Some misconceptions about the '00 T.I.T.

twoclubs · Thu, 07 Sep 2000 15:26:08 -0700

It is difficult, as a current Maryland undergrad,
to escape from the "good, ole days": from the
arrogance of Matt Colvin, from the stellar play of Dave
Hamilton, from the biscuitry of Dave Goodman, from the
oldness of John Nam. Khon, Vishnu, Fleming, Singer,
Allen, Starsinic, Swisdak, Baker, Ramesh, etc....the
list goes on. Sometimes one inherits a legacy, and I'm
sure most if not all of these names are familiar. We
have so many geezers, it is difficult to escape from
what they have done and represented. However, these
players are all gone from making the day-to-day decisions
of our team, and as such, the legacy is also fading.
New names, such as Smith, Hu, Wong, Connelly,
Stevens...not-so-familiar are they? 

But I've seen several posts
(I'm not singling you out, Kenny) that seem to
indicate, because I choose, as a current member of MAQT, to
post a tournament as "ACF-like" or "ACF regionals
quality", that immediately, the notions of past Terrapins
spring to mind. This is quite discouraging, but
understandable - if you have a bad experience in the past, then
chances are that you will have a bad experience in the
future, right?

Wrong. The point of ACF is not to
make questions as difficult as possible, although some
of its main proponents would disagree. The point is
to present quality questions, written by _the teams
themselves_, so that writers can get a kick out of listening
to their questions be played upon and get some
feedback on what people like and don't like as question
material. The best way to encourage younger players is
through such a method: it was how I got hooked as a
freshman.

As such, I am posting this message to say that all
teams are welcome to attend this year's Terrapin, and
the tournament WILL NOT BE AS HARD AS IN YEARS PAST.
There WILL NOT be 10-line tossups, 6 part superlong
bonuses, questions being read at 9pm. The questions will
still be ACF format, as Kenny says, with 20/20 untimed,
but the format itself is only successful if people
are willing to write questions that they would like
to play on. If you are lazy and don't want to write
questions (the surest way of getting better), NAQT is
better suited for you. If you still don't want to come
and play on what I assure you will be a quality set
of questions, then that is your prerogative...but
considering the dearth of tournaments in the mid-Atlantic
region this year, I urge every team out there to come,
ala this past year's MLK or Penn Bowl tournaments.

And please, before making a judgement on a tournament
from year to year, give some thought to who is in
charge and how things can sometimes change over time. If
you have any questions concerning the Terrapin or the
Maryland team in general, please e-mail me at
hayeslip_at_... or Moe Smith at freckles_at_....

Sincerely,
Shaun Hayeslip
Editor, 2000 Terrapin