Trophy whore

Trophy whoring is a derogatory term for the act of a team/coach intentionally attending tournaments with weaker fields for the purpose of increasing their odds of performing well and earning a trophy, either literal or figurative. This behavior is rarely explicitly prohibited, but instead regulated by gentleman's agreements: teams are limited only by the norms of sportsmanship present in the good quizbowl community, which dictate that teams should seek to compete with opponents of commensurate skill and should endeavor to prioritize abstract goals like "personal improvement" and "meaningful competition," rather than vie for pieces of metal.

Players or coaches can engage in the similar process of stat whoring (or stats whoring) by prioritizing personal or team statistics over good sportsmanship. This practice is also frowned upon.

These terms is not frequently used, but shares conceptual groundwork with the cult of PPG.

Exceptions

Not every instance of a team or player appearing at a event below their ostensible level falls into this category, and in many of these situations it is impractical for outside observers to judge the legitimacy of a team's stated reasons for doing so. For instance, a team could move an ostensibly stronger player to the B team (where they would face weaker teams) in order to achieve broader category coverage.

A team's desire to succeed in events where they face legitimate competition (e.g. at nationals) is considered acceptable, even as they (technically) pursue trophies.