Weary and worried at Weaverland

By the grace of God and some connections, I got home for practice on Thursday. Being the first week of classes, I didn't get much time to study. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. For the other 2 guys taking college courses, they weren't too studied up too. So it came to shock when we had quiz outs on buzz ins, especially me quizzing out all matches. Things went better than we expected, but some areas still needed improvement.

Practice on Sunday afternoon went both ways. Dave's questions we did good on, but Vicki's questions we hurted. That's typical of what happens. We just needed Dave questions rather than Vicki questions. I quizzed out as usual. Tim got quiz outs and errors, and same with Mike.

I want to thank my secret sponser for my gift. I don't have a lot of food in my college dorm, but his/her/their gift hepled greatly. I got 3 things of pringles, 2 liter Mountain Dew, M&Ms and a couple dollars. Thank you very much for the gift. Thanks also to the person who left "Spring City's #1 fan - Flubber." I used him as my quizzing buddy instead of the low-rider hamster. Low-rider went well with my black & white joker scheme (black pants, white shirt, black&white crown, black sock, white sock, black shoe, white shoe), but Flubber was cool because when he was hugged, he vibrated and made sound.

We arrived at Weaverland and we met by fans. The announcements were good ones. We got more interchangables, making our life easier. Good news = gospel = messgae. Brothers = believers = disciples. All helpful for us. It doesn't matter if kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven is not interchangeable, it shouldn't be a factor. The rooms were also changed around, so we had to figure where our first match on the first round was.

The first match was against Petra 4. It didn't matter that they were in 4th place, all the Petras always give us a run. They gave us a run, alright. Their buzzing was crazy. I was being beaten in on situation questions! I needed them, too, for I failed to quiz out yet again. Tim errored out again. Again, on the last question, someone buzzed in on We lost 50-70.

Our second match was against Strasburg 4, a rookie team. I took seat 1, hungry for a quiz out. I got it. First question, Bobby buzzed in, and got it right! It was a good start for team bonus. I quizzed out on question 5. We got team bonus in the end, but it was sloppy. We errored 6 times at the end, negating half our team bonus points. It forced Dave to make an unwanted decision of benching a quizzer to increase chances of team bonus and avoid killing a seat. First it was Bobby, then it was Tim. Near the end, it got close enough for Strasburg 4 to win or tie. We barely pulled away with a win 75-65. It's not the type of win we want, but a win was refreshing.

We had a consecutive last match. It was against 1st place New Danville, with 2 perfect quizzers. I sat in seat 1 across from Alyssa Mylin, who finished last year tied with me. Things started off roughly, but we turned it around midway. Tim and I quizzed out. But that was it. After suffering a midway loss, New Danville came through to win 75-70.

Reflections: Near the beginning of my first semister at LBC, Mr. Beers told a story that went well with his message of never giving up for God. He told on how he was coaching a basketball game, and at halftime the team was losing because of poor mistakes. So at halftime he made he team dress up, go out into the bleachers and apologize to the fans for such a bad performance. So right here, right now, I'd like to do the same. I want to apologize to all of Spring City's fans for not quizzing at our fullest. Right now, we are 11th place with an average of 82.5. points/match. I can't remember the last time Spring City was that low. I think it is safe to say the year was 2006. I can't help but feel a little disappointed. Before I go on, let me clarify that when I use the term "team" I do not mean the rookies, or even our second year quizzer. The rookies are right on path for how rookie should do with a starting line of veterans. Bobby, with his 30 points after 3 weeks, could possibly pass the mark. Alyssa, wait for your time. It will come. And Chelsea...good ol' "el fuego." If you haven't received any complements let me be the first one to do so. You're doing a very good job. Even in my second year, I could only get to 120 points at that end, and you're on track for that. But the rest of the team saddens me, including me. We have 3 quizzers with potential to be in the top 50, and they are currently in 22nd, 55th and 110th. In 8 matches, we have only gotten team bonus 3 times. Errors are causing us to lose points. When standings are measured by points, we need team bonus and we don't need errors.

What's to say? Once again, all I can say is sorry. I apologize to all our fans, especially those near to home who came out to watch us but have watched a poor match. I want to further extend my apology to my rookies. Looking at how we did last year, any quizzer in the beginning of the year would consider it a honor to be on Spring City's quiz team. That honor is gone. Tim and I always dreamed of having a team that was feared. Now being in 11th place, we are nowhere's near being feared. I always said, "Well, at least teams won't take us lightly." Now I'm not sure if even that is true. Maybe for the 17 teams below us, but not for the 10 teams above us. I want to apologize to my coaches. The Deitricks have put a lot into this team. It's a shame that nothing shows it. They want us to read, we lose our place. They ask us questions, we error and drop bonuses. They ask us to study, we socialize in excess. I am also sorry we put in the hard position to have to take out quizzers haven't yet quizzed out. It should never be that way. I will make it up to you. Lastly, I want to apologize to God. We have your Word, but it's not sealed up. If there is anything interfering with us doing well, please LORD, reveal it to us so we may fix our errorus ways and refocus back on You.

What's to do? I am thankful for the Deitricks are coaches because they have more mercy and grace than I do. If this was my team, I would have made practice into a Bible Boot camp. My first rule would be prohibiting any girlfriends or ex-girlfriends of the guys on the team (this would also be for the girls on the team, but considering our girls are 16 and 13, I don't think boyfriends are a problem yet) to be allowed at a match. It's not supersition, it some kind of psychological effect that when someone like the girlfriend/boyfriend or the ex come to a match, it diverts some of your focus to them, a focus which needs to be fully concentrated on the quizmatch. Besides, let's face it, they're not cheering for you, they're just sitting in the same room, giggling while they text on their cell phones. Get rid of them, get all focus on the match at hand. My second rule would be that all cell phones should be turned off, put away and not touched until after quizzing is over. Cell phones have caused enough distraction. My third rule would be revoking free time. I don't mean to sound mean, but if you are getting questions wrong, it's a sign you need to study. Take the free time to study. I congatulate those who already figured this out. Fourth, I would instate if you error twice, you will be benched. We cannot be killing seats. After watching the first two matches, I truly believed the starting line should have been me, Mike, Chelsea and Bobby. Think of errors like a stoplight. 1 is green, go at full speed. 2 is yellow, slow down. 3 is red, you are forced to stop. Well, obviously this is why I'm not coach and the Deitricks are. This is obvious why I am not a coach and I am still a quizzer. I'm not going to tell the Deitricks how to run the team. I can't command my fellow quizzers to do anything of these things, but I hope they take these suggestions seriously.

I've also been taking other people's advice: Show character, praise God in all circumstances, be humble, make sure there's a balance of the Word in the head and the heart. I'm trying to do all these things, but I'm not sure if I am doing all these things. Am I humble or am I self-pitying? Am I praising God or am I lamenting? Is the Word just in the head? These are things I am trying to struggle with while trying to study, and I don't exactly know which one should be the first priority.

Thank you for listening to my frustration. It is obvious what I need prayer for. Also throw in for prayer that I get a ride home for thursday night practice. At a time like this, it is more necesary than ever before. I need my team to see how much of the material I know, and they need me for support, strengthening and encouragement.