The First Inherent Advantage

• From: Durham_Devil
• Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1999 13:17:49 -0800
• Message-ID: <000S2EFFT.001CUQ41E.12170551-quizbowl_at_...>

In my previous post -- HINT: READ IT FIRST! -- I
mentioned two Inherent Advantages an experienced house team
has. I will describe the first here, and the second in
another post, so that any replies, rebuttals, death
threats, etc., can be better aimed.

The First
Inherent Advantage is knowing the Tournament Director. An
experienced house team such as the Maryland A team from this
weekend has been around the tournament director for many
years. They have heard questions he writes, and they
know his quirks. As such, if the TD adds his own
flavor through the editing -- which inevitably will
happen (it's human nature) -- those who know him* well
will recognize such wrinkles and anticipate the
correct answer. In a game measured by milliseconds, every
little bit helps.

This philosophy seems to say
that no house team should ever be entered. Not quite.
Freshmen in the fall are fair game for a house team
provided they haven't seen or heard any of the questions.
Why? Because they're new. I guarantee you the
contingent of freshmen alongside Shaun, Dave, and Julie
don't know the TDs any more or less than I do. This
level of personal ignorance (which is a lot better than
it sounds, admittedly) means that they will be
judged solely on their level of playing ability, not on
how well they can figure out what the TD is thinking.
Hence, they're fair game to play.

Am I saying
that Dave and Julie were aided by knowing Josh and/or
John to this degree? Yes. Am I saying there were
signals in the questions intentionally put there? No! I
would never accuse a team of intentionally cheating
like that. However, it is probable that the TDs, in an
effort to "clean up" packets or to write packets for
those who did not write them themselves, used
phraseology and clues that Dave, Julie, and even Shaun on B
heard over and over in practice. Advantage: Maryland.
But they aren't guilty of fixing the
tournament.

I had said in the chatroom that on the Michigan
packet it took two teams to beat Chicago. I will explain
why in the next post when I discuss the Second
Inherent Advantage.

Andy
(who holds no ill will
against Maryland, and would complain even if it were his
own school doing it against his will)