In case you missed the original announcement, or forgot as much over the holidays as I did, this is regarding UTC's 5th annual "junior bird" academic quizbowl tournament, Sword Bowl, on Sat., Jan. 25, 2003. First, an important announcement: based on the survey results, we will *not* host the proposed trash "junior bird" the next day. Apologies to anyone who got their hopes up, but there weren't enough teams that could stay for Sunday to warrant it. Sword Bowl itself, of course, is still on. I do need more questions, so I encourage teams to take advantage of the generous packet discount. I will extend the $15 packet discount for any sets received by midnight Sun., Jan. 12, and will give a $10 discount for any packets received between Sun. 1/12 and midnight Wed., Jan. 15. I've copied below the original announcement, which includes packet specs as well as fees. Keep in mind, though, that if your school is sending more than one team, any packets need to be blind to the other teams from your own school. As for the field, we have a lot of "maybes" as people are still figuring out their spring semester schedules, etc. Here's what I have for teams so far: DEFINITE Georgia Tech Marion Military Institute (1-2) Wofford Florida Texas-Dallas (2) Macon State (1-2) Georgia Tennessee Vanderbilt UTC (1-2) MAYBE U. of the South Alabama State MTSU Tennessee State Bevill State Clemson I haven't heard from several of the usual suspects; so far only Berry is a definite no (they're hosting a high school tournament the same day.) So it looks like we'll have a big field. Please let me know if the above list has any errors or omissions. Also, if you're coming, it would help to know how many buzzers you expect to bring. Here's the original announcement text. If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me at steinhic (at) bellsouth.net. The UTC Academic Trivia Association will host its 5th annual "junior bird" tournament, Sword Bowl 2003, on Sat., Jan. 25, 2003. Once again this is the same weekend as Penn Bowl, one of the nation's premier quizbowl tournaments for 4-year schools. So Sword Bowl is designed as an alternative for less experienced teams. ELIGIBILITY: The tournament is open to the following: * Teams from 4-year colleges/universities composed entirely of freshmen and/or sophomores and/or upperclassmen in their first or second year of intercollegiate quizbowl competition. (Important note: since the untimed game and ACF-style format differs so greatly from the CBI style, participation in CBI and HCASC tournaments will not be counted as previous intercollegiate experience.) * Junior college teams, even if they include players with two or more years' intercollegiate experience * High school teams willing to take their chances with the above Multiple teams may participate from the same school. However, players on any given team must be enrolled in the same school; open or mixed-affiliation schools are not accepted. FORMAT: This will be modified ACF style, with untimed rounds of 20 tossups (worth 10 pts. each) and up to 20 bonuses (worth a possible 30 pts. each.) Packet submission is *optional but financially prudent.* FIELD SIZE: Owing to the number of readers expected, we have tentatively capped the field at 44 teams. If we get more readers we may be able to expand this, but I think it's unlikely we'll need to. SCHEDULE: By popular demand, again this year we're making this a Saturday-only tournament. Registration will begin at 9:00 EST with announcements at 9:45 and the tournament beginning at 10. I'll have a better idea of when it will end when I have a better idea of the size of the field, but the last three years it's ended around 8 PM. LOCATION: Grote and Holt Halls on the UT-Chattanooga campus, with tournament headquarters in 129 Grote Hall. FEES: Again, we do not require packets but offer generous discounts for packet submission. Fees therefore can range from $50 to $95 for a team. Here's the fee structure: Base fee $95 per team Discounts: - $15 for packet (25 tossups, 25 boni, meeting the guidelines below) submitted by Sat., Jan. 11 [No packets will be accepted after midnight Jan. 12 except by prior arrangement.] - $10 more if packet is submitted by Thurs., Dec. 26 - $5 for working lockout buzzer system [Bring spares if you have 'em; if we need to use 'em we'll knock off another $5.] - $10 for each team after the first from the same school [Note: each team will need to submit its own packet to get the packet discount.] - $15 for any school making its first appearance at a UTC-sponsored tournament. Minimum fee per team is $50. PACKET EDITING NOTES: After Sword Bowl 1999 we compiled editing notes to help future packet writers. If you'd like a copy of those editing notes to get a better feel for what we're looking for, e-mail me and I'll send 'em along. PACKET SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: We want questions at a degree of difficulty appropriate for less experienced collegiate teams, but still structured in the style of ACF questions (pyramidal tossups, all bonuses worth 30 possible points, etc.) To make editing easier, we ask for 25 tossups and 25 bonuses per packet, distributed as follows: Literature 5 Recommended: at least 2 20th century, at least 2 pre-20th century at least 2 U.S./Canadian, at least 2 non-U.S./Canadian Sciences 5 Required: at least 1 _at_ biology, physics, & chemistry History 5 Recommended: at least 2 20th century, at least 2 pre-20th century at least 2 U.S./Canadian, at least 2 non-U.S./Canadian The remaining 10 should contain at least 1 each and no more than 3 of: Philosophy/religion/myth Fine arts Social sciences incl. geography Popular culture General knowledge/interdisciplinary As for the style: Tossups -- average length 3 sentences. We want questions that begin with lesser-known details and gradually get easier. And don't violate the pronoun rule -- e.g.,, if your first pronoun is "He..." the answer better be the person, not a title. Bonuses -- all bonuses worth a possible 30 pts.; no single-part all-or-nothing bonuses. Bonuses should be such that a novice team stands a good chance of getting at least 10 pts., a good team 20, and the best teams all 30 pts. If you would like a sample packet for comparison purposes, just let me know. We prefer not to use 6-part, 5 pts. per part boni unless they're *real* short and quick to read. Submission format: I prefer MS Word or RTF, with the answers in boldface and preceded by the word "Answer:". Also, to hold down copying costs, I use 11 point Times New Roman and expand all the margins to .5". It's not essential, but it makes my life easier, so I thought I'd mention it. LODGINGS: We have not confirmed a hotel discount but will do so as soon as possible. E-mail me if interested and I'll get you the details. DIRECTIONS: From Atlanta and points south -- take I-75 to Chattanooga, then I-24 west towards downtown, then follow the freeway splitoff for U.S. 27 North, downtown Chattanooga. From 27 North take the 4th Street exit, within sight of the Tennessee Aquarium. Go right on 4th St. (you have no choice) and follow it for ca. 1 mile. When you reach the UTC Arena, turn right on Mabel St. Mabel St. goes around a curve and becomes E. 5th St. Shortly thereafter, across from a cemetery, you'll reach Holt Hall. Just past Holt Hall turn right to enter the nearest parking lot. Grote is the other building adjoining the same parking lot. * From Knoxville and points north -- take I-75 to Chattanooga, then I-24 West; directions from there same as above. * From Nashville and points west/north: Take I-24 east to Chattanooga. As you round Moccasin Bend (freeway goes alongside river) watch for two exit lanes on the right; take the less rightward of the two, which will have signs above it for U.S. 27 N. Rest of directions are the same as above. * From Birmingham and points southwest: Take I-59 to the outskirts of Chattanooga, where it dead-ends into I-24. Get on I-24 East and follow the Nashville directions from there. WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE?: It's not exactly a news flash, but the tournament director is Charlie Steinhice.
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