At about 9:30 AM, in the pre-meeting before Georgia Tech's MLK, our Maryland contignent found out that the D1 field had dropped to eight teams, and that we would play only seven guaranteed rounds (though an eighth was added later). Honestly, at that point, I was not pleased at all, and wondered why we drove 11 hours for such a brief quizbowl experience. Then I heard the questions... and wow, I was incredibly impressed. Saurabh, Stephen, and anyone else from Tech who contributed to that set should be commended; this was my favorite question set that I heard this year. The questions were accessible to most teams, yet still provided for fair separation between the best teams and the rest. Very few errors, very few repeats, proper pyramid structure... and perhaps the best thing, I came out feeling that the stuff I did not know (for the most part) was worth knowing. I took about 30 notes while playing. I think it was said earlier, but I'll repeat it: more experienced teams could learn a lot from the Georgia Tech question writers about how to put together a tight question set. I would recommend these packets as good training for younger players. I do wish that we could have played another 3-4 rounds, and that the game rooms could have been above freezing :) Still, I left satisfied, because I guess eight rounds of enjoyable questions beats 15 rounds of crap anytime. Thanks again for providing a good logistical event with great questions. -Adam P.S. Congrats to Kentucky and to Florida... both teams were nailing toss-ups left and right before I even knew the subject matter being asked :-P Those are far and away the two best teams we have played to date this year -- and top-to-bottom, I'd put Florida up against just about any team in the country in a Deep Bench format.
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