Well, I checked this thing tonight to see if there was an update on an upcoming tournament, and I see that the ole alma mater has come under attack. So, confoundit, I guess I have to post. Prior to graduating last year, I captained UGA as and undergraduate and in law school, so I know what I'm talking about. That said, Matt Weiner does not. Georgia in no way refuses to attend academic tournaments. In fact, this year Georgia hosted two NAQT events, and attended NAQT nationals in Division II, posting a respectable record. The players in the program are young and talented. The only graduate student is Robin, the current captain. True, as a program, Georgia has largely shied away from ACF tournaments. John Skelton, who preceeded me as captain, did not like the ACF format and warned me I wouldn't either. Regardless, we attended some ACF events early on. We did not care for them. I didn't see the value of staring at a wall while five questions went unanswered, nor did I have the inclination to commit to memory the esoteric knowledge about which was being asked. In short, I had no fun. I've always felt if you have the option to do something, why do it, if you don't enjoy it? Now, I don't mean to attack the ACF format here. Obviously some people do enjoy it, and that's great. I don't go to the tournaments, but I don't attack people for hosting them or enjoying them either. We did have people at Georgia who enjoyed the format, and played it--even winning a tournament or two. I will say that I think knowing the material that is more often asked in the other formats, especially trash, has served me better generally. I find I can build rapport with someone much easier using knowledge from the trash realm than from ACF. But to argue one format's validity over the other really is silly. When you get down to it, what value do any of them have in bettering a person, other than teamwork, which is shared by all? They all simply involve recall of knowledge--the lowest level of Bloom's taxonomy. Really, all that's left is the entertainment value, so if you enjoy what you're playing, your format is serving its purpose. Back to Matt Weiner, after seeing your post tonight, I remembered that a friend from a rival institution told me a few weeks ago that someone named Matt Weiner had posted on a high school board that the Georgia program had been destroyed by trash. I searched to make sure. Sure enough, I found the post. That post was inaccurate and irresponsible. The Georgia team is well-rounded and successful. In addition to the evidence above, the team finished second in college bowl regionals. They also had a player make the top scorers' list at NAQT nationals. I've been told that their modified ACF participation was limited this year because of scheduling conflicts the younger players had. As far as trash participation, the philosophy, in addition to above, is and has been that it provides balance. So the team has hosted TRASH regionals in the past, hosted an independent trash tournament this year, and has attended trash tournaments regularly in the past. As far as trash attendance this year by Georgia, that has been almost exclusively by Georgia alumni. Make no mistake, the Georgia program is vibrant...far from destroyed. As someone who had such a vested interest in the program for a good while, I just had to set the record straight. Mark Franklin P.S. Regarding Robin's tournament post: Sounds interesting to me-- hope people can make it. --- In quizbowl_at_yahoogroups.com, "Matt Weiner" <darwins_bulldog1138_at_y...> wrote: > Turning away freshmen interested in academic quizbowl because your team > refuses to attend academic events is not a great way to "contribute to the > quizbowl community." I did seriously want an answer to the question despite > the insistence of certain people on making all discussions about me. To > rephrase, is there any reason a regular academic tournament could not be > held in place of this mixed-format idea which has repeatedly failed in the > past?
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