Ann B. Davis
The Ann B. Davis was a trash tournament held at Michigan, usually in conjunction with the Michigan MLK tournament.
Since its inception, ABD's tournament director was Mike Burger. Craig Barker joined Burger in 2003 as co-director, making good on a promise to retire from ABD competition if he ever won it.
Mike and Craig decided to retire the event after 2008.
Format
The format at the Michigan site often had matches of 21 power-marked tossups split into three 7-tossup periods. The first two periods usually see some experimental rules come into play, with the third period played according to more or less standard quizbowl rules. Lames and saves are usually in effect throughout matches.
Along with Trashmasters, Ann B. Davis had perhaps the toughest trash fields in the format, as TRASH staff were eligible to play.
Experimental Rules
Experimental rules used at ABD have included:
50-or-nothing - after hearing the intro to the first bonus part, a team could declare "50 or nothing", wagering that it'll convert the entire bonus. If the team missed any bonus part, they get zero points.
Get Out of Interrupt Free - each team received a Get Out of Interrupt Free card, playable after negging. A correct answer after playing the card scored zero on the tossup, but made the team eligible for the bonus. A second incorrect answer earned the team minus-10 points.
Multiple guessing on tossups - If a tossup was read to completion, each player (provided neither team has negged) had the opportunity to attempt a guess. This required vigilance on the part of the moderator to keep from blurting the answer, as the instinct is to give the answer after hearing from one person per side.
Carryover or "skins" tossups - the tossup after a dead tossup was now worth 10 additional points.
Go-It-Alone Bonuses - one player on the team will answer all three parts of the bonus without consultation. Once any part is missed, the bonus ends with that many points earned, but if all three parts are converted, 60 points are awarded.
Partial Tournament History
| Year | tournament subtitle | champion |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Hawaiian Getaway | The Thin Red Gerbil |
| 2000 | Ann B. Davis 1900 | The Talented Mr. Gerbil |
| 2001 | A Trash Oddity | Dude, Where's My Gerbil? |
| 2002 | Palindromically Yours | 75% Gerbil Free |
| 2003 | Sloop Ann B. | They Shoot Mascots, Don't They? |
| 2004 | #9 | Win a Gerbil with Tad Hamilton! |
| 2005 | AXD | The Life Gerbilic with Steve Zissou |
| 2006 | A1B1D | Bill O'Reilly No-Spin Punting Clinic |
| 2007 | Twelve Trashy Men | Bill O'Reilly's Tru Kultchur Wariers |
| 2008 | A Barker's Dozen | Bill O'Reilly's Second Favorite Foursome |