Re: Stuff That Needs To Be Said

• From: maqt_charlatan
• Date: Tue, 03 Oct 2000 08:09:52 -0700
• Message-ID: <000STJTM0.001IVCKJF.12170551-quizbowl_at_...>

<cut>

>Events of tonight have
brought to mind a disturbing thought for me. Our society
-- and no >matter what anyone may argue, quizbowl
is a society -- seems to have tons of pent-up
>emotion stuck in it. People hold grudges against one
another over the stupidest things. >Eventually, they
boil over, and chaos
results.

<cut>

>Just to take examples based on my experience, I have
been cursed at, yelled at, >threatened with bodily
harm, and threatened with a lawsuit. All of these
occurred on >more than one occasion, solely based on my
connections through this game we play. >None of it is
appropriate.

I think some things that need to be said are, "What
the hell happened last night?" and
"What did you
do that made you get threatened with a lawsuit?"
That's not a very typical qb experience. Perhaps you
don't think it was appropriate, but people usually
don't do something so drastic without good reason.
You're not still harassing girls on the circuit, are
you?

I've only been yelled or cursed at a few times during
six years of playing, and I usually deserved it. It
takes a lot to piss most qb folks off to the point that
they get physically violent.

>We as a
community -- and I include myself -- harbor some form of
festering hatred. ACF >people hate CBI people; CBI
people hate circuit people; NAQT people dislike ACF's
>policies; ACF people think NAQT taints the game. Spite
isn't just a vocabulary word, it's >a way of life
for some; how else can you explain an otherwise sane
man like John >Edwards holding Harvest Bowl
against Shawn Pickrell some four plus years after the
>fact?

ACF people don't hate CBI people, they just take pity
on them ;) But seriously, ACF and NAQT people don't
hate each other; both groups want the other to
succeed, since diversity and choice are important to the
circuit. The notion of the groups being bitter enemies is
a rather tired cliche, as is the one that ACF
players despise trash tournaments.

As for Harvest
Bowl, 1) you weren't there, and 2) yes, it really was
_that_ bad. (BTW, younger players can check the MAQT web
page for a Harvest Bowl extravaganza). Spite is good
sometimes, and friendly, competitive spite between teammates
often makes the best teams on the circuit.

Dave