<<you would be lucky to get anything approaching a decent field without masters teams.>> As a precedent, at the 1999 SCT at UMBC, there were 13 teams; one of those teams was from UMCP and contained an ineligible player (Khon or Jason, IIRC). They were regarded as an exhbition team, as well. The next step is of course, from my POV, spreading the quizzing wealth so tournaments are no longer dominated, attendance-wise by Oxbridge and U London. <<The questions used were edited again by me. Around 70-80% of the original questions were used, but those relating to baseball, American politics and other topics about which no-one over here cares were cut.>> Food for thought: I played Cambridge in my ill-fated venture at the 2000 ICT. I was soundly beaten 240-80 or the such, but what stood out in my mind was two things: (1) getting beaten out to a Phildelphia 76ers question (for power, no less) and then (2) in the second half, beating out the Cambridgers to the Order of the Garter question. Revenge was sweet, and my honour was kept as intact as possible. So someone might care :) <<As an aside, and speaking purely personally, I was disturbed by the way in which 95%+ of the sports questions were baseball, American football or ice hockey. Don't you have any other sports that are question-worthy over there? I was also disturbed by the sheer level of anal retention that some people must have in order to answer those questions, as I know that, were I to set comparable questions on football, excuse me, "soccer", cricket, rugby and the like, I would be taken away and shot. This is more an>> Actually I recall a question on Mickey Mantle (baseball player in the 1950s and 1960s) at the SCT last year. I would put him in the same range as Sirs Bobby Charlton and Geoff Hurst in terms of relative fame within their sports. Both IMO would be quite simple to answer for anyone with any degree of familiarity in either sport. I would however venture to guess that the average British quizzer would have a slightly higher level of knowledge about North American sports than the average North American quizzer would have of European sports. <<advance moan on behalf of UK teams at the next ICT - can we have sport made a little more international, please, instead of just the large volume on these three (imagine how you'd do in answering on cricket!)?>> Actually not bad :P I studied a website so I can 20 or 30 most boni on cricket (which are usually pretty simple). <<Finally, returning to the original question, I'll just add that, while we essentially play the same game over here, the two sides have had seperate evolutions for over 30 years, and aren't going to be reunited that easily. We're rather fond of our more laid-back approach to the whole thing, and I'm yet to find anyone who has played in both styles who disagrees. We also, as one player noted to me a while back, make a cavalier attempt to have fun while playing the game, something that, judging largely by some of the traffic on this group, a few people over your side of the water could well do to try.>> I've never played British-style quizbowl, but realise that the organised circuit in the US is at least 20 years old in the Southeast. Whereas the British circuit is at most a few years old. Also the prospect of the Master player is unknown as of yet in the British circuit. I can elaborate more at length on these things if you desire via private e-mails. --regards, shawn
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