First of all, congrats to Shiva/Pi-oneers on an outstanding and historic performance. (After the final, Jeff Hoppes said he thinks this is the first time a solo player has ever won a team-based NAQT national championship, at any level, and I'd imagine the same is probably true of NSC and ACF Nationals. So, while I am hardly a member of the quizbowl old guard, I think this is very likely a first for all of quizbowl, for a single player to win a national championship on all-subject pyramidal questions.)
Especially at MSNCT, where all the top teams are so similar in skill level, the value to strong players of having teammates, even if they are only getting one tossup and one bonus per round, is really significant. I'm hugely impressed that Shiva was able to make it through the gauntlet that is the playoffs -- and win the final in pretty dominating fashion -- without that benefit.
the return of AHAN wrote:Here's to your continued success at the high school level, where it's probably conservative of me to say you're better than 90% of high school quizbowlers already.
I think that's incredibly conservative, seeing as he placed 9th individually at last year's HSNCT. It's unfortunate we won't get to see Midtown Classical at this year's HSNCT, but I'm sure they'll do good things in the coming years.
karsten7814 wrote:I would also like to say that these last two days have held some of my favorite memories of Quiz Bowl. I have met so many new friends, have seen so many great teams (here's to you, BASIS and Midtown), and am so thankful to NAQT, the teams we played, my family, my coach, and most of all, the fact that 987 nerds can spend two magical days in Chicago having the time of our lives.
Karsten, you really hit the nail on the head, in my opinion, as to why quizbowl is so great. I love quizbowl not only because the activity itself is fun to spend time doing, but because the people who do it are equally fun to spend time with. To you, and everyone else who played, coached, chaperoned, or was otherwise involved with MSNCT: keep making quizbowl an awesome place. I had a fantastic time getting to meet many of y'all, whether in or outside of a round, and I can't wait to see what you are able to do in the future.