Bad Event Coordinators

[MeteorologyMan]

At Rustin, the Solar System tiebreaker wasn't in the official rules. I don't think the tiebreaker was needed, but I am not sure. Other than that, my events were pretty well run.

[EastStroudsburg13]

Says the person who got 1st in everything. Not doubting how the events were run, but I do find that comment rather interesting.

[sisomg11]

At the Ohio state tournament each of the past two years, the Environmental Chemistry event was written entirely out of specs with the official rules for the event (the content on the test was not even close to the content suggested in the rules).

Also, I've had several Forensics tests over the years without a bunsen burner. Forensics. Without a bunsen burner?! Really now?

Also, at Kenston this year, our Optics team was told that they were not allowed to use paper in helping them line up the mirrors correctly in the challenge, and were forced to go without it, ultimately leading them to miss the target completely. A later inquiry shows that it actually was a legal strategy, but TOO LATE!

[chalker]

At the Ohio state tournament each of the past two years, the Environmental Chemistry event was written entirely out of specs with the official rules for the event (the content on the test was not even close to the content suggested in the rules).

As the official arbitrator for the Ohio State tournament, I'm very surprised to hear this and disappointed that you and your coach didn't file an appeal. We take these types of things very seriously and have rescored tests after throwing out various elements in the past. All coaches also get a feedback form to submit after the tournament and this issue could have been mentioned on that form as well. Tournament organizers can't correct things if we aren't made aware of them.

[sisomg11]

Really? My partner and I mentioned it to our teammates, but we didn't realize we could file an appeal or anything official; we figured the test would stand once it was given (and the alternative would've basically been throwing the event out). As it turned out, it likely wouldn't have made much of a difference (though we actually did have one successful appeal on a building event; I think it was trajectory; that did make a difference, but that was successfully rectified.

[Primate]

Our Mission Possible coordinator last year legitimately made up scores. Our B Team took third place, when the A Team's device was clearly superior. We thought he just mixed them up at first, but our coach later took a look at the score sheet, and there was no rhyme or reason to his scores. Not really possible to fix, either; you can't go retesting every single device.

Here's hoping we get a new coordinator this year.

[gneissisnice]

Our Mission Possible coordinator last year legitimately made up scores. Our B Team took third place, when the A Team's device was clearly superior. We thought he just mixed them up at first, but our coach later took a look at the score sheet, and there was no rhyme or reason to his scores. Not really possible to fix, either; you can't go retesting every single device.

Here's hoping we get a new coordinator this year.

We had a problem with that in Sounds of Music a few years back that prevented us from going to Nationals.

The two girls that did the event had consistently medaled in it in previous years and competitions; it was their best event. They were the last team to go that day, and the judges explicitly told them that they were very impressed with their performance and instruments, and the judge also told them that they got some tricky physics questions right that other teams got wrong (they got a couple of the physics questions wrong, though). They ended up getting....26th. We got third by 9 points. Our captain asked the judges and this is what they said: "The top 30 teams were within half a point of each other performance-wise so it boiled down to the physics questions". WHAT??? They're telling us that they judged the top 30 teams in such a way that they were extremely close? We were absolutely furious with this, since it shows serious flaws in their judging. There is no way that the performers should ever have been judged that close to each other, and we really felt like we got cheated out of Nationals due to the judges for that event.

[lllazar]

Wow this is a serious problem. All the hard working students who hope to do so well deserve better than this. A new system of appeal should definitely be developed, because being able to do nothing after scoring is over can make or break teams that deserve to go to nats/place higher.

[Gillen]

In towers at regionals, the judges forgot to weigh the towers until our team member brought it up. They apparently made up weights for the ones that had gone before.

[Primate]

In towers at regionals, the judges forgot to weigh the towers until our team member brought it up. They apparently made up weights for the ones that had gone before.

What, you can't weigh towers in your head?