BibleQuizzer.net

Exciting Times

If you watched or listened to the latest podcast with Matt West, you could not help but to hear how “very excited” we are about the future of Bible Quiz and this website. As is the case most years, this site will ramp up its coverage of the Quiz season as the New Year approaches. While the site has great plans for increased coverage of several tournaments this year, I personally am thrilled about a series of articles we will be releasing toward the end of this month. Former quizzing greats will be stopping by to share how quiz has impacted their lives and what they are doing in life now. We are working to get a few more quizzers involved, but already have a great list compiled.

Quiz Is Growing

Though it is sad to see some programs disappearing when they do not have quizzers to replace seniors, the plethora of new teams should have quiz fans overjoyed. Mukwonago WI jumped onto the national quiz scene a few years ago and has been a force to be reckoned with since. Following suit, Kettle Moraine and Falls Baptist have put Wisconsin into the conversation for best Bible Quiz state. The quiz world has seen increased participation in Colorado, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, etc. Perhaps the most visible evidence of the growth of quiz is put on display in March at Asheville, North Carolina. While the Blue Ridge Invitational may not carry the luster of the Grand Slam (New Year’s Classic, Colorado Invitational, SCQANIT, AACS nationals) tournaments, it is growing at an unheard of rate. Simply put, the tournament’s host facility has run out of room as more than 40 teams have participated. The Piedmont (PQA) and Florida (FQA) quizzing associations continue to see 10-20 ministries involved. This year, SCQANIT and New Year’s Classic should expect record participation as the southeast continues to pump out new teams.

New Year’s Classic Coverage

The Colorado Invitational has set the bar for integrating technology and social media into its tournament. Last year, families, friends, and fans could see near instant updates, video interviews, and live quizzing online from the Denver tournament. While we have not determined to what extent we will be able to match that effort, we can say affirmatively that biblequizzer.net’s coverage of the Athens New Year’s Classic will be better than ever. The tournament is also planning some substantial changes for 2012. As soon as we are able, we will pass that information on to you. Also, if your team/ministry is interested in attending the New Year’s Classic but has never received registration information, you may contact me at dposton@athenschristian.com or Jack Bamford at jbamford@athenschristian.com for that information.

by David Poston

In Bible Quiz, some things are predictable. The Colorado Invitational will put on an amazing tournament. SCQANIT will boast the best field of any tournament. There will be errors, fouls, defeats, and tears. There will be upsets, comebacks, quiz outs, victories, and cheers. These predictions are practically guarantees: you can take them to the bank. After the first grand slam (Athens-New Year’s Classic), I stepped up to the plate with a strong prediction. This would be the year of Woodside! They had always been a solid program with a winning pedigree, but the national championship had shifted to the Southeast for several years. Looking back to mid-January, I don’t think my prediction was that far off base. February made my prediction look golden. Woodside came from behind to force a deciding game in the finals of the Colorado Invitational against Temple TN then displayed the most dominating performance I have ever seen in a final quiz by locking up their second grand slam of the year by question 12 or so.

First grand slam tournament in Athens-New Year’s Classic? Check. Second grand slam tournament in Denver-Colorado Invitational? Check. Ok, the prediction is looking good. Fast forward—Nationals week ushers in the final two grand slams. Early Monday, Woodside faced a tough matchup against Temple and Calvary FL. In the 5^th round with 15 teams remaining in the tournament, Woodside posted 100 points but found themselves one question short of securing the middle and took their first loss.  After a strong run of quizzing throughout the afternoon rounds, Woodside skirted elimination until only three teams remained. In yet another tight quiz that resembled so many others that day, Woodside found 100 points to be insufficient for the second time. Falls and Temple would square off for the SCQANIT championship.

Yes, some things in Bible Quiz are predictable. Let me tell you what is not predictable: Falls Baptist WI winning SCQANIT (at least before this year anyway.) About the time we had learned how to correctly spell and pronounce Mukwonago, another Wisconsin program bursts onto the scene. While we do not publish our individual ballots, I will admit that I left Falls out of my pre-Nationals week top 10. WHOOPS! After their impressive showing Monday, I couldn’t help but wonder how well this team could do if they were able to compete at Nationals the next day. Their calm, steady approach would be perfect at a Nationals tournament. But 2011 yielded no such possibility for Falls (Mukwonago proudly represented Wisconsin on Tuesday.)

Yes, some things in Bible Quiz are predictable. Let me tell you what is not predictable: A team that can’t crack SCQANIT’s top ten on Monday wins Nationals on Thursday. In a tournament that lived up to its reputation, teams fighting to make the finals found every quiz to be a nail biter Tuesday afternoon. In fact, the final 5 quizzes on Tuesday saw the high team be separated from the losing team by an average right at only 50 points. Both two team quizzes in Thursday’s finals held that average. Temple struggled to adjust to the Nationals style reference questions. Double digit errors proved to be too much to overcome as the up and coming Tennessee program finished in 4^th place. With 3 teams remaining, Woodside posted 100 points against Hillsdale and Heritage Mission. Have you learned anything from this article yet about Woodside scoring 100 points? In a three team quiz, 100 points quite often secures the middle. Unfortunately for Woodside, this week’s quizzing was just too good for that. Woodside finished 3^rd leaving Heritage Mission with no losses to face off against Hillsdale (with one loss.)

 You that know me well may think I have legitimate reasons to root for Heritage Mission in such a quiz as this. You’re right-I do. But my reason is the same as every other person’s in Bible Quiz. As much as Michael Jordan deserved an NBA championship…as much as Ronald Reagan deserved a second term…Nada Rogers deserved a National Championship. Don’t get me wrong—it’s easy to love Hillsdale! The Barbers have been loved by the Quiz world since I can remember. The Hillsdale kids embraced quiz so quickly and came to their first tournaments a few years back with such great excitement and great attitudes. Hillsdale’s involvement has enhanced Bible Quiz. As far as I’m concerned, their quizzers are incredible young people and fun to be around. Just a month ago at the Blue Ridge Invitational, Bobby Smith (after having quizzed out) watched from the sideline as his teammates had several chances to get one question to secure a win. After Temple raced to a comeback and a tournament victory, Bobby was the first person to the stage to congratulate the Temple quizzers. This team is easy to root for.

But after several finals appearances at Nationals without a championship, the quiz world had to hope these Heritage kids could bring a championship to a lady that has done so much for Bible Quiz. This team had no star quizzers. They had no Erica Olsens, no Grace Borkerts, no Bobby Smiths, and no Kelton Balkas. They had no stellar previous tournament finishes to draw confidence from. What they did have was the scripture memorized, an understanding of how to quiz, valuable experience on the coaching staff, and the perfect quizzing style to succeed at Nationals. Glory Lofgren, Josh Brown, Stephanie Ludlow, Abigail Albert, Jessica Phillips, and Catherine Ludlow proved to be the perfect mix to complete this job. And what would a Biblequizzer.net article about Heritage Mission be without mentioning the amazing depth of the Heritage coaching staff. Congratulations to Nada Rogers, Mikel Brown, John Ludlow, and Paul Lofgren! From 12^th (or something close to it) on Monday to securing their first National Championship (with no losses!), it was simply put—Unpredictable!

To follow as closely as possible to live stuff, click on the tab above that says, “Blue Ridge 2011″

Since I started quizzing in 2000, I have witnessed some incredible quizzing duos. Tim Keenan and Matt Harwood led a solid Old Paths team that finished near the top in most tournaments for multiple years and were a John 3:16 question away from being national champs. Breanna Richardson and Abigail Carbonell anchored one of the 2000s’ best quiz teams in First Baptist Church-Central Florida which took down multiple championships. No duo (or team for that matter) could match the impressive run in the late 2000s by siblings Aaron and Autumn Wells of Pleasant View Kentucky. Then as the decade came to an end, David Tyrrell and Kelsey Davies of Calvary Florida cemented their spot in this discussion. Whether Grace Borkert and Erica Olsen of Woodside CO prove to be the next great duo is yet to be determined, but they were absolutely dominating in 2011’s first grand slam tournament. Perhaps there was a quiz in which Woodside was close to getting a loss, but I did not see it. Did I mention this was a double elimination tournament? Their first effort of 2011 ended with the first place trophy in the 16th version of the New Year’s Classic. The other quizzers on Woodside’s team were far more than eye candy. Woodside claims 5 quizzers have the entire text memorized and each quizzer proved he had the ability to get 20 points in a tight spot. Perhaps the most impressive showing from the team occurred when Erica quizzed out late in the tournament. The 6th quizzer came off the bench and promptly beat the other 14 quizzers for the next initial question and seized the 20 points.

It will be very exciting to see how Woodside responds in their next opportunity. I am nearly convinced that there exists a home field disadvantage in Bible Quiz. It could be the responsibility of setting the tournament up or maybe it is the pressure to perform well in front of friends and family who are not normally watching. Either way, something cancels out the benefit of not having to travel (or…perhaps traveling is a good thing.) I could not help but wonder how good Mukwonago WI and Scripture NM are this year and if they can mount a challenge to Woodside before the season is over. Unless one of those two are significantly better than the field at the NYC or the field vastly improves, we may see a grand slam sweep in 2011. That feat hasn’t occurred since 2006 and I am not so sure it had ever happened before Pleasant View KY’s sweep that year.

Beyond Woodside’s great showing, The 2011 New Year’s Classic proved to be a great tournament. Hillsdale continued their climb of recent years by taking 2nd. Bobby Smith proved to be a solid #1 for the Florida team. He had some amazing quizzes, but will have to learn to limit errors and poor quizzes if Hillsdale is to take the next step. Hampton Park surprised me a little by claiming third place. Daniel Flaaten is such a solid quizzer. He quite possibly could use a touch more aggression in tough quizzes, but aggression can be dangerous in Bible Quiz. Hampton Park’s slow and steady approach may have been exactly what was needed to push them as high as third.

Paige Warren and the next batch of Tyrrells proved that Calvary FL will be staying on the main stage for years to come. Their top 5 finish was impressive (Biblequizzer.net would like to give podcast co-host and Calvary coach David Tyrrell zero credit!) One of the biggest surprises of the 2011 NYC was Kettle Moraine WI. Even tournament director Jack Bamford cited what a wonderful surprise it was to have a new team perform so well. Kettle Moraine has much youth and should really be a player in years to come. Heritage Mission showcased their team approach yet again. In recent memory, the New York team has proven that a team without a dominating quizzer can do quite well. Stephanie Ludlow and Glory Lofgren led their first team, while Josh Brown headlined Heritage’s 2nd team. If Josh can minimize his errors and the ladies continue to improve, a combined Heritage Mission team could have a strong showing next month in Denver. Parsippany NJ returned to the national stage and gained another top 10. A program that has been seemingly one step away from the top level for years looks to be in that similar position again this season. With a little improvement, Parsippany could easily find itself battling for top 3 trophies.

Perhaps most surprising to me was the finish by Temple TN. I predicted they would be in the top 3. With Kelton and Arianna Balka and Josh Miljenovic, the potential for this team is through the roof. This squad as a team is still very young and proved to be error prone. A little improvement could launch this team to the top. It was no secret that Calvary SC would have some serious work to do to replace Tyler Ziemer and Casey Lovegrove. With a couple bad breaks and tough quizzes, Calvary SC found themselves barely inside the top 10. I expect they will have much better showings in tournaments to come. Pleasant View KY looked a bit sluggish when I saw them but showed that they have plenty of talent and experience to greatly improve by April. Matthew and Allison will have to step up for PVKY to show well in Denver. Fortunately for them- historically, Pleasant View has owned the CI.

In the next few weeks, Biblequizzer.net will be shifting our coverage to the 2011 Colorado Invitational. With directors/coaches/quizzers interviews, team information, previews, and predictions, Biblequizzer.net will bring you updated coverage of this season’s second grand slam.

David Poston