Mewto55555 wrote:I think NAQT should definitely push for MSHSAA to use their 20/20 sets next year, as a good speedcheck is still terrible. Some of the answerlines were equally questionable (especially the grammar. that was terrible. NEVER AGAIN)
…
So I suppose my general take on this is: better than QG, but worse than good quizbowl. It'd be really nice if NAQT could use some degree of leverage that they have to persuade MSHSAA to switch to 20/20 or something, but I don't forsee that happening.
This may shock some people: I agree wholeheartedly.
For this to work, though, there would have to be a sledgehammer taken to the rules. And good chance there are still counties in this state where the kids have never heard of NAQT, PACE or ACF. We've seen Ladue, Mizzou, Jeff City, and others host excellent tournaments that bring in nearby teams as well as the power-hitters; we need to look to introducing tournaments in other parts of the state to fuel the fire.
Certainly the advisory committee should discuss the prospect and begin transitioning the state to a 20/20 format that ensures that teams in a district/sectional/state play each other once before going to a knockout/repechage. But unlike this erratic nutter who wants to see more action/advocacy/defiance and see it ASAP, it probably will take a few years. And it will require the best and the brightest to sow the seeds and fuel the fire in far-flung parts of the state. We are going to need to get invitationals going in Neosho, Bethany, Palmyra, Plato, Clopton, Adrian. We're going to need to work with MACA, MOQBA and even MSHSAA to come up with a standard addressing intricacies of the 20/20 game at the district/sectional/state level (bouncebacks, OT, negs/powers, etc.)
And then we need to come up with a better playoff system. The current system sucks, but at the same time just having one open state-wide invitational (or four, if basing it on population breaks) is going to be pure chaos. And you're not going to be able to fully escape geographical restrictions; you don't want to introduce a system where one powerhouse a mile away from another is able to run off to a desolate district and clean up there so as to not create a showdown at the district level. Wrestling's found a way to do that; it's called advancing more than one team to state from a district and wrestlebacks at state. Ditto for cross country, track, tennis, etc. The districts have to remain, but creating a redundant system, introducing repechages or wildcards for playoff teams will make it less disappointing for teams who come up short or have an off-day at districts.