CC Player Poll 2.0

[Kwang the Ninja]

(Didn't want to clutter the real poll thread up with this)
Community College Player Poll v2.0

Thought I’d continue the proud tradition of “Chipola freshman making outrageous claims on the internet” with this poll, conducted by me with input from nobody.

1. Charles Hang, St. Charles
Scored some points, won some tournaments playing (essentially) solo. I think this is a clear choice.

2. Casey Lowery, Northeast Alabama
The leading scorer on the t-2nd ICT team and the 2nd place CCCT team. They won the Alabama state title too, I believe. Casey has impressively deep literature knowledge, going like 6-3 at the Lit/FA singles after the first day at the CCCT and getting, like, 3-4 tossups in the gigantic free-for-all on packet 10 against Borglum(!) and Billy(!!).

3. Ethan Hewett, Chipola
His stats are lower than they probably should be because he was sick at CCCT and had a migraine during most of the rounds at ICT, but Ethan is a great player, capable now of buzzing confidently on any subject. If you get anything against him, you better be prepared to buzz earlier the next time, because he will not let you get it there again.

4. Andrew Levin, Valencia
Andrew still negs a lot, but he also converts a lot of things early that you just go, “Wow. OK.” He’s scary when he’s hot, luckily we didn’t ever play him when he got hot, and when he’s off, you know it. Notably went to lunch instead of playing a tiebreaker match to get into the second playoff bracket at ICT, incurring the wrath of Chris Muto and (to a lesser extent) Borglum.

5. Mark Morris, Snead State
He disappeared at ICT, leading his team to a disappointing 26th place finish, but his great rounds at CCCT, when he took them to 3rd overall, cannot be overlooked. He is capable of getting extremely hot (see: UTC HSNCT mirror last year), but also of going very cold, as seen at ICT and at the ACBL state championship, when Northeast beat his team by ~350 points. Still a very good generalist with otherworldly buzzer skills.

6. Chris Muto, Valencia
The other half of the dynamic Valencia duo, his goal coming into this year was to (apparently) start to match Andrew’s neg numbers, and it was an admirable attempt. Muto is still a great science player, but his development was overshadowed by Andrew’s rise and by the fact that Valencia had a really tough time against the other top community college teams this year, not winning any championships (NAQT or otherwise).

7. Cord Pack, Northeast Alabama
Cord’s rapid development as a monster geography/history player ensured that Casey would not win as many scoring titles as last year, culminating at the ACBL state championship, where Cord was the MVP. Got a crazy power and thirty on CE(?)/Middle Eastern Geography(?) (or something, I’ve blocked most of that match from my memory) to beat us in the playoffs at CCCT.

8. Russell Harrison, Faulkner State
I only played him once, and I wasn’t particularly impressed. I think he falls into the category of “Gets a lot of points against crappy teams, disappears against anybody decent”.

9. Justin Decker, Snead State
Again, Snead State had a really disappointing tournament at ICT, but Justin was a very solid no. 2 on that team this year, something they were missing last year. Also carried them to an upset victory over Chipola A without Mark at the first tournament of the year, a pretty impressive accomplishment.

10. Cody Pickens, Chipola
This pick will probably not make Ethan happy, but I think Cody was a major X-factor for us this year, especially at Delta Burke. Tended not to show up in big games later in the year, but has some cool powers on stuff that he learned in real classes sometimes, and is still untouchable on a lot of art.

All in all, this was an exciting year for Community College quizbowl. I don’t expect next year to be as thrilling, with (I think) every non-Mark Morris player in the top ten leaving, but I look forward to some one-on-one Russian cage matches with Mark, watching Borglum madly train up a team of all-freshmen to a top-5 team by CCCT, and seeing which new teams are going to sprout up to replace the Northeast Alabama juggernaut.

PS. If anyone would like to put in an actual ballot for a scientific version of this, I'd be amenable. Please send emails to [email protected], and only rank 10 people. I'll keep the polls open until June 1, at which time I will announce whether I got any ballots or not.

[49-Mile Scenic Drive]

Russian Cage Matches you say? Sounds interesting. Anywho I'm gonna try to throw together some type of top 10 ranking for everyone. If all goes accordingly look for it to be in your e-mail in the next few days.

[Ethnic history of the Vilnius region]

I'm not totally up on the CC circuit, but Robert Slade always does well at the non-CC events in which I've seen him play.

[Kwang the Ninja]

I'm not totally up on the CC circuit, but Robert Slade always does well at the non-CC events in which I've seen him play.

Unfortunately, GPC didn't play CC SCT this year or CCCT, so I didn't get to see him play. I left out of my rankings anyone who didn't play CC SCT or CCCT.

[Jesus vs. Dragons]

I have to disagree with Dallin's rankings here. For the sake of this list, I will not include the very talented Charles Hang, as he played for a 4 year school at one point throughout the year. If I were to include him, he would be number 1.

1. Dallin Kelson - While this may seem like a "You scratch my back I will scratch yours" or "vote for your teammate!", Dallin has made a drastic improvement over the past year. He was the most talented player coming into Chipola, and he has only elevated his game since then. He consistently gets super early buzzes, occasionally on answer spaces that leave people in the room with a bewildered look on their faces. Do not be surprised if Dallin tops 150 ppg at all of the invitational tournaments Chipola plays next year, with some rounds topping 200 points. I predict that he will be the leading scorer at D-2 ICT next year, and will lead the Chipola team to a very strong finish. He really is that talented and has that much motivation.

2. Casey Lowery - Casey, along with Mark Morris, has been one of the few players that I remember going up against that managed to alter the way we played. While I consider myself to be more talented, Casey has performed at a higher level for longer, as well as outscoring me in all but 1 tournament that we have played in, so I am probably just biased. As Dallin stated, Casey has made some extremely good buzzes against us, and he does so with another top 10 caliber player on his team. He has an excellent literature/humanities knowledge base, and he is a winner winner chicken dinner.

3. Ethan Hewett - While I had planned on being number one in the second edition of the CC player poll, I can not put myself any higher than this. I consider myself to be a generalist that makes the best buzzes in science, literature, and a few other niche areas. I can consistently 20-30 literature and science bonuses but I struggle in history and non-Norse myth. I could toot my horn some more, but that isn't really my strong suit.

4. Andrew Levin - On pure knowledge alone, Andrew may be number one, but when it comes to quizbowl, I feel he is the fourth best player in the CC circuit. He led our state format in ppg, while sacrificing a quarter of the questions due to his lack of math knowledge. As anyone who has played against him will note, he will neg... a lot. When Andrew is on, he is as good of a player as anyone at this level, but these rounds seem to only occur against weaker teams, but anyone who consistently puts up the numbers that he does deserves to receive the recognition as a top player.

5. Mark Morris - Mark is an outstanding player, plain and simple. He averages ~70 points at every tournament he has played in, and he lead Snead State to a pretty resounding victory over Chipola at the CCCT. It is rare for me to get outbuzzed, but he did it roughly 3 times in that match alone, and that is definitely worth noting. I am not really sure what Mark's best subject is, but he has made some good buzzes in history and science against us, as well as being able to get most tossups at the end. If he can improve his game over the next year, he will probably be the only player capable of rivaling Dallin.

6. Cord Pack - Besides having the best name in quizbowl, he is also an outstanding geography/current event/history player, which explains the insanely good numbers at nearly every NAQT tournament this year. I feel that Dallin and I were able to counter Casey's literature and humanities knowledge, but having Cord there to not only convert but power tossups that most other people would only be able to get at the end. Anytime we played NE, we knew that we had to basically get every lit and science tossup to counter Cord's history and CE knowledge. He is/was the perfect compliment to Casey, and it is apparent by their success together.

7. Chris Muto - Chris is one of the most interesting characters I have ever met, but I digress. He has an otherworldly knowledge of Norse mythology, and he has a knowledge of physics and quantum mechanics not seen at the CC level, making him a very dangerous player. A lot of bonuses that teams would have struggled to convert a single bonus part were routinely 30'd by Chris, and he has been a consistent player for Valencia's A team for two years, and he compliments Andrew's game by having almost no overlap and being just as talented in his areas. The reason I have him at 7 instead of higher is because he, just like Andrew, has a tendency to neg. He is very similar to Cord in his ability to lockdown a few niche categories, but he is not as dominant in those areas as Cord.

8. Russell Harrison - As Dallin stated, I have only played Russell once, and he only scored ~30 points in that round, a blowout win for Chipola. Faulkner State has had some good showings in ACBL tournaments and Russell has been in the top 5 at every tournament he has been in, so I can only assume he has a very broad knowledge base but fails to compete with the top level teams/players who can make better, earlier buzzes than he can, while he gets tossups late on weaker teams. I can not form a very accurate opinion of his due to my lack of playing against him.

9. Jennifer Giehl - In the two rounds I played against Jennifer, I believe she only converted a few tossups that were at the end after a neg by our team. She has put up impressive stats at the CCCT, CC SCTs, and Delta Burke, and she does seem to know a broad assortment of subjects. I am putting her at 9 based on her consistently impressive stats at every tournament she has played in.

10 - Nathan Hoopell - Nathan was the leading scorer at Chipola when I arrived, but due to his lack of progression and Dallin's rapid improvement, Nathan was moved to the Chipola B team. While playing on that team, with only one other inexperienced teammate, he managed to lead in scoring once and finish 5th at CCCT. He is not dominant in any category, but at the CC level he has enough knowledge to convert tossups against weaker teams. He has a tendency to fade once he makes a mistake, and if he had continued to improve and played consistently he would be ranked much higher here.

[ValenciaQBowl]

I'm not going to do a ballot or a list, but I'll say that Dallin is the #1 CC player this year (with all due respect to Charles). That he wrote a very good lit tournament and was also able to sit in my living room one evening and convert high-level questions against me and Ahmad says a lot. And then the next day he went out and won the MUT mirror at Valencia solo. That's just crazy.

Ethan, however, has the best beard in CC quizbowl. Casey's wispier thing couldn't keep up.

But Casey is #2. He consistently performed in the tournaments in which I saw him play, and he's a good guy, which should count.

Andrew has obvious mental problems and has made me want to maim him on a weekly basis, but I love him, that damn bastard. He's the nicest guy in CC quiz bowl. However, the more confident he is that he knows something, the more worried I have to be. But he's Billy Beyer's problem now, down at FAU.

Muto is fine when he stays on the meds.

Mark is a darn good player and is someone who will continue to improve because he obviously loves the game.

Though I definitely prefer years when Valencia wins titles, I very much enjoyed the high-level competition and good camaraderie of this year. Right now I'm doing all I can to try to get my folks ready to take on Chipola next year, but I might just take the easy route and send someone up there to hit Dallin with a tire iron, a la Nancy Kerrigan.

[Jesus vs. Dragons]

I'm not going to do a ballot or a list, but I'll say that Dallin is the #1 CC player this year (with all due respect to Charles). That he wrote a very good lit tournament and was also able to sit in my living room one evening and convert high-level questions against me and Ahmad says a lot. And then the next day he went out and won the MUT mirror at Valencia solo. That's just crazy.

Ethan, however, has the best beard in CC quizbowl. Casey's wispier thing couldn't keep up.

But Casey is #2. He consistently performed in the tournaments in which I saw him play, and he's a good guy, which should count.

Andrew has obvious mental problems and has made me want to maim him on a weekly basis, but I love him, that damn bastard. He's the nicest guy in CC quiz bowl. However, the more confident he is that he knows something, the more worried I have to be. But he's Billy Beyer's problem now, down at FAU.

Muto is fine when he stays on the meds.

Mark is a darn good player and is someone who will continue to improve because he obviously loves the game.

Though I definitely prefer years when Valencia wins titles, I very much enjoyed the high-level competition and good camaraderie of this year. Right now I'm doing all I can to try to get my folks ready to take on Chipola next year, but I might just take the easy route and send someone up there to hit Dallin with a tire iron, a la Nancy Kerrigan.

You basically pointed out everything I forgot to mention. If you know anyone with super anti-Mormon powers, I would suggest them to take out Dallin. Also, he falters while doing his best Peyton Manning impression...

And thank you for the beard compliment. That means quite a lot to me.

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

I'll probably regret jumping into this mess of a thread, but why wouldn't someone being almost the sole scorer on a team that beats every other competitive CC team to every available CC national title by default make him the best player of the CC circuit? Unless you're trying to make a point about how Charles is barely a CC player, which I can get behind.

[ValenciaQBowl]

First, Charlie, I think this thread is quite elegant, demonstrating a regal carriage. But to your point, while there is little question that Charles was the best player in the CC SCT and CCCT, and, I suppose, ICT, outside of those NAQT tournaments, he didn't play for St. Charles in anything (I assume, anyway). Thus, one could argue he wasn't fully on the "CC circuit," which would (to me, anyway) mean playing regular tournaments like Delta Burke and/or other events in which lots of CCs played, including things like the Alabama and Florida state tourneys (flawed though they are).

So I guess that's like saying he's "barely a CC player," though mostly I was just trying to offer my thoughts on folks I got to see through the entirety of the 2009-10 season.

[Boeing X-20, Please!]

I know Charles played MCMNT (MUT Mirror @ UIUC) as St. Charles.

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

Thus, one could argue he wasn't fully on the "CC circuit," which would (to me, anyway) mean playing regular tournaments like Delta Burke and/or other events in which lots of CCs played, including things like the Alabama and Florida state tourneys (flawed though they are).

I can see what you are saying, and I don't mean to be defending Charles's questionable status here, but even if there were no controversy about this, St. Charles is in an area where it is impossible to participate fully in any kind of community college circuit, so even if he were just a regular student there, it would be impossible for him to meet your criteria, which I think seems too ultra selective.

[ValenciaQBowl]

Fair enough. Charles can be #1 on my non-list, ahead of Dallin. But he's ineligible for the beard title.

[Jesus vs. Dragons]

Thus, one could argue he wasn't fully on the "CC circuit," which would (to me, anyway) mean playing regular tournaments like Delta Burke and/or other events in which lots of CCs played, including things like the Alabama and Florida state tourneys (flawed though they are).

I can see what you are saying, and I don't mean to be defending Charles's questionable status here, but even if there were no controversy about this, St. Charles is in an area where it is impossible to participate fully in any kind of community college circuit, so even if he were just a regular student there, it would be impossible for him to meet your criteria, which I think seems too ultra selective.

Kinda strange how a person who has very limited access to a legitimate CC circuit would whether play for a CC team than a 4-year school that plays a lot of tournaments, but I digress. As I prefaced in my list, I don't consider Charles to be a CC-circuit player, so I left him off. He is a great player regardless of any arbitrary selection committee that does or does not feel the need to put him on a list.

[Skepticism and Animal Feed]

ITT: Charlie Hang goes into CC HoF with an asterisk