Ann B. Davis Tournament at U of Michigan, 1.18.04

Results: Northwestern A
(Mike Bisberg, Colby Burnett, Robert Flaxman, Justin Moles)

    Considering that we field a pretty good Trash team, our finishes at Ann B. Davis had been solid but unspectacular, including finishing seventh a year ago, just one place below the playoff teams.  This year, though, we finished in the money, beating - nay, routing - arch-rivals Shelby Foote Soldiers to earn a playoff spot and then even making it to the semifinals before losing yet again to the Gerbils.  Whether we finish third or fourth depends on who lost the other semifinal match, but either way it's a good way to go out.  It's unfortunate that we finished so high both here and at last year's TRASHionals, as it means I probably don't have any way of topping myself at this year's TRASHionals, which will probably be my last undergraduate tournament.
    Favorite Tossup: Yeah, it's Trash.  But with powers!   My favorite power would probably be Max Fischer, but my favorite overall tossup, just for what the answer was, has to be "I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico!"  I also liked Jeremy Goodwin (I did play under that name at TRASHionals last year, after all) and "Paul is Dead" (which I got pretty quick, though not quite quick enough for power).
    Favorite Bonus: The only one I actually wrote down was the MST3K crew members - Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, and Jim Mallon.  I read credits for a reason.
    Worst Neg: "The Jackal" for "The Day of the Jackal" was pretty annoying, and "Bullets" for "Trail Blazers" was just retarded, but I have to say "The Cheat" for "Brewster's Millions."  You can definitely know too much for your own good, and reaction buzzing on "1914 Cecil B. DeMille film" and being wrong pretty much epitomizes that concept.
    Most Disappointing Moment: We lost one on the last question last year, and did the same this year, as we led Western Ontario 205-175 going into the last question.  It was just really confusing, and they managed to get it with a guess at the end (I should have gone in but was baffled by the wording).  Then they 30d the bonus.  Frankly, our other two round robin losses were about as disappointing - losing by 15 to the Brothers in a round in which I had zero points on tossups, and losing 345-210 to the Gerbils after trailing just 190-150 at the end of two periods and then just getting blitzed in the third.
    Karma's A Bitch: I defended my vultch of Fezzik in Round Nine with "I'm going after the scoring title," which, at the time, I was in very close contention for.  I proceeded to put up zero in Round Ten, my worst Trash round since going for neg-ten (which I very nearly did here until scraping out a Kaz Matsui buzz late) in the TV themes round at LUC, and the worst round of proper questions since Round Ten at TRASHionals 2001, for crying out loud, my infamous -5 round.
    Best Trend of the Day: They reinstituted jackpot scoring, last used in 2002, when I converted a 20 and a 30.  This year, you only got ten points for a tossup in your personal stats, but I still earned 20 points for the team a full four times, including twice in one round.
    Worst Trend of the Day: Wherein I hear a clue I recognize but can't remember where it's from, and then the other team gets it and I say "That's it," and then Colby stares at me with a "Well, why the fuck didn't you get that then?" look.  Just because I knew it after I heard the answer doesn't mean I had it, Colby!  (Most egregious example of this: the Jon Gruden tossup in the semifinals.)
    UPDATE (1/22): According to the stats, the other semifinal loser was O Brothers, Where Art Thou?  Since they beat us head-to-head (and had a better overall record), that makes them third and us fourth, by my calculations.   Still a darn good showing.  Meanwhile, they have me at 52.5 through ten prelim rounds - I have me at 55, and we know my stats are right.  That would put me a half point per game ahead of Dwight for second in the division (a half point behind Iowa Matt for first), and third overall.  Of course, if my stats are wrong, there's no guarantee theirs are all right, so whatever.  I'm top five either way (though a mere fifth overall at the 52.5 figure).

Prelim Rounds (Round Robin)

Round One: Northwestern A 450, Unfortunately, Jim Named This Team 90
Round Two: Northwestern A 385, Indecipherable Grunting 85
Round Three: BYE
Round Four: Off-Color Remark #49: The One About Kobe Bryant 215, Northwestern A 205
Round Five: Northwestern A 260, G-Town Smackdown 195
Round Six: Northwestern A 330, Posh Rochester 54
Round Seven: Northwestern A 271, Vomiting Dugongs 125
Round Eight: Win a Gerbil with Tad Hamilton! 345, Northwestern A 210
Round Nine: Northwestern A 410, Sporty Rochester 111
Round Ten: O Brothers, Where Art Thou? 285, Northwestern A 270
Round Eleven: Northwestern A 395, Shelby Foote Soldiers 180

Prelims Record: 7-3 (third place, Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy Division)

Playoffs (single-elim)

Round One: #V3 Northwestern A 345, #B2 Aqua Scum 2K4 175
Round Two (Semi-Finals): #V1 Win a Gerbil with Tad Hamilton 423, #V3 Northwestern A 145

Final Record: 8-4 (third or fourth out of 21 teams)

Personal Stats: Questions Answered

   No one's asking you to care about it.  Powers are in bold, neg-5s are in italics with the real answer following.  Anything in plain text was just ten (for me, that is - questions where more points were gained for the team are marked as such).

Round One
Scarlett Johansson
Boise State
Jack White
Spellbound
Love Actually
Sparky
Saddam Hussein

Round Two
Dave Kingman (+20)
Viggo Mortensen
Third Eye Blind (+20)
Lars von Trier
Pets.com
Man o' War (really Upset)
Wanda Sykes

Round Four
Belmont Racetrack
Georgetown University (+20)
The Cheat (really Brewster's Millions)
Milton Bradley
Savoy Truffle
Elliott Carver

Round Five
Humanitarian Bowl
Van Halen
Fargo, ND
I Heard It Through the Grapevine
Surge
Jaws 2

Round Six
Tuesday Night Music Club
Warren Schmidt
Terence Trent D'Arby
John Cusack
Elton Brand
The Last Picture Show
"I Just Saved a Bunch of Money on My Car Insurance by Switching to Geico"
The Singing Detective

Round Seven
Jim Mora
David Paymer (+20)
McG
Golden State Warriors
Jeanette Lee

Round Eight
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Thora Birch
Jungle 2 Jungle

Round Nine
Max Fischer
Jim Furyk
Spy vs. Spy
"Paul is Dead"
Jack Bauer
Fezzik
Stitch

Round Ten
Washington Bullets (really Portland Trail Blazers)
Grappa (really Retsina)
Kaz Matsui

Round Eleven
Backgammon
Tiny Dancer
Jeremy Goodwin
Reba McEntire
The Birdcage
Oscar the Grouch

Prelims PPG: 55.00

Playoffs Round One
Hey Dude
White Squall
Michael Redd
Michael Chiklis
Lap of Luxury

Playoffs Round Two (Semis)
Edward and Will Bloom
Demolition Man
The Jackal (really The Day of the Jackal)
Drazen Petrovic

Playoffs PPG: 40.00

Overall PPG: 52.5