University World Scholar's Cup: The First Global Tournament, Hosted by Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. June 4-6, 2010. Options

[Guest_AK_WDB_*]

well, thanks for something resembling a little bit of agreement...
In the future, can we keep the insulting-of-peoples'-intelligence to a minimum on these boards? Most of us on here are of reasonable intelligence, though perhaps lacking in taste a bit.

Yeah, I agree. However, if anyone is making statements that appear to be racist, they will be subjected to a merciless takedown. I didn't really take your comment that way, but I think debator did.

[Guest_Research Monkey_*]

and i sincerely believe that geography has a negligible effect on scores. the first year of the program, the top two teams were from the US. the reason we don't do well is, like i said, because most people look at WSC as a priority second to AD, and dedicate their time to the latter program at the expense of the former.

As a former representative of team USA, I'm going to say this is dead on.

[Guest_tryingtothinkagain_*]

I don't really know how it could have been taken as racist...the only way I see for it to be interpreted in a negative manner is insulting the intelligence of asians, which is very counter-stereotypical...possibly making fun China's nationalism? But would that even classify as racist?

not racist as much as america-centric.

and i sincerely believe that geography has a negligible effect on scores. the first year of the program, the top two teams were from the US. the reason we don't do well is, like i said, because most people look at WSC as a priority second to AD, and dedicate their time to the latter program at the expense of the former.

To be honest, that was probably more ex-decathlete-centric than anything

I did see that in the first year, the top two teams were indeed American. However, now that we have a university division, financial concerns will be amplified, and we'll have a new group of Americans that don't have AD to put before WSC (however, there are those pesky little bachelor degrees most of us are pursuing to steal our time...).

[Guest_Research Monkey_*]

As interesting as being on an ASU team for WSC would be this year, I'm starting to think there are a lot of other opportunities for travel through school that I think I'd be more inclined to take advantage of should I have surplus money to do so.

This post has been edited by Research Monkey: Oct 7 2009, 06:00 AM

[Guest_Kort Jackson_*]

I may just try to see if we can field a team for The University of Texas at San Antonio.

[Guest_alpaca_*]

I may just try to see if we can field a team for The University of Texas at San Antonio.

We'd be so honored to see you there, Kort.

[Guest_JBroms_*]

So, to give this some kind of a bump after I looked back through things, I have one question, will there be any from of a University-level online tournament?

Because what I see by talking to people and by what was said earlier in this thread, is that plenty of people are interested, but don't have the money to travel to China, myself included.
However, we could all probably scrape up $50 per person for an online tournament entry fee.

[Guest_TheWerg_*]

I'm gonna try to get Duke to pay if I can.

[Guest_AK_WDB_*]

and i sincerely believe that geography has a negligible effect on scores. the first year of the program, the top two teams were from the US. the reason we don't do well is, like i said, because most people look at WSC as a priority second to AD, and dedicate their time to the latter program at the expense of the former.

If you live in the U.S. and do not have gobs of money, traveling to China for the WSC isn't a very affordable proposition. If you live near the venue, it's much more feasible. The reason U.S. teams dominated the first year is because (1) the program was just starting up so current and former Decathletes were the most familiar with it, and (2) most of the teams were made of people associated with DemiDec.

[zzzptm]

What debator said, but mellowed with age. All travel to WSC will not be cheap.

I can't get WSC taken seriously in my school precisely because it's seen as an also-ran next to USAD. I want to change that, and if WSC Global didn't conflict with my AP Reading, I'd be even more gung-ho about the change.

I've had an awful lot of dreams about China lately, and two extended scenes in the WSC promo video matches EXACTLY with a dream I had about a year and a half ago, so I know I'll be involved with it somehow eventually...

[Guest_AK_WDB_*]

you know what? you're right. the year nationals was in honolulu, when travel expenses were greatest for all the other teams, kamehameha absolutely killed it.

look. some people see cost as a prohibitive factor, or are unable or unwilling to put the work in and muster the funds to make trip. many of these people are not american. you think a flight from singapore to incheon's cheap? the location isn't hurting the quality of american teams; american teams' lack of commitment to the program is. for a third time: almost every american going to the WSC sees it as a priority secondary to AD. so teams from other countries, who don't, put more time in and do better. this is what you have heard from every person who's actually competed in the world finals, so maybe you could acknowledge the fact that there might be other, non-exogenous reasons why your nationality doesn't dominate the competition.

I'm not saying the location is the reason Americans don't always win the competition, but rather that it's the reason there aren't as many Americans there. Maybe you could stop assuming that people are being racist/nationalist just because they point out empirical facts.

And teams going to USAD nationals get a lot more institutional support than WSC teams; for example, GCI, the sponsor of the Alaska state competition, pays for the winning team to go to nationals. Zzzptm is trying to change that at his school, but at the moment it remains the case across most of this country.

[zzzptm]

Then again, if the WSC had a Solar Challenge on the moon, I doubt even DDD could make it there. Location can factor in.

If the Global Finals were in Garland, TX, I could get a team together, but they wouldn't be all that thrilled. They like a good road trip for a major competition. Something in Memphis would be perfect, because we could drive there in about 8 hours.