For the second year in a row, Neighborhood Alliance Church (my home church) has played host to the FQA Kickoff Classic. What makes this event so great, at least in my opinion, is the fact that quizzers get a jump start on the new year. This year the Kickoff was over I Peter, and if you combine that with II Peter at the IDS, and Hebrews in time for the Midseason, the FQA offers the opportunity to quiz over all the material by October, which is huge. The 2006 Kickoff Classic was very competitive, and while the final result (FBC-CF winning the whole thing) stayed the same, the means to said outcome were very different.
The Teams:
FBC-CF: All eyes were on FBC-CF as they returned from achieving second place at the AACS finals. However, in addition to Abby and Praiselynn from this year, both Annabelle and Breanna returned to compete, comprising the AACS Champion team from 2005. Additionally, they also had a RAMS team there competing, and they could definitely hold their own. Now, no offense to FBC-CF, but they were not the 1st seed in the morning. That prestigious spot went to a far stronger team.
Open Door: With only highs and lows in the morning rounds, Open Door looked to advance further this year than last year, where they earned 3rd place, losing to a far stronger team. Still led by Grace and Alex D’Mico, the team often looked formidable in quizzes. They also had a younger team competing.
Calvary: Some have been noted as saying that the era of FBC-CF is ending, and Calvary is just beginning. It is too early, in my opinion, to make such a claim, but I do believe that Calvary would have won this tournament if a single change had been made. More on that later, but Calvary had a respectable presence in the round robin. To note: Calvary had five (5!) teams, including a team called “Calvary Moms,” who consisted entirely of young women that were also the mothers of Calvary’s quizzers. While they were new to competing, it was very apparent to me that they knew the material, perhaps better than anyone. The rest of Calvary’s teams included a boys team, a girls team, a Tyrrell team, and team named David and Joshua, that just so happened to best a far stronger team in the round robin.
Lighthouse: A brand new team (at least to me) that managed to maintain a great record, both in the round robin and in the tournament. Led by Clay Maynard, Lighthouse was most definitely the wild card in the tournament, and made a strong impact on this year’s Kickoff, including giving a middle to a far stronger team in the tournament.
Hobe Sound, Faith Baptist: Yeah, they were there. Both of these teams were fun to quiz against, but were unable to make a significant impact on the tournament.
A Far Stronger Team (Neighborhood Alliance Church): This team was the best team at the tournament! With their superior college knowledge and wisdom obtained through years of maturity, Neighborhood Alliance Church took their rightful place as the number ONE seed in the round robin! All of the other teams in the tournament begged for mercy as Neighborhood continued to decimate (that is, to reduce to a tenth) the competition! Would there be any other team that could possibly stand up to the power of Neighborhood??? Is it even possible in the entire cosmos for Neighborhood to be beaten??? Should all other teams go home, knowing they would face immediate defeat??? These were just some of the questions that were being asked regarding the unstoppable force that was Neighborhood Alliance Church!
Note: please keep in mind that I try my very best when writing these articles to be unbiased, but occasionally a little bit of that bias comes across in my writing. I have read over this article, and so far, I do not believe to have shown any sort of bias toward my team (in case you have not know, it was Neighborhood Alliance Church).
The Tournament:
While Neighborhood got a bye for being the best team to ever exist, we managed to get a loss in our first quiz in the tournament. This was, of course, strategy, as we wanted the other teams to underestimate us. Yep, that’s what it was, strategy. Anyway, over the course of the next several rounds, the tournament came down to FBC-CF (no losses), Calvary David & Josh (no losses) Open Door, Lighthouse, Calvary Girls, and of course, Neighborhood Alliance. While Lighthouse (6th place finish) was eliminated by Open Door and FBC-CF in the other room, Calvary Girls and Neighborhood handed David & Josh their first loss, despite some slow quoting by yours truly. With Calvary Girls and FBC-CF out with a bye, Neighborhood and Calvary eliminated Open Door (5th place finish). Then the unthinkable happened! In a crazy quiz somehow involving kittens, Neighborhood Alliance was eliminated from the tournament! While Neighborhood braced ourselves, knowing that the world was about to turn over on its axis, the final three teams got ready for their quiz.
The Finals:
The Finals saw a FBC-CF team with no losses facing two Calvary teams, one armed with David Tyrell and Joshua Austin, and the other, with Kelsey Davies and Brittany Austin. In a very close quiz, Kelsey’s strong quizzing got the better of David & Josh, and their team was eliminated from the tournament. Let me say this: the next two quizzes that ensued were unexpected. The 2005 National Champs (with no losses) vs. Calvary’s Girls team (with one loss) should have been a massive blowout! But it wasn’t. Calvary Girls allowed FBC-CF to jump quick and make errors, and capitalized on their mistakes, resulting in VERY smart quizzing on Calvary’s behalf and forcing the finals to go another round. Finally, FBC got it together in the last quiz to take off and beat Calvary, making them the Kickoff Classic 06 champions!
A few quick observations: There is no doubt in my mind that, if Calvary had combined teams, they would have won decisively. Kelsey Davies and David Tyrrell are names that, I predict, we will be hearing a lot of in the future, not only at local tournaments, but national tournaments as well. Calvary is a powerhouse in the making, and while they have to overcome FBC-CF in the coming months, I suspect that Calvary will be strong enough to challenge PVKY. But I digress. A congrats to FBC-CF for winning the Kickoff Classic 4 times in a row, and good luck to all teams in the coming year!
Highest Quizzers:
1 Kelsey Davies
2 David Tyrrell
3 Jesse Startup
4 Abigail Carbonell
5 Clay Maynard
(I know some people are out there that do not accept things on faith alone; thus, I encourage them to go to and see for themselves)