A Nostolgic Reminiscing of my Rookie Quizzing Year on the 15th Anniversary of my Rookie Quiz team

Would you believe I almost decide to not do Bible quizzing?

I learned about Bible quizzing thanks to my youth leader of the year. I spent the second half of my childhood at church that just started having young families again. When I first arrived to the church at the age of 10, I was already one of the oldest kids there, with only a couple kids a whole year older than me, at the age of 11. Because I was one of the oldest kids, I was immediately placed in the youth group. Yes, I was in youth group since the age of 10. Youth group was anything but stable for me. We seemed to have a new youth group leader every year. During this year, my 7^th grade year, at the age of 13, the youth leader of the new wanted to expand the youth group so the youth of the church could participle in the activities and events a typical youth usually participate in. Therefore, she would invite youth from other churches with in her kids’ co-op homeschooling to join our youth group. One such youth was a girl named Krystal. My youth leader knew her dad coached a Bible quiz team, and she would join that team as a quizzer. My youth leader knew that Bible quizzing would be perfect for me. At school, I was involved in Academic Bowl. What is Academic Bowl?  Think of Jeopardy, but as teams instead of individuals. Well, Bible Quizzing is like Jeopardy (although in a different way). Both my youth leader presented the idea of Bible quizzing to me, and then my youth presented the idea of Bible quizzing to my mother, who encouraged me to do it as well. I said I would think about it.

I remember it clearly. It was the last day of school before Christmas vacation. My mother picked me up, so I could go to Wal-Mart and buy Christmas gifts for my family. As the car pulled out the school parking lot onto the road, my mother said to me, “Graham, you have to make a decision if you want to do Bible quizzing. They take Bible quizzing very seriously, and the team registration is due in a week.  They need to know if you are going to be a part of that.” I paused and sighed. Indecisive me hated when I was cornered into making a decision. I took the time to pause and think, and a big part parted with me wanted to just say “no.”  At the age of 13, I began to realize I was highly introverted with a little bit of social anxiety. The thought of having to meet new people and then be social with them felt overwhelmingly burdensome. Besides, I liked the fact that, once I got my homework done, I was free to do as I pleased. I really didn’t want to lose that freedom. But as I open my mouth to answer, I blurted out, “Yeah, sure, fine, I’ll do it.” I’m not sure I could place my finger exactly what caused me to agree to try out Bible quizzing. Perhaps it was my mother pushing me to get more involved in activities outside school, whether that be to impress colleges or simply improve my social skills. Maybe it was because deep down in my subconscious, I really did want a social life, and I did want to be popular. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the Holy Spirit speaking in me, speaking to me, speaking on my behalf, giving me just what I needed. See, at that time, a 7^th grader at the age of 13, I suffered from depression. I felt depressed because I had no friends who wanted to see me outside school, and I concluded that I had no friends because I did not have talents, further depressing me. The Holy Spirit knew Bible quizzing would solve that depression, as well as all the causes that came with it.

Would you believe I missed the first 2 Bible quizzing practices of my Bible quizzing career?

The first quiz practice of the year I missed because I was sick. I came down with the flu, one of those bad flus that made something simple as getting out of to sit at the kitchen table a workout. Even I wanted to attend quizzing practice, I don’t think anyone would want to sit next to me. Because the flu knocked me out of commission for a few days, I fell behind in my science fair project. The second quiz practice fell on the evening before the science fair. In 7^th grade, science fair was a mandatory project, which was a big part of your science grade. I just couldn’t go to Bible quizzing practice, for I wouldn’t be able to complete my science fair project, hurting my science grade. When my mom called to inform the coaches I would not be there, she got a little stern “lecture” on how quizzing is very seriously and it is important to be involved in every practice. Both my mom and I were a little irked about the attitude and tone I received for skipping an extracurricular activity in order to focus on my academics. Looking back on it and thinking about it, I guess I had another opportunity there to quit. I could have just said then and there, “Well, then I guess I won’t be a part of quizzing,” and that would have been that. But I didn’t. Once again, I have to credit this to the Holy Spirit.

(Oh, and for the record, I would only miss 1 more quizzing practice in the rest of my quizzer career, and that was in 2007, when my Senior project had me doing an internship in Missouri)

Would you believe when I first started Bible quizzing, I really didn’t take it seriously?

In 2002, the quizzing material covered the books of Ruth, Esther and Jonah, as well as selections from the books of Joshua and Daniel. The first week’s material was on the first 6 chapters of Joshua. That’s 6 whole chapters of Joshua, and I started “studying” the passage the day before my first quiz meet. And when I say “study,” I mean I “read” those 6 chapters of Joshua twice. And when I say “read,” I mean I listened to an audio recording of Joshua 1-6, and I followed along. I remember thinking to myself after the second “read” through, “Yeah, I got the jist of this. I’ll be fine.” After all, when it came to knowing the Bible in my Sunday school class and in youth group, I was the smartest. I was sure this would be the same at this Bible quizzing thing. (Those familiar with Bible quizzing are laughing at how hilarious such a though is.)

I remember the next day, the Sunday of my first quiz meet, my father and I left right after church to get me to quizzing. We would meet my quiz coach, Dennis, at a halfway point so he could show my dad and I where the church was located. I remember I wanted to make a good impression after skipping the first 2 practices, so when my father stepped out of the truck shake hands with Dennis, I also stepped out the truck to shake hands with my new coach. After introductions, my father and I followed Dennis to the church, Ark Bible Chapel. Upon arriving there, his wife and assistant coach Jill instructed me to hand my Bible back to my dad, and she handed me my first quizbook, so I wouldn’t have to lug around a huge Bible, and I could mark up the quizbook as I saw fit. I handed my Bible back to my father, and with that, he left. And of course, the introversion and the social anxiety kicked in. But everyone there made me feel welcomed.

So my first quiz practice was the Sunday afternoon before the first Sunday evening of the Bible quizzing season. I don’t remember a lot about it, but what I do has stuck with me throughout the years. I remember Josh Moss explaining to me the rules of Bible quizzing. I remember Jake Moss showing me how he highlighted his quizbook. From that point on for the rest of the year (and into the next year), Jake and Josh would become teachers, tutors, mentors and role models on how to be a good Bible quizzing. I remember getting my first quiz question correct in practice. It was the only one I would get right all practice, and it was just because coach Dennis was nice enough to allow it. The correct answer directly from text was “The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh.” I answered, “The tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh.” Dennis told me, “I couldn’t see why the quizmaster would not accept that answer as correct, but the direct text says, ‘The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,’ so remember that for next time, and answer that. I promised I would.

I can still remember my first quiz match of my quizzing career. I remember it was at Lancaster Mennonite High, and I remember it was in room 200. I can even picture in my head what way the chairs faced. I remember coach Dennis wasn’t too happy that Ark Bible had to quiz the first round of matches when half his team never quizzed, but we had to go along with it. Jake, Josh and Christine would be the first 3 starters because they all had experience from prior years.  The fourth starter was Krystal. Although this was her rookie year of quizzing, she had at least seen her father Dennis coach quizzing, so she at least knew how quizzing worked. The 4 starters took their seats up front behind the tables, and I took my seat on the front bench. And from the first few questions, I would realize how unprepared I was. Remember how I said that Bible quizzing was kind of, sort of like Jeopardy? Like Jeopardy, quizzers buzz in to answer questions. Unlike Jeopardy, quizzers did not wait until the end of the question to answer; they would buzz in part way into the question. I saw quizzers buzz in after the first couple or first few words of the question, and they would get it right! I was immediately struck with fear over how unprepared I was! I remember thinking to myself, “Oh dear God, what have I gotten myself into?” Eventually, a Moss quizzed out (I can’t remember whether it was Jake or Josh, but it was definitely a Moss). I remember Coach Dennis turning to me and Sara, the other rookie, who was sitting next to me, and asking, “So who wants to go in next?” I shook my head no fast. Sara, who was more willing to try new things, said cheerfully, “I guess I’ll try next.” Eventually, the other Moss quizzed out, and now I had to go in. For the remainder of that match, I just sat there and did nothing. I don’t really remember the other quiz match of the night, but it went very similar. I went in as the second sub when the second Moss quizzed out, and I just kept the seat warm.

 

Despite all the excitement of my first day of Bible quizzing, I still wasn’t really that much into it. Yes, I did at least study more than just read (or following along with an audio recording) the material twice. I picked up a highlighting method. I went to both the Thursday night practice and the Sunday afternoon practice, no matter what. Yet I treated it just like another hobby, playing video games or watching football. To show how little I was into quizzing, I was so upset that there was quizzing on Super Bowl Sunday, I considered not going to quizzing that week. My coaches informed me the quizzing started at 2:00 p.m., a good 4 hours before the Super Bowl, so I wouldn’t miss the game. I didn’t care. I was (and am) a big football fan. I used to watch all pre-Super Bowl coverage that I could. In fact, the previous year,  I watched Super Bowl pregame coverage from noon to 6:00 p.m.! I cared so little about quizzing, I did not want quizzing to get in the way of it, especially considering our quiz meet took place at one of the furthest out churches. Coach Dennis broke a deal with me that if I came, he would try to take the quizzing coordinator into moving our matches up. Furthermore, my mother reminded me that I had serious role as part of team that depended on me. I did end up going, the coordinator did move our matches up, and I did get home in enough time to watch the whole game.

 

 

So what got me so hooked on Bible quizzing? I can’t exactly say for sure, but I few guesses based on what memories of my rookie stick so strongly as fond memories in my head.

Perhaps what got me hooked was getting my first question right and participating in team bonus. I remember getting my first question right in real life quiz match. Of course, it was a situation question. I recall noticing that the ask a situation question every match, and I noticed that certain quizzers would always buzz in very early and get it right. On our team, that was Josh Moss. I remember coach Jill explaining to me that there are certain quizzers who just study the situation questions intently to be their team’s situation question person. Something in my mind told me, “That could be me.” The next week, I intently studied the situation questions, knowing to what word they were key, and what the correct answer would be. I proved it in practice, even beating in Josh a few times. Josh saw my potential to be the situation question, so he surrendered the situation questions to me. On that following Sunday, our quiz matches took place at Elizabethtown Mennonite Church. I remember sitting in that small room. Since Coach Dennis saw the same potential in me as Josh did, he had me start that match. I sat in seat 4, right against the wall of that small room. After a third way through the match, the quizmaster began to say, “Question 6 is a sit…” and immediately my coach called for a timeout. The whole 30 seconds of timeout was Dennis and Josh rattling off potential situation questions that it could be. I answered them all correctly, proving I got this under control. Sure enough, it was a situation question. Sure enough, I buzzed in answered. That was the first time I heard a quizmaster say to me, “That’s correct!” That was sweet. His words would become even sweeter later on in the match, when he would announce, “That’s team bonus for Ark Bible!” Knowing that I contributed towards team bonus, I felt gifted, I felt talented, I felt like I was part of a team and I felt like I had friends. In that very moment, everything that depression and social anxiety had undone in my life, God put back together through Bible quizzing.

 

 

Maybe what got me hooked was the ACC Tournament. Between my first question right and the ACC Tournament, there were a few hiccups in my role as the situation guy. I was still kind of slow at the buzzing part. I would still wait until I absolutely knew where the quote was key and if I absolutely know the correct answer. I remember Coach Jill informing me that most of the “situation quizzers” wouldn’t wait like I would. They will just buzz in on the first word and hope either it’s key or the quizmaster accidently slips out an extra word that makes it key. By the end of the season, I had finally gotten that done, doing the same. By the time the ACC Tournament rolled around, I was a regular situation guy, and my team could get team bonus on a regular basis. That paid off in the ACC Tournament. In the ACC Tournament, we did get team bonus on a regular basis, thanks to my help with the situation questions. It earned us 2^nd place in our group, earning us a spot in the evening playoffs. In our first playoff match, we upset Petra 3, who finished 1^st place in their group. Our 2^nd playoff match, the quarterfinal, we kept it neck and neck with Bart 1. After 14 questions, we were actually ahead by 10 points. On question 15, a Bart 1 quizzed buzzed in and answered correctly. Every quizzer and coach, on both the Ark Bible side and Bart 1 side, thought the match ended in a tie, and we were going into overtime. After reviewing the scorecard, however, the scorekeeper chirped up, “Oh! That’s team bonus for Bart 1!” We lost by 20 points, the 20 points earned in team bonus. If we would have won that match, we would have brought home a trophy, even if we did lose the next match. Knowing we were so close to a trophy didn’t bum me out, but rather it gave me encouragement and hope. It got me thinking, “We can come back next year, and we’ll be even better! Then we’ll go further in the ACC Tournament playoffs and win that trophy!” Maybe that’s what kept me coming back year after year after year.

Perhaps it was the Ohio Tournament. After all, the Ohio Tournament is the highlight of the year for most quizzers. My first Ohio tournament was a blast all around. For starters, what 7^th grade teenager wouldn’t want a 3-day weekend away from the parents? First, there was the 10-hour bus ride (8 hours in the bus, plus 2 hour-long rest stops). Along with ourselves, that bus contained our friends from Spring City, Zion and Reading. It was quite the party bus. At first, I wasn’t sure a long bus ride would be fun, but everyone on my team assured me it would be fun. They were right. I had never played so many games of Mafia and Scum in my life. Not only did I learn good quizzing skills that year from Jake and Josh Moss, I also learned good Mafia and Scum strategy from them, too. I also learned good mafia and scum strategy from Jake and Josh’s little brother, Tim, who also came along for the trip when Sara dropped out of the team. Little did I know this would be the beginning of a long friendship.

When we finally arrived at our location in Kidron, Ohio, our final destination, we met up with our host family the Schlabachs. Let me tell you they were a good first host family, for they left quite an impression on me. Let’s just say they would be considered “upper class,” and you could tell by the house. I could not stop taking pictures of the house when I was there, including the front door! The 2 girls and the coaches each got their own bedroom on the first floor, with a kitchenette connecting all the bedrooms. They also had their own living room, which came with a TV with a PlayStation 2 connected to it. I can still remember a 6^th grade Tim joyfully playing on it. The 4 boys got to stay in another building on the property. At first, this building was a temporary home until the Schlabachs dream home was built, so it came complete with 2 full bathrooms and a kitchenette. But once they finally moved into their dream, home, they transformed this building into a game room for their 3 kids. It had pool table, ping pong table, air hockey, darts, a large checkerboard, and it was full of couches and recliners. I quickly claimed the leather recliner was where I was sleeping. Needless to say, the boys got little practicing done and much playing done. The family laid out quite a spread for us, meeting both our wants and needs. To top everything off, their 16-year-old daughter Shauna looked like the hottest girl in my middle school, and 13-year-old me began seriously crushing on her. I even got Krystal to “pass a note” to her. Sixteen quizzing years later, I still say that was the best host family I ever had.

As for the actual Ohio tournament itself, we didn’t do too bad. Back then the Ohio Tournament setup was a round robin followed by a double elimination tournament bracket. We didn’t make the Ohio tournament playoffs, but we almost did. It just came down to our last match, and we knew we had to win it to tie for second place in our group, and we had to win by a lot, for the tie breaker, at the time, was number of points scored. But when we saw that we were playing the Ohio team that clinched first place in our group, we had a feeling we would not win that one. Sure enough, they were the ones that one, and they were the ones that one by a lot of points. It was kind of a bummer that we didn’t make it to the playoffs, but it wasn’t that big of bummer. Once again, I wanted to come back next year, so we could reach the playoffs. We spent the rest of the tournament watch our friends in Reading, and that was excited. Not only did Reading barely make it into the double elimination playoffs, they lost their first playoff match badly, put them in the losers bracket right away. Yet they literally won every match after that, winning the whole tournament.

The bus ride back was just as much fun as the bus ride there. Despite most busses changing it up, Ark Bible, Spring City, Zion and Reading managed to stay on the same bus. The party from the way up to Ohio continued on the way back to Pennsylvania. By the time the whole trip was done, I was so exhausted and so behind in school work, I took the Monday after off as well, giving me a 4-day weekend away from school.

So somewhere between getting my first quizzing question right in a real life quiz match, the ACC Tournament and the Ohio Tournament, I was hooked. I was so hooked that the Tuesday following the conclusion of the quizzing year, I began reading the next year’s material, as well as writing questions. This pattern would continue for 7 more years as a quizzer. Even when quizzing got rough and tough, I remembered this rookie year, and it kept me wanting to come back. I still think fond memories of my rookie, although I bet I did not do as well as my nostalgic memory would like to think I do. Now in 2017, looking back at my rookie year in 2002, I say joyfully and cheerfully happy 15^th anniversary to my rookie team!