I'm not leveling the playing field. I'll give you the list bone at the end of the tossup, but probably not before if at all avoidable. Most good high school teams know more than lists, it seems. Many mediocre college teams know primarily only lists and little else. Whether or not they also have speed decides whether they win more games than they lose. Now, I happen to like ACF. I even played in the Artaud and enjoyed it mightily. I like ACF as being somewhat elitist, but I also know that doing so will always make it a niche market. There's such a thing as being too egalitarian. I went off on a rant on the college game tacked on to discussion of high school distribution. I'm interested in growth of the circuit, both HS and college. While there is a place for harder tournaments in each, you also need regular run of the mill tournaments. I know from experience what it is like to write harder tournaments and see attendance decline. But if you want a triple round robin of three good teams, then go and write your Husserl tossups. This is why I like HS tournaments to have prelims easier than playoffs. The good teams aren't really going to lose on easier questions unless they are not really that good. Then you can ramp up the difficulty when it counts. Of course, you need a format with a playoff system where prelim games don't matter as in crossbracketing. As for "things that come up," one must wonder why it comes up. That an answer or clue has come up before doesn't mean it ought to again. That it hasn't come up yet doesn't mean it ought not to ever. Regurgitation bowl is quizbowl for the uncreative.
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