Not once, but twice

The second quizzing week went better than the first quizzing week. When I have a good quizzing day, I’ll usually will tell you what happened on Quizzing Sunday.

I arrived sometime between 12 and 12:15. By the time I got there, everyone went out to get lunch. I had my lunch of a drinkable soup and a Full Throtle Energy Drink (It gave a good buzz). We had to wait a long time for Mike and Bruce to get back from their lunch, so practice started later. Jai was the first one to get back from lunch. She delieved Becka her lunch, so Bekah had to eat that first. But first she had to steal my foam finger and hit people with. She would eventually break my foam finger.

Practice was fun as always. But still we went through it fast. One match we even got through with only two errors and only one missed bonus (As surprising as it sounds, Spring City is capable of only having two errors). It went fast. The best match was when Bruce was the quizmaster. He made sure he stopped on the dot, and did not go lightly for errors or fouls! But the best part was when Michael was reading. When it came time for the demon to say “Ha!” Mike said, “Ahhh.” Like Coach Dave said, it sounded like the demon went to the doctors to get his throat checked. Of course, we burst out laughing and poked fun at Mike. Never a dull moment, never. Despite starting late, we finished early. It gave us more free time, and we had a 4th practice match later.

Free time was fun again. Since it was cold and wet outside, our activity was left to be inside. It was soccer, but a basketball was used. I decided “No way.” I listened to the the text on my mp3 player and watched. It was Christine and Bekah vs. Bruce and Mike. It was funny. The ceiling got hit a few times. It was kinda funny watching Bekah and Christine get pummeled over and over again with the basketball. Christine kicked it pretty hard and it left a print on the wall.

After our 4th match and dinner, we headed off to the quizmeet at Zion. We got questions on the way up, and everyone got the questions down. Even when we got there, we went to a solitary place (lol) to practice with more questions, and were on top of every question. We couldn’t get any more ready than we were. And it showed.

We had two quizmatches. The first one was against Paradise 1, the second against Zion 1. The performances in the matches were almost identical. Both times we scored points in the triple digits. The first match we scored 120 points, the second match we scored 130 points. Both matches we got team bonus. Both matches Mike and I quizzed out. On the second match, Christine almost quizzed out, too. This greatly helped our scores. Our team score average rose to 100 points per match. My individual score went up to 31 points per match. Our team rocked this week. I can’t wait to see where I, as well as the team, placed on the standings. Now I’m really syked for next week.

Quizzing Question of the Post:
Who are the 12 disciples that Jesus appointed apostles?

Not once, but twice

The second quizzing week went better than the first quizzing week. When I have a good quizzing day, I’ll usually will tell you what happened on Quizzing Sunday.

I arrived sometime between 12 and 12:15. By the time I got there, everyone went out to get lunch. I had my lunch of a drinkable soup and a Full Throtle Energy Drink (It gave a good buzz). We had to wait a long time for Mike and Bruce to get back from their lunch, so practice started later. Jai was the first one to get back from lunch. She delieved Becka her lunch, so Bekah had to eat that first. But first she had to steal my foam finger and hit people with. She would eventually break my foam finger.

Practice was fun as always. But still we went through it fast. One match we even got through with only two errors and only one missed bonus (As surprising as it sounds, Spring City is capable of only having two errors). It went fast. The best match was when Bruce was the quizmaster. He made sure he stopped on the dot, and did not go lightly for errors or fouls! But the best part was when Michael was reading. When it came time for the demon to say “Ha!” Mike said, “Ahhh.” Like Coach Dave said, it sounded like the demon went to the doctors to get his throat checked. Of course, we burst out laughing and poked fun at Mike. Never a dull moment, never. Despite starting late, we finished early. It gave us more free time, and we had a 4th practice match later.

Free time was fun again. Since it was cold and wet outside, our activity was left to be inside. It was soccer, but a basketball was used. I decided “No way.” I listened to the the text on my mp3 player and watched. It was Christine and Bekah vs. Bruce and Mike.  It was funny. The ceiling got hit a few times. It was kinda funny watching Bekah and Christine get pummeled over and over again with the basketball. Christine kicked it pretty hard and it left a print on the wall.

After our 4th match and dinner, we headed off to the quizmeet at Zion. We got questions on the way up, and everyone got the questions down. Even when we got there, we went to a solitary place (lol) to practice with more questions, and were on top of every question. We couldn’t get any more ready than we were. And it showed.

We had two quizmatches. The first one was against Paradise 1, the second against Zion 1. The performances in the matches were almost identical. Both times we scored points in the triple digits. The first match we scored 120 points, the second match we scored 130 points. Both matches we got team bonus. Both matches Mike and I quizzed out. On the second match, Christine almost quizzed out, too. This greatly helped our scores. Our team score average rose to 100 points per match. My individual score went up to 31 points per match. Our team rocked this week. I can’t wait to see where I, as well as the team, placed on the standings. Now I’m really syked for next week.

Quizzing Question of the Post:
Who are the 12 disciples that Jesus appointed apostles?

Yeah, I’m back…..out of the black

I’m decided enough of that. It’s time to get back into focus. I realized it was possible for my…(I still want to call it by name…let’s call it my “incident” or “problem” or “downfall” or “wrongdoing”, anything but the real name)…”incident” could ruin the rest of my year. I could be going up to receive my Top 50 Quizzer Award, then after receiving it be standing on stage, pouting over this “incident” that happened Week 1. Heck, it could even ruin my whole quizzing career. It’s possible, but I’m not gonna let it. When someone heard about my “downfall”, they used the metaphor of getting back on the horse. In keeping with the metaphor, I feel like I must catch the horse that threw me off, trim its hooves, re-shoe the horse, groom the horse, re-saddle the horse, THEN I can get back on the horse.

What I’m trying to say is I just can’t begin again. It’s not like, “Oh well, try again better next week.” No, it’s a slower process for me. First, I have to understand what I did wrong and slowly accept it, whether I like it or not. Next, I have to find out what I did to lead up to the wrong. Then I have to figure out how to study to avoid it. This usually means studying harder and longer than usual.

Like every bad week, I went through this process. I understand what I did wrong this week: my “wrongdoing.” After two days of pouting, being silent, covering my face, having a downcast face and yelling at myself, I finally accepted that what happened and that, unlike my GameCube, I can’t hit the reset button and start from the begginning. Then I found out what went wrong, what led up to the “downfall.” It was mostly overconfidence. The overconfidence came in two waves. I was overconfident in my studying. I felt like I couldn’t have studied anymore than I did. I also had overconfidence in my ability. I was sure I would quiz out, despite us quizzing against the 2nd strongest team in our schedule. Not correcting myself during the quizmatch also held me down. I should have slowed down and thought through the question instead of buzzing and answering as fast as I could. Now, how to fix it. I took nothing for granite. I always saw the possibility for improvement. I read more, listened more, read questions more, studied situation questions more. Even if I felt like I did it enough, I still reviewed it. I concentrated more on when to buzz in. I practiced hard, despite the teachers hammering with homework. I did my best during practice matches on Wednesday, quizzing out every time, being the first one on my team. In all this, I still don’t want to be confident, and will never stop studying.

Now Sunday will come and will tell if I have fixed it. Spring City will be quizzing at Zion in Birdsboro, PA. I have two matches. We play Paradise 1 and Zion 1. Paradise 1 scored 10 points more than us last week, and they have a perfect quizzer. This will be the tougher of the two matches. Zion 1 started out with a low average, but I think they’ll rise up as the year progresses. I do not want to underestimate their power. I will go in facing them as if they were the hardest team ever. Last Sunday, I told quizzers on my team to “aim high, achieve higher”. I’m going do that his week. I will aim for two quizouts, but I will try to be satisfied with whatever the Lord gives me. Once again, if anyone can come to this match, please do so. This is the closest one for me and I would love your support.

Thanks to all my quizzing friends (not to be confused with quizzing buddys, the stuffed animal that sits next to your name plack) who commented on the last post. It’s good to know that if I fall down in quizzing (figutively), there are people who offer me a hand to help me back up. Tim, despite being on a stacked team, I thought you’d still be near the stop and that shocked me. You keep trying just as much as me. Mike, I will always be your wing man. Like I said, being in team with a girl-to-guy ratio of 2 :1, does not make us less manly, but more manly. Da boyz of Spring City shall live on! Jeff, you are free to use anything on here that you like to (especially since I keep using the stuff on the quizzing website). That’s what it is here for. Actually, I found out that any literature or artistic works now put on Xanga is now property of Xanga, so they could do whatever they want. So feel free to! Mel, I will make a copy of the quizzing material on CD-R. No need to repay. I got a mp3 player, so I just download it onto there. It is a good dramatized CD, with several character voices and background music. The person who spoke the lines of Jesus could have done better, but John the Baptist’s voice is perfect. I can’t wait to see you all on Sunday.

Quizzing Question of the Post:
During what 5 did the Word of God come to John, son of Zecharaiah?

Quizzing Joke:
Q: What leader was a mathematician?
A: Herod the tetrarch, because he added up all these things, and put John in prison

I don’t know why I am on here. I really don’t want to talk about it. My feelings and emotions are all blurbed into one mess. It’s like a giant yarn knot ball. You can’t untie it, the only way the undo it is to cut it up. Then you have a bunch of little pieces of yarn that aren’t of any use. I’ve composed “the pieces” right here, the pieces of thoughts on my feelings running my head. This “poem” (I use that term loosely) may not make any sense, or you may catch on easily. Like I said, I don’t want to talk to anyone about it, nor do I want anyone to be making a deal about it or getting on my case about it. Please let it be

No, it can’t be, it wasn’t suppose to beIt’s such a small difference, but a difference nonetheless
Why me? Why why why why me?!?!
It should have never ever happened
Dumb, stupid, moronic, egregious
Hyprocritcal: I said I wouldn’t, but I did
Too fast, too little, too late
Inexcuseable, unacceptable, egregious
It almost seems impossible
My image, my repuation – destroyed, dismantled
I can’t ever take it back
Does this make me any less?
Can I bounce back?What happens if I can’t?
Should I just give up, or try again?
Eloi, eloi, lama sabbachnatha
How can one go from so good to so bad?
I wouldn’t accept it from anyone else, and neither from me
Am I hurting the team?
It was the difference between the best and the worst
Am I possibly overexaggerating?
Did I give enough?Does it really matter?
It was a hard team
The little things made the difference
I knew to slow down, I knew to be happy with what was sent my way
But I missed what could have led to success
Was it greed? Pride? Arrogance?
Did I let my feelings get the best of me?
I did bad, but I also did good
And after all I have said and did
I have some good friends, I wish I could be a friend back
I deserve all the ridicule and trashing, I don’t want to face up to it
I am number 1 in the team, they need me, I must step up for them
I must, no, need, no, WILL, do better

Like I said, I REALLY REALLY REALLY don’t want to talk about it. I’m going stay off IM, email and the internet to help avoid it. I’ll get over it….eventually. Give me a few more hours. But if you REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY need to talk to me, leave a comment saying the exact date and time you’ll be online and say what you want to talk about, and why, and I’ll consider talking to ya.

“I’ll turn around to pick up the pieces.” –Hoobastank

This describes how I feel, all mixed in one =>

I don’t know why I am on here. I really don’t want to talk about it. My feelings and emotions are all blurbed into one mess. It’s like a giant yarn knot ball. You can’t untie it, the only way the undo it is to cut it up. Then you have a bunch of little pieces of yarn that aren’t of any use. I’ve composed “the pieces” right here, the pieces of thoughts on my feelings running my head. This “poem” (I use that term loosely) may not make any sense, or you may catch on easily. Like I said, I don’t want to talk to anyone about it, nor do I want anyone to be making a deal about it or getting on my case about it. Please let it be

No, it can’t be, it wasn’t suppose to be
It’s such a small difference, but a difference nonetheless
Why me? Why why why why me?!?!
It should have never ever happened
Dumb, stupid, moronic, egregious
Hyprocritcal: I said I wouldn’t, but I did
Too fast, too little, too late
Inexcuseable, unacceptable, egregious
It almost seems impossible
My image, my repuation – destroyed, dismantled
I can’t ever take it back
Does this make me any less?
Can I bounce back?
What happens if I can’t?
Should I just give up, or try again?
Eloi, eloi, lama sabbachnatha
How can one go from so good to so bad?
I wouldn’t accept it from anyone else, and neither from me
Am I hurting the team?
It was the difference between the best and the worst
Am I possibly overexaggerating?
Did I give enough?
Does it really matter?
It was a hard team
The little things made the difference
I knew to slow down, I knew to be happy with what was sent my way
But I missed what could have led to success
Was it greed? Pride? Arrogance?
Did I let my feelings get the best of me?
I did bad, but I also did good
And after all I have said and did
I have some good friends, I wish I could be a friend back
I deserve all the ridicule and trashing, I don’t want to face up to it
I am number 1 in the team, they need me, I must step up for them
I must, no, need, no, WILL, do better

Like I said, I REALLY REALLY REALLY don’t want to talk about it. I’m going stay off IM, email and the internet to help avoid it. I’ll get over it….eventually. Give me a few more hours. But if you REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY need to talk to me, leave a comment saying the exact date and time you’ll be online and say what you want to talk about, and why, and I’ll consider talking to ya.

“I’ll turn around to pick up the pieces.” –Hoobastank

Quizzing Schedule

On Wednesday, I finally got my schedule, in full detail. I now know where I am, and where I am going to go, and who we are playing. PLEASE COME!! I cannot stress this enough. Just like in football the fans are the 12th player, in quizzing the fans are the 7th quizzer. We want, no need, your support. And the best support is being there live. Here is my schedule

• Jan. 22: Lancaster Mennonite High School
  -Maple Grove 2
  -Blainsport


• Jan 29: Zion
  -Zion 1
  -Paradise 1


• Feb. 5: Neffsville
  -Reading 2  <(This is the match to see!!!)
  -Petra 7
  -Petra 4


• Feb. 12: Lancaster Mennonite High
  -Akron 4
  -Conestoga 1
  -Hope Community 4


• Feb. 19: Hinkletown
  -Hopewell 3
  -Paradise 4


• Feb. 26: Weaverland
  -Neffsville 1
  -Petra 3
  -Conestoga 3


• March 5: Hopewell
  -Hope Community 3
  -Rockville 1


• March 12: Lancaster Mennonite High School
  -Reading 1


• March 19: Lancaster Bible College


• March 26: Central Christian School in Kidron, Ohio

 

All these matches are Sundays at 6:30 PM, with the exception of the third week is at 2 PM, and the one on March 19 is from 1 PM to 10 PM. If you want directions, the official quizzing website has them (http://atlanticcoast.mennonite.net/quizzing/fdirections.htm). I, along with the team, wish to see you there. I personally would love to see all of you at Neffsville the third week. Like I said above, this will be the big match (like last year’s big match was Spring City vs. Zion.) Once again, the match isn’t only a fair, equal matchup among teams, there is also some good matchups with individual scores. It’ll get a little personal. I also expect that week for myself to complete the first of my 3-part goal of being a perfect quizzer for three months. I like all possible to witness this. You can always keep track of how I am doing my going to the quizzing website, or checking back on my Xanga. I will rock quizzing this year!!

Countdown to the first quizmatch of 2006:
19 HOURS, 16 MINUTES

Quizzing Joke of the Week:
Q: What was the best bargain price for sacrifices?
A: The doves because they came in pairs

Pre-season scrimage quizmatch

Today was the day I predicted that the first quizzing week would be. I was wrong. The Ohio confrences are starting their second week of quizzing today, and we have yet to start. The suspense for next week to start is killing me. I wish it would just hurry up and get here. I could really go for a quizmatch around now. I bet all of you could go for a quizmatch now, so I set one up for you. Ten questions on the first week of quizzing material. So everyone take my quiz (especially quizzers) and see where you place. It will give a good idea of who will be a threat next Sunday, and who will need more practice by next Sunday 🙂

Quizmatch on Luke 1 & 2:1-40

Countdown to the first quizmatch of 2006:
7 days

Pre-season scrimmage quizmatch

Today was the day I predicted that the first quizzing week would be. I was wrong. The Ohio confrences are starting their second week of quizzing today, and we have yet to start. The suspense for next week to start is killing me. I wish it would just hurry up and get here. I could really go for a quizmatch around now. I bet all of you could go for a quizmatch now, so I set one up for you. Ten questions on the first week of quizzing material. So everyone take my quiz (especially quizzers) and see where you place. It will give a good idea of who will be a threat next Sunday, and who will need more practice by next Sunday

Take my Quizmatch on Luke 1 & 2:1-40

Countdown to the first quizmatch of 2006:
7 days

Yesterday was our second practice. Not as full as last time. With 2 Tedors gone, and Christine absent as well, there was only 4 quizzers. In theory, if all quizzers quizzed out or errored out, only 12 questions would be asked, not 15. So both quiz outs and error outs were moved up to 4 questions. The first practice match was my best. Since quiz outs were 4 question quiz outs, I QUIZZED OUT ON QUESTION 4!!!! Even if quiz outs were 3 questions, I would have quizzed out on question 3. It was on 2 right buzzes and 2 right bonuses. Now, if I can just do that at a real quiz match, I’d be set. Next time, I want to try to do it all on buzzes, but I think Mike would interfere on that with a crazy buzz just to spite me. That was my best practice match yesterday. For the other two matches, I quizzed out as well. Only 1 of the matches was I not the first one to quiz out. I also got to contest one, and I won the contest (see below)! When we went through our normal reading and 3 practice matches, the time was 8:25 PM. We eneded a little earlier than usual. Since we had no other questions to be asked, we ended practice and then went to the eating.

I think we are slightly improving. Mike and I are doing great. We get quiz outs. I just hope when we have more of a competition we continue to do that. The only thing I worry about is our newbies. In all our matches, each team scored around 55 to 65 points. Why is that so bad? Well, in each match, Mike and I (we were on separate teams) contributed 45 of the points. I’m glad that I am individually performing so well, but I wish there was more of a team score. The rookies do well, but we only really see their action after Mike and I quiz out. They won’t be able to do that in real match. We got to kill that habit. We got to get them to start jumping in faster, to the point they may even beat us. And I pray that Christine will get better too. We need to see where she is at. I would also like to see 4 practice matches next week.

Ok, here is the contest I faced. I did win the contest, and my coaches said that most quizmasters would do that as well. Let me hear what you think-

Question: Who were descendants of Aaron?
My answer: Zechariah and Elizabeth
Ruling: Incorrect
“Right” answer: Elizabeth (only Elizabeth, not Zechariah)
My contest: Based on Luke 1:5, the verse begins talking about Zechariah, then goes to talk about his wife Elizabeth. The verse uses the word “also” along with Elizabeth’s name, hinting that Zechariah is part of this. It means, “Zechariah was a descendant of Aaron, and Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.”
Result: Contest granted

Now I was looking at the other translation and versions, only two versions using the “also” are the NIV and CEV. Most versions call Elizabeth “a daughter of Aaron” which definitely would not be Zechariah. But then again, other translations do not matter in quizzing, just NIV. It is your call.

Yesterday was our second practice. Not as full as last time. With 2 Tedors gone, and Christine absent as well, there was only 4 quizzers. In theory, if all quizzers quizzed out or errored out, only 12 questions would be asked, not 15. So both quiz outs and error outs were moved up to 4 questions. The first practice match was my best. Since quiz outs were 4 question quiz outs, I QUIZZED OUT ON QUESTION 4!!!! Even if quiz outs were 3 questions, I would have quizzed out on question 3. It was on 2 right buzzes and 2 right bonuses. Now, if I can just do that at a real quiz match, I’d be set. Next time, I want to try to do it all on buzzes, but I think Mike would interfere on that with a crazy buzz just to spite me. That was my best practice match yesterday. For the other two matches, I quizzed out as well. Only 1 of the matches was I not the first one to quiz out. I also got to contest one, and I won the contest (see below)! When we went through our normal reading and 3 practice matches, the time was 8:25 PM. We eneded a little earlier than usual. Since we had no other questions to be asked, we ended practice and then went to the eating.

I think we are slightly improving. Mike and I are doing great. We get quiz outs. I just hope when we have more of a competition we continue to do that. The only thing I worry about is our newbies. In all our matches, each team scored around 55 to 65 points. Why is that so bad? Well, in each match, Mike and I (we were on separate teams) contributed 45 of the points. I’m glad that I am individually performing so well, but I wish there was more of a team score. The rookies do well, but we only really see their action after Mike and I quiz out. They won’t be able to do that in real match. We got to kill that habit. We got to get them to start jumping in faster, to the point they may even beat us. And I pray that Christine will get better too. We need to see where she is at. I would also like to see 4 practice matches next week.

Ok, here is the contest I faced. I did win the contest, and my coaches said that most quizmasters would do that as well. Let me hear what you think-

Question: Who were descendants of Aaron?
My answer: Zechariah and Elizabeth
Ruling: Incorrect
“Right” answer: Elizabeth (only Elizabeth, not Zechariah)
My contest: Based on Luke 1:5, the verse begins talking about Zechariah, then goes to talk about his wife Elizabeth. The verse uses the word “also” along with Elizabeth’s name, hinting that Zechariah is part of this. It means, “Zechariah was a descendant of Aaron, and Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.”
Result: Contest granted

Now I was looking at the other translation and versions, only two versions using the “also” are the NIV, NLT, CEV and Amplified Bible. Most versions call Elizabeth “a daughter of Aaron” which definitely would not be Zechariah. But then again, other translations do not matter in quizzing, just NIV. It is your call.

Countdown to the first quizmatch of 2006:
9 days, 9 hours, 55 minutes