4. In a philosophical sense, Penn Bowl is more than any old tournament--it's three hundred people coming together for a weekend and doing something they enjoy--and nobody's getting a paycheck for it. And anyone can attend, so long as they agree to play by the rules. ---------- Ultimately, this is at the heart of any Penn Bowl discussion. The standards that apply to most tournaments do not seem to apply to Penn Bowl, because it is an "event". The Penn team can haphazardly slap together just enough to host 64 teams. Whether or not they do it particularly well is totally irrelevant. Any effort to improve quality would be a waste of time on their part, since the teams are going to show up, and they will get paid. All Penn has to do is avoid stupendous errors that would kill that market share. (i.e. Harvest Bowl) Whether because of branding or something else, Penn Bowl fills a market niche. Asking them to produce a better tournament would be akin to asking for real steak at Taco Bell. That isn't their market. Most Penn Bowl teams just want to show up, hang out, and have some fun. Their market wants a diverse field, accessible questions, and playoff upsets. In general, Penn Bowl provides this. The questions and packets are something of an afterthought - no one goes to Penn Bowl to hear good questions, and apparently no one submits good questions either. I get amused by people who talk about Penn Bowl like it is a normal tournament - it isn't. If you want more, go somewhere else. I'm sure the PADT can take someone else's money. I'm not going to blame Penn if they don't write a large number of filler questions to replace what they consider poor material. Clearly, what they put out is acceptable to enough people to fill the field every year. I must hand it to Penn. They do have the biggest cash cow on the QB market, perhaps aside from CBI. Penn Bowl can be run with less effort than any tournament and still rakes in large earnings. I understand why people outside Penn would like to see it change, but I can't imagine what incentive Penn would have to change it. Certainly, Penn does good PR for their tournament. But they aren't going to change it markedly. I just wonder why should the community at large wastes time discussing it. While the particulars may change, we've been airing the same arguments about Penn Bowl since at least 1994. I think people should just accept Penn Bowl for what it is. If you don't like, save your money, stay home, and play on your own questions.
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