ohhh, letterman. i like that.

;).. This was a tough state for me.. I had to use the web for basically everything, as I know very little about Indiana...

In fact, I JUST thought of something that I'm an absolute idiot for not using... *sigh*...

Basketball?

Nah, considered basketball and figured it wouldn't score that way.

The Indy 500 is what I thought of later.

Nevada

[AR] Silver Mining
[NB] Lehman Caves
[SA] Casinos, Gambling
[SA] Vegas Shows

Bucc and Wolfpack, please report to the Judge's Lounge for warm Krispy Kreme donuts. Then get to work. :D

Bump for Bucc

Sorry for the delay. The internet has been really sluggish for me the past two days, esp. fofc.

Good job, guys. I submitted some of the highest scores ever in this round. What happened to California?

path12: Not really. :)

Oh, that bodes well.... :eek:

path, it was the answer to your statement "Tough one."

I don't even look at (or know) the standings. Is it coming down to this round?

Stage 4 Scoring
 

Team 1: sachmo71 & JeeberD—Kansas (13)
1. [NB] Santa Fe Trail 2 (too many words)
2. [SA] Jayhawk Basketball 4
3. [AR] Wheat 5
4. [HC] AT&SF RR 2

Team 2: wade moore—Indiana (13)
1. Notre Dame [SA] 5
2. David Letterman [HC] 3
3. Limestone [AR] 3
4. Lincoln Home [HC] 3
-1 [NB]

Team 3: Butter of 69—Wisconsin (16)
1. Dairy [AR] 5
2. NFL Packers [SA] 5
3. Door County [NB] 3
4. BlackHawk War [HC] 3

Team 4: path12—Vermont (16)
1. (AR) Maple syrup 4
2. (HC) Ethan Allen 4
3. (SA) Eastern skiing 4
4. (NB) Green Mountain 4

Team 5: gstelmack—Colorado (14)
1. Rocky Mountains [NB] 5
2. Garden of the Gods [NB] 2 (too many words)
3. Gold Rush [HC] 3
4. Snow Skiing [SA] 5
-1 [AR]

Team 6: TazFTW—Maryland (17)
1. Antietam [HC] 5
2. blue crab [AR] 4
3. National Anthem [HC] 5
4. Camden Yards [SA] 4
-1 [NB]

Team 7: Masked--North Carolina (18)
1. [SA] College basketball 5
2. [NB] Smoky Mountains 5
3. [HC] Roanoke colony 4
4. [AR] Tobacco 4

Team 8: tarcone--South Dakota (15)
1. (HC) Deadwood 3
2. (NB) BadLands 4
3. (SA) Mount Rushmore 5
4. (NB) Black Hills 4
-1 [AR]

Team 9: Anxiety—Washington (16)
1. Mount Rainier - NB 5
2. Apples - AR 5
3. Seahawks/Mariners - SA 3
4. World's Fairs - HC 3

Team 10: Radii/Oliegirl—Nevada (15)
1. [AR] Silver Mining 4
2. [NB] Lehman Caves 3
3. [SA] Casinos, Gambling 5
4. [SA] Vegas Shows 4
-1 [HC]

Looks like a three-horse race coming down the home stretch.

Alaska is now on the block.

It's pretty obvious how this will break out, but I will be out of town until Friday so you guys should disclose your bids accordingly. Nebraska goes to whomever misses out on Alaska.

Go ahead and begin posting your final state values once the last two states are divvied up.

Nebraska, not ND.

-Anxiety

I feel stupid for missing the too-many-words entries. I like how all of the scores ended up despite a couple of the 4s being knocked down to a 2.

When do we get that reasoning from ya?

-Anxiety

Ok, Seriously...

How does NC get 4 points for Tobacco but VA gets 3 points for Tobacco AND Peanuts... that makes NO sense to me...

Yeah, I've been bad at this game, but some of the scoring completely baffles me...

Next game, the word rule has to end. Jeebsus.

And 2 points for Santa Fe Railroad? That's just...odd.

The two word rule is about 75% of the point of this game.

Funny, I thought the auction part would be at least 50% of the game. Ah well, I think it's dumb.

Ok, let me do a quick run-through.


Even if the Trail weren't too many words, I think it would only have gotten a 3 at best for NB. It would have a better chance than the RR for HC, don't you think? As far as the RR, I think because they are not the big 2 (UP, CP) and was started about the time they had been completed. For HC, you could have gone with the cattle drives or Dodge City for a better score.


Another trying to latch on to Lincoln. Also, you have seen that picking native celebrities just don't score high in this game.


Dairy and Packers, what a combination. Door County is nice and all but nothing spectacular or unique. The BlackHawk War was one of many 19th century treaty wars that engulfed the Old Northwest states.


I did score this with a couple of 5's because I think you couldn't pick a better list for this state. That's why I said earlier that it shouldn't be a tough one and it wasn't. Good work. Vermont's Maple Syrup and Eastern Skiing are known throughout the world, two things that make the state very special.


Sigh. Colorado, I thought, it would be one of those easy 18 pointers but maybe not. I would have gone with three NB and one SA (if that's possible). GotG, despite too-many-words, is worth a 4 but to get a 5, I would have chosen another local favorite, Pikes Peak or the most photographed mountain in the US, the Maroon Bells. Colorado does have a good history of gold (and silver) booms but if you remember back to other scores, the ones that are better known will score higher. SA is spot on. I'm not sure if Broncos/Avs would score a 5.


A really good entry except that I would have gone with Chesapeake Bay for an easy 5 for NB.


The reason tobacco gets a 4 is that it is still an important cash crop for this state - not anymore for Virginia. In fact, tobacco would get a 4 for Virginia if it was HC instead of AR. Look back at the scorings and see that crops/resources that have been and still are important get a higher score. This is a very very nice entry for North Carolina.


Admittedly, I scored this a little lower because it's all a variation on the same theme. Plus I'm not too crazy about the Badlands for NB (I gave it a 3). But you did good in getting a 15 out of South Dakota.


Agree that the first two are great choices for their respective categories. Seahawks/Mariners are too new to rank any higher. The two most famous World's Fairs in this country were not in Washington but in Flushing Meadows. If you are going to pick an event for HC, make sure they are the most famous. I think I would have taken another NB for a 5 but Microsoft would have done the same thing, I believe.


No doubt on the Casinos/Gambling entry. Vegas Shows would not get a 5 because Broadway offer a higher prestige factor. Silver Mining may be one too high because it's more of HC than what's been going on lately. I agree with Wolfpack, Virginia City or Comstock Lode would definitely get a 5 for HC from me. Lehman Caves? Eh. Now Lake Tahoe would have been a great entry.

I have no complaints on the Indiana scoring. i was really desperate as it is a state I know little about.

I'll bid the rest on Alaska leaving Nebraska for Anxiety.

Ah, well, having seen pictures of the Santa Fe Trail, it sure seemed pretty to me. As far as ATSF, we disagree. that's the game, right?

I didn't go with Pike's Peak simply because Garden of the Gods is just a fantastic spot in comparison. Pike's Peak has a bit more history and the like, but I didn't feel as much Natural Beauty. But yes, that would have been right behind it, and maybe would have made a better bet than the gold rush.

I figured the Broncos/Avs were too young with not enough long-term history to be worth many points. In my eyes they'd be a 3, and only that because of Elway.

I'm with keeping it, even with my 2 screwups, including the costly one this round. So many strategies involved, including deciding which two words, or the one my non-clever-and-creative brain didn't figure out early enough, putting two items in one slot with it.

i kept the theme because, really, the western part of the state is where it is at. i guess the corn palace could have garnered points and in souix falls there is the golf catalog outlet (name escapes me)
im happy with my score

*I'm generally in agreement with Buccs points on these choices (though my scores were apparently divergent from his). The Santa Fe Trail works better as history and the ATSF, while a familiar railway, doesn't carry the weight that the UP or CP do. Matter of fact, they're now owned by UP, aren't they?

*Notre Dame was an easy score, but the remaining selections did leave a bit to be desired. Lincoln did grow up in Indiana, but hardly anybody identifies him with the state. Letterman was an interesting choice, but he's not the standard by which all others are measured.

*Again, generally agree with Bucc's takes, though I did give more on Door County. Guess not living in the Rockies doesn't jade me to pretty lakeshores like it does Bucc (j/k). ;)

*I'll admit to being nitpicky about "Green Mountain" as opposed to "Green Mountains" since one denotes a single place, while the other takes the entire range, but it was only a point. Otherwise, everything is about as well as you can choose for this state.

*This is clearly Bucc's stomping grounds, so I'm going to let his critique stand for mine. Tangentially, Garden of the Gods is something of a legendary place in my family because apparently my grandfather drug his family across the blazing heat of Kansas to get there one time in what apparently was the only legitimate vacation he ever took or something like that, since every other one went back to the family homestead in downstate Illinois. It's almost a mythic place to me as a result. :)

*Great choices all around for Maryland, though I did go a little lower on blue crab, simply because in the grand scheme of national foods, it's not really a staple item and something everyone has to have, but I can accept it being a '4'.

*Well done and so glad you didn't say "Dean Smith", "Michael Jordan", "Coach K", "UNC", or "Duke". I'd have handed you a "0" to spite you and let someone else give you the five. :D Hard to pick out what could have done better, really.

*Good choices here, and to me, the Badlands were a '5'. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there when I went a few years ago. Deadwood did fall a little flat, though. Heck, "Sturgis" could have gotten a '4' possibly because the rally there is now pretty much embedded in the culture. Or, you could go girlie and take "Laura Ingalls", since the inspiration for much of Little House on the Prairie was from her time in South Dakota. (I ought to know, because my wife dearly loves the books and a stopover in DeSmet was a pre-requisite for going to the Badlands and Mount Rushmore)

*First two were well-chosen, obviously. Mt. St. Helens probably would have been a better SA choice and perhaps "Klondike gateway" could have worked for HC. Maybe "Boeing airplanes" or "Microsoft", due to how pervasive both are in our lives.

*I had the reverse scores on 1 and 2, but that's quibbling. It seemed to me silver mining isn't as big of an industry as it once was (though apparently gold is from what I've read), though I might've been a little generous with the caves. Lake Tahoe probably would have been the better NB choice. Ironically, given my thoughts on the silver mining choice, I'm somewhat surprised "Comstock Lode" or "Virginia City" wasn't chosen as an HC choice.

After a one-round hiatus, I've gotten my act together and done the points/dollars average rankings again:

1) Butter of 69--$1.03/point ($69/66 points)
2) Masked--$1.17/point ($79/67 points)
3) TazFTW--$1.24/point ($70/57 points)
4) tarcone--$1.40/point ($85/60 points)
5) path12--$1.46/point ($94/65 points)
6) radii/oliegirl--$1.48/point ($81/56 points)
7) sachmo/JeeberD--$1.62/point ($89/55 points)
8) gstelmack--$1.69/point ($99/57 points)
9) wade moore--$1.74/point ($92/51 points)
10) anxiety--$1.75/point ($99/58 points)

Average: $1.46/point

Well, the overall average has crashed a bit over the last two rounds as teams take advantage of states won on-the-cheap. Chiefly notable is path12's rocket ride up the standings as he trimmed nearly a full dollar off his average over the past two rounds. All of the top four in overall points are currently in the top five in averages with the two front-runners in points also leading in average.

Well done, Wolfpack. I'll complete my comments on the last two states above.

forgot about sturgis

The difficult one for me in Washington was S/A. Would the Space Needle have gotten a 4? I was considering it, then put it in with the World's Fairs.

I was looking at Microsoft and Boeing for AR but I realized that Apples would be so much easier. I never even thought to move Boeing to HC.

-Anxiety

Uhhh......Bump?


-Anxiety

Masked grabs Alaska, leaving Nebraska for Anxiety as the last state.

Alright, folks, time to post your final state values. Get to it!

DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME AT THE DERBY!!!

We're so close to wrapping this baby up!

New York

NY Yankees [SA]
Broadway, museums [HC]
Niagara Falls [NB]
9/11 [HC]

TENNESSEE

Elvis Presley (HC)
Beale Street (SA)
Dolly Parton (NB)
BBQ,Blues (AR)

Whew...Done

California
1. Napa Valley [AR]
2. TV / Films [HC]
3. Yosemite Park [NB]
4. LA Lakers [SA]

Nebraska

U. Nebraska (SA)
Corn/Beef (AR)
Scotts Bluff (NB)
Union Pacific (HC)


-Anxiety

GOOD CALL!! :D

Wyoming:

(SA) Yellowstone Park
(NB) Grand Tetons
(AR) Coal, Gas
(HC) Range Wars

Dola, I've really enjoyed this game. Thanks for putting it on WSU.

Thanks!


-Anxiety

My pleasure! You guys have all stuck with it for the long haul, so thanks to you all as well.

Let's get those last entries in so we can wrap it up.

I agree it was fun and i learned things that could be helpful in the future for vacation spots

im waiting to hear from Jeebs...but I can post the entry right now if everyone is ready. everyone other than jeebs, that is. :P

Utah

NB - Moab
AR - Aerospace Research
SA - Winter Olympics
HC - Brigham Young

Alaska

[AR] Seafood, oil
[SA] Iditarod
[NB] Denali, Kenai
[HC] Eskimos, Beringia

Connecticut

1. UConn Basketball [SA]
2. Yale University [HC]
3. Long Island Sound [NB]
4. WWE [SA]

This is an awesome idea for a forum game!

North Dakota

[HC] Lewis Clark
[NB] Enchanted Highway
[AR] Bison Meat
[HC] Dakota Sioux

Alright, who are we waiting on? Anyone? I think there's one missing, right?

We're so close to finishing, dammit!

Waiting on gstelmack, but we'll wrap it up today one way or another!

Judges, to your posts.

Helloooooooooo, judges?

is the game over?

One judge is scoring, and the other is done.

I just submitted my scores. On another note, it looks like gstelmack's not been on the board since 6/22. Anyone have any idea what he's up to?

FWIW, this is the best I could come up as the best options in each category for Indiana:

[SA] Indy 500 - (One of the most famous sporting events in the world)
[HC] Hoosiers (film) - (Would simply put "High School Basketball" if not for the two word limit.)
[NB] Brown County - (Fall foliage brings people from all over the country every October)
[AR] Steel - (Gary is the largest steel producing area in the US)

Alternates:
[SA] Notre Dame - (Most famous college football program in the country)
[SA] IU basketball - (Five national championships)
[NB] Indiana Dunes


I'd take the -1 and substitute Notre Dame for Brown County in the scoring four as I never really got the big deal for the fall foliage stuff and doubt very highly the reputation extends much out of the midwest. (Indiana is pretty poor for natural beauty, but very strong in sports)

Some of my highest and lowest scores were given in this round.

That's not too bad but the key phrase is "doubt very highly the reputation extends much out of the midwest". You can say that about a lot of entries in this game, some by choice and some not. I think overall scores would have been higher is folks didn't think "what would be famous in my state" and instead "what is famous about my state".

Since you took the time to come up with your entry, here's how I would score them:

[SA] Indy 500 - (One of the most famous sporting events in the world) - 5 (but will it be in the future?)
[HC] Hoosiers (film) - (Would simply put "High School Basketball" if not for the two word limit.) - 3 (not for HC, I think Prep Basketball would score a 4 for SA)
[NB] Brown County - (Fall foliage brings people from all over the country every October) - 2 (yes but not much to Brown County :) )
[AR] Steel - (Gary is the largest steel producing area in the US) - 3 (not a famous area and besides, at least 4 state produces more steel than IN)

Alternates:
[SA] Notre Dame - (Most famous college football program in the country) - 5
[SA] IU basketball - (Five national championships) - 4 (a notch below NC and KY)
[NB] Indiana Dunes - 3 (ok as far as dunes go...)

Round 5 scores
 

Team 1: sachmo71 & JeeberD—Utah [13]
1. NB - Moab 4
2. AR - Aerospace Research 2
3. SA - Winter Olympics 3
4. HC - Brigham Young 4

Team 2: wade moore—Connecticut [11]
1. UConn Basketball [SA] 3
2. Yale University [HC] 4
3. Long Island Sound [NB] 3
4. WWE [SA] 2
-1 [AR]

Team 3: Butter of 69—California [19]
1. Napa Valley [AR] 5
2. TV / Films [HC] 5
3. Yosemite Park [NB] 5
4. LA Lakers [SA] 4

Team 4: path12—Wyoming [16]
1. (SA) Yellowstone Park 5
2. (NB) Grand Tetons 5
3. (AR) Coal, Gas 4
4. (HC) Range Wars 2

Team 6: TazFTW--New York [18]
1. NY Yankees [SA] 5
2. Broadway, museums [HC] 5
3. Niagara Falls [NB] 5
4. 9/11 [HC] 4
-1 [AR]

Team 7: Masked—Alaska [17]
1. [AR] Seafood, oil 5
2. [SA] Iditarod 3
3. [NB] Denali, Kenai 5
4. [HC] Eskimos, Beringia 4

Team 8: tarcone—Tennessee [12]
1. Elvis Presley (HC) 5
2. Beale Street (SA) 3
3. Dolly Parton (NB) 1
4. BBQ,Blues (AR) 3

Team 9: Anxiety—Nebraska [15]
1. U. Nebraska (SA) 3
2. Corn/Beef (AR) 5
3. Scotts Bluff (NB) 3
4. Union Pacific (HC) 4

Team 10: Radii/Oliegirl--North Dakota [9]
1. [HC] Lewis Clark 3
2. [NB] Enchanted Highway 2
3. [AR] Bison Meat 2
4. [HC] Dakota Sioux 3
-1 [SA]

Final Scoreboard
 

Scoreboard:
85 - Team 3 (Butter of 69) = WINNER!!!
84 - Team 7 (Masked)
81 - Team 4 (path12)
75 - Team 6 (TazFTW)
73 - Team 9 (Anxiety)
72 - Team 8 (tarcone)
68 - Team 1 (sachmo71 & JeeberD)
65 - Team 10 (Radii & Oliegirl)
62 - Team 2 (wade moore)
57 - Team 5 (gstelmack)

Congrats to Butter, and thanks everyone for sticking it out. Special thanks to Bucc and Wolfpack for judging.

There's so many things I would have done differently in this game if I had it to do over...

But, it was a GREAT experience... the unfortunate thing, to me, is I think this is a tough game to repeat.... unless you say you can't use anything used in this version, but that would make some of the "hard" states REALLY hard.

One variation to the game might be that you had to balance your states overall in the four categories, rather than state-by-state. Each state would have one category rather than four, but you'd be limited on how many states you could take in each category.

That's true, I guess you could shift the rules in that way...

The other thought is you could change the categories... Maybe even dedicate to sub-categories.. say a game where you do SA and you have 4 sub categories of Sports, History, Amusement, and Shopping or something...

Just thinking out-loud.. I know this took a long time, but I enjoyed it immensely...

Thanks for running this, WSU... had fun strategizing it and came up lucky to squeak past Masked on that last state.

That was a fun game! Thanks Coug, and Bucc and Wolfpack for judging!
And Jeebs for the ideas for Utah...our best state!

Congrats Butter!

I had a very had time deciding what to submit for my last entry in order to maintain my lead. I was hoping the judges might ding you for submitting TV/Films instead of Hollywood, because otherwise I didn't think I could catch you.

Great game - I'm glad I was able to join late.

Congrats to Butter and thanks to WSU and the judges. That was a lot of fun. Will there be judge comments? I was curious as to the low rating for the Range Wars.....

I know my bidding strategy would be much different if I had it to do over again, but I can't complain about a bronze.

Are you sure about that? It is admittedly difficult to find current supporting evidence, but everything I've seen indicates Indiana is the largest producer of steel in the nation.

http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pu.../instmyb04.pdf
"Indiana continued to lead the Nation in the production of raw steel, with an estimated output of about 24.8 million
metric tons of raw steel, as reported by the American Iron and Steel Institute (2005, p. 76)."

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/...05/story5.html (from 1996, but a 50% lead over #2 Ohio and 150% more than #3 Pennsylvania at the time which would be a hard margin to overcome even in 10 years I imagine.)


[HC] and [NB] are admittedly tough areas for Indiana... famous people didn't seem to do well, but one I thought of was "[HC] Jackson Five"

Yeah, I'm somewhat appaled at the 2 for WWE under SA unless the argument is that much of it doesn't happen there ;)..

Thanks a ton for running this WSUCougar. I really screwed myself with the historical blunder with Kent State early, and then a couple of tactical errors that ended up landing me New Hampshire and North Dakota... but even with my own poor play, I had a lot of fun with this. Great game.

I had fun as well. thanks to all
i have one complaint though......Dolly Parton a 1 for natural beauty? c'mon

You're lucky it didn't get a 0. I think the Kent State entry deserved a higher score than that bullshit entry. 1. She's no way can be called a beauty. 2. Some of it ain't natural either. You judge it...



:)

To the rest of you, well done. There were some great entries this round even though one could argue that some of them were no brainers. The only quibble that California missed an easy (and only 20) if it had picked Disneyland for SA instead of the Lakers.


Saved me from typing an answer since you had already done so.

I had already used Disney World in Florida... I just didn't really consider using Disney again for some reason.

Daimyo, the source I saw showed IN 4th. It may have been a certain kind of steel production but I cant' find it again (it showed a map shaded by steel production based on tonnage or something like that). I know that Gary has the largest steel production plant but I was thinking more of the state as a whole for AR.

That reasoning makes sense to me, so no qualms here.