will begin. Round 1 begins at 9:00 AM. Ample time will be allotted to run the team meeting and for teams to walk to games taking place in other buildings by 9:00.

To be very clear, this means, not only, that teams need to be present in their rooms by 9:00, but that they need to get to the registration desk before 8:58–if a team shows up two minutes under the wire and finds out their building is a ten minute walk away, we will NOT hold the game for them. Teams arriving at any point after 8:15 are considered late and risk missing part or all of the prelims.

Please make sure that, if your contact cell phone number has changed since you filled out the registration form, you send us the new number. If it is past 8:00 and you are on your way to the tournament but not yet there, call George Berry at (804) 201-3213 to let us know what’s going on; we will call you using the number we have on file for your team if we don’t hear from you by 8:15. At9:00 AM, any team that has not shown up to Round 1 and has not been in contact with us by phone (either by calling us or by answering our call at the provided number) about the reasons for the delay will be replaced by a standby team, and will NOT have an opportunity to participate in the tournament even if they arrive later.

There will be a lunch break on Saturday at a time announced on-site. There are a limited number of fast food establishments in the on-campus student union that will be open, as well as many off-campus restaurants on Route 1 within walking distance during lunch. We will provide directions on-site for suggested lunch options. Saturday gameplay is expected to end by 6:30 PM with no additional meal break.

There will be no general meeting on Saturday evening or Sunday morning, and you will return directly to your scheduled Round 13 game room on Sunday by 8:15. We will begin calling after absent teams at that time; the “round starts with or without you” time is 8:30.

Please be advised that all team-provided buzzers will be available to retrieve starting at 11:30 AM in Physics. Teams remaining as participants or spectators in the superplayoff rounds and beyond may leave the buzzers with us until the conclusion of the tournament. Buzzers will NOT be available for retrieval before 11:30 AM on Sunday. Please do NOT make travel plans that depend on you picking up buzzers before this time. Teams who leave before 11:30 or forget to pick up their buzzers at the designated time before leaving will be responsible for paying the shipping on buzzers that we send back to you after the fact.

All teams except those in the top tier of the playoffs will be done by 11:00. All teams are invited and encouraged to watch the remainder of the superplayoffs and the finals after your own participation is complete.

We especially encourage teams to stay (or return) for the final events on Sunday: the tournament finals, the all-star game, and the NSC awards presentation. The finals have traditionally been riveting. There will also be many awards that your team members may be eligible for, and the all-star game will feature audience participation with book and gift card prizes for spectators. This proved to be a very popular and enjoyable event for the audience last year.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

The prelim format will be 9 seeded brackets of 8, with the top two going to the championship playoff group of 18, the next two to the second playoff group of 18, the next two to the third group of 18, and the last two to the fourth group of 18. The playoff groups will each be divided into three brackets of six and play round robins. After the conclusion of the playoff round robins in round 12, teams in the second, third, and fourth tiers will play crossover superplayoffs based on whether they finished in the top two, next two, or bottom two of their playoff group, over rounds 13-16, and then those teams will be done. Teams in the top tier will play crossover superplayoffs based on finishing in the top or bottom three of their playoff group, which requires six games plus a bye and will extend to round 19 for those teams only. The championship superplayoff teams will be ranked by record against other superplayoff teams and then play an ACF-style final (clear by 2 wins outright, ahead by 1 gets advantage in weighted best-of-three, tie played off on one game).

All ties determining which playoff tier you make out of the prelims and which superplayoff group you make out of the playoffs will be played off on half packets. Ties for final placement within the top playoff tier will be played off on half packets. Only ties after prelims and then ties within the top playoff tier will be broken on half-packets; ties for superplayoff groups in tiers 2-4 will be broken on playoff PPG, and ties for final place in those superplayoff groups will stand as ties. Ties for entrance into the final will be played off on half or full packets as applicable to the size of the tie. Thus: All teams will play through round 16 on Sunday morning regardless of prelim performance. The top 18 teams will play through at least round 19. During round 20, ties for spots 3-18 will be broken.

Out of respect for both teams who were excluded from the tournament based on the field cap and your scheduled opponents, it is very important that you play out the entirety of your schedule even if you are not in contention for the championship. Please do not fail to show up on Sunday or otherwise leave early.

Please let Matt know if you have any questions about the tournament format.

ROSTERS & PROGRAM INFORMATION

If you have not yet filled out your team information form, please do so here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GZIh7EHcO04eC8CYT9yUQPB5KO0eWYRAgSoIhfMYJX0/viewform. The deadline for filling out this form is Sunday, 6/3. If you need to amend your entry or review what you filled out, please let Mike Bentley (mbentleypace@gmail.com) know. Also, we could still use team pictures if you want those included in the team program. Send them to Mike if you have any such photos.

We posted the complete sub-distribution of the tournament at http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11994.

There have been no changes to the tournament rules since last year. The 2012 rules and a list of major changes from 2011 can be found here: http://www.pace-nsc.org/?p=1717.

PAYMENT & DISCOUNTSPlease contact PACE Treasurer Aaron Rosenberg at cursednine@gmail.com if you have not yet paid for the tournament. Also, if you wish to sign up a team-provided scorekeeper for a discount (or you indicated 1 or more scorekeepers when you registered but did not follow up with their names and contact information) get in touch with staff coordinator Jacob Wasserman at jacoblwasserman@gmail.com.

We look forward to your participation in this year’s NSC. Please get in touch with Matt if you have any questions.

2013 NSC Field Expansion: 72 Teams

Sarah — Thu, 30 May 2013 15:34:14 +0000

Effective immediately, the 2013 NSC field has expanded to 72 teams. Several waitlisted teams have confirmed their entrance into the field. As of this writing, 3 spots remain and the 2 waitlisted teams we have yet to hear from (Norcross and Harmony Science) have first right of refusal. Registration is limited to those waitlisted teams and our current standby teams until 10 AM EST tomorrow, May 31, and will open to any interested teams after that point. Teams who are interested in registering should contact Aaron Rosenberg at cursednine@gmail.com as soon as they are able to commit to attending.

To clarify, the remaining 3 spots will be assigned as follows:

1) Teams currently on the waitlist who commit by 10 tomorrow.

2) Teams currently on the standby list who commit to become paying teams by 10 tomorrow, ordered within this list by what their position on the standby list was.

3) Any teams not meeting criteria 1 or 2, including waitlist/standby teams who tell us after 10 tomorrow, and teams on neither list who tell us at any time, ordered by when they e-mail us committing to attend.

2013 Cooper Award Winners

Sarah — Fri, 03 May 2013 04:05:39 +0000

PACE is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s Cooper Awards:

The recipient of the Benjamin Cooper Young Ambassador Award is Max Schindler of Ladue High School.

The co-recipients of the Benjamin Cooper Academic Ambassador Award are Chris Chiego and Dwight Wynne.

Congratulations to Max, Chris, and Dwight!

2013 NSC: Standby Teams

Sarah — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:43:17 +0000

Registration for the 2013 NSC is now closed. However, if your team is in the area, you are welcome to sign up as a standby team. Such teams would be offered a place in the field in the event of last-minute drops and would be welcome to staff or observe the tournament in the event that there is not space for them. Teams interested in joining our standby list should contact Sarah Angelo at sangelo147@gmail.com.

Current Standby Teams:

Western Albemarle
Marshall

2013 NSC: Field Closure and Waitlist Opening

Sarah — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 01:26:57 +0000

The 2013 NSC field is currently full at 64 teams. Because of our room limitations, it will not be possible to expand the field. A waiting list has been started for all other interested teams. Teams who have already filled out the registration form can join the waiting list by mailing in their $100 down payment; these checks will not be cashed unless their teams enter the field and will be returned in the event that their team does not enter the field. Teams will join the waitlist in the order in which a check is received.

2013 NSC: Important Registration Reminders

Sarah — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:16:19 +0000

As we approach 64 teams having filled out our registration form, I want to remind all teams of this year’s policy that they are not considered officially registered until Aaron Rosenberg has received their deposit (or full payment). Remember that payment should be mailed to:
Aaron Rosenberg
901 W. Springfield Avenue
Apartment 17
Urbana, IL 61801
and that this address is different from last year, as Aaron has moved. Payment via Google Checkout is also possible; contact Aaron Rosenberg at cursednine@gmail.com for details or if you need your invoice re-sent.

Please note in accordance with this policy that the first 64 teams to submit a deposit and/or full payment will be considered the initial full field for the tournament, regardless of the order in which they submitted their online form. All other teams will be placed on a waiting list.