Since this is a post primarily about our fair coast, I feel obligated to respond. I think that the central issue is what constitutes "good quiz bowl." By Ross's definition, it seems that the primary criterion is the ability to win national competitions. While this is of course something to shoot for, I would not consider teams that do not compete on this level be inconsolable failures. If we were to carry the argument to the illogical extreme, why play if your phone number is not Subash's? Isn't little league baseball still fun to watch? Wouldn't it get boring if all the teams were like the Yankees? Some of the most fun I had with QB was in the "special olympics of quiz bowl" room at BASQUE this year. If you enjoy playing poor quiz bowl and pay your entrance fees, I don't think there is anything wrong with that. And I find it hard to believe that such teams wouldn't improve over time. Ross does make a good point about hosting quality tournaments, but that certainly does require any skill more than organization and enunciation. And certainly not world champion level mad QB skillz. I've seen less than stellar tournaments in the 650 and 510 area codes, and I've been aparty to poor tournaments (apologies again to everyone who played our 2002 HS tournament) as well as good ones in the 626 area code. Some of the best staffers of tournaments are QB neophytes, and all it takes is a single person who knows the standards of a well-run tournament to make it fly. I can only recall one tournament in my time here on this coast that just made me cringe. One out of dozens ain't bad. Part of the reason, perhaps, that QB on this coast faces such high attrition is that new players have to face elitism from established schools. If you think that there should be more QB here, organize JB tournaments! Tournaments like TWAIN, which was well run (except for tardy stats posting), had separate HS and college divisions, and saw players from USC (multiple teams), Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona (Erwin is but one man, alas, but he's putting together a team there), and Caltech. If it weren't on Rotation weekend, Caltech would have sent three teams, but one cannot have perfect scheduling all the time, I guess. I also seem to remember that the last two tournaments on this sunny coast weren't won by teams whose area codes ended in zero. Of course, that will change once Jeff appears again ... :) But we are happy to have those two giants in our midsts, especially when they make such an effort to come to our tournaments. While we do make an effort to reciprocate, a school with less than a 1000 undergrads simply doesn't have the manpower (humanpower? Damn those PC-Nazis for making me feel guilty for writing that but not providing me with a sensible alternative) to send three teams to all of your tournaments. And sometimes we need to wash our hair. Have you smelled some of the math majors at Caltech? I, for one, am excited about California QB. Just think about all the Ahhhhnold questions we'll be getting. Speaking of questions, if you want to contribute to a vibrant California QB community, send your packets for technophobia (no reason to delay since WIT is no longer packet submission) to quizbowl _at_ caltech.edu so Maribeth, Oz, and I can start editing them. Hope to see you all at WIT! -Jordan A QBer von Arnolds Kalifornien ... er from Arnold's California
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