"Your major gripe appears to be that the bottom team in your region went 0-12 and scored 675 points to their opponents 3455." No, my major gripe was that ACF makes no attempt to make tournaments fun for all the participants. It's a game, remember. It's supposed to be fun. Of course a newbie team isn't going to do well. But there's a difference between playing badly but enjoying it, and paying a large sum of money for the privilege of keeping buzzers warm. "Now you bring out another tried and true stereotype - the 40 year-old professional student and uberplayer, who evidently only plays at ACF tournaments in this fantasy world. As several people have already mentioned, age has little to do with playing skill, as there are already some players in Division II of NAQT who can hold their own with these big meanies. But wait!!! That's unfair to the other Div II teams who have to play the bullies of Div II! I propose that we create a Div III specially for these teams so that they don't need to be exposed to the good teams of Div II who are "forcing teams to watch their opponents play quizbowl by themselves." NAQT, how could you have let this injustice occur for so long?" Funny thing about stereotypes is that they actually tend to be true. Of course the older, better players also play other formats, but at least other formats make an effort to recognize the efforts of people who haven't had their efforts recognized for many years going. There's a reason sports give out Rookie of the Year awards. You want to encourage your brightest up-and-comers to keep up the hard work, or they'll give up and leave, and the game is poorer for it. I'm not saying you have to give a new division to anyone who thinks the other teams at a certain level are too good for them, but you have to be sensible and realize that people don't want to pay $100's to lose very badly with no hope of any honors. "One of the most frustrating things I've dealt with running ACF tournaments is teams that refuse to send B or C teams because they think that the less experienced teams shouldn't play ACF since 'it's too hard.'" This is a vicious cyle that will not stop until ACF makes serious attempts to attract young teams. It's simple economics--if the opportunity costs exceed the expected reward, no one will come. East Podunk Polytechnic isn't going to shell out a few hundred bucks to come in last place and have no fun. Lighten up, give deep discounts (I mean extremely deep--ACF has a hell of a reputation to fight), and give out honors to deserving minor teams, and you will bring in more young teams, improving the quality of young team play, making the tournament much more fun for the players, and giving more teams valuable experience against the top teams without having to feel like the Devil Rays. You'll change the reputation, enliven the tournament, and breed a new class of confident, excited quizbowlers many of whom have the potential to succeed at the highest levels, but only if you don't chase them away the first time they try. I have nothing but respect for the great players, and I don't have anything against professional students, older players, or ACF vets. I just don't think it's right to push the newbies away.
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