It's time once again for the granddaddy of 'em all. UTC will host the 12th annual TrashMasters trash tournament on Saturday and Sunday, December 4-5, 2004. This is a two-day open trash tournament (in a quizbowl format, but all about pop culture), a continuation of the first and longest-running trash tournament in the known universe. TIME & PLACE: Registration will begin at 9:30 AM EDT on Sat. 12/4/04, with announcements at 9:45 and play starting at 10 AM. We will tentatively set the start time for Sun. 12/5 at 9 AM but reserve the right to move it up if circumstances require it. Come hell or high water, we will be finished by 2 PM Sunday. Tournament headquarters will be Grote 129 on the UTC campus. WHO'S IN CHARGE: Charlie Steinhice is your tournament director, editor, and genial quizmaster. ELIGIBILITY: This tournament is open to all interested players, assuming they fulfill three basic tasks (let me know you're coming, pay fees, and arrange for a packet as described below.) Current or former academic affiliation, or lack thereof, doesn't matter. If you want to play, then form a team, tell me in time, and submit a packet or make arrangements otherwise (see below.) Please let me know as soon as you know you are definitely or probably attending so I can adjust the format and scare up more officials to accommodate more teams if needed. As it stands now, the field will be capped (as in limited, not as in murdered) at 33 teams. 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. Hybrid teams won TrashMasters 1997 and took 2nd in 2001. FORMAT: 20 questions per round, untimed. Packet submission is expected unless other arrangements are made in advance (see guidelines and timetables below.) Teams will be four players each, with alternates OK as long as there are no substitutions in mid- match. Depending on the number of teams, the format will be round robin or bracketed round robin. This of course means I need to know the number of teams in advance. So if you're coming, TELL ME!!! Getting me your clever team names in advance will also help. WANT TO READ INSTEAD OF PLAYING? By now most of you know the standard UTC bribe: you read, we feed. Dinner at Provino's is on us for anyone who comes just to read. Besides, you want to see these trash wizards in action. K-TEL HELL MUSIC ROUND: Once again we will provide a musical interlude for your competitive pleasure. This one is run by your genial quizmaster himself, and if he still hasn't mastered certain technical skills, it'll still include the amusing spectacle of seeing him shuffle stacks of CDs. (If you think that's old-fashioned, you shoulda been there when we still used vinyl.) EXTRA SPECIAL BONUS TRASHY AWARDS CEREMONY: Buwahahahah. FEES: Fees are once again structured to increase the desire to submit a packet in a timely manner: Base fee $100 per team Discounts: $10 for an experienced reader $5 for a working buzzer (additional $5 for a second buzzer if we need it) $20 for submitting full packet by midnight Tues., Nov. 9, or $10 by midnight Sun., Nov. 21. $0 for packet received between Sun. 11/21 and midnight Sun. 11/28 (well, OK, 3 AM Monday morning 11/29.) Penalties: $10 late fee for submitting packet between midnight Sun., Nov. 21, and midnight Sun., Nov. 28. $20 late fee for submitting packet between midnight Sun., Nov. 28, and Tues., Nov. 30 -- and this is only available by prearrangement, and with a good excuse. $30 for submitting no packet [must arrange in advance] $5 for excessive bitching PACKETS, PART 1 -- FORMAT, ETC.: Each team is expected to submit a packet unless arrangements otherwise are made in advance. To allow for bonus laming and to simplify editing of the inevitable numerous duplicates, each packet submitted needs to contain at least 28 tossup and 25 boni. Visual, tactile, and even gustatory boni will be accepted if possible; due to equipment limitations, audio questions won't. We will consider physical challenge questions, provided they do not conflict with giving every team a fair shot regardless of individual members' physical limitations. Some format preferences: If at all possible, please send me packets in MS Word or RTF format. Please place the required parts of each answer in bold, please put answers on a separate line from the question, and please precede them with the word "Answer:". If you want to save me some more time, make the font 11 pt Times New Roman and the margins 0.5" all around. PACKETS, PART 2: SUBJECT MATTER -- While we'll allow some flexibility, we prefer that you follow these loose distribution guidelines. (Note: Especially in the first four major categories, we also recommend you mix it up for time periods, genres, etc.) Number Category 2 - 4 Movies 2 - 4 TV 2 - 4 Sports 2 - 4 Music 1 - 3 Trashy "literature" 1 - 3 Trashy current events 1 - 3 Food and beverage No more than 2 each: Computer games & other computer stuff Comics Gadgets Consumerama Roadside America Board games, children's games, etc. Anything else you deem suitably trashy is fine, as long as there are no more than two questions per as-yet-unnamed category. See FEES below for packet submission timetable. LODGINGS: Again this we've arranged with the Clarion Hotel in downtown Chattanooga for discount rooms for those of you who want to stay nearer to the campus than the multitudinous cheap motels on the edge of town. The Clarion is holding rooms for us through Nov. 13 for Friday and/or Saturday nights (Dec. 3 & 4) at the rate of $66 per night plus tax for up to 4 people. The Clarion is within 5 minutes of UTC and was the clear choice in our poll of previous tournament attendees. The Clarion's number is (423) 756-5150; tell 'em you're with the Academic Trivia Association quizbowl tournament to get the special rate. DIRECTIONS: Note that the entrance to the Grote Hall lot has changed.... >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. Go past the UTC Arena, after which E. 4th St. becomes part of E. 3rd St. After that, take the second right on Palmetto St. Go two blocks and turn right on Vine St. (just past the EMCS Building.) Just before the place where Vine St. is blocked off, the parking lot for Grote and Holt is on the right. Enter Grote by the door next to the dumpster. * 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. CONTACT: Your genial quizmaster, Charlie Steinhice, coach of UTC's quizbowl team, can be reached by e-mail (steinhic at bellsouth dot net -- and yes, it's steinhic, not steinhice), by phone at 423- 877-2706 (home), or by mail at 1185 Mountain Creek Rd. #1801, Chattanooga, TN 37405.
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