Thomas Jefferson Appreciation Thread

[evilmonkey]

Can someone at PACE explain what happened in the result of the Auburn/TJ A playoff game, too? From what I heard, TJ A originally won the game by 20 points after killing the last tossup when Auburn negged. Later, TJ realized that the moderator had accepted "Thoth" for "Ptah" ...

There was another protested bonus part that was resolved against Thomas Jefferson to make the result unflippable in any makeup question situations. Also, I want to commend Thomas Jefferson and Diana for recognizing the moderator error and contacting me about it. It was extremely honest and forthright for them to do so, and I appreciate their actions for exemplifying the spirit of fair competition.

In the end, regardless of all of this, we were basically blown away as a team by Diana/TJ's honesty and sportsmanship in the matter. We really, really appreciate the act.

In light of all that has happened this weekend, one moment that shines through the darkness is the actions of the Thomas Jefferson team. We've seen a proliferation of cheating scandals over the past few years, so to see a team with the integrity to give up a spot in the top bracket simply because its the right thing to do is more than just refreshing. It left me speechless when I heard about it. As seen above, this got discussed briefly in the other thread, but in my opinion this is too important to get lost in the morass of those threads. I started this thread in an effort to keep it in the public consciousness.

Thomas Jefferson, thank you for your honesty.

[TheDoctor]

Personally, I have to say that hearing about TJ's selfless decision and noble actions made me proud to be part of the quiz bowl community and brightened an otherwise frustrating weekend for me. Thanks, guys. You truly are an inspiration.

[Cheynem]

I have great respect for TJ. For that matter, I have great appreciation for the vast majority of teams at this tournament who stuck out the logistic snafus and nightmares with a positive attitude. I saw congratulations for good buzzes to the other teams all throughout the day. Thank you for coming and for staying positive.

[Skepticism and Animal Feed]

Evan Nagler did something similar at ACF Regionals this year, informing the moderator that Georgetown had received 10 points more than it earned on a bonus. Georgetown then proceeded to lose the game by exactly 10 points after the other team got the tiebreaker tossup.

[abnormal abdomen]

Yeah, as I've already stated and can't really state enough, this was an incredibly unselfish and honest act. We wanted to actually do something nice for them as a team, but really didn't have the time/opportunity to do any such things, so heartfelt thanks and appreciation had to do. Oh, and so did Road Ranger-bought Cheezits, M&M's, and Jolly Ranchers.

But, yeah, thanks TJ. You guys are great.

[jbarnes112358]

In the midst of all the controversy of the tournament, and in stark counterpoint to last year's cheating scandal, Thomas Jefferson's honesty, integrity, and honor was a highlight of this tournament for me. Their decision to do the right thing, knowing the consequences in the competition, would have made Thomas Jefferson, himself, proud to have his name associated with them. I can't say I am all that surprised by their actions. I have known this bunch for several years now. We have played many highly competitive games with them and have interacted with them in many contexts. They always display the highest level of sportsmanship. They want to win as much as any team. But, they keep the game in perspective and know that winning is not everything. By any objective measure they deserve to be a super-playoff team. But, more importantly, as a role model to all quizbowl players out there, the team from TJHSST is the champion.

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

In another thread or two, people are talking about how horrible, plagiarizing, hose-inducing national tournaments like 's NAC get more press in the papers than respected nationals HSNCT and NSC.

That may be true, but this absolutely amazing article in the Rockford Register Star almost helps me forget about the worthless articles about illegitimate national championships won by teams who can play those lightning rounds about the letter B or first lines of novels or some crap.

http://www.rrstar.com/people/braingames ... CE-tourney

Anyway, read that, and thank TJ again for what they did, but also Auburn for promoting this story and helping to get it in the papers as well. Kudos.