“Good thing that you’re not completely oblivious to health!” Audrey’s mother comments to her daughter.
“What do you think?” Audey asks the other people around the table.
“I’m indifferent, really” Pablo tells her.
I guess, better him telling me the cold, hard truth than just blindly telling me platitudes out of love, Audrey can see on his body that Pablo is being truthful.
“He obviously means a lot to you, but quiz bowl-State is just a few weeks away!” Audrey’s father reminds everyone. “Surely you might want him at your side if he doesn’t play!”
“Did you attend quiz bowl games?” Audrey asks her parents.
“No?” her parents answer, on the defensive.
“Quiz bowl games, even at State, are played in much more cramped spaces than a basketball game! Try to imagine how it would feel if everyone and their dogs at State brought their supporters under the form of parents, love interests and B-teams!” Audrey asks everyone in the room.
“Suffice that it would be... a lot more cramped, notwithstanding that, for some teams, just playing at State would mean a lot!” Pablo answers Audrey’s question.
“Pablo’s right. Even the most fanatical fan bases didn’t have more than a half-dozen supporters on site at Leesville! The real question becomes: what makes you feel like quiz bowl teams only have fans at State?”
“By now you know that a school’s fanbase comes out and supports its students more in the postseason than in the regular season, sports or quiz bowl. However, you also know about how quiz bowl flies under the radar at most schools, even at schools actually competing at State!” Audrey’s father comments.
I might imagine that most people at, say, Kinder or Livonia wouldn’t know about quiz bowl-State until about a day or two before the tournament! Here everyone harbors high hopes for quiz bowl-State pretty much from the season opener onwards! And people would be disappointed if we don’t medal at State, or compete at the HSNCT! Audrey reflects on her father’s statement about quiz bowl flying under their opponents’ radar.
The following Monday, at the start of quiz bowl practice, the roster for State is announced. Unsurprisingly, the A-team after LQBA Winter remains together at State and into the HSNCT.
“While we can’t play at State, I believe it’s a good idea to go and support our team!” Pablo suggests his teammates.
“The question is: who among us have parents willing to drive to Natchitoches on a Saturday morning and watch the VAs play at quiz bowl-State? None of us can drive yet!” Gerard asks the other players.
I am not sure if Ethan can drive, but I sure as hell can’t, Nadine ruminates, while she contacts her parents to ask them if they could take the B-team to State. And more specifically at Northwestern State University.
“Ask the chaperone at State, too...” Lilina sighs, not realizing that chaperones are required only for schools entering more than one team when the tournament allows for it, which quiz bowl-State doesn’t.
“No, Lilina, there is no chaperone at State, and often Audrey’s parents did it this season. However, for the HSNCT, we will need one, but it’s ok for the chaperone to be responsible for both teams. We might have that covered if the parish allows us to take a minibus from and to Atlanta, in which case the driver will be our chaperone!” Warren tells the B-team about the chaperone situation and then books 3 hotel rooms at the Marriott Marquis in the VAs’ name, for two nights.
A-team players also ask their parents if they can drive their own players to State. And maybe even bring their love interests, or B-team players, if space permits. They also feel like State is going to be the high point of the quiz bowl season for so many, especially for teams that can’t qualify for the HSNCT, or even the SSNCT for those in the small schools division.
Pablo even texts his parents into asking them to drive the B-team to quiz bowl-State, with the time and place they are to take the team to. As he awaits their response, they resume their practice.
“Tossup one: City planner Jeff Speck called this concept the great intellectual black hole of urban planning” the first clue is given in a practice packet by a person in FFA.
Urbanism never came up as a topic in quiz bowl before! Where does this question come from? Puzzled quiz bowlers ask themselves before the next clue arrives.
“It was first observed in Long Island bridges when building two additional bridges failed to relieve traffic on the Queensborough Bridge in the late 1930s...” the second clue is given by the FFA member as the power mark approaches, and Lilina buzzes in.
“Induced demand!” Lilina answers.
“Fifteen”
But after the practice ends, Pablo returns home and, whenever his parents are around the dinner table with him...
“It’s about quiz bowl-State. You were always there for my football games at home, but VA doesn’t host quiz bowl tournaments!” Pablo pleads with his parents.
“Mathletics then?” Pablo’s dad asks him.
“Quiz bowl is the only thing left we’re good at this year, we’re not going to go deep in the Math Madness playoffs this year, and even baseball is a wash!”
“You want us to go to quiz bowl-State, you are responsible for the costs of the trip!” Pablo’s mother warns him.
“Fine, I’ll pay for the trip!” Pablo sighs, upon hearing about the proviso.
Track and softball aren’t that great either, but some parents of softball players refer to it as girls’ baseball. I know this because Valter’s little sister, Tanith, plays shortstop on the softball team and their parents kept referring to softball as girls’ baseball. Speaking of which, I have to go tutor her! Pablo reflects on what other postseason opportunities VA can seize in spring.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Meanwhile, at Lilina’s home, Lilina pleads with her parents to take her and George to quiz bowl-State.
“We’re going to State once more, and this year, I would love to bring George with me. This season, you never attended any quiz bowl tournaments, we owe it to the VAs to at least show that we have their backs at State!” Lilina starts being more insisting.
“George? Of course you should bring him to quiz bowl-State with you! And you will show the opposing teams that quiz bowl isn’t simply a game of nerds! He should see that intellectual pursuits can be exciting!” Lilina’s dad then have Lilina call George.
“George, it’s Lilina. I attended basketball games earlier this year because you asked me out, and also because my quiz bowl teammate is playing hoops. I would like you to go support the VAs at quiz bowl-State...”
“Quiz bowl? All I know about it is that you play it, it’s very intellectually intense to play and VA is nationally competitive in that game!” George retorts.
“It’s good for you to get a grip on the intellectual side of things; you can’t just play and watch sports!” Lilina responds while she keeps talking about what makes quiz bowl exciting to watch.
Meanwhile, Pablo visits Valter’s house so that he can tutor his little sister. I love you, Audrey. I am willing to pay the bill for the whole family to attend quiz bowl-State, and maybe even bring one of the B-teamers and their love interest! That’s why I am willing to go tutor siblings of footballers across town! Pablo ruminates as he rings the doorbell, ready to help the shortstop.
“Come on in, Pablo. Tanith is in her room” Valter guides him to Tanith’s bedroom, while also announcing his visit to their parents.
The question is: what is Tanith struggling with? Also, what makes Valter’s parents think that some quiz bowler could help her, and one not far removed from the course itself?
“I’m Pablo and I will help you with your problems today”
“Nice to meet you, Pablo. I’m Tanith; while my brother knows you, I never interacted with you much. So there are questions I seem to be struggling with in my civics course…” Tanith sighs, while whipping out the statement of the assignment.
Oh God, an essay question about legislative gridlock. This is normally something I’d rather ask Lilina or Nadine for help, or Scott even, before I’d answer myself, Pablo seems to be trembling at the assignment statement. Once he regains composure…
“There are several aspects that need to be considered when you talk about legislative gridlock, starting with the electoral system” Pablo begins giving out clues, while interrupted by Tanith’s question.
“How does the electoral system play into legislative gridlock?” Tanith asks him.
“Even that is a multilayered problem. But it begins with the primaries, with candidates more likely to win primaries often being more radical”
Tanith jots down what she feels are the key ideas of the assignment. How polarization seems to reward primary candidates who are more radical, even though the voters in a given district would prefer less radical candidates.
“Woah! It’s becoming clear to me now that if radicals tend to win nominations more often, then legislative gridlock is not totally bad!” Tanith exclaims, even though she only has a small fragment of the truth on hand.
“Good. Now that you have a thesis statement, the onus is on you to elaborate on the nuances of what makes legislative gridlock not totally bad. Notwithstanding that its impact is not the same if it happens in Bâton-Rouge vs Washington!”
It's the first time I ever heard anyone, of any age, claim that legislative gridlock is not a pure negative. Everyone else seemed to believe that gridlock led to ineffectual governance, and then popular dissatisfaction, Pablo summarizes what he saw from others mentioning it, while Tanith appears to be struggling to flesh out her idea of what makes gridlock not totally bad. Pablo tries to sort out the mess of incoherent ideas:
“There’s a lot of moving parts, namely that Congressmen and senators have little, if any, reason to show the opposing side has any actual legislative competence!” Pablo comments on a main factor.
“This is not helping me with the position I wish to defend…” Tanith sighs.
“What do you mean, this is of no help? It’s one of the lead causes of gridlock! However, at the very beginning, I did mention more radical candidates being more likely to be nominated, and subsequently win. Yet, with every winner, there are policy positions to defend!”
“I don’t expect to go in depth with the dangers of political polarization, since the dangers are issue-specific!” Tanith retorts.
Valter’s dad goes to his daughter’s room. “Tanith, I heard you talk about legislative gridlock! This might be too advanced for you!”
“Too advanced? Are you sure that she isn’t taking AP US Government?” Pablo asks her father, calling into question his ability to help. “Perhaps the debate team is a better source of help in this area, but maybe they are too busy helping others in social studies!”
Damn it! All I ever heard about the debate team came from announcements on Monday morning! They never seem to perform very well in tournaments, and yet, Pablo is implying they’re sought after for help in social studies? Tanith’s mind starts to drift away from thoughts of legislative gridlock.
“You said it so yourself that, with every electoral winner, there were policy positions to defend. How varied are policy positions then?” Tanith returns to the topic at hand.
“It can vary depending on an area’s economy and population. But when a lot of special interests fight each other for the attention of legislators...” Pablo answers her.
“All I have to say now that Pablo didn’t already say is that partisan allegiance counts for a lot in understanding political gridlock, even if legislators were not that polarized!” Tanith’s father adds.
Any more than that and I feel like Tanith’s parents are paying me for her to cheat off me! Pablo feels like Tanith would devote some space to the negatives of gridlock and then how the sheer volume of policy positions makes it difficult to prevent it. And, finally, how it could limit the ability to push for radical agendas, or the influence of special interests. Maybe I should take AP US Government next year. However, I’m a little concerned about her. While knowing when to ask for help is useful, it’s not healthy to always ask for help at the start.
“Oh, thank you, I should be able to get everything in order” Tanith tells him, as she hands over a $20 bill, before sighing. “I should be able to keep playing softball until the end of the season!”
“Baseball!” Tanith’s father retorts.
Pablo’s phone then rings. “I need to take a call…” Pablo then gets to the bathroom, a little embarrassed.
And then Lilina calls Pablo about the trip to quiz bowl-State. About who could come.
“George will come, and if your parents don’t come, you might come with mine!” Lilina tells him. “Oh and we will visit Northwestern State University, too”
“Not that I expect my parents to come if I don’t play at State. They never went to any basketball game. However, they went to every home football game I played” Pablo comments on his family situation.
Pablo then breaks the news to his parents about him not playing at State, and Lilina’s parents taking him to State, via text message. Their response is rather quick, and he feels like it changes the financial dynamics of supporting Audrey in person at quiz bowl-State. Now I only need to pay for Audrey’s lunch as well as mine. That ought to be less expensive than taking my parents to quiz bowl-State…
“Since the playoffs are what the VAs need us for at State, I say we tour Northwestern State during the prelims, especially early in the prelims!” Lilina warns him.
“Not that we’ll actually attend this place for college, we’ll do this only to get a grip on what a college campus will actually be like. Or at least George and I!”
“Because State is a special occasion for us, I would want to eat somewhere new for lunch… ideally not a major chain”
“Just not necessarily at the same place as Audrey and I, since Audrey is the reason I’m even going to State to begin with! But one day it will be our turn to play at State!”
“I guess, next year…” Lilina sighs.