Florida League of Cities, Inc.
2008 Municipal Brain Bowl
Mission
The Florida League of Cities is launching its inaugural “Municipal Brain Bowl” in conjunction with Florida
City Government Week. These events raise public awareness about the services cities perform and educate
the public on the function of city government. The Florida League of Cities also hopes to develop in
today’s youth the necessary skills to be tomorrow’s public servants.
Background
Every year, cities participate in an action-packed celebration of excellence in public service known as
Florida City Government Week. Cities use this opportunity to introduce innovative programs and initiatives
that contribute to the well being of their communities. Many cities adopt proclamations, sponsor festivals,
hold essay contests, and host mock commission meetings to engage citizens in the local legislative process.
This year Florida City Government Week is October 19-25.
Preface
The rules and guidelines are set forth to assist Brain Bowl officials and participants. Brain Bowl officials
include a judge(s), moderator, timekeeper, recorder, ombudsman and scorekeeper.
A. General
1. Participants must be members of the Leon County School System and must be in 7th-8th or 10th-12th
grades.
2. Each team is comprised of four participating members and one alternate member. The alternate member
can only replace a member at the conclusion of a match. Each team will have one captain, but all players
can buzz in and be recognized to answer questions.
3. The Brain Bowl will be conducted orally.
4. The Florida League of Cities (FLC) will be responsible for selecting Brain Bowl content (My City: I’m
Part of It, I’m Proud of It).
5. For the Brain Bowl’s vocabulary questions, the moderator’s role is to read the definitions and participants
will provide the vocabulary term. For short answer questions, the moderator may provide a term and the
participant will provide the short answer/phrase.
6. The role of the judge(s), along with the moderator, is to determine whether the participant has given the
correct answer that matches the question given.
7. Space will be made available for teams to confer or “huddle” during the competitions (high school note:
conferring is allowed during the BONUS match only). No books or other written materials may be brought
to the rooms where the competitions are being held. After a match has begun, neither coaches nor sponsors
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are to confer with team members unless official times are allowed. During all levels of competition, coaches
and teachers will sit in the audience.
8. Prior to the competition, a briefing will be held for team members, judges, scorekeepers, timekeepers,
moderators, ombudsman and coaches. FLC staff or their designees will conduct this briefing the day of the
competition at 5:30 p.m. in Sittig Hall. An orientation will be held for each individual team.
9. The first question asked is open for either team member to answer. Whoever buzzes in first will be
recognized and allowed to answer the question. All questions will be in “tossup” format.
10. DURING THE COMPETITION, ALL PARTICIPANTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ADHERING TO THE
RULES.
B. Questions and Competition
1. A team will have a maximum of 5 seconds in which to answer questions in a standard match and 10
seconds in which to answer questions from a sudden death match. Questions will only be read once unless
a team requests clarification; however, the team still remains under the 5-second or 10-second rule. The
question, if not properly answered by Team A, may be re-read for Team B only if Team B makes that
request.
If a question is answered incorrectly, the opposing team has the opportunity to answer the missed question
without a penalty for an incorrect answer.
If the opposing team answers the question correctly, that team will receive the point value of the question
and will get the next question.
2. High school matches will consist of approximately 30 questions per two six-minute matches and one
four-minute “intense” BONUS match. All answers are worth 10 points.
Example:
Question: “Name three of the seven continents.”
Answer: North America, Africa, Antarctica
Total: 30 points
BONUS MATCH: The Bonus Match will be four minutes long and contain more involved questions and
answers. A team will have a maximum of 7 seconds in which to answer questions in a BONUS match.
Once the moderator has presented the question, the team can work together to respond to the bonus
question with values of 10 or more points. The team can confer, but ONLY the captain will answer.
The team with the highest number of points will be declared the winner at the end of the three matches.
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3. Middle school matches will consist of approximately 20 questions per four-minute match without a
BONUS match. All answers are worth 10 points.
Example:
Question: “Name three of the seven continents.”
Answer: North America, Africa, Antarctica
Total: 30 points
The team with the highest number of points will be declared the winner at the end of the three matches.
4. An answer to a question given after the time has elapsed will not be considered valid. If the answer
proposed by Team A is incorrect, then Team B will have the opportunity to answer the question.
5. If the moderator is interrupted by a member of the team to which the question is being addressed, the
moderator will immediately stop reading the question and allow the interrupting individual must begin
answering immediately. If the player who interrupted the moderator fails to provide the correct answer,
the moderator will then repeat the entire question for the opposing team.
6. All questions will be in “tossup” format. During the bonus match, the questions will simply have
multiple answers with varying values (refer to bullets 2 and 3).
C. Sudden-death Match
1. In the event there is a tie at the end of the round, a sudden-death match shall be played.
2. The questions in this match shall consist solely of information from Page 26 of “My City: I’m Part of It,
I’m Proud of It.” If the first participant answers the first question in the sudden-death playoff correctly,
then the second participant is afforded the opportunity to answer a second question. If the second
participant answers incorrectly, the first participant wins. If the first participant answers the first question
incorrectly and the second participant answers the second question correctly, then the second participant
wins. If both participants answer correctly or incorrectly, play continues with another two
question match.
D. Grievance Procedures
1. Any oral protest/appeal must be made immediately by the team captain.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
1. Chief Judge – The person who keeps a record of the team to which the questions should be addressed and
the official authorized to make the final decision for any protest. Note: there may be other judges in place,
but the Chief Judge gives the final ruling on all questions and protests.
2. Coach/Assistant Coach – The person(s) who prepares the four students for the Brain Bowl competition.
These persons maybe teachers/educators.
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3. Counter Protest – Protest filed against the outcome of an already filed protest. A team has two minutes to
file a counter protest after the judge’s decision.
4. Immediate – (1) As soon as a violation or infraction of the rules occurs and the clock is stopped. (2) The
time allocated to the Chief Judge to make a decision regarding an oral
protest.
5. Interruption – a) An individual interrupts the moderator when a question is being read; b) a team confers
or “huddles” out of order (a five-point penalty may be assessed); c) participants disrupt the competition
(after first interruption, a warning is issued, and, after additional interruptions, team(s) are assessed a fivepoint penalty.) Teams are to confer only when a question has been asked.
6. Invalid Protest – a) A team files a protest or counter protest that is not valid (team may be assessed a onepoint penalty); b) when the same team files more than one invalid protest or
counter-protest during the competition.
7. Moderator – The person who reads the questions for the game, directs order of play and verifies the
response to the question by awarding or not awarding points.
8. Ombudsman – The person who is responsible for monitoring team members when the necessity may
arise for a team member to leave the area of competition (e.g., bathroom break); monitors room to insure
that there is minimal audience traffic. Ombudsmen also acknowledge the protest card in order to notify the
Chief Judge of a possible protest.
9. Penalty – The loss of point(s) due to infraction of a rule stated in the Brain Bowl guidelines/rules
document.
10. Protest – (1) A challenge as to the accuracy of an answer provided during the match; (2) a claim that a
rule violation occurred during the match; or (3) a claim that a judge misinterpreted a rule that would
change the outcome of a match.
11. Protest Card – Instrument used to notify the ombudsman or judge of a protest.
12. Protest Procedure – A protest may be initiated by the team’s captain orally during the match or by the
team’s coach who will utilize the protest card. A coach initiates a protest by using the protest card. When
the ombudsman informs the Chief Judge of a protest, the clock will top immediately.
13. Round – Rounds are full match cycles.
14. Scorekeeper – The person who records the official scores during the competition.
15. Alternate – Any non-playing team member who is available at a specific time to replace one of the four
playing members.
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16. Sudden Death – Each sudden-death match consists of two different questions. If Team A answers the
first question in a sudden-death playoff match correctly, then Team B is afforded an opportunity to answer
the second question. If Team B answers incorrectly, Team A wins.
If Team A answers the first question incorrectly and Team B answers the second question correctly, then
Team B wins. If both teams answer correctly or incorrectly, then play continues
with another two-question match. All sudden-death questions are valued at one point.
17. Team – A group of four to seven students competing in the competition.
18. Time Limit – (1) The time assigned to a game; (2) The time allowed for a response to a question; (3) The
time allowed to the Chief Judge to make a decision regarding a written protest or counter-protest.
19. Timekeeper – The person who keeps the official time for the game and the time spent for answering
questions.
GOOD LUCK!
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