Say hello to the champions of BRITE! After defeating (but nearly losing to) South Brunswick in the semis, we went onto the finals. That match was against Hunterdon Central, and that actually took place in Madeline's on Vosseler rather than the usual Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School.
A very funny thing occured before the actual game started. Both teams arrived only to find that somehow there was no reservation made in this restaurant. Mrs. Ferreri first went in, but admitted that she was a little afraid to go and explore the somewhat desolate-looking place; admittedly, I wouldn't feel too safe doing that either. Fortunately, the higher-ups of BRITE managed to sort it all out.
Anyway, this time, one of the higher-ups of BREA read the questions this time rather than our advisors alternating. Also, they even had an official timekeeper and judges.
The game ultimately ended with our victory after maintaining a very comfortable lead throughout. When I accepted the plaque, I actually felt a little faint because I simply could not belive that this was happening. We won $2000 for our school's scholarship fund and secured our place at the National Academic Championship.
I hope that goes well at least because I actually read some weird things about NAC, especially about Chip Beall's antics. Anyway, I guess all we can do is practice the new format in hope for the best.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Updates
On Tuesday, March 17, we faced High Tech 1 in BRITE. There was an issue where Alex responded to a question at the same time when time was called. That was resolved with the higher-ups at BRITE just giving a new question as if the situation never arised. I can see the High Tech people were pretty disappointed considering this was their best team; however, JP has officially advanced the furthest that it ever did in BRITE: we are now officially semifinalists, and we will be facing South Brunswick next Tuesday.
Last Wednesday, we went back on the Challenge. First, we played Jewish Ed. Center. I have to admit that they were a lot better than I expected because we were actually behind on points for a while; however, we managed to pull through at the end. A very similar issue arouse when a question in Complete 180 was asking for Tyra Banks' reality show, to which they replied "America's Top Model" only to try to retract it and say "America's Next Top Model" (the correct answer). Taping was temporarily halted, and once again, the question was thrown out, but this time the new one was bounced to us, and we did not appear to know the answer. Still, we managed to win against them, which led us to our game against Bergen County.
We actually almost won against BCA. The MC round ended with a score of about 150 BCA to 135 JP. Then, after Lightning Round, the score was 185 BCA to 180 JP. Then, after the third round, we actually managed to pull ahead with a score of JP 280 to BCA 245. However, BCA pulled a 180 in Complete 180, and the final score was BCA 335 to JP 325. I would have liked it better if we won, but I guess I can take comfort in that JP has probably come the closest that any NJ team ever did in actually beating Bergen.
Last Wednesday, we went back on the Challenge. First, we played Jewish Ed. Center. I have to admit that they were a lot better than I expected because we were actually behind on points for a while; however, we managed to pull through at the end. A very similar issue arouse when a question in Complete 180 was asking for Tyra Banks' reality show, to which they replied "America's Top Model" only to try to retract it and say "America's Next Top Model" (the correct answer). Taping was temporarily halted, and once again, the question was thrown out, but this time the new one was bounced to us, and we did not appear to know the answer. Still, we managed to win against them, which led us to our game against Bergen County.
We actually almost won against BCA. The MC round ended with a score of about 150 BCA to 135 JP. Then, after Lightning Round, the score was 185 BCA to 180 JP. Then, after the third round, we actually managed to pull ahead with a score of JP 280 to BCA 245. However, BCA pulled a 180 in Complete 180, and the final score was BCA 335 to JP 325. I would have liked it better if we won, but I guess I can take comfort in that JP has probably come the closest that any NJ team ever did in actually beating Bergen.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
My Life is Turning Up
Last Tuesday, we beat Summit High School in BRITE. Thus, we are now advancing to the quarterfinals. I have to say that I was quite impressed with their sportsmanship, especially that of their coach. I could tell that he was not terribly impressed with the performance of his own team, but still he moderated with as much fairness as he possibly could, quite unlike CBA's coach.
My French teacher finally responded to my e-mail day before yesterday about my predicament with the girl who told me that she does not appear to be interested in me. Today, I talked with my teacher after school for a pretty solid half an hour. If anything, my teacher convinced me that I'm not quite as unloved as I thought for the longest time. Even though I feel better than I did that night, I still feel that I'm not going to be over this for a while though. The trouble is that I've never really been this much in love with anyone besides this girl. Yes, she is the second girl I've been infatuated with, but I was over the first rejection with hardly any trouble at all. Somehow, I don't really feel any sort of emotional attraction to anyone else at all.
Anyway, at this point, I think I've officially earned the right to feel good about myself for a change. My motto (for now) is, "I may lack a girlfriend, but that doesn't change the fact that I kick ass at everything I do." Because it's true.
My French teacher finally responded to my e-mail day before yesterday about my predicament with the girl who told me that she does not appear to be interested in me. Today, I talked with my teacher after school for a pretty solid half an hour. If anything, my teacher convinced me that I'm not quite as unloved as I thought for the longest time. Even though I feel better than I did that night, I still feel that I'm not going to be over this for a while though. The trouble is that I've never really been this much in love with anyone besides this girl. Yes, she is the second girl I've been infatuated with, but I was over the first rejection with hardly any trouble at all. Somehow, I don't really feel any sort of emotional attraction to anyone else at all.
Anyway, at this point, I think I've officially earned the right to feel good about myself for a change. My motto (for now) is, "I may lack a girlfriend, but that doesn't change the fact that I kick ass at everything I do." Because it's true.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
BRITE--Day 3 and Back to Round 1
We faced Christian Brothers Academy today. Once again, we (JP Team 1) managed to garner a respectable score of 1170 to 840. Much like 2 years ago, CBA's advisor needed to try to exploit us on a technicality of our answers.
The question asked for a scientific novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, to which Alex replied "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". Naturally, that advisor's panties got tied in a not and she insisted that the correct answer is "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". At the end of the game, Mrs. Vitvitsky merely explained our case to the higher-ups at the tournament. I'll bet that CBA's advisor just started arguing with the authorities as to why she is right and Mrs. Vitvitsky is wrong. Tonight, we will ultimately find out if we actually get those points that were up for grabs or not.
Anyway, I'm actually quite glad that we have an advisor as strong as Mrs. V. I'm almost tempted to think that any other advisor would've just consented to what CBA's advisor wanted. While Mrs. V. is tough, she is also fair in that she does believe in playing fairly and with dignity, and not trying to just screw the other team out of a few points. CBA's team members actually seemed to be pretty nice people too, but it was their advisor that was a problem. I almost feel sorry for those suckers having to deal with her every week. I'll bet she preeches, "Remember guys! This is not for CBA! This is not for you guys! Our participation in quiz games is for ME and for ME to demonstrate MY ego! And it is YOUR job to help ME screw the other teams for points so I look good!" at every one of their weekly practices.
Anyway, I'm nonetheless happy with the performance that we gave for this and only hope that we can continue it next week when we return for the NJ Challenge!
The question asked for a scientific novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, to which Alex replied "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". Naturally, that advisor's panties got tied in a not and she insisted that the correct answer is "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". At the end of the game, Mrs. Vitvitsky merely explained our case to the higher-ups at the tournament. I'll bet that CBA's advisor just started arguing with the authorities as to why she is right and Mrs. Vitvitsky is wrong. Tonight, we will ultimately find out if we actually get those points that were up for grabs or not.
Anyway, I'm actually quite glad that we have an advisor as strong as Mrs. V. I'm almost tempted to think that any other advisor would've just consented to what CBA's advisor wanted. While Mrs. V. is tough, she is also fair in that she does believe in playing fairly and with dignity, and not trying to just screw the other team out of a few points. CBA's team members actually seemed to be pretty nice people too, but it was their advisor that was a problem. I almost feel sorry for those suckers having to deal with her every week. I'll bet she preeches, "Remember guys! This is not for CBA! This is not for you guys! Our participation in quiz games is for ME and for ME to demonstrate MY ego! And it is YOUR job to help ME screw the other teams for points so I look good!" at every one of their weekly practices.
Anyway, I'm nonetheless happy with the performance that we gave for this and only hope that we can continue it next week when we return for the NJ Challenge!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
First Post+BRITE News
Ok, I got a new computer today, and I'm creating this blog from it.
Before I get started, you people should know that I am the one and only Neil A. Sen, and I am a member of the JP Stevens High School quiz team, aka the STARS.
Right now, we have two teams taking part in BRITE, or the Bridgewater-Raritan Invitational Tournament of Excellence. We have gotten through Rounds 2 and 3 and will take part in 1 this coming Tuesday, which is incidentally my birthday. The reason 1 is last is because the start of this tournament was delayed twice due to the kind of heavy amount of snow that was coming down those days.
Anyway, things have been going well so far. JPS Team 1 (made up of me, David Zhao, Alex Silady, Andy Zhu, Kunal Bailoor, and Jessica Cui) is currently the #1 team! We actually faced 2 of Sayreville's 3 teams. The first team was a bit of a breeze to beat; that was the game in which we scored the points that really boosted us up to the #1 spot. The other Sayreville team, however, actually was pretty good. That round started with us winning the first game with a wide margin, then winning the second with a smaller margin, then actually losing the third by a 10 point one. The good news is that overall we managed to gain 1180 points over their 720, and we're still maintaining our spot with that added to the 1480 from the first round we played.
The other team does not appear to be faring so well. Although they managed to win both games they played (they too were facing Sayreville teams), their point totals really were not terribly impressive with about 800 the first and 1080 the second. I suspect the reason is because that team is half-full of underclassmen that, from what I hear from the older players, generally just get in the way. We need 4 players to constitute a panel, and we can have 2 alternates. The thing is that they have to let everyone play at least once in each game. More often than not, those underclassmen do not appear to know the answer to any question, leaving it to the one junior and two seniors they have to figure it out.
This leads me to my next point: I am actually pretty worried about the future of our team, particularly after the Class of 2010 graduates. The underclassmen we are getting in order to replace the guys that graduate seem to be mostly jerks that are there just so they can get Mrs. Vitvitsky's signature on their activity sheets when the time comes for them to submit college applications. More evidence for this theory of mine came on the first day of BRITE. One of those underclassmen I mentioned appeared to be well enough to take the American Math Competition test that was that day (I was there and I saw her), yet she was apparently not well enough to come with us to Bridgewater. That's the typical thinking of a more pragmatic high schooler: screw your teammates, it's your college admission that ultimately counts.
I know I place an abnormal amount of importance on a quiz team, yet as a person who was not even on that team, I felt just a tad bit ticked off at what I still see as an abandonment of her team. I still wonder what our two advisors feel about this.
Anyway, I am looking forward to my 18th birthday this Tuesday and our triumph in BRITE that same day. Furthermore, we are going back on the NJ Challenge the following Monday, March 2nd! Peace out.
Before I get started, you people should know that I am the one and only Neil A. Sen, and I am a member of the JP Stevens High School quiz team, aka the STARS.
Right now, we have two teams taking part in BRITE, or the Bridgewater-Raritan Invitational Tournament of Excellence. We have gotten through Rounds 2 and 3 and will take part in 1 this coming Tuesday, which is incidentally my birthday. The reason 1 is last is because the start of this tournament was delayed twice due to the kind of heavy amount of snow that was coming down those days.
Anyway, things have been going well so far. JPS Team 1 (made up of me, David Zhao, Alex Silady, Andy Zhu, Kunal Bailoor, and Jessica Cui) is currently the #1 team! We actually faced 2 of Sayreville's 3 teams. The first team was a bit of a breeze to beat; that was the game in which we scored the points that really boosted us up to the #1 spot. The other Sayreville team, however, actually was pretty good. That round started with us winning the first game with a wide margin, then winning the second with a smaller margin, then actually losing the third by a 10 point one. The good news is that overall we managed to gain 1180 points over their 720, and we're still maintaining our spot with that added to the 1480 from the first round we played.
The other team does not appear to be faring so well. Although they managed to win both games they played (they too were facing Sayreville teams), their point totals really were not terribly impressive with about 800 the first and 1080 the second. I suspect the reason is because that team is half-full of underclassmen that, from what I hear from the older players, generally just get in the way. We need 4 players to constitute a panel, and we can have 2 alternates. The thing is that they have to let everyone play at least once in each game. More often than not, those underclassmen do not appear to know the answer to any question, leaving it to the one junior and two seniors they have to figure it out.
This leads me to my next point: I am actually pretty worried about the future of our team, particularly after the Class of 2010 graduates. The underclassmen we are getting in order to replace the guys that graduate seem to be mostly jerks that are there just so they can get Mrs. Vitvitsky's signature on their activity sheets when the time comes for them to submit college applications. More evidence for this theory of mine came on the first day of BRITE. One of those underclassmen I mentioned appeared to be well enough to take the American Math Competition test that was that day (I was there and I saw her), yet she was apparently not well enough to come with us to Bridgewater. That's the typical thinking of a more pragmatic high schooler: screw your teammates, it's your college admission that ultimately counts.
I know I place an abnormal amount of importance on a quiz team, yet as a person who was not even on that team, I felt just a tad bit ticked off at what I still see as an abandonment of her team. I still wonder what our two advisors feel about this.
Anyway, I am looking forward to my 18th birthday this Tuesday and our triumph in BRITE that same day. Furthermore, we are going back on the NJ Challenge the following Monday, March 2nd! Peace out.
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