Akron Mikeless

These quizzes were tests to Spring City. We only have 5 quizzers. We were one Mike Schwager short of a quiz team. Mike has given us team bonus and the occasional quiz out. Now we didn't have Mike. Could we perform up to average?

Obviously, to get near average we needed team bonus. So we drilled our quizzers as much as possible. We made sure they got the most questions in matches. They missed some, they got some (a lot of them they didn't know they knew). I was throwing Chelsea questions during break time. We still had fun during fun time. Christine and I raided Tim's car. We took out his hockey stuff and passed a ball around with the sticks. It became eventually a game of catch...and answering questions. We had ziti for dinner and was off to Akron.

Akron felt a little lonely. No Reading, no Zion. There really wasn't anyone we knew. The closest was the Hopewell teams. So we had to create our own fun. At least Brandon was there to have some fun with us. Not having Michael didn't stop us from wild cheering. We did the normal stuff, and Brandon gladly joined in.

Our first match was against the home team, Akron 3. So of course we were in the Sanctuary. Wesley Lapp was the quizmaster. He looks different without the facial hair. The match seem to begin still under the stress from doing bad last week. We sometimes became unsure of our answers. We got passed that. I quizzed out first, Tim quizzed out second. Since we only had 5 quizzers, we decided it was best for the second quizzer to quiz out would stay up. So Tim sat in his seat for the duration of the quizmatch, waiting for a bonus. It was up to the rest of the team. Christine got two, one was a buzz in. Christine was one away from quiz out. We were one rookie buzz in away from a team bonus. We had oppurtunities to get both, but alas, neither were successful. In the meantime, Akron was making a comeback with some quizouts. It was too late for Akron when they began the comeback. We won 90 to 80.

We had back to back matches in the middle of the quizmeet. So right away we had the match against Maple Grove 3. I'm pretty sure Maple Grove has never had 3 teams. So it was a new team, in a way. I think I recognized 1 or 2 of them from last year's Maple Grove 2. Tim quizzed out first, I quizzed out second and I sat up there and waited for the match to be over. Christine got one in. Then, with no notice, Bryan buzzed in and got it right! Bryan got us team bonus!! He also got 3 bonuses, 1 of which he got right. So it was pretty cool that Bryan got team bonus, and he was one away from a quizout. He tripled his score in one day. We did win with 110 points.

It was good for all of us. We were able to maintain point average. Tim and I were able to get back in the swing of quizzing out each quizmatch that we have. That also means we clinched the top 50 quizzers list. Bryan moved up to scoring 30 points in the year. Christine got 30 points in the day, moving herself to another year with triple digits in the score. The standings came out Monday. I didn't believe it, until I realized that the standings were only team standings. So once again, they've stopped the individual standings for the element of surprise. I don't like it. At least we can see where our team is. Still in 6th, still with 98 average. I've figured out that Petra 1 has clinched 1st place in the League. They have an average of 138, and even if they scored nothing in their last remaining match, their average would drop no lower than 131, far out of the reach for anyone in the League to get to. Slate Hill 1 is in second. They clinch it if they can score 140 points in the two regular season matches they have. With the opponenets they are facing, I think they will have no problem taking 2nd place. So it is Spring City's goal to get in 4th, so we can be the top team in our group in the ACC Tournament. This is how we do it: we need to score 130 points, averaging us for the year 100 points. Petra 5 must not score more than 75 points, and Good Shepherd 1 no more than 95 points. That will keep them below our average, thus getting us in 4th.

So we did good in Akron, even without Mike. We called him up and told him the result. We jokingly said that we didn't need him any longer. Truthfully, it is easier and less nervous to do it with Michael, but we now know we can do it without him, or if he or someone else screws up. That's reassuring for the future.

2 weeks running

This week we got the standings on Wednesday, not as late as Friday. I knew where I was, so the first thing I wanted to see was where my team was. Our average dropped by 14 points, but did we drop in placing, too? What about Paradise 4, the only team ahead of us? I saw the standings, and was pleased. Our 131 average was enough to keep us in first place in League A. It was close though. Petra 1's average is 128, 3 away from ours not much room for error...or should I say not too much room for errors. Not only no. 1 in League A, but my team has the highest average of all quiz teams in the ACC! Paradise 4 dropped to 114 point average. Now the first place team in League B is Rockville, with their average at 125. We are above that. This is the highest I have ever been with a team because that's as high in the standings you can go. The next part I wanted to check out was the individual standings. I got a perfect score, so of course I was in first place, but how many quizzers was I tied with. I knew of one: Tim. On top of Tim and me, there were 18 others. So there are 20 pefect quizzers, I am one of them. Mike, who was only one question away from being perfect is in 24th place, tied with 13 others. Not too bad. They messed up Christine's score. She should have 40 points, not 3o points. They gave the 10 points to Chelsea. But besides all that, it's very good. For 2 weeks running I am a perfect quizzer and for 2 weeks running, our team is in our first place.

This upcoming Sunday I am at Conestoga for quizzing. This is the first time this year we will have 3 matches. The setup is interesting. 2 of the matches will be 2 of the top 4 hardest teams will we quiz this season. The other match is 1 of the 4 easiest. I want to really be able to keep up with our average. If not, the best thing we can do is just win. The win will be able keep our average ahead of the tough team, and prevent them from maintaining their average. I really want to quiz out. By being a perfect quizzer 2 weeks running, I have tied my record. Quizzing out all 3 matches will make me perfect for one more week, breaking my record. I want to do it so bad. I need to keep studying.

Studying and going to quiz practice. We had our normal 4 matches. I quizzed out 3 matches (yay!) and errored out 1 (boo!). Tim quizzed out the 1, but errored out 3. I shouldn't worry, Tim always comes through in the end. Michael as on fire and kept quizzing out first. Christine also got some quizouts. We did good, but there was room for improvement. So we decided to have an extra quiz practice on Saturday night. With what I saw tonight, I think we can do it with some extra practice. We just need a little more work and need to beat the other team in with the questions.

Quizzing Question of the Post:
What 4 will the disciples be betrated by?

Quizzing Joke:
Q: What will happen if you wore a rabbit skin hat in the end of the age?
A: It would come back to life because not a hair/hare on your head will perish!

Finally standings!

I waited to post again because I wanted to wait for the standings. I had know idea I would be waiting so long. I was so excited when I finally got it Friday afternoon, I started making these squealing noises in the library! It was great to finally get ahold of them. I was reassured of some things I figured, but at the same time I was suprised. As I believed, we did finish in first place in League A with our 145 average. We didn't, however, finish number 1 of all teams in ACC Quizzing. Paradise 4 in League B got a 155 point average. According to Tim, they scored 170 in one match. That'll do it. But still, 1st place in the league, 2nd place in the whole ACC, that's the highest I have been with a team. 3rd in the ACC is Weaverland 2 in League B. The 4th team in the ACC is the 2nd place in League A, Petra 1, with an average of 135. Yes, Spring City is only ahead by 10 points in the average. Not the lead size I wanted, but it'll do. My placing in the individual stats where was I though it was, perfectly in 1st place. Haven't been there since 2004. Tim and Mike also joined me in there. Why Mike's name is ahead of mine, I'll never know. It goes by alphabetical order by team, than last time. It doesn't make sense. Anyway, it does usually feel proud to be a perfect, but I'm not sure that I am too proud. Maybe it's the fact I've been here before, maybe it the fact I am sharing perfection with fifty other quizzers. It doesn't seem that big. Maybe by next week it will. Christine is in 138th, and Chelsea is in 202.

While I was waiting for the standings, I thought about our wins that we got on Sunday, mainly focusing on the ones that happened against Blainsport. If you knew our history, you'd see why it was so big. For the past 3 years, Spring City had quizzed against Blainsport. This is how's gone down for the past 3 years:

2005: Blainsport 110 vs. Spring City 55

2006: Blainsport 130 vs. Spring City 30

2007: Blainsport 0 vs. Spring City 155

That was a special win. I want to say revenge, but it's not really, because there no feelings. It is just amazing how things can be turned around. Both teams were totally different this present year compared to the past years. And because of this, a 2-year streak was disrupted. For the past 3 matches, the winner has always scored in the triple digits, and therefore allowing the loser no more than 55 points. Every year the the winner's score increases, the loser's score descreases, and that means that socre difference grows as the years past as well. It'll be interesting to see where this match will go next year.

Now we begin looking towards the upcoming Sunday. Spring City, along with half of the ACC, will be at Weaverland Mennonite Church. The other half is at Hopewell Elverson. I would have rather been there, since it is closer, but then again, I haven't done too well while there. Oh well, I'll be there for the fun week. We got another two matches. The first one is the 3rd round against Byerland 2. Then we have the last match of the day when we take on Emmanuel. This is looking good. It seems pretty easy. Petra 1 and Slate Hill 1, the next two highest team in our league have two hard matches, including one of them against each other. I'm hoping we can maintain our average. I'm not sure if 2 teams with triple digits will be able to maintain that, and even if one does, the other one will be far from it. We just have to keep doing that thing we do.

It's a possibility. Practice showed the potential. All 4 of us that got team bonus was able to get one buzz in right every practice match. Even Chelsea was getting in on the action. That's good. I continued my quizouts. That's it. Tim errored out twice. He normally does that in practice, but when real matches come around, he's good. Mike too could go either way. Hopefully we can continue learning and practicing the material. It won't be any good to have an easy schedule if we don't know the answers to the questions. To top it off, it wouldn't hurt to have God's blessing and favor!

Quizzing Question of the Post:

Situation question. Who said this and to whom? "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then return."

Quizzing Joke:

Back in the days of Jesus, the Jews sentanced death stoning, and the Romans by crufixion.

Q:What other method of execution was used?

A: The words of Jesus, because the people hung on them

(Talk about the power of the Word of God!)