Preseason

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

Evan Silberman is the new FUNN police.

[segregold]

I don't like to play up how good my team is at QB...

I actually wrote a really long response to this guy, but then I decided that it was just too ridiculous and I shouldn't get myself involved. I'm just going to say that I was on the RM team that lost to Grosse Point North, and it was definitely more because of our tiredness after a long, hard lineup than any incredible skill on their part.

I don't know how anyone can make it clearer, but Grosse Point North is not a great team. As for Novi, I hope the rest of the team isn't represented by this killbill_07 guy.

Oh, and putting emoticons at the end of every post does not validate your argument. Thank you.

[DumbJaques]

First off Chris, I'm a graduated Novi player so please stop treating me as a troll.

I know who you are, we found out when you created multiple accounts to post in the Michigan thread. Aside from the fact that I was mostly just kidding around with that, you did use multiple accounts in the Michigan thread (see: candy cane debacle). I don't know how being a graduate Novi player makes you immune from being a troll anyway. Also, the entire post you just made was pretty trollish, so you aren't helping your case.

Secondly, you seriously discredit any legitimacy you might have had when you make ridiculous statements such as these

Haha, I am totally illegitimate in the quizbowl world. I know nothing about the teams, definitely don't frequently have contact with the top players in the country, and generally am ignorant regarding the game itself. Please drop some quizbowl knowledge on me.

A cursory glance through our team statistics from the HSNCT this year shows that our A team alone had like 20 powers(uhh why does this even matter at all?)

Your team returns 9 powers. 11 were from players that graduated. Also, powers are one of the few statistics (the other being bonus conversion) that measures team skill pretty much regardless of the competition. Asking why powers matters at all immediately after declaring that I've "discredited" my legitimacy to make statements about quizbowl is pretty awesome.

Frankly, our team didn't do so great at the HSNCT this year due to whatever reason but we're much better than what those stats show. I think we can both agree that one tournament isn't sufficient basis to judge the quality of a team especially when there are so many different factors such as strength of schedule, packet distribution, lineup fixing/changed, etc. that can come into play.

Yeah, that's why I tend to look at things like bonus conversion and powers. Also, you guys went 3-6 at PACE, so that's two tournaments (kind of. . . THE two tournaments), and in 18 games had one win against a playoff team. I really only bring this up because of your annoying MICHIGAN IS SO AWESOME crap. Then you go and attack other people for talking about their own regions? Come on.

I don't like to play up how good my team is at QB because I don't think that they're anything special at all, especially in comparison to top teams in the country, but the fact that you think they "fail to put up" is an insult that can't go unanswered.

You did fail to put up, dude, yet you still continue to make the same ridiculous posts you were making before about how awesome Michigan/your team is. And I'm not insulting the team (not the ~80 teams that didn't make playoffs that aren't getting talked about), I'm insulting your incessant posts under various accounts in that thread.

Regarding GPN, they couldn't make the HSNCT this year due to HS Prom I think but I don't see how that disqualifies them from receiving any consideration. If the entire Richard Montgomery team became deathly sick the day before the HSNCT, would that make them any less of a team just because they couldn't come? Also, don't give me that BS about serious quiz bowlers having to put QB above all other commitments because I think the High School Prom is as good of a reason to miss the HSNCT as any other.

That entire paragraph is completely irrelevant and largely nonsensical. I couldn't find any stats for GPN or anything this year except that they took a first round playoff exit at Wayne State. What I do know is that anyone who had more than 10 buzzes from that one year graduated, and we've heard nothing at all since. Also, why didn't they go to PACE, what with it being in MI and all? Anyway, that whole thing makes no sense and nobody criticized them for going to prom (which we obviously couldn't have known about anyway).

Also, I can't even begin to fathom how you can insult a team that actually BEAT YOUR SQUAD in the 2006 HSNCT and was #1 in the whole tournament after the preliminary rounds last year? Still a little bitter perhaps? It's really not becoming of an excellent player like you. GPN is just as good as they were 2 years ago and they aren't graduating anyone next year. It's kind of how RM didn't drop off the face of the earth in 2007 when you graduated Chris. It's a familiar concept, is it not?

Haha, are you for real? Dude, GPN's hilarious playoff debacle will probably go down in history as the worst performance by a top team in NAQT history. If you want to talk about how great GPN was that year and how they were better than RM or SC or Gov, go right ahead, but it's patently ridiculous. It's also irrelevant, dude, because again, all the players on that team who did anything graduated that year. If they return their whole lineup, cool, but for a team that hasn't put up any stats or wins that we know about, your sense of injustice about them being "overlooked" or whatever is baseless. Richard Montgomery won several 2007 tournaments, put up considerable stats against major competition, etc. etc. That they happen to be from the DC area isn't directly relevant. Believe me, if you find me some GPN stats, I'll be happy to look at them and include them in my rankings if they strike me as impressive. . . but I doubt any will materialize. And yeah, RM sure is bitter about losing to GPN in the prelims. . . makes that whole national championship thing so meaningless? This is really just a matter of you made ridiculous posts about how awesome your team/region is, we called you out on it, and now you're just doing it again with a bunch of illogical attacks.

I don't mean to pick a fight with you or defend Michigan's teams of anything like that with my above response but I think it further validates my assertion that the DC/NE juggernaut refuses to give leeway or proper credit to teams outside of their little bubble. All of you are rushing to Gonzaga's defense when if I recall correctly at PACE this year when Novi played them, it was Ted who did basically all of the buzzing and bonus conversion. Somehow Gonzaga is supposed to be even better than they were this year when their clear best player graduated and this Dan kid turned into a beast over the last two months? Actually, it's definitely possible for this to occur because quizbowl's crazy like that lol. But if it can happen to Gonzaga, it can happen to any team that was reasonably good this year including Novi, Santa Monica, Dunbar, GPN, etc. etc. The only way that a preseason QB field discussion can be "fair and balanced" is if all good teams nationwide are given adequate consideration. In fact, that's probably the only way that this thread can even be somewhat useful if we really want to come up with some accurate standings. Very Happy

Uh, did you READ my post? I'm guessing not, at least not the part where I talked about teams not from Michigan. Aside from the whole ridiculous "DC/NE juggernaut" comment (dude, I only even know about 3 teams from the northeast, what?), I actually talked about a whole lot of teams not from that region. And here's a little preview of my top pick this year: They're from Tennessee. Other teams I expect to be in the hunt include Dorman, Eden Prairie, East Lansing, Garfield Heights, and many others (including Brindlee Mountain, who I forgot to mention, but who should be very competitive). Seriously, read the whole post. I even mentioned Wayzata, who I doubt many people in this area even know about. Your criticism (like your posting, in general) makes no sense.

[AKKOLADE]

Fred Morlan was a forums admin man,
He banned with a hammah in his han',

Oh my God you are retarded.

7) Basic civility is required.

Yeah, that's pretty blatant.

words words

5) Discussions need to follow basic rules of logic and rhetoric. In particular, the "you would like Tournament X more if you won it" and "you are only disagreeing with me because you have a bias against the region I'm from" cards are not in the deck of available arguments here.

Playing both the "you're bitter because you lost" card and "people don't like Michigan enough" card is good enough reason for me.

So one day for Charlie and three days for killbill, with a nice extension if he decides to use a parachute account.

[quizbowllee]

Ahh, man!!! Now I gotta wait a whole day to find out what kinda sauce Charlie wants on his hat !

[aestheteboy]

Please find that out after you beat Dorman.

[quizbowllee]

Please find that out after you beat Dorman.

We very likely WON'T actually beat Dorman... But, Charlie's comment definitely got the team fired up.

[segregold]

Are we still doing polling or are we just going to scream at the Michigan guy?

[BuzzerZen]

Are we still doing polling or are we just going to scream at the Michigan guy?

Since he's banned for 3 days, screaming at him would be poor form. Please do not do it.

[BuzzerZen]

And as for being on topic, I would not write off State College (notably absent from Chris's list). Laura is back from last year's NAQT runner-up team, and I know there were juniors on the B team (7-3 at NAQT). They're perennial contenders, and Ms. Gittings is easily one of the best coaches in the country. I'd only be slightly surprised to see them break the top 10 at one national or the other.

[Matthew D]

I have to say I was impressed with State College at Nationals. I also thought the Brindlee Mt B team did well.
New Trier and Eden Prairie also did a good job.
I expect to see some good play from them also I expect that Eric will have Dorman doing well next year.

[theattachment]

Let's do a national poll. If this thing can get even more than a page of views, it's worth it.

Now for the sorely missing Minnesota view:

Concerns about Eden Prairie being either a fluke or overrated are greatly exaggerated. Michael's ACE performance was no fluke, and he's improving day by day. Igor Luzhansky likely is a savant, which explains how freakish he is with chem and RMP, along with most other science questions. Steven Shonts is going to surprise a lot of people, as his stats were drawn down considerably by getting outbuzzed last year by his now graduated teammates. The fourth slot, whether it be me or Sam Daub (or someone else, who knows) likely will clean up in the trash distro. We lost two excellent players but are replacing them with probably our number two on the team last year and the reason(s) we have a trash tournament. We'll be fine, and our B team should also still be pretty solid. Wayzata should also return a lot of good players. They sent both their A and B team to HSNCT last year for good reason, and they bring back some of their stronger and harder-working players. They may surprise a lot of people this year and will have a solid base for the year after. From there, the field gets murkier. St. Thomas graduated their top players (namely Sullivan), SAV graduated their top player and will likely focus more on knowledge bowl, De La Salle graduated three from their A team, St Paul Academy lost their top player, Mound graduated their top player who got top 10 at NCT, you get the idea. Minnetonka gets Alex Friedman back as a junior, but that's about where the marquee ends.

As for outstate, I really didn't get to play enough of the teams at NCT to say who's going to be really good. I'd agree that Dorman, if they return enough of their team, should destroy. Their A team knocked EP B out in a thrashing I've never experienced and their B team knocked EP A from NCTs in a bum round, but they looked like it would be close any way you play them. Whitman looks good as well. I'd put EP A as a solid top 10 though, and Wayzata at least in the top 25.

[Byko]

Ahh, man!!! Now I gotta wait a whole day to find out what kinda sauce Charlie wants on his hat !

I'll answer that for him. You have a choice:

1. Dave's Insanity Sauce
2. A-1, 'cause yeah, it's that important!

[catsasslippers]

Gonzaga: My dark horse for top five. Dan is the real deal, and I think Kevin is set on improving his play. I think there's real potential for the 3-4 spots to reach double digit numbers. Or not. Please don't let me down guys, or Yetman will laugh at me while clinging to his GED.

Stuyvesant: Doug had an excessively better PACE than he had NAQT. The supporting cast (is "Danny" returning?) seems serviceable. However, they also lost to. . . St. Andrew's episcopal? What? Losing to a 2-6 team forces me to bump your team from the top 10. Though I imagine that's where they'll finish.

Neither Danny nor I attended NAQT due to prior, albeit less important, engagements, so I can't compare our NAQT stats to anyone elses. I would like to point out though, that Kevin had 7.50 ppg at PACE, and I had 16.25 ppg and Danny had 17.50 ppg. I am certain Kevin is set on improve his play, and he may well do it. I just think this needed to be pointed out. And any player who cares about the game is of course looking to improve. Kevin is not the only person capable of studying. But if we're going to make predictions let's use available stats not touchy-feely hopes. I think Gonzaga will be a threat, but we won't know until the season starts just how strong they will be.

Also, the not so subtle stab at Douglas was unnecessary. Mud-slinging makes these arguments nasty, and quizbowl should be about knowledge not intimidation or not-so-nice jokes. If you want to take someone down a notch could you do it in a game, and not in a silly comment on the forum. We're all adults here(at least teenagers), and I think we're capable of not taunting each other.

[DumbJaques]

Neither Danny nor I attended NAQT due to prior, albeit less important, engagements, so I can't compare our NAQT stats to anyone elses. I would like to point out though, that Kevin had 7.50 ppg at PACE, and I had 16.25 ppg and Danny had 17.50 ppg. I am certain Kevin is set on improve his play, and he may well do it. I just think this needed to be pointed out. And any player who cares about the game is of course looking to improve. Kevin is not the only person capable of studying. But if we're going to make predictions let's use available stats not touchy-feely hopes. I think Gonzaga will be a threat, but we won't know until the season starts just how strong they will be.

Argh, have you been reading the other posts about this? I've played against Kevin (sans Ted) many, many times. He's not amazing or anything at the moment but he's solid enough. It's important to remember that Ted was buzzing early on just about every Lit/Humanities question, whether he got it or not. It wasn't in that team's best interest for Kevin to buzz much, nor was it that possible. "Touch-feely" hopes is ridiculous. If you'd read any of the other posts about Gonzaga I've made in this thread and the dc one, you'll see "set on improving his play" is just a brief summation of someone who has extremely well-documented potential. Way to toss out your ppg (and legitimately, the other 3 spots on Stuy is why I ranked you top 10 in my poll, so calm the hell down), that's super cool, but I was basing my opinion mostly on what I saw at ACE camp and have seen when I've played with Kevin on other occasions. If you want to play that game though, even with what seems to be a better squad at PACE, you lost to a 2-6 team. Obviously that's not indicative of your overall level but it shows considerable inconsistency, and that's not an easy thing to win a championship with.

Also, the not so subtle stab at Douglas was unnecessary. Mud-slinging makes these arguments nasty, and quizbowl should be about knowledge not intimidation or not-so-nice jokes.

It wasn't really a stab at Doug, more a nod to our exchange in which he challenged my ranking of Zaga. I sincerely hope nobody has been intimidated (!) by this thread on the quizbowl forums?

If you want to take someone down a notch could you do it in a game, and not in a silly comment on the forum. We're all adults here(at least teenagers), and I think we're capable of not taunting each other.

Actually, I can't really do it in a game, but I wasn't actually trying to take him "down a notch" or whatever. Certainly nothing I wrote is a taunt or a comment about Doug's playing ability, and is at the least considerably less of a taunt than equating several people's comments about Kevin's improvement with "touchy-feely" hopes.

[segregold]

Mud-slinging makes these arguments nasty, and quizbowl should be about knowledge not intimidation or not-so-nice jokes. If you want to take someone down a notch could you do it in a game, and not in a silly comment on the forum. We're all adults here(at least teenagers), and I think we're capable of not taunting each other.

Woohoo.

[segregold]

Alright... after actually doing some research, here is how I think the rankings will, more or less go.

1. TJ
2. Dorman
3. RM
4. MLK
5. Whitman
6. Eden Prairie
7. Wilmington Charter
8. Stuyvesant
9. Hunter
10. NKC
11. Gonzaga
12. WJ
13. Santa Monica
14. Moravian
15. Dunbar
16. DCC
17. Wayzata
18. James Island Charter
19. Chattahooche
20. Wheaton North
21. Danville
22. Minnetonka
23. Shady Side
14. Garfield Heights
25. Kellenberg

Maybe throw TJ B somewhere in there too.

Things I think need explaining:

I put RM at No. 3 because, having looked at Nationals stats, there aren't many players on good teams as good as Jeffrey and I. If our B Teamers shape up, we will have a tough team to beat by the end of the season. Just let us cobble it together.

MLK is ranked so high based almost entirely on Dallas being an incredible player. I really hope he manages to get a decent supporting cast this year, because he certainly deserves it.

Choosing Whitman over Eden Prairie was a hard decision, as I think overall, Eden Prairie is better. They certainly get more tossups and have more good players. Adam Marshall on Whitman gets a lot of powers, though, and that can make the difference because Eden Prairie as a team just has not gotten very many powers in the past. If they improve in that area, they'll be better than Whitman.

I seem like a hypocrite for ranking Wilmington Charter and Stuyvesant high after bashing people for doing just that but, well, they're good teams. The stats don't lie. Wilmington Charter is another team in desperate need of powers, hopefully Henry can start getting them.

Hunter, NKC and to a lesser degree Gonzaga and WJ are my "one man teams". Not great teams, but by virtue of an excellent player- Guy, Charlie, Puma and Daichi- they can still win games. I put Hunter first because I think Guy has the best supporting cast, but my heart goes with my D.C. regioners Gonzaga and WJ to solidify their lineups and place in the top 10.

Santa Monica is returning too good players and probably has some others in the basket. I hope that they can continue their reign as the only good west coast team.

Moravian I'm ranking a little higher than I wanted to, but of the lower 10 or so on the list, they have the best overall scores and are definitely the most balanced.

Wayzata, Wheaton North, and James Island Charter all have decent lineups and could go higher than I've placed them here, Wayzata especially. My blessings to them.

Lastly, shoutouts to TJ B and Dorman B, I didn't put you up there because I'm talking about individual schools, but you should do pretty well.

That's all of that. Now we can party.

[jbarnes112358]

I put RM at No. 3 because, having looked at Nationals stats, there aren't many players on good teams as good as Jeffrey and I.

Braggadocio? or just supreme self confidence?

I am sure your team will do well this year.


It is interesting that neither Maggie Walker nor State College cracked your top 25. I am not necessarily saying either team should be there, just that it would be a big change from recent history if neither team made it.

As for our Maggie Walker team, I would not put us in the top 25 at this point either, as there are so many question marks concerning our team. But, our goal is to crack the top 20 before all is said and done. Can we do it? Yes, with a lot of hard work. We will need to wait to see how badly our players want to reach that goal.

[Stat Boy]

I don't think I agree with your exclusion of State College from the top 25. Even if they weren't returning two players, the program there has been one of the most consistent in recent memory.

[segregold]

Braggadocio? or just supreme self confidence?

It was the poorly-phrased conclusion I made from examining the stats at this year's NAQT Nationals. I don't mean that Jeffrey-and-I-are-the-best-players-ever-we-can-take-you. We are just both good and on the same team, which is not true next year for the majority of the teams. Except for Dorman and TJ, many teams are not returning multiple good players. Dallas and his brother Cody are both good, but they have large knowledge overlap. A lot of the other good teams like Wilmington Charter have one excellent player and then several good players. Since Jeffrey and I are both pretty good, we're returning Stephen Hurley who would be good if he negged less, and we have some talent from the B Team we can whip into shape, I thought it was a decent estimate to put RM at third. However, since Dallas is an incredible player and Whitman/Eden Prairie do not suffer from one-man-team syndrome, it was not as clear-cut as with the one and two slots. 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th will definitely be some combination of Whitman, Eden Prairie, RM and MLK, though.

t is interesting that neither Maggie Walker nor State College cracked your top 25. I am not necessarily saying either team should be there, just that it would be a big change from recent history if neither team made it.

I don't think I agree with your exclusion of State College from the top 25. Even if they weren't returning two players, the program there has been one of the most consistent in recent memory.

Excellent points which will probably prove true. In the case of Maggie Walker, I felt that they are replacing their entire A Team and that will probably mean they need a year to sit out before they will be, once again, frighteningly good. I've met some of the younger players from Maggie Walker, though, and they are pretty good, so they could definitely make it somewhere in the late teens or twenties.

For State College, there is actually a reason that they are not up there, and that is because for some reason their players' years were not listed next to their names when I was looking at the stats for Nationals. Since my predictions were largely based on those statistics, I couldn't make a judgment. But yes, anywhere between 10th and 20th would be fair estimates for State College.

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

The whole one man teams part of your ranking seems the oddest-
There is no way in hell you can convince me that Hunter has the best support compared to NKC or especially Gonzaga until stats start popping up. Their non-Guy players went 4-14-5 and at Nationals tied for 33rd, with everybody returning. I would say that NKC is in almost the exact same position (our top 3 returning, and as much as you all may not want to believe it, they do actually contribute to our success and get some strong contributions, and work hard), plus we did technically finish higher. As for Gonzaga, I find it pretty obvious (although I should probably wait until stats start up) that they are a 2 person team this year, which automatically should take them out of this "category" or whatever it is.

[segregold]

There is no way in hell you can convince me that Hunter has the best support compared to NKC or especially Gonzaga until stats start popping up.

That is the conclusion I came to from looking at the stats from last year's Nationals. I don't think anyone from NKC even broke 200 points except for you, Charlie. As for Gonzaga, they have more potential, but Kevin really doesn't buzz enough so I didn't think it was fair to rank them higher.

[Maxwell Sniffingwell]

That is the conclusion I came to from looking at the stats from last year's Nationals. I don't think anyone from NKC even broke 200 points except for you, Charlie. As for Gonzaga, they have more potential, but Kevin really doesn't buzz enough so I didn't think it was fair to rank them higher.

I'm not really sure where you're getting this, segregold:
Hunter returns 175 points - 4 powers.
NKC returns 200 points - 4 powers.

That's even, as far as I'm concerned.

[Sir Thopas]

That is the conclusion I came to from looking at the stats from last year's Nationals. I don't think anyone from NKC even broke 200 points except for you, Charlie. As for Gonzaga, they have more potential, but Kevin really doesn't buzz enough so I didn't think it was fair to rank them higher.

I'm not really sure where you're getting this, segregold:
Hunter returns 175 points - 4 powers.
NKC returns 200 points - 4 powers.

That's even, as far as I'm concerned.

In case anyone cares, people other than me are taking AP Chem and Bio this year, and all of us are taking Physics and US History, so the division of labor should be much greater this year.

(EDIT: Apparently no AP Chem until next year, due to a scheduling conflict. But still, there should be more division of labor regardless.)

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

And incase anyone cares, we have people taking IB classes, so once again I don't see that affecting too much.

[jbarnes112358]

All this data analysis regarding who is returning and how many points they scored at nationals is an interesting mathematical model, but is subject to huge potential errors. Why? A few reasons follow.

1. Some excellent returning players were playing with dominant seniors who overshadowed them. (Think of RM's Chris Ray of a couple of years back or Gonzaga's Ted last year, for examples)

2. Some average players become superstars over summer. ( One of our former players did just that several years ago.)

3. Some young superstars who were not at nationals invariably emerge.

4. Not all returning players progress at the same rate. You cannot assume the relative ability of two players will remain the same over a year's time.

[segregold]

I'm not really sure where you're getting this, segregold:
Hunter returns 175 points - 4 powers.
NKC returns 200 points - 4 powers.

Sorry, you're right. I got Hunter and Stuyvesant confused. Stuyvesant returns with a better balanced team than Hunter or NKC. Hunter and NKC themselves are pretty close, it really depends on whether Guy or Charlie improves more.

All this data analysis regarding who is returning and how many points they scored at nationals is an interesting mathematical model, but is subject to huge potential errors. Why? A few reasons follow.

1. Some excellent returning players were playing with dominant seniors who overshadowed them. (Think of RM's Chris Ray of a couple of years back or Gonzaga's Ted last year, for examples)

2. Some average players become superstars over summer. ( One of our former players did just that several years ago.)

3. Some young superstars who were not at nationals invariably emerge.

4. Not all returning players progress at the same rate. You cannot assume the relative ability of two players will remain the same over a year's time.

All fair points, but I think that using statistical date generally ensures a closer matchup than subjective assessment would. I think that point #3 is less of an issue for teams that sent A and B Teams to Nationals, because, well, if they were a superstar, they would have gone to Nationals. It is a fairer criticism for teams that sent only one good team to Nationals, like Santa Monica.

At any rate, season starts next week, so we can all stop talking and see how things work out in real-time. Good luck, everybody.

[jbarnes112358]

All fair points, but I think that using statistical date generally ensures a closer matchup than subjective assessment would.

Agreed. You use what data you are given. My only point is that your model will be inherently limited at predicting the future.

[segregold]

My only point is that your model will be inherently limited at predicting the future.

That's the entertaining part, I think. It's like low stakes poker. Then afterwards we all come back and laugh at me for putting RM at 3rd when we don't even make the top ten.

[jbarnes112358]

That's the entertaining part, I think. It's like low stakes poker. Then afterwards we all come back and laugh at me for putting RM at 3rd when we don't even make the top ten.

I would not at all be surprised to see you finish that high. Your RM B team last year was one of the few teams we lost to all year. I believe that nobody on RM B was a senior. Add to that the fact that you had a couple of non-seniors on your A-team, then your optimism is well-founded.

The greater Washington, DC metro region is going to have some power houses. So much so that it could be possible for you to be third in the nation, but only third in your region. TJ and Whitman will almost surely finish high. Gonzaga will be up there too, no doubt. But, we will need to see how they handle Ted's departure.

But then there are Dorman, MLK and several others that will be making a run for the championship. So, once again, we go into the year with a wide open field.

[gonzagaeagleahy]

Gonzaga will be up there too, no doubt. But, we will need to see how they handle Ted's departure.

Exactly and I believe our future this year is dependent on that. Currently that idea is not looking very good because our main player, Dan Puma, decided that this year would be the right year to start playing football, which interferes with every practice we have until football season ends.

[BuzzerZen]

Geez, Puma, way to go.

[jbarnes112358]

Exactly and I believe our future this year is dependent on that. Currently that idea is not looking very good because our main player, Dan Puma, decided that this year would be the right year to start playing football, which interferes with every practice we have until football season ends.

This is not necessarily a huge problem for you. In 2004, our most prolific player, and one of the nation's superstars decided to play baseball in the spring after several years away from the sport. All he did after that was to lead us to a national championship at PACE NSC and 2nd place at NAQT HSNCT. Football is a fall sport; Dan will be with you the rest of the year.

[DumbJaques]

Reacting to the Alabama tournament (which was NAQT A, so everything there is with a grain of salt):

Dorman's numbers were very impressive. Clearly if that team keeps developing they're going to be tough (nice power/neg ratio too). However, they had a few very close games which, NAQT A or not, probably shouldn't happen and makes me wonder if they'll show some inconsistency. Chattahoochee also put up impressive numbers. As for Brindlee Mountain seems like it has a handful of people with a lot of potential. I expect Lee will be able to put together a very competitive team by the end of the year (likely sooner). This is one of those teams that could really get a lot better by the end of the year. . . I hope to see how they progress at some more northerly tournaments (any interest in the weekend of quizbowl?).

[quizbowllee]

Reacting to the Alabama tournament (which was NAQT A, so everything there is with a grain of salt):

Dorman's numbers were very impressive. Clearly if that team keeps developing they're going to be tough (nice power/neg ratio too). However, they had a few very close games which, NAQT A or not, probably shouldn't happen and makes me wonder if they'll show some inconsistency. Chattahoochee also put up impressive numbers. As for Brindlee Mountain seems like it has a handful of people with a lot of potential. I expect Lee will be able to put together a very competitive team by the end of the year (likely sooner). This is one of those teams that could really get a lot better by the end of the year. . . I hope to see how they progress at some more northerly tournaments (any interest in the weekend of quizbowl?).

Chris, we'd love to make it to a mid-Atlantic tournament, but our budget just isn't going to allow it this year. We'll be doing well to afford PACE and HSNCT this year. The good thing is that we'll be pretty active down here and should have a few opportunities to play MLK and Dorman among others before Nationals. But, our first run-in with TJ, Richard Montgomery, Maggie Walker, etc. will probably be at Nationals.

I appreciate your comments. I think that we do have a lot of potential to improve this year. I was relatively pleased with our showing at Alabama. I wish we could've played Dorman better, but that particular round didn't play to our strengths. Overall my group seemed more confident and comfortable. I think we will improve as the year goes on. They are fired up.

-Lee