CBI Regionals at UW-Whitewater, 2/15-16/02

Results: Northwestern
(Colby Burnett, Robert Flaxman, Mike Henninger, Jan Zasowski)

    There are many strange things about CBI in comparison to other quiz bowl formats and tournaments.  For one thing, you're going to come up against schools you don't usually see in quiz bowl.  (The only schools at this one I've ever played before were Chicago and Loyola.)  Why?  Well, I think there are several reasons, although the fact that a lot of elite programs have recently been forced out of CBI due to costs is one of them.  See, with CBI you have to buy the questions, which cost $600.  For a lot of schools, then, it's either play CBI or play everything else.  You also have to (as noted on another page) qualify through a campus tournament.  So you end up with a bunch of nobodies, us (because a different organization here foots the bill), and Chicago (because they're swimming in cash).
    There's lots of other stuff too.  You have to wait to be recognized, which is sickeningly like high school (as are many of the questions...).   If time runs out after you get a tossup, you don't get the bonus.  If it runs out during a bonus, you don't get the rest of the bonus.  Did I mention the questions are pretty lame?  Imagine (as if this would mean anything to anyone not already familiar with CBI) a packet where no fewer than half the questions have giveaways that would suffice as five-point clues in most layered bonuses, and at least several where one of the first two sentences would be a giveaway clue in standard NAQT questions.
    On with the fun.  Fielding what Jan described as one of our better CBI teams ever, we managed to pretty much roll through the prelims, with the exception of the loss to Chicago.  This put us in second at 9-1, and in decent shape in the playoffs, except they were double elims.  Beating Chicago once is hard enough - beating them twice is damn near impossible.  As it turned out, we lost both games to the Big Maroon Machine, though unlike the round robin game, we were well within striking distance both times, holding leads at the half or later in both matches.   Unsurprisingly, though, UC pulled away to win both times.  C'est la vie.
    Favorite Tossup: Eh, it's CBI.  The least fradulent buzzes: Lake Nicaragua, Sir Ian McKellen, Jon Stewart, Walter Matthau.  The latter might have been the favorite because it started off with something like, "It was good that he changed his name because the original wouldn't have fit on a marquee."   They then began an attempt at Matthau's long Russian name and I just interrupted right away.
    Favorite Bonus: I should really write down the ones I pull out of my ass.  They're so much more fun than ludicrously easy ones that fall right in my wheelhouse.  Bowl sponsors (Chick-Fil-A = Peach; Nokia = Sugar; Sylvania = Alamo); Cy Young winners (Clemens, Palmer, McLain); David Mamet films (Ricky Jay and Mamet himself); and Captain Kirk masks sprayed white (Halloween; John Carpenter; Michael Myers).  La la la, just give me the damn 30.  (Or 20... or 25...)
    Worst Neg: One thing I will never be known as is "Mr. Neg."  The worst was probably Ira Einhorn for Mumia Abu-Jamal, though I knew when I rang in (because just as I did they said "cop") that it was wrong.   Hearing the last word as I buzzed helped me avoid negs in a few cases, but not here.
    Most Disappointing Moment: Being up against Chicago late in the second half (think three minutes or so left) only to see them pull away after a couple of negs and hesitations on our side.  Also annoying was when the moderator paused big-time during a bonus, so I gave the obvious answer quickly because time was running down.  Turns out there was another part that he didn't get to.  Well, don't pause for ten fucking seconds, will you?  These are timed.
    Most Hilarious Moment: Fooling Mike and Jan after UC came out of a round with "Hey, did Wisconsin Lutheran just beat Chicago?"   It took them a few seconds to realize that, clearly (see below), this had not happened, to which I added, "Made you look."
    Most Satisfying Moment: Erasing all memory of the "Beloit Curse," which had in previous years seen our team do fairly well only to trip over Beloit College in some round or other.  We beat them three times here, though the curse very nearly reared its ugly head in the first playoff game, where they took a 110-60 halftime lead.  Fortunately we rolled back to win 240-130.   As I was leaving the room I heard them saying that we could be beaten.  After UC knocked us off, we played them again, winning that one 325-40 in a game that saw them put up a big -10 points in the second half.  Booyah.
    Most Bizarre Seeding: For reasons that remain in doubt, a total of four rooms were used for the tournament, but only three were used for much of Saturday, giving us a total of five byes on the second day and six overall.   Had a fourth room been in rotation (and I still have no idea why it wasn't), only three teams would have had byes at any one time instead of the rather remarkable number of five, and I think they could have played fewer rounds.  I don't profess to get it.

Prelim Rounds (Round Robin)

Round One: Northwestern 215, Beloit 70
Round Two: Northwestern 275, St. Norbert -5
Round Three: Northwestern 195, Ripon 125
Round Four: Northwestern 245, Wisconsin-Platteville 65
Round Five: BYE
Round Six: Chicago 315, Northwestern 90
Round Seven: BYE
Round Eight: Northwestern 300, Wisconsin Lutheran -5
Round Nine: Northwestern 255, Illinois Institute of Technology 90
Round Ten: BYE
Round Eleven: Northwestern 180, Loyola 170 (OT)
Round Twelve: BYE
Round Thirteen: Northwestern 300, Illinois-Chicago 135
Round Fourteen: BYE
Round Fifteen: Northwestern 265, Concordia 45
Round Sixteen: BYE

Prelims Record: 9-1 (second place)

Playoffs (double elimination)

Round One: #2 Northwestern 240, #3 Beloit 130
Round Two: #1 Chicago 290, #2 Northwestern 180
Round Three: #2 Northwestern 325, #3 Beloit 40
Round Four: #1 Chicago 325, #2 Northwestern 205

Final Record: 11-3 (second place out of 11 teams)

Personal Stats: Questions Answered

   No one's asking you to care about it.  Powers would be in bold if they existed in CBI, neg-5s are in italics with the real answer following.  Anything in plain text was just ten.

Round One
Seminole
Lake Nicaragua
Jerry Rice

Round Two
Johannesburg
Angelina Jolie
Ira Einhorn (really Mumia Abu-Jamal)
Pebble Beach
Aden
Stephen King
Dr. Seuss (really Maurice Sendak)

Round Three
James Oglethorpe
Sir Ian McKellen
Pittsburgh

Round Four
Aramaic

Round Six
Tulip (really garlic)
Jon Stewart

Round Eight
Muammar Qaddafi
John Olerud
Stephen Crane

Round Nine
Okinawa
Joseph Pulitzer

Round Eleven
Gold

Round Thirteen
Ljubljana
Yesterday
Jimmie Foxx

Round Fifteen
Cleveland Indians
Kristi Yamaguchi

Playoffs Round One
Squid

Playoffs Round Two
Haiti
Jim Morrison
Basque

Playoffs Round Three
Hungary
Kangaroo court
Lisbon

Playoffs Round Four
Amelia Earhart
Red Auerbach
Tucson
Walter Matthau

PPG: 23.93