Ok, nothing personal intended here, but I think this whole conversation is a little inane. 1. Which format are we discussing and at which level? The composition of your 16 will vary quite a bit depending upon whether you're discussing NAQT or ACF. Not only that, but there will be a meaningful variance between NAQT ICT and NAQT regionals--the same with pseudo-ACF tournaments (of which there are many) and the real thing. 2. Would this hypothetical tournament include only tossups or tossups and bonuses--again, you would have some different members of the 16. 3. This will probably raise some hackles--but I am extremely skeptical that the old-time players can really keep up with today's best until I've actually seen them in action. I've heard plenty of stories about so and so being dominant in the past--but consider that the people reminiscing have improved quite a bit since then so what appeared to have been phenomenonal play may seem pedestrian now. There is no question that the canon has greatly expanded. Look at an ACF Nats packet from 5 years ago; there would be buzzer races on the first lines of most of the tossups today. Especially when Yaphe, Subash and Hentzel are playing (and even when they're not) the average level of play today is much better than before as far as I can tell. My two cents, Nathan Freeburg
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