Muck Masters open trash tournament at UTC 8/2/03

UTC will hold its 3rd annual Muck Masters, a one-day trash
tournament, on Saturday, August 2.  Since we have the full day, we 
will include more rounds and an interlude for a name-that-tune 
competition.  Packet submission is expected; you can get in without a 
packet, but it'll cost ya extra.

       TIME & PLACE: Start time on Sat. 8/2/03 -- registration 
beginning at 9:00 AM, announcements at 9:45, and play beginning at
10.  When will we finish?  Best guess is around 8-9 PM. Tournament 
headquarters will be Holt 124 on the UTC campus.
        ELIGIBILITY: This is a purely open tourney.  Anyone with an 
opposable thumb who tells me in time and pays the appropriate fees 
gets to play.
        FORMAT: The usual.  20 questions per round, untimed.  Teams
up to 4 players each, with alternates OK as long as there are no 
substitutions in mid-match.
        FREE AGENTS: If you want to attend but don't have teammates, 
let me know.  Or if you have a partial team and are looking for 
reinforcements, do the same. Any folks like this, I'll put you in 
touch with each other and let you sort it out.

        FEES:
        Base fee $90 per team
        Discounts: - $10 for an experienced reader, for either Muck 
Masters or Moc Masters on Sun. 8/3
        - $5 for each empty chair on the team (i.e., a one-person
team without a buzzer would be charged $75)
        -$5 for a working buzzer (1 discount per team)
        - $10 for submitting full packet (25 and 25) by midnight
Sun., July 6
      [For packet submitted between midnight Sun., July 6, and 
midnight Wed., July 16, there is no discount or penalty.]
   Minimum fee after discounts: $50
  Penalties:
        + $5 for packet received between midnight Wed., July 16, and 
midnight Mon., July 21.
        + $15 for packet received between midnight Mon., July 21, and 
midnight Sun., July 27.
        + $30 for no packet submitted

PACKET GUIDELINES:        Preferred format is MS Word; 2nd favorite
is RTF format.  In a pinch I'll take a text file.  It makes me very
happy if the word "Answer:" is in front of each answer, and if each 
answer is on a separate line from the question.  I also like margins 
set a .5" all around.
    To simplify editing of the inevitable numerous duplicates, each 
packet submitted needs to contain at least 25 tossup and 25 boni. 
Visual boni will be accepted if possible;  physical challenges will
be considered; audio questions won't.
    While we do not wish to constrain the creative bounds of a trash 
round, here are loose distribution guidelines, cribbed directly from 
TrashMasters:
        2 - 4 each from:   Movies
                           TV
                           Sports
                           Music
                           Trashy "literature"
                           Trashy current events
       No more than 2 each from: Computer games & other computer 
stuff, Gadgets, Comics,  Food, Potent potables, Board games, Other 
trashy merchandise (e.g., the Metamucil tossup), etc. 
       Anything else you think of is fine as long as there are no
more than two questions per as-yet-unnamed category. 
    As for the style, remember that trashy material does not mean 
sloppily written questions.  Just follow the guidelines below from
our academic tournaments and you'll do fine:
    Tossups --  average length 3 sentences.  We want questions that 
begin with lesser-known details and gradually get easier.  And please 
don't violate the pronoun rule -- e.g.,, if your first pronoun is 
"He..." the answer should 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.

DIRECTIONS: By now most of you know the way by heart, but just in 
case...
>From Atlanta or Knoxville -- take I-75 to Chattanooga, then I-24 west 
towards downtown. Once in town follow the freeway splitoff for U.S.
27 N./Downtown.  From 27 N. take the 4th St. 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 parking lot.  Grote is
the other building adjoining that lot.
* 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.

CONTACT:  Tournament director is of course Charlie Steinhice, coach
of UTC's quizbowl team.  I can be reached by e-mail at steinhic (at) 
bellsouth (dot) net.   I can also be reached by phone at 423-763-7147 
(office) / 423-877-2706 (home), or by mail at 1185 Mtn.Creek Rd. 
#1801, Chattanooga, TN 37405.

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