Thank you, Audrey, for your assistance, Pablo resumes studying for the tournament for which Audrey requested help.
After the World History quiz on Friday, in which the center football player sits on Pablo's left, the B-team players finally got their answers as to whether their parents could drive them to the tournament.
"Do you have answers to whether your parents can drive us to the tournament next Saturday?" Pablo asks his teammates at the start of the practice.
"It appears that mine can't" Gerard answers them.
"Mine can't either!" Lilina states, matter-of-factly, about their predicament.
"Luckily, my parents can drive to New Orleans, but they want all of us sleeping at their place next Friday" Nadine's answers raises Pablo's eyebrows.
"Now that we solved that issue, we can go back to practicing" Pablo adds.
"One more thing: for next Friday, keep your homework for the long road trip to New Orleans and back" Lilina comments on what to do on the road.
"Please, give Pablo a chance to contribute on every question!" Warren warns the teams for the drill.
For this drill, moderated by Audrey, Pablo's group is in the position of trailing by 70 points and there are 2 tossups left to go. Last time, it was either I power or I don't even buzz in, he muses while the first tossup begins. The first tossup is a question in an area he's still not comfortable with in a quiz bowl context, so he lets Josiane answer it.
However, on the bonus part, the first bonus seems to be about some sort of drug.
"Opioids!" Pablo answers that bonus part.
"Prompt on opioids" Audrey feels like Pablo hasn't been specific enough.
"Fentanyl" he answers about the opioids.
"Criminal organizations used the China White variety of fentanyl to make counterfeit versions of this drug" Audrey continues reading the bonus.
"Oxycontin" Pablo keeps answering this bonus.
It's a little too early to tell, but I think Pablo is on the right path, Audrey makes a mental note of where she feels Pablo is on the learning curve. To her eyes, he seems to be where the potential for gains is greatest, and the more the season goes, the slower the progress.
After this drill ends, Pablo texts his parents about sleeping at Nadine's place next Friday, along with the rest of the B-team. For which he needs to have a talk with his parents long before it takes place, around the dinner table.
"So Nadine's parents want to have your squad sleeping at their place on Friday night?" Pablo's father asks his son, to make sure he understands the arrangement.
"Yes, they feel like it's going to make the squad's life easier on Saturday morning" Pablo explains to his parents.
"I guess, better sleep at another quiz bowler's home than at some of your football teammates'; I think your quiz bowl teammates are more responsible" Pablo's mom then texts him a list of supplies he ought to prepare for the sleepover.
For the next few days, Pablo decides to intensify his studies in hopes that he will reach his target of averaging one tossup per game at LQBA Fall Invitational South.
But on Friday, he packs his football home jersey, his toothbrush, laptop and pants as appropriate for quiz bowl on top of what he would normally carry for school. As a result, his backpack is full.
When he meets Audrey at the weight room that day:
"Good luck at the LQBA Fall Invitational South!" Audrey wishes on him.
"And likewise with you against the Warhorses!"
This is the first round of this tournament. If we win on Saturday, we will be playing the winner of the Iota-Lacassine game on Monday, otherwise we're going to play its loser, Audrey starts thinking of what she gave up on the LQBA Fall Invitational South for. And fingers crossed that Pablo will actually pull some weight there.
After the practice ends, the B-team then goes to Nadine's home, where they are going to eat dinner with her parents. As gumbo bowls are prepared for the whole family...
"Mom, dad, this is Pablo, our rookie on my quiz bowl squad..." Nadine introduces him to her parents.
"How do you feel about playing quiz bowl?" Nadine's father asks him.
"It has been stressing me out like crazy for weeks, since it forced me to study far more than I used to! But I want to give quiz bowl a chance, at least for college" Pablo answers them.
Once the dinner ends, for the first time since the football season ended, he could finally get to play a video game as a group. On a console.
"Finally, a break from studying and schoolwork!" Pablo sighs, as he starts playing the video game Nadine picked for the group.
Sure, they have fun gaming, but they couldn't do so for that long since they know they need to go to bed early to ensure they could be awake in time to attend the quiz bowl tournament at the other end of the state.
But because the game they're playing is not a game Pablo intends to play regularly, he does not harbor any hard feelings about him not being able to play much; however, Nadine is by far the best at that particular game. When Nadine's mom gets to the living room...
"You guys must be in bed by ten PM..." Nadine's mother warns the quiz bowl squad.
"Where will I sleep tonight?" Pablo asks Nadine's mom.
"On the sofa-bed. Same goes for Gerard, too"
And Lilina would sleep on Nadine's bed, too. But then Pablo goes for the shower first, and then back to the living room. Before he falls asleep, Pablo prays for different things, facing the cross in the living room:
"I pray that I will be able to perform well tomorrow at the quiz bowl tournament, but also that doing well both in quiz bowl and in class will make the social pressure more bearable!" Pablo makes his prayers. "Amen!"
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"Study smarter, not harder! But once you get used to the studying regimen required to get straight As, or at least as close to that as you can get with your first-quarter grades... you will want to keep these grades up!" Nadine tells both boys on her squad.
"I guess, quiz bowl takes care of the studying regularly part" Gerard sighs before taking his shower. "Sure you can mix schoolwork and quiz bowl training; however, remember what the coach told us earlier: quiz bowl is not school! Yet, the higher your GPA, the less room for error you will feel like you have in coursework!"
"I might not need to have perfect grades per se, and neither do the people on the squad!" Pablo makes his observations.
Pablo goes to sleep just as Nadine returns to her bedroom. And the other 2 players go to sleep just a few minutes after the other.
By 4 AM the following day, alarm clocks go off and they all awaken to loud music, thanks to Nadine's mom blasting heavy metal music she grew up listening to.
Which makes Pablo groan, since he was not used to wake up this early on Saturdays. And have back pain. Audrey said she was using coffee as a painkiller, so I may as well use it as such, he starts awakening, waiting on the coffee but knowing they all eat cereal. A little hasty, sure, but better than nothing.
And they all get dressed accordingly, with any pain relief coffee could provide being a little slow to come, but better than nothing.
As per usual, they all do their homework on their way to Metairie. Not always easy when the roads aren't always the best maintained, however, the quiz bowlers all managed to get their homework done for the weekend.
Over two and half hours later of driving in the night, the team is a little hungry; they are given granola bars to eat before the tournament begins. It's only then that the team reviews the field of the tournament.
Because it often happens that tournaments have no-show teams, but this time around every team in the New Orleans region is competing: Jesuit, Benjamin Franklin, Archbishop Rummel, Mt. Carmel, Haynes and Mandeville.
"Remember: just because we earned a berth for State at Tal Atkins doesn't mean we should slack off here!" Warren warns his players upon arriving at the tournament site, with the A-team in tow, and checking in his teams.
Meanwhile, Pablo starts meeting with new people from schools he would never have played against in football, to the extent he could do so in the limited time he has before the tournament begins. It seems like these quiz bowlers feel a little off sometimes. As if some of them took to quiz bowl because it's the main, or perhaps only, place at their respective schools where they can be themselves... And yet they seem awfully open to meet anyone new to quiz bowl, Pablo thinks, while he collects contact information from players whose schools he knew the VAs can't play football against. I trained like crazy for the past two weeks, I can do it, I just need to focus on the questions.
Just before the schedule assignment is given to the teams, Myriam makes her way to Pablo and warns him:
"As much as other players make you feel like PPG is the main way to gain their respect, it's not the end of the story" Myriam warns Pablo before the B-team goes to its game room.
And then he starts trembling again, not having time to ask what Myriam means by that. I ought to ask her about what else is there to earning the respect of my fellow quiz bowlers other than practicing with the aim of getting higher PPG or, as NAQT calls it, PP20TUH, Pablo makes a mental note.
Once the first game begins, the moderator starts by announcing the competing teams:
"This is round one at the 2029 LQBA Fall Invitational South. From Jeff Davis Parish, we have Venomous Agendas B, from Jefferson Parish, we have the Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies. Good luck to both teams, and here's tossup one:" the moderator working the game announces.
Scott told me that, if we want to qualify both squads to the HSNCT, we need to have both teams finish in the top 3 here, Nadine ruminates while Pablo, seated next to her, trembles in fear. However, Nadine buzzes in a little before the power mark:
"Ballista!" Nadine shouts.
"Fifteen. For ten points each, answer these questions about the College of Faith system"
As nervous as he is, Pablo tries to take deep breaths as each bonus part is read to them. His ears perk up when he hears about the sporting consequences for the colleges that played them at the time. He answers a little early, shaking from his nervousness.
"Non-countable opponents?" Pablo answers in a tone that could cast doubt on his answer.
"Ten. As non-countable opponents, the College of Faith schools struggled to get other colleges to play this type of games to fund their athletic operations" the moderator keeps reading.
"Guarantee games!" a much more confident Pablo answers on the final part.
As far as I read past sets, I know questions on topics like the College of Faith aren't common. Just because I can contribute on this bonus doesn't mean I can keep doing this for the rest of the game, Pablo reflects on this bonus as the second tossup is read.
So all game long, Pablo's knowledge seems to be a little low and people buzz in before he could get to a point where his knowledge could allow him to do so. Nadine, Lilina and Gerard seem to score more than he did, and he only seemed to contribute on the bonuses the VAs manage to earn.
By the time tossup 20 comes around the corner, the Yellow Jackets (i.e. Haynes' players) are in the lead by 25 points, but Pablo has yet to score a tossup. Everyone is shaking in their seats, knowing that any misstep by either side can possibly cost them the game.
"Tossup number twenty..." the moderator signals the start of the final tossup-bonus cycle.
Normally, this kind of questions is for either Lilina or Nadine to answer, but they signal that they don't know the answer, Pablo's blood pressure goes through the roof when this tossup about Persian architecture is being read.
A Yellow Jacket buzzes in, presses the buzzer by accident, but feels obligated to answer once the buzz registers. "Pasargadae"
"Neg five"
Shoot! It's all down to us now! However, even answering this tossup correctly is not the end of the story! Pablo keeps shaking in his seat and struggles to resist the pressure to buzz in. However, the previous clue that tripped up the opponent was related to the answer's function as a royal palace.
He could feel like both girls on his side are still unable to answer this question, but he tries to recall if anything remotely close to the description given by the clues could be found in the packets he read.
"For ten points, name this Persian brick vault which marks the site of the Sassanid capital"
The clock is ticking on this clue, and Pablo's memories are being used at full speed. Feeling he must buzz in a pinch, he presses the buzzer, thinking that, by doing so, he'd be buying himself three more seconds.
"Answer?" the moderator asks him, two seconds after he buzzes in.
"Taq... Kasra?" Pablo answers, again lacking confidence.
"Ten"
"Yes! My first tossup!" an exuberant Pablo shouts upon scoring this tossup.
Pasargadae was an Achaemenid capital, a bulb lights up in Lilina's mind about how the opponent could have dropped the question.
As for the bonus, the VAs' B-team score one part correctly and one part incorrectly, so going into the final part, they are tied. The final part is then read:
"Repulsion of these particles are crucial in determining the shape of molecules" the moderator reads the final bonus part.
"Valence electrons!" Gerard answers this final bonus part.
"Twenty on the bonus, and Venomous Agendas B wins, two hundred eighty to two hundred seventy!"
And VA B, while not exactly playing at the same level as VA A, is still decent. However, their HSNCT hopes are dashed on the final preliminary game, taking them down to third in their pool, thanks to their 3-2 record. And hence VA B finds itself in the first playoff consolation pool, along with five more teams. The B-team then stops caring about the standings, since they no longer mattered to them.
However, into the first consolation playoff pool, in the afternoon, Pablo gains more confidence on the buzzer. He buzzes in, and also negs, a bit more than in the beginning, causing his PP20TUH to hover around 10, and not scoring any power. Yet he doesn't tremble as much as he used to.
In the final game, he managed to score one tossup, but is still a little below the goal of 10 PP20TUH his coach gave him. He feels like his own survival on the team depends on reaching this objective, during this game against Kinder, their "neighboring parish" rivals.
"Tossup sixteen: This play's titular characters made two gentlemen unhappy, and pose their valets as noblemen" the moderator reads as Pablo buzzes in.
"Les Précieuses Ridicules!" Pablo answers the question.
"Fifteen!"
For the rest of this game, I abstain from answering tossups until everyone else signals they are unable to answer. Yet, somehow, I buzzed in on this question before Nadine or Lilina did, Pablo realizes that, by powering this question, he brings his PP20TUH up to 11.
After the tournament, Warren asks him how he feels about playing the game before they return home.
"Now that you played at this tournament, how do you feel about playing quiz bowl?" Warren asks him.
"I feel a little bit nervous at times, especially in the beginning, when I didn't know what to expect, but scoring my first tossup was a watershed moment to me!" Pablo answers his coach before texting to Audrey about his experience of the tournament, right as the basketball team hits the road to Peabody Magnet for their game.