Re: Science Bowl Brouhaha

• From: matt_reece <no_reply_at_yahoogroups.com>
• Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2003 23:05:20 -0000
• Message-ID: <bk07rg+g8i4_at_...>

Ah, I remember the joys of Science Bowl protest resolution. (I was a
competitor about 3 years ago.) My favorite was when the opposing team
answered a question on "How many sigma bonds are in benzene" with "0"
(the right answer is 12), and convinced the judges they were right
"because the electrons are delocalized." (The judges agreed,
apparently not thinking about what the question asked or what this
fact might have to do with the answer.) The whole time, their own
coach, a chemistry teacher, was standing up and yelling at them that
they were wrong. In the end we won anyway, but it was frustrating as
the match was very close.

Anyhow, in your case, I would say they should be prompted, if the
answer is not just accepted outright. The other feasible response I
could imagine would be to read a question for only the second team.

Matt

--- In quizbowl_at_yahoogroups.com, zundevil <no_reply_at_y...> wrote:
> Since I'm here, I thought I'd relate an unseemly event from this 
> year's Science Bowl.  I don't *think* I posted this back when it 
> happened; I'm sorry if I did.
> 
> (Conveniently, btw, the below situation happened in an elimination-
> round of the playoffs, on the last question of a two-point game, on 
> a question worth four points, in the room where I was the judge)
> 
> I don't remember all the words exactly, but the question boiled down 
> to:
> 
> "How many grams of water are there in a liter of water?"
> 
> The first team answers "Ten-thousand": wrong, no penalty.
> 
> The second team answers "1 kilogram".  The correct answer is "1000" 
> or "1000 grams".  You make the call.
> 
> FWIW, I'm happy with the outcome that our room chose, with the 
> outside help of an official judge.  I'll post what we did to add to 
> a discussion, if there even is any.
> 
> Jason