Re: What's up with NAQT ICT Invitations

• From: m_hayes00 <no_reply_at_yahoogroups.com>
• Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2006 02:12:22 -0000
• Message-ID: <dt5vq6+abit_at_...>

--- In quizbowl_at_yahoogroups.com, "Susan Ferrari" <srferrar_at_...> wrote:
>
> Oh, God, sports analogies.
> 
> All I'm saying is I think it would be ideal to issue ICT invitations
> to the schools that are most likely to perform the best at the ICT
> based on their SCT performance.  I don't place a high priority on
> having the ICT be "representative of every region on the continent"
> because I think that attempts to make national tournaments broadly
> representative in this sense can lead to having some very weak teams
> at those tournaments (CBI is the extreme case).  
> 
> I see that you do place a high priority on representing a lot of
> regions at the ICT (as does NAQT).  This is a difference of opinion,
> which I don't think requires a great deal of pearl-clutching about my
> opinion of the prowess of eastern Canadian teams (I really have no
> opinion in the matter, though I'm not sure how my saying that one team
> from that region had fairly low stats this year among teams that got
> ICT bids, and that another had pretty good stats last year,
> constitutes painting y'all as terrible, especially since I mentioned
> outlier teams from other regions as well.  Thanks for trying to change
> my "opinion" with your mention of beating a team of Michigan frosh on
> high school questions, though!)
> 
> I don't really have anything more to say about this, especially on
> this board.  
> 
> Susan
>

I don't agree with that. If a team wins their sectional championship,
they should automatically receive a bid to the ICT. NAQT already takes
into account
the difference in sectional strengths by awarding the wild-card bids. 

Maybe there were some uninvited schools that had better statistical
numbers than we did, but the solution would be to expand the field and
not to deny a sectionals champion their rightful spot in the ICT. What
would be the point of holding the SCT if the champion(s) are not
guaranteed a spot in the ICT field?

Matt Hayes
UL Lafayette Quiz Bowl