Alabama 2012-2013

[quizbowllee]

Alrighty, folks! This thing is going down this week. ASCA State!

[quizbowllee]

OK. Seriously. It is time for this stupid, antiquated "waiting to be recognized" rule to go! This is the only tournament all year that has enforced it.

Live from ASCA State.

[quizbowllee]

Admittedly, I sort of "rage posted" above. We had a terrible day at State. First, our top-scorer got a stomach virus and didn't even make the trip. This demoralized the team before we even started. Then, the constant penalties for recognition. After about the fifth or sixth time a moderator said "Oh... sorry... I can't accept that because you didn't wait for me to say your name or 'Red 1' or 'Yellow 2'" I was fed up. Are we playing quiz bowl or Simon Says? Why does ASCA insist on this rule? No one enforces it until State, and then it's like a sadistic thrill for mods to deny kids points based, not on a lack of knowledge, but because "Simon didn't say."

Please, please, PLEASE get rid of this rule. This rule exists because quiz bowl was once on the radio. People listening didn't know who was answering unless the moderator called on them before the answer was given. ASCA matches are not on the radio. It's time to let this one go.

[Joshua Rutsky]

Results for the 2013 ASCA State Tournament:

First Place: Spain Park High School (2-1 in best of 3 final)
Second Place: Grissom High School
Third Place: Randolph High School
Fourth Place: Hoover High School

Tournament MVP: Kevin Yang, Spain Park HS, 94 points per game average.



I would like to take this opportunity to say that I was absolutely right when I pegged Spain Park as the team to beat going into State this year. They had a tough round in the semis to get by Randolph, but won solidly in the two of three they took from Grissom. Kevin is killer fast, and he was on his game today. Grissom earned their berth in the finals by beating us in a good match, and fully deserved their place in the final.



Lee, feel free to propose or write the rule change regarding recognition for the fall meeting. I'll be happy to introduce it. If my team did this five or six times over the course of five rounds, however, despite repeated warnings, I'd probably be a lot more ticked at them than about the rule.

[quizbowllee]

Lee, feel free to propose or write the rule change regarding recognition for the fall meeting. I'll be happy to introduce it. If my team did this five or six times over the course of five rounds, however, despite repeated warnings, I'd probably be a lot more ticked at them than about the rule.

Granted, I was getting ticked at them.... But, also, I understood. This is the first time West Point has had a team that competed outside of their local league. They have never been to a tournament that made them wait to be recognized. I warned them at District that this might happen - it didn't. I warned them at Regionals that is might happen - it didn't. So, I assumed that ASCA had finally moved on. Nope. It was brutal. I had a girl almost in tears over it.

I propose that ASCA adopt NAQT Rule G.2:

When a player has signaled, a game official will acknowledge ("recognize") the player by name, by number, by pointing toward the player, or merely by looking at the player. There is no penalty if a player who has signaled answers before being acknowledged.

Other than that, did you think that this set was unusually difficult for a Regular IS set?

Also, congrats to all winners. This was one of the toughest fields I think ASCA has ever had.

[Joshua Rutsky]

Not really. I thought the difficulty was pretty much what I was expecting, although I can see why you might view it as difficult, because I thought the last couple of IS sets were a bit easier than usual, but who knows? Perception on those things are skewed in part by the teams you're playing. I DO think that the worksheets were much harder this time, largely because of the huge run of 19s and 20s at regionals that led them to write harder ones for state. Average for the rooms I saw was 15-16 right per worksheet this time out.

This WAS a brutal field. Not only did we see some surprises (Athens eliminating ASFA on a sudden death tiebreaker tossup, Huntsville edging out Brindlee and Indian Springs in a circle of death just to get INTO the playoffs), but we saw a much better overall level of play, I thought. I would like to be really irritated that my team isn't the state champions again, but it is very hard to be upset when we played some very tough teams today. Things are getting much better in Alabama across the board, and programs like Gadsden City, Spain Park, and West Point are going to continue to push the perennial leaders if they want to stay in the top 8.

[Bighoss227]

I hear Kevin is going to bring it at nationals... Hoover better watch out

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[Joshua Rutsky]

For what, precisely? One team in the 256 there?

Spain Park did very well at nationals -- 5-5 on a first try, and a couple of near misses that would have made playoffs possible. Same thing for Hoover. The teams were neck and neck all year, and they stayed that way at the end.

[mriggle]

Even though none of the teams from Alabama were able to break through and make the playoffs at HSNCT, all of the teams that competed have every right to be proud of themselves.

Judging from the discussion I've followed in this thread, as well as the tournaments within the state that I had the privilege to read for, I definitely feel like quizbowl in Alabama is moving in the right direction, and the overall level of competitiveness and parity between teams seems higher than when I was playing in high school.

Any idea what the situation with Alabama teams might look like next year as far as losing people to graduation is concerned?

[The Ununtiable Twine]

Any idea what the situation with Alabama teams might look like next year as far as losing people to graduation is concerned?

On a similar note, are any of these seniors coming to UA?

[Joshua Rutsky]

Well, I'm not sure about all the teams, but I can fill in a little:

Kevin Yang, Spain Park's big gun, graduated. They will be in rebuild for next year, although I think Todd Parker has more than he thinks he does in his kids. They've come a long way in a short time.

Yoni, the big gun from ASFA, graduated, as did Becca Nation, I think. Again, a serious loss for the team in terms of PPG average--without them, they are a much different squad--but Amanda Crist wasn't bad at all when they played without Yoni at the Hoover Elite Meet, and there's certainly plenty of ability at ASFA to draw on.

I'm fairly certain Randolph graduates their two best players. I think that's also true of most of the Grissom team, but that's just my belief, not hard notes.

Hoover loses the entire Varsity A squad, of whom I believe two are going to U of Alabama -- Stephen Church and Jordan LaPorta. Stephen placed third at the Sports Nationals this year, and Jordan is a whiz on law, but I'm pretty sure both are done playing quiz bowl. I can't say we are rebuilding, however, because we've been playing the Varsity B just as often as the Varsity A, and they finished 4-6 at Nationals, just a game off our A squad.

Probably the best-prepared team for next year out of the gate will be Gadsden City. They have a serious program going there, and it is poised to make a run again this year. I don't think they lost much with this year's graduation.

I don't know what else there will be statewide for next year. The usual suspects (Arab, Indian Springs, Altamont) will be around. Huntsville and Grissom, as well as Randolph, will be the Huntsville area powers. Hard to say what will happen from down south, although the participation from UMS-Wright and some of the other schools down by the bay is a real plus. LAMP will be in the mix. In other words, wait another four months and then ask questions after the WRK invitational or, if he holds it, the DAR kickoff.