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Just wanted to know what teams people think will do well next year in the DC/Metro area.

I think the field may be kind of open next year, as some of the very top teams are graduating very strong seniors (e.g., Chris Ray at Richard Montgomery, Zach Klitzman from Walt Whitman, Alex Price at Walter Johnson), so good young teams this year could really make a move next season.

I'd probably say Gonzaga is the front-runner at this point with Ted coming back. TJ will always be competitive with the talent pool they keep building up. And I think Eleanor Roosevelt could come out and surprise some people.

Yes, I know I didn't cover Governor's School in there. I suppose they're not metro DC, but they're not not metro DC either. Needless to say, they'll be probably the ones everyone will be gunning for.

Still, you can't count out RM. Our B Team was quite good this year, as those of you who went to WJ will remember. Add on myself and Keith, and you have a rather solid team.

Though Gov returning all its seniors is scary...

Bugsy wrote:Still, you can't count out RM. Our B Team was quite good this year, as those of you who went to WJ will remember.

Okay, that's true. I guess it was easier to accidentally overlook y'all (yes, I'm still a southerner) because I haven't actually seen you play this year, just seen the statistics. I knew that there'd be at least a few worthy competitors I'd overlook.

In all seriousness, you're probably right. Hopefully I'll get to see you all in action at PACE next weekend.

Depending on how big the "Metro-area" is, I personally think Gov will be scary next year. Returning all but one member from the 3rd place team at NAQT makes them one of the teams to beat next year.

Next year's senior class at TJ is small in number, but we'll have at least 10 juniors, and some of them are exceptionally strong.

Well, I look forward to following it, as much as I am able to.

Blake HS will be returning its top three starters next year.

I don't know whether Whitman is graduating most of its A-Team or not but I remember that their B Team was quite impressive at the UMD tournament last month or whenever it was (it's exam time, my brain is switched off completely... ), so they might be people to watch out for.

For me, "DC Metro" is defined more by tournament attendance than regional location. Thus, Baltimore teams are less a part of it then Gov, SC, and even Raleigh Charter. Unfortunately, I see next year as a bit of a down year for Maryland after Montgomery County had three teams finish in the top twenty at NAQT. Speaking only of the teams I see enough to have a reasonable opinion about, I would say Gov has to be pretty close to being the consensus #1 going into next year. TJ's history and overall talent level (read: Evan, Alan, and company) make them the likely challenger. State College just needs to plug a few holes and they will be right there again. Gonzaga, too, will be strong and could make a run if the team rounds itself out so that they become more consistent against top teams. Perhaps Shady Side and/or Wilmington C will check us out an extra time or two, but, barring that, I see good teams that will surprise people coming out of Centennial and Blake. For the faster tossup competitions, I'll add Rockville and BCC as dark horse/upset teams.

I make no prediction for our team (I would either be too biased or too harsh) other than that some young players will need to learn a few things over the summer and be ready to step into new roles for us to be competitive.

With Ted, Gonzaga should be pretty darn good next year. He has been among the top scorers at several tournaments throughout the year. TJ brings back Evan plus a large number of rising juniors as previously mentioned. Alan and Phil are both quite good and plenty of others would make for a pretty strong B team. They ought to have great depth as usual. As for RM, I'm not sure if they can pull off as good a run at nationals as they did this year, especially graduating both Chrises who formed the backbone of the A team. Perhaps, the underclassmen will be able to step up, but I can't tell for sure at this point. Our Gov team may lack a bit on the depth next year; B team can be decent if they can keep it together. Hopefully, our rising sophomores will be able to bring some strength to the lower teams. I had thought that Whitman's B team at UMD had a senior or two on it that scored many of that team's points, but I'm not certain of that. State College (if we can consider them in the "DC Metro Area") returns some strong underclassmen. They'll be very good. TJ's fall tournament ought to be a pretty good indication for the year of the different teams in the area (+State College and several others from abroad). EDIT: Forgot about Blake too. They'll be pretty strong, probably giving several excellent teams a good fight or pulling upsets.

Any opinions on GDS?

At this point Gov has to be the consensus number one for next year, returning four excellent players. TJ with Evan and strong '08 class should be contenders. With the success of RM's B team I'd say that they would be very dangerous coming into next season and I hope that after a summer of hard work that we(Gonzaga) build on our success this year and make a run. Those four schools I'd say are the favorites coming into next season, but teams like ER, Blake, and Centennial could suprise people. While I don't consider State College to be part of the DC Metro area they will be as good as anybody next year.

Hopper wrote:Any opinions on GDS?

Honestly, I can't say I know much about their team from this year, let alone next year--I think the only time I saw them was at the It's Academic semifinal taping. How many of those players are they returning next year?

Does anyone have any outlook for Hampton Roads (Norfolk/VA Beach/Lower Peninsula), Richmond (aside from Gov), and elsewhere in Virginia (aside from the Metro DC area)?

dsfquizbowl wrote:Does anyone have any outlook for Hampton Roads (Norfolk/VA Beach/Lower Peninsula), Richmond (aside from Gov), and elsewhere in Virginia (aside from the Metro DC area)?

Ocean Lakes will be good next year as they return Kunle.

I touched on the issue of non-TJ/MLW VA teams in the "who will be the best" thread, which has now been archived. We'll have to see how many tournaments Ocean Lakes goes to next year, as they only attended I think 2 tournaments besides VHSL, BoB, and NAQT nationals. Kunle makes them good, but you need some depth to be a top contender in the mid-Atlantic region. Robinson will have Richard for two more years and they have a couple more good players (and they graduated no seniors this year). Cave Spring returns Emma Berry but again there appears to be less depth with that team. Langley was impressive at NAQT states (and with only 3 players) but I know very little about them nowadays. St. Chris will have some pretty good juniors, but hopefully they'll be able to send their A team to tournaments for a change next year and sports won't get in the way (Collegiate has the same issue I think).

Why do we have so few posts in this thread? We seriously need to step it up in the nebulous prognostication department. To help stimulate this, i propose a quizbowl fantasy league.

My guess:
1. Maggie Walker (Richmond, VA)-returning all but one starter off last year's #3 NAQT HSNCT team
2. Richard Montgomery(Rockville, MD)- Returns 2 players from their championship NAQT team and reload with strong B team players.
3. Thomas Jefferson (Alexandria, VA)-Lose 3 from last year but reload well with strong players from their B team
4. Gonzaga (DC)-lose Michael but keep PACE all-star Ted
5. Walter Johnson (Montgomery, MD)- Despite the rather large loss of seniors this year, next years team will have a lot more commitment and should be improving rapidly
6 through 10-Georgetown Day(DC), Hammond (Columbia, MD), Whitman(Bethesda, MD), Robinson (Fairfax, VA), Rockville (Rockville, MD)

Baltimore County schools? I'm seriously not joking. Dulaney returns all players (4 seniors) from a good squad (11-seed last year at UMD); Parkville returns all 3 players (3 seniors) from a Baltimore Finalist team that kept with Hammond on the tv show last year; and Perry Hall, returning the 2 leaders from their Baltimore Finalist It's Academic team and adding improved players that fill their weaknesses. Assuming Parkville and Dulaney come to tournaments more, and Perry Hall is what I expect to be a strong team next year, Baltimore County can be a force.

Granted, Montgomery and Howard Counties won't be sitting around watching Baltimore County, but I truly believe we can compete. It's sad that with our size, we haven't held our own in the past. But with teams of completely seniors, don't be surprised about Baltimore County. I will conceed that the gaping weaknesses are lack of prior tournament experience and performance, but don't judge the current by the past. Maybe I'm gullible in believing our tv results will translate to tournaments (we are admittedly weaker in tournaments), but the county is beginning to shift from tv focus to tournament focus.

And not to say that we are better than teams with NAQT and PACE national experience, or expect to have national excellence, but we will compete strong locally.

wereplayingbasketball wrote:Why do we have so few posts in this thread? We seriously need to step it up in the nebulous prognostication department.

Jesus will join Gonzaga's team and power every hockey question.

Maggie Walker's team will switch from quiz bowl to rap battle throwdowns featuring Matt Morrison.

Chris Ray will sacrifice the whole RichMo team in a dread ritual in order to summon Cthulhu from the watery depths of R'lyeh and rain down doom upon us all.

Jesus will join Gonzaga's team and power every hockey question.

GOD IS PURPLE!
Ever see the pic of the Zaga senior prank when they turned the lights pointing on the Washington Monument purple making the building look purple? I think it's online somewhere.

yeah bigtrain my dad was a part of it... I guess im Jesus cause I WILL get every hockey question.

Nothing since July? Time to reply. Any thoughts after MD Fall Tournament? Maggie Walker was the #1 seed, and our "B" team was definitely impressed. As for our "A" team, we beat Hammond A (getting the bonus in the fourth round helped) and Centennial A (their only pool-play loss was to us - PH A) , but lost a good match to ER; we also lost a bad match in the first round of the playoffs to Dulaney and were sent home far earlier than I had hoped - it's luck of the draw with respect to questions, and they definitely weren't on our side that match. ER A was a #5 seed, and, I think, better than people expected. Our "B" team was also definitely impressed by Blake (for what it's worth, they said they seemed better than Maggie Walker). Any other reactions and discussion of results from Maryland?

Whoa Maggie Walker actually went to Maryland's Fall tourney? I think that's a first, but yeah that's pretty cool. Did they win?

I think if Maggie Walker turns into a rap battle team Mehdi will have to carry the torch, I'm too busy at W&M trying to form a team. In fact, since competing as a new college team is pretty tough, I can't decide whether to tell my recruits to write questions or write battle verses, we'd probably do just as well/badly (and at least be more impressive with the latter option). I thought I'd be the only one on campus who writes rhymes, but as luck would have it someone in my 90-person hall actually kicks some ish from time to time. We definitely gotta throw it down at trash tournaments, best believe it!

Matt Morrison wrote:Whoa Maggie Walker actually went to Maryland's Fall tourney? I think that's a first, but yeah that's pretty cool. Did they win?

I think if Maggie Walker turns into a rap battle team Mehdi will have to carry the torch, I'm too busy at W&M trying to form a team. In fact, since competing as a new college team is pretty tough, I can't decide whether to tell my recruits to write questions or write battle verses, we'd probably do just as well/badly (and at least be more impressive with the latter option). I thought I'd be the only one on campus who writes rhymes, but as luck would have it someone in my 90-person hall actually kicks some ish from time to time. We definitely gotta throw it down at trash tournaments, best believe it!

Maggie Walker was there for all but one of the Maryland high school tournaments I was there for, I believe. I'd have to double-check, but I recall several TJ-Maggie Walker finals.

As for the rest of your post...I'm mystified as to how one could get "rap battle" from "Maryland tournament."

I've already said too much, I'm sure.

UndercoverParrothead wrote:
Maggie Walker was there for all but one of the Maryland high school tournaments I was there for, I believe. I'd have to double-check, but I recall several TJ-Maggie Walker finals.

As for the rest of your post...I'm mystified as to how one could get "rap battle" from "Maryland tournament."

I've already said too much, I'm sure.

Sure attendance of the Spring tournament was pretty common, but during my time we never went to the Fall one, except maybe my freshman year, but I don't know about that year since I was introduced to quizbowl at the 2002 Cav. Classic.

I'm mystified at your mystification, I was simply analyzing Evan's analysis, if you read it, but yeah I should have used quotes so that's partly my bad.

But anyway, I mainly wanted to post to make a minor correction. I've just been informed there are actually 3 rappers on my hall, one on each floor.

I think we will learn a lot more about the DC Metro area from TJ. It's Ac style is very prone to upsets due to the category round and uneven levels of difficulty in the individual rounds.

So . . . who won?
I would guess Gov won a final against TJ.

Maggie Walker won at UMD with a final score of 585-500 against TJ A, who kept very close throughout. It was the first time the four of us on MW were playing together on the It's Academic format, so we were really surprised to make it as far as we did. It was a great match, and it wasn't until the grab bag round that we pulled ahead enough to secure the win.

Out of curiosity, how bad did you (MW) beat Dulaney?

Our final score against Dulaney was 520-370, another great match against a good team.

Djibouti wrote:Our "B" team was also definitely impressed by Blake (for what it's worth, they said they seemed better than Maggie Walker).

Haha...thanks for the compliment but I can't say I agree. Congrats to Maggie Walker -- you guys were great.

Magister Ludi wrote:I think we will learn a lot more about the DC Metro area from TJ. It's Ac style is very prone to upsets due to the category round and uneven levels of difficulty in the individual rounds.

I agree with Ted on this point. The first two TU rounds tend to be buzzer races. The category TU round is subject to imbalance if your opponent happens to be really good at that category, or if your own team is weak on it. (We got smoked on the movie category, for example.) The directed rounds were even in difficulty (i.e. fair). The final grab bag round with its 300 points saved the format somewhat. The questions in that round were more interesting and with more substance.

We were not sure if we were even going to attend, but some our guys were really eager for some competition after a a 3 1/2 month layoff. We actually enjoyed the games more than we thought we would. It was nice to meet some teams we do not usually play against. I thought we adjusted to the nuances of the game quite well as the day went on. That said, we much prefer the standard pyramidal NAQT/PACE style of tournament. The UMD tournament was fine as a novelty, but I would not wish all tournaments to be like that.

I sort of agree about the above comments on It's Ac format. At MD, we fell behind in the first and third rounds in half our matches, and came from behind in the last two rounds (especially the grab bag round) against Hammond and Centennial (one from 60 down and the other from 80 down). The grab bag round was definitely PH's strong round (outside of getting the bonus in the first round v. Hammond). I do, however, disagree that the team rounds were balanced. Especially in the first playoff round, but also in other matches, uneven questions defintely helped/hurt our team. One thing I did not like was the pairing of the exact same topic (i.e. wives of Henry VIII; books by the same author), as the second team had a distinct advantage unless the moderator alternated who went first between the 2nd/4th rounds (which didn't always happen).

As for general comments on the It's Academic format (i.e. the tv show), you have to admit that the right team wins the match. I can't speak for VA, but Richard Montgomery and Hammond definitely were the strongest teams from their respective regions last year. And PH and Parkville making it to the Baltimore Final was no fluke either. That said, the pyramidal format does showcase "out there" knowledge and rewards deeper understanding/earlier recognition more than the It's Ac format

As for general comments on the It's Academic format (i.e. the tv show), you have to admit that the right team wins the match. I can't speak for VA, but Richard Montgomery and Hammond definitely were the strongest teams from their respective regions last year. And PH and Parkville making it to the Baltimore Final was no fluke either.

I'm not sure how you're defining "the right team." If you mean "best at It's Ac format," then your comment makes sense, but remiscent of "the team with the most points wins!" kind of logic. If you mean simply the best team, I'll dispute the comment. Two years ago when TJ A swept NAQT in a mass of blood and death, they got knocked out in the regional semi-finals. Between RM and WJ last year, the last match really could have gone either way, there was a huge random element. And Centennial was certainly a stronger team than Hammond was last year, though evidently not a faster team.

Uh. . . whoops, that had nothing to do with prognostication. Let's see. . .

I predict TJ won't work out the way people predict it will. Last year there were plenty of surprises, there will be plenty of surprises this year. That's just how the first tournament always goes.

I also predict Evan Silberman will present me with a particularly degrading (dis)honorary neg award in absentia.

Djibouti wrote: I do, however, disagree that the team rounds were balanced. Especially in the first playoff round, but also in other matches, uneven questions defintely helped/hurt our team. One thing I did not like was the pairing of the exact same topic (i.e. wives of Henry VIII; books by the same author), as the second team had a distinct advantage unless the moderator alternated who went first between the 2nd/4th rounds (which didn't always happen).

Well, the pairing of the exact same topic was what made the directed rounds relatively even. I agree that there is a slight advantage to the team that goes second. For that reason, the team that went second should have been alternating as official tournament policy, perhaps with the first move being determined randomly.

Please do not interpret any of my comments as an endorsement of directed team rounds. They are always going to be subject to a degree of unfairness by their very nature, since the two teams are playing on different question sets. In a close game, one can't help but wonder how the game would have turned out if the teams had traded questions on the directed round. It is hard not to be bitter after losing a close game due to a bad draw on a directed team round. I have never liked such rounds, though we have to endure them at VHSL, at our Battle of the Brains TV show, and occasionally at other tournaments.

DumbJacques wrote:I also predict Evan Silberman will present me with a particularly degrading (dis)honorary neg award in absentia.

I'll see if I can get him to send it to you...rumor has it this year's prize is a lock of his supposedly recently-cut hair.

As a writer for the tournament, I have to say that I also do not particularly enjoy writing team rounds. They're very hard to balance correctly, and it's always very hard to gauge what are two comparable levels of knowledge. I think that's why you saw a lot of same subject comparisons in this tournament.

The format for this tournament has essentially been handed down over the years, so I'm not sure the exact reasons for the Team rounds, but these are my suspicions:
1) Give some points and encouragement to weaker teams so they are not shut out all day against much better teams.
2) To give teams a chance to practice for the lightning rounds in It's Academic.

I definitely see the rational for #1, as it's always frustrating when you're on a new team that is not getting any chance to answer questions all day. As this tournament is traditionally one of the first tournaments of the year, I think it's purpose is rightfully to get newer teams some experience without getting completely discouraged while giving better teams the opportunity to brush up on their speed for the TV show. You can argue that this makes the tournament less fun / a little more random for the better teams, but since it's such an early tournament I don't think this is that great of a concern. There will be many more tournaments during the year (such as our NAQT style spring tournament) for teams to hone their skills for the national competitions.

Anyways, I do think in the future we may look to change the team round format so that each team round is equally weighted (team round 1 and team round 2 each having the same number of points and a bonus), and then making sure that the moderator switches which team goes first. While I tried to give the second team slightly harder questions, this wasn't always the case in all of the packets and I agree that certain teams did get a boost from going second twice when the moderators didn't switch.

Next year I think we will also try to promote category rounds that have a greater variety in them. I think we did improve from last year's categories where there were a lot of trash rounds, but we could do better (in retrospect the Movies and Marine Life categories ought to have been more varied or not in the tournament at all).

That is one of the challenges as a player that is not too far removed from the high school game to gauge. It's not impossible, but it does take a fair level of experience.

That said, I don't know how one can better balance an "It's Ac" format game too much from the TV show format. How much do the teams attending want you to change your format more?

Notjustolddeadwhiteguys wrote:

DumbJacques wrote:I also predict Evan Silberman will present me with a particularly degrading (dis)honorary neg award in absentia.

I'll see if I can get him to send it to you...rumor has it this year's prize is a lock of his supposedly recently-cut hair.

Well, "cut" in the sense of "back down to shoulder length."

And the neg prize was smuggled through customs from England over the summer.

E.T. Chuck wrote:How much do the teams attending want you to change your format more?

I think deviating from the format of the television show undermines the purpose of the tournament. I'm not recommending that you should can the whole thing if you want to make changes, just that any changes considered should be viewed in the light of how they will affect the overall goals of running this particular tournament in the first place.

I, for one, would like to see the tournament stay in its current format. It helps teams practice skills they cannot practice at many tournaments. I'm sure we'd continue to attend no matter what format was used, but I also think we'd get less out of the tournament if the format were changed.

Well, the general format of the tournament is going to stay the same. It will still be an It's Academic style tournament. I just think that it's possible that a few things might be adjusted so as to make it more balanced (such as making the two team rounds equal in points and making sure the order is switched from round 1 to round 2).

That would certainly be fair, to make the rounds equal / alternate who goes first. I'm not trying to attack the MD Academic Team, and we really enjoyed the tournament, but there invariably were issues with the group rounds. It's almost impossible to ensure complete equity in group rounds. Last year, in some of the rounds at MD, rather than matching two questions on the same person or event, they would pair questions in the same general category, i.e. history. I may sound (or be) bitter b/c of the first playoff round (we got four of ours, yet definitely knew all eight of the other team's), but that's the way I feel. The best way would be to alternate which team goes first in each team round (or add a random element like a coin flip). Overall, it was a good tournament.

DumbJaques wrote:I predict TJ won't work out the way people predict it will. Last year there were plenty of surprises, there will be plenty of surprises this year. That's just how the first tournament always goes.

I agree that the predictions for this tournament will probably be pretty inaccurate; they usually are. On the other hand, while there were tons of upsets in the playoffs, the prelim results last year were an astonishingly good forecast of nationals success. Look at the standings from last year going into the playoffs:

A Division
1. RM A
2. State College A
3. DCC
B Division
1. Raleigh Charter A
2. Gov A

That's the top 4 teams from NAQT and the top 4 teams from PACE, if I recall correctly (I never saw a final standings from PACE, but Matt posted "Richard Montgomery A will play Maggie Walker A, and Raleigh Charter A will play State College A, and the winners will play for the championship," so I assume they were the top 4).

1. Richard Montgomery
2. State College
3. Maggie Walker

Sound familiar?

No, I'm not talking about last year's NAQT finish in Chicago. This was the finish at today's NAQT tournament at TJ!

From what I could tell, these teams all seem to have the capability to beat each other, depending on the questions in any given round.

I was also impressed with Stuyvesant A. Although, they were a little inconsistent today and did not make the final 8, they did put together an amazing game to hand Maggie Walker their first loss of the year. In the semifinals, State College handed us our second loss. State College is most definitely a contender this year.

Collegiate surprised a few people (including themselves) to finish 4th in this very strong field. Mrs. Barnes seems to be the process of assembling an excellent team from that Richmond school.

I don't recall how the rest of the final eight finished.

What I gathered from today's tournament was that this promises to be another wild and crazy year. All the chatter about Maggie Walker being the favorites was a little premature. They are certainly a very strong team. But, they have plenty of company.

People knew Richard Montgomery was going to be strong. But, with Chris Ray's departure, it was not known exactly how they would turn out. They return some awesome players that may have been overshadowed somewhat by Chris last year. But, now the truth is out: They are definitely a contender for nationals.

From what I could tell, these teams all seem to have the capability to beat each other, depending on the questions in any given round.

I definitely agree. We split with SC in our two games today. Although we did not play Gov today, I have seen them enough to know that the "chatter" is not unfounded.

The rest of the top eight were (I think)
5. Blake -- an excellent team with monstrous buzzer speed; I am not at all surprised they finished this high
6. GDS
7. RM B
8. Woodson

It should be said that Stuyvesant A earned the top seed from their prelim bracket; many teams commented on their strength throughout the day.

Who got fourth? Stuyvesant?

leftsaidfred wrote:Who got fourth? Stuyvesant?

Collegiate from Richmond, VA was 4th. See my earlier post. Collegiate has not been very visible on a national level in recent years. But, they have a storied quizbowl past, having won a national championship in 1990. This was certainly a quality finish for them in a significant, high-profile tournament. Congratulations to Mrs. Barnes and her team for qualifying for PACE and NAQT nationals in their first tournament of the year.

Stuyvesant lost in the first round of the playoffs. Who beat them?

They are a scary team, with tremendous buzzer speed. However, that speed worked against them at times with their large number of negs. My C team came within 40 points or so of beating them primarily due to a flurry of negs. Alas, when my A team played them, I believe we actually had more negs than they did, including negging 3 of the first 4 questions. Bottom line: When Stuyvesant is on, they can compete with anyone. I believe they will be a force to be reckoned with. I will be eager to see their bonus conversion. It seemed to be high when we played them. They appear to have a good knowledge base to go along with their buzzer speed, not surprising of a team from one of the nation's most prestigious high schools.

Speaking of excellent high schools from New York, Hunter, another of Newsweek's Public Elites, also brought a strong team I heard. I did not see them first-hand, however. I am not sure who knocked them out.

jbarnes112358 wrote:Stuyvesant lost in the first round of the playoffs. Who beat them?

Woodson, who was 3-2 in the prelim swiss pairs and the #8 seed out of their bracket, beat them in the first playoff round.

jbarnes112358 wrote:They are a scary team, with tremendous buzzer speed. However, that speed worked against them at times with their large number of negs.

From talking with Woodson's team (I read 5th place semifinal game for them against Blake), that's what happened--they essentially negged themselves into oblivion and lost. Even so, it was close: 280-265.

jbarnes112358 wrote:Speaking of excellent high schools from New York, Hunter, another of Newsweek's Public Elites, also brought a strong team I heard. I did not see them first-hand, however. I am not sure who knocked them out.

Richard Montgomery B beat them 350-155. I was pretty surprised--I read for Hunter in the prelims against Stuyvesant B, and both teams were very quick and aggressive on the buzzers. It'll be interesting to see them both again when we head up to Long Island for LIFT in three weeks.

Stuyvesant was an intimidating team to play -- very intense, though they did neg a lot. When we played them, they balanced their negs with enough buzzes to pull it out, but I'm not surprised to hear that that's what worked against them.

RichMo A was very strong when we played them in the quarterfinals -- their power totals were very, very impressive. Kudos to you guys! You deserved your wins.

We didn't run into Collegiate, State College, or Gov, so I can't comment on them, but I've heard they were all strong teams and congratulate them. Gonzaga also put up a strong showing -- our game against them was quite close.

What did the number turn out to be for how many teams qualified for nationals?

Byko wrote:Richard Montgomery B beat them 350-155. I was pretty surprised--I read for Hunter in the prelims against Stuyvesant B, and both teams were very quick and aggressive on the buzzers. It'll be interesting to see them both again when we head up to Long Island for LIFT in three weeks.

Yeah, we were a little tense, having just made the playoffs in our first ever tourney, so that certainly didn't help. Besides that, I think they were a team who was a little bit better and were greatly helped by the questions in that particular round. The same thing had happened when I negged 4 times in a 275-270 loss to Georgetown: we were watching Stuy play Blake, and Tony and I were both lamenting the fact that we didn't get to play on that packet. Not to take away anything from RM B, though: their breadth of knowledge was larger than ours, and it would've taken quite a good round for us to have beaten them.

With that being said, though, I'm extremely pleased with our performance yesterday. I had prepared everyone (including myself) to basically go out there and get drubbed in what I had been told (and could see) was a very strong field, but instead, we were actually able to make playoffs (after an implosion in round 9, but that's neither here nor there). I'm greatly looking forward to LIFT, as well as future tournaments in the DC area and elsewhere.

Oh, and one more thing: how, exactly, did Collegiate garner 4th place? They must have had quite a bad round against us; we beat them 410-65. o__O