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Thank You All

Discussion of quizbowl topics not related to specific tournaments
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MichaelMenkhus
Posts: 215
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 8:23 pm
Location: Kansas City, MO

Thank You All

Post by MichaelMenkhus »

Since yesterday was the last invitational tournament of the year, and Oakville is not attending a national tournament this year, my career as a high school quizbowler is virtually over (let's ignore MSHSAA districts, for the sake of this post). Since I will not see many of you until next year, I think that now is a good time to sort of reflect on the past four years and what the future holds for this activity in the state of Missouri.

First, I think it's important to remember that it wasn't long ago that MSHSAA State format was the norm for tournaments in Missouri, and companies like QG dominated the Missouri market. In the words of Charlie Dees, the circuit was a laughingstock. Five years later, this circuit can claim a PACE NSC champion, a NASAT champion, and numerous HSNCT and PACE NSC playoff qualifiers. Although we still have a long way to go before we can claim to be the best circuit in the country, we have shown that this circuit holds a great deal of promise for the future.

Nearly all of the credit for the success of this circuit should be given to the Missouri Quiz Bowl Alliance, which has taken huge steps in the last several years to drastically improve the quality of competition on the circuit. Individually, I would personally like to thank Charlie Dees, Sean Phillips, Jeffrey Hill, Jason Loy, Jacob O'Rourke, Matt Chadbourne, Alex Dzurick, Sam Haynes, and the rest of the MOQBA for making this circuit so enjoyable for the past four years. Without the MOQBA, I doubt that any Missouri team would have even had meager success at any national tournament.

I would also like to thank all of the players I played against over the past four years for making the experience that much more enjoyable. Special thanks go to Max Schindler, who exponentially raised the bar for Missouri quizbowl and started a tournament (LIST) that has become one of the most highly regarded in the country, and Ben Zhang, who continued Max's work at Ladue and was also a wonderful friend to have over the past four years.

Finally, it would be remiss of me to fail to mention some of my biggest influences on the Oakville quizbowl team. I'd like to thank Mark Richter, Justin Bayer, Brandon Daake, and Andrew Ludwig for making my first couple of years bearable, and David Gerding, Rachel Scott, Iain Bennett, Ellie and Emma Sona, Thomas Robert, Adam Harper, and Tommy Bauer for making these past few years all the more enjoyable. Special thanks to my coach, Christina Whelehon, who helped me become a better player over the past four years and put up with all of my oddities.

So, to sum it up: thank you, all of you, even those of you that I neglected to mention in this post (and I apologize if I did forget you!). I hope that I speak for all seniors when I say that this activity has provided me with a wonderful experience over the past four years. Now, I won't disappear completely - I still plan on staffing tournaments around the state and helping out with Truman's team. However, this period of my life is ending, and I think it's appropriate to say my final goodbyes before riding off into the sunset. Good luck to any Missouri team competing at any national tournament, and I'll see you all next year.

Zurvan
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 6:30 pm
Location: Princeton, NJ

Re: Thank You All

Post by Zurvan »

Very well stated, Michael! It's been a great pleasure to compete against you, as well as with you (Missouri Open), at various tournaments and I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to thank you for your own contributions to making Missouri quiz bowl more competitive and enjoyable over the past few years.

That being said, best of luck to you in all that you do in the future, and I look forward to seeing you at the other end of the buzzer system next year!

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scphilli
Posts: 2097
Joined: Wed Nov 01, 2006 12:00 am
Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Thank You All

Post by scphilli »

"There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

...

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more"

Not to desecrate Lennon/McCartney, but in my life, I love you all.

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OakvilleHSCoach
Posts: 163
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2009 12:00 am

Re: Thank You All

Post by OakvilleHSCoach »

This is the closest I will get to Menkhus being nice to me, so I will take it. :D

You will be greatly missed, Menkhus.

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