Fond Farewell IV

[David Riley]

With the advent of the IHSA State Series, we come to the end of our regular season. Thus, it’s time to bid a formal farewell to our graduating seniors who have contributed so much to our activity. Feel free to add anyone I missed (my apologies). Obviously, the better I know them, the longer my testimonial.

In no particular order:

Lloyd Sy and Abid Haseeb (Auburn), collectively known as “Loybid”.

After being known primarily as a trash player his freshman year, Lloyd very quickly established himself as one of the foremost players in the state (who rarely, if ever, negs). He ties with Greg Gauthier for having been chosen three times as a member of Team Illinois, where his knowledge of literature and the arts proved invaluable. Together with Lloyd, Abid led their team to a number of victories over the past several years. Abid is known for his almost comprehensive knowledge of art history, one of the few players in the state to master this topic. But perhaps their greatest contribution to quiz bowl was this year’s RAVE set, one of the best housewrites ever produced.

Adam Kalinich, Eric Ordonez, Webster Guam, and Nolan Maloney (IMSA).

Wow, what a team! A look at their stats will reveal four solid contributions in virtually every tournament they’ve played together, restoring IMSA to its former quiz bowl grandeur and leading them to several first places. It’s rare one finds an entire team that is this solid.

Alex Kling (Latin).

It’s a shame we didn’t see Alex and Latin at more tournaments. If you have ever witnessed Alex during a match, the breadth and depth of his knowledge is amazing.

Blake Tutt (Fenton).

After a somewhat non-descript beginning, Blake studied packets and other materials to lead his team to Fenton’s first first-place win.
I have read for Fenton at several tournaments and have witnessed a steady growth in the team thanks to Blake’s dedication and leadership.

Ben Chamtzky and Srinivas Panchamukh (Carbondale).

A look at Ben’s Facebook page will reveal his eclectic tastes and interests, but the Illinois quiz bowl community knows him as a specialist in social studies, which stands to reason (at NAQT State he was literally a one-man team due to schedule conflicts with his regular teammates). The aforementioned eclectic tastes have also made him into a formidable generalist. Likewise, Srinivas’ varied interests led him to participate in other activities such that he wasn't always available for quiz bowl, but when he was, he more than held his own against equally formidable competition.

Andrew Wang (New Trier).

After a somewhat auspicious beginning, Andrew studied and reviewed packets to become a strong generalist and one of the few quiz bowl people in Illinois with a strong aptitude and ability in science. It is also the rare person who can one-up him on a Kafka question. Known for sighing “so real” when anyone answers a question with “fraud knowledge”.

And last but not least, Nolan Winkler and Marcel Youkhna (Loyola). Nolan began his quiz bowl career as a freshman with little more than casual interest in the game (I remember he later confessed that he didn’t attend Wildcat his freshman year because he didn’t want to wake up early, even though he lives in Evanston!). But by the end of his freshman year, he had advanced to the point that I made him a member of our varsity team when he was a sophomore, the next year he became captain of the team, and by his senior year had become one of the strongest generalists in the state. I first met Marcel the summer before his freshman year, when he attended all of our open summer practices. Marcel quickly established himself by his knowledge of the humanities in general and music, especially opera, in particular. His soft-spoken manner belies his ability, following a Loyola tradition (cf. Joe Ahmad, Karl Mendoza).

Good luck to everyone in the IHSA State Series, pre-Nationals and Nationals. Let's hope subsequent years see students as dedicated as you!

[abnormal abdomen]

I dunno about RAVE being one of the best sets ever, but thanks for the kind words.

Aside from that, I think this is a fine time to thank everyone as a whole for making my experiences in Illinois quiz bowl so wonderful. Every step of the process, from being a useless C and D team player for Auburn during my freshman year, to playing alongside my best friends on one of the "elite" teams in the country in the last two years, has been really memorable and a lot of fun. Another one of the really nice parts about this is that all of the teams/players that we would consider our "rivals" are also good friends of ours. Admittedly, I didn't like Ben and Srinivas at first when I met them at ACE Camp (I really dunno why), but now I'm on friendly terms with them, just as I am with people like Nolan, Deveau, and many others. Additionally, people like Brad and Jonah have played a part in me getting more involved with quiz bowl and so forth, and I appreciate that.

So, yeah, thanks everyone. I hope the rest of the year is enjoyable for all of you, and I hope that Illinois has a really strong showing at nationals this year.

[garciaja]

Chris Olsen, Tyler Knoblett, Rick Sheahan, and Elliot Campos

For most, Chris Olsen is the only name necessary as a three year starter, two time (maybe 3) all-state player who continues to be unmatched in Geography. (I sincerely hope we get to see him in action at Geographic Monstrosity) It seems more appropriate, however, to say farewell to all four of my Varsity A seniors who started the scholastic bowl program at Centennial just 3 years ago. It's hard to believe that we've achieved the recognition we have since the movie Where the Wild Things are came out. Our trophy case has run out of room. Under their tenure, Centennial has gotten better each year, and their teammates have drawn inspiration from them to keep progressing.

Our third match ever was against a Ben C and Srinivas Carbondale at U of I Novice in September 2009, who both assured us that we could keep getting better with practice and that not all teams were as freaky good as they were (500-140 for reference). They were right and we are happy with how far we've come. I'll end with what one of my players said today. When discussing the Sectional and State series I said, "We want to go back to Peoria and prove that we've gotten better with each year." He responded, "Haven't we already done that?"

You can catch these guys next year at the following:
Chris - UIUC
Tyler - UIUC
Elliot - Mizzou (probably)
Rick - Undecided

[Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN)]

Elliot - Mizzou (probably)

Wooooo tell him to talk to me if he wants to do college stuff. [email protected] is my email.

[Dominator]

I wasn't ready for this thread (emotionally speaking at least), but here goes:

Lloyd Sy and Abid Haseeb.

Lloyd will undoubtedly go down as one of the top individual quizbowlers in Illinois history, and when you add in Abid their team is always dangerous. Beating Auburn at quizbowl was the only unfinished business for IMSA after last year, and a goal we were able to complete slightly less than 50% of the time this year. Their knowledge is only matched by their class.

Alex Kling .

I hardly knew you, but as an outstanding player, leader, and gentleman, you make a fine addition to Team Illinois.

Blake Tutt.

I was honored to get to moderate Fenton's first tournament win in January, where Blake and company out-willed Auburn B in a two-game final. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy and a nicer program.

Ben Chamtzky and Srinivas Panchamukh.

I have a special fondness for Carbondale because they beat us bad in my first tournament coaching (Ultima 2009). Since then, they have continued to beat us, although by smaller margins. If I had to coach a team other than IMSA, I think I'd choose Carbondale, if only because Ben and Srin are not constipated owls.

Andrew Wang.

Not gonna lie, Andrew strikes more fear in me than any other player because he is so volatile.

Nolan Winkler and Marcel Youkhna.

I'm almost positive I've never heard Marcel speak outside of a match. I cannot quite say the same for Nolan. While IMSA and Loyola started off with an illogical but nonetheless bitter rivalry, I'm glad to say that that seemed to have dissipated this year. I even had the opportunity to have quite a pleasant meal with Nolan after Ultima 2012. I have had nothing but positive experiences with Loyola all year, and I think I'm actually gonna miss Ninkler when he graduates.

Adam Kalinich, Eric Ordonez, Webster Guam, and Nolan Maloney.

Oh dear. Well, these four young men are why I get out of bed so early on Saturdays, why I hang out at IMSA after work on weekdays, why I will be going to nats shortly after the birth of my second son, and why I enjoy quizbowl so much. They epitomize teamwork in the way they have grown and studied together as a foursome. Not everyone likes the IMSA team, and while I'd like to say it's because people don't know them, the truth is that the more you know them the more you hate them. But itsk.

I'd like to add, of course, Champaign Centennial. They came up at the same time as IMSA (Mr. Garcia and I started coaching in the same year) and so they've always felt like a brother-program to me. I always love playing this team or reading for them because they have a lot of fun and like playing together, which is always a joy to see.

I'll throw in a couple new ones. Ned Lauber of Wheaton-Warrenville South may not be known to everyone but he put up amazing numbers (especially at NAQT State) and was a spiritual leader of a resurging WWS team. If they had another year together, they would get really dangerous.

Also Stevenson (I apologize for not knowing which of them are seniors, but I think it's most of them). A lot of people expected Stevenson to fade away after Kevin and Zack graduated, but this group came back strong, getting second at the Wheaton North Kickoff and coming close to knocking off both IMSA and Carbondale at Masonic State.

Finally, the oldest senior in Illinois Jonah Greenthal. I'm not sure anyone knows where he'll be next year, but if he goes to graduate school in another state, that could easily have as much of an effect on Illinois quizbowl as any graduating high school senior.