"Maybe there are people out there who, even knowing that they can't win, would have a great time playing questions designed to punish knowledge, but I'm not one of them." It's not just about the questions. I liken CBI NCT's to more a conference than a tournament. My father attends cardiology conferences every winter in Aspen or Vail, Colorado. (You tell me that he's just there for the lectures.) They don't take up the whole duration of his stay; he has plenty of time to hit the slopes and enjoy himself. CBI NCT, from my experience, is structured in the same way. The tournament is spread out and allows teams to enjoy other things on their own. Most other tournaments which I have been to have not allowed me this luxury. The team spends Friday nights in transit, and after we arrive at the hotel, we are usually too tired to do anything. We then have the whole tournament on Saturday, and try to get back as quickly as possible so we can save our Sunday. But, even though there is no room for such activity at an invitational, we are still just as happy to leave our campus and have a change of scenery, regardless of the questions. We usually manage to enjoy things in spite some of the tournaments themselves. (I do not mean to say that invitationals are bad, but bad things do happen at some tournaments from question-writing and administrative standpoints.) Another point: I know your excuse, but still, if you think that the questions are so "punishing," why are you still playing on them? "It's my position that the vast majority of NAQT, ACF, and invitational tournaments are enjoyable regardless of where one finishes*, while the only reason I can conceive of someone going to CBI is wanting to represent their institution and pick up some hardware." >From talking to various people at the last CBI NCT, I felt that 15 out of the 16 teams enjoyed themselves... Maybe it wasn't that high, but there was only one that I would have described as clearly not enjoying itself. That was Pitt. Is anyone else surprised by this? J-Kel
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