Difference between revisions of "National Academic Super Bowl"

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An amazing event discovered by Matt Weiner while researching quizbowl on Lexis-Nexis, this tournament involved six-person high school quizbowl teams standing on the football field at Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville, answering speed tossups such as "Name the longest river in Europe." Apparently, all-star teams from within metropolitan public school systems were permitted to participate.  
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The '''National Academic Super Bowl''' was a competition run by Duval County Public Schools that lasted from 1976 to around 1988. It involved six-person high school quizbowl teams answering speed tossups such as "Name the longest river in Europe" on the football field at Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville.
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==History==
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An event that would eventually become the National Academic Super Bowl was created by Duval County (Jacksonville Area) assistant superintendent [[Fazil Dean]] in 1976 for district schools. No records publicly exist from this time.
  
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Research conducted by [[Dave Porter]] indicates that [[Freeman]] won the competition in 1981.
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In 1981 the event invited teams from across the nation and billed itself as a national tournament, even though the majority of the field comprised of teams from the [[Southeast (region)|southeast]]. It was televised on at least a local basis on Jacksonville PBS affiliate WJCT that year as well as in the home market of champion Douglas Freeman on WCVE in Richmond.
  
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Over four thousand "fans" filled the stands to watch the finals in 1984, and marching bands, cheerleaders, and television cameras were present. Sponsored by the Duval County School Board and directed by superintendant Herb A. Sang, it involved 18 teams from 8 states.
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[[Freeman]] (as Henrico County) won the competition in 1981 over [[Sandalwood]] (as the Duval all-stars) after a controversy over whether the game-deciding final tossup, asking for who said, "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute," had the correct answer on the page or not.
  
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The 1983 tournament included sitting Secretary of Education [[Terrel Bell]] as a spectator.
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The Duval all-stars won in 1983 over [[East Baton Rouge]] of Louisiana, 196-52, answering questions such as "Who was the poet whose most important work was 'Andrea del Sarto'?" Incumbent Secretary of Education [[Terrel Bell]] attended this tournament as a spectator and was inspired to create the [[National Academic League]].
  
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The article implies that the event was founded in 1976 for Jacksonville-area public schools and became a national tournament later. The Duval County public schools all-star team won the tournament in 1984 as well as in "two of the three years" prior to that. The second-place team in 1984 was the Birmingham, AL all-stars.
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In 1984 over four thousand "fans" filled the stands to watch the finals, during which marching bands, cheerleaders, and television crews were present. The 1983 Super Bowl involved 18 teams from 8 states and was sponsored by the Duval County School Board under the direction of superintendent Herb A. Sang. The Duval County public schools all-star team won the tournament in 1984 over the Birmingham, AL all-stars.
  
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By 1987, the format had changed such that all the non-Duval teams played a regular invitational tournament, whose winner faced the Duval County all-stars in the Super Bowl. In both 1987 and 1988, the tournament had eighteen teams, and Duval's opponent was the Fayette County all-stars from Kentucky. The 1987 Super Bowl was televised on The Learning Channel.
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By 1987, the format had changed such that all the non-Duval teams played a regular invitational tournament, whose winner faced the Duval County all-stars in the Super Bowl. In both 1987 and 1988, the tournament had eighteen teams, and Duval's opponent was the Fayette County all-stars from Kentucky. The 1987 Super Bowl was nationally televised on The Learning Channel (now known as TLC).
  
 
The 1988 Fayette team included Brian Reed, Eric Brooks, Greg Koerner, and Andrew Joseph from [[1988 Lafayette|Lafayette]], Brennan Gaunce of [[1988 Henry Clay|Henry Clay]], and Jason Hall, Jeanie Krause, and Akbar Aksan from [[1988 Tates Creek|Tates Creek]].
 
The 1988 Fayette team included Brian Reed, Eric Brooks, Greg Koerner, and Andrew Joseph from [[1988 Lafayette|Lafayette]], Brennan Gaunce of [[1988 Henry Clay|Henry Clay]], and Jason Hall, Jeanie Krause, and Akbar Aksan from [[1988 Tates Creek|Tates Creek]].
  
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It is unknown how long this tournament lasted after 1988 or who else won it. What is known is that the idea of playing quizbowl on a football field with marching bands is awesome.
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Some accounts of the tournament refer to individual schools participating, and others to all-star teams representing countywide public school systems. It is possible that the rules changed from year to year.
  
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[[Category: High school national championships]]
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It is unknown how long the Super Bowl lasted after 1988 or who else won it. Fazil Dean retired from her position as assistant superintendent in 1989, possibly contributing to the Super Bowl's downfall.  It was apparently supplanted by the [[Panasonic Academic Challenge]] (PAC), the first iteration of which was held the last known year the Super Bowl was held. The Panasonic Academic Challenge, now known as the National Tournament of Academic Excellence (NTAE) is an annual national championship run by Florida state education administrators.
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== Results ==
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{| border="1" cellspacing="0"
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! Year
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! Champion
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! Second
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|-
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| [[1981 NASB|1981]]
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| [[Douglas Freeman|Henrico County All-Stars]]) (VA)
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| [[Sandalwood]] (FL)
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|-
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| [[1982 NASB|1982]]
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|
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|
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|-
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| [[1983 NASB|1983]]
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| [[Duval All-Stars]] (FL)
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| [[East Baton Rouge All-Stars]] (LA)
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|-
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| [[1984 NASB|1984]]
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| [[Duval All-Stars]] (FL)
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| [[Birmingham All-Stars]] (AL)
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|-
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| [[1985 NASB|1985]]
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| [[Vermilion Parish All-Stars]] (LA)
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| [[Duval All-Stars]] (FL)
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|-
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| [[1986 NASB|1986]]
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|
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|
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|-
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| [[1987 NASB|1987]]
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| [[Duval All-Stars]] (FL)
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| [[Fayette All-Stars]] (KY)
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|-
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| [[1988 NASB|1988]]
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| [[Duval All-Stars]] (FL)
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| [[Fayette All-Stars]] (KY)
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|-
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|}
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==See also==
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*[[National Tournament of Academic Excellence|National Tournament of Academic Excellence/Panasonic Academic Challenge]]
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*[[Commissioner's Academic Challenge]]
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== External links ==
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*[http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19810430&id=csAqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-WcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4495,8258151 1981 Sarasota Times Spring article]
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*[http://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/14/education/the-schools-academia-s-bruising-super-bowls.html 1985 NY Times article]
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*[http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/10458736/ 1981 Salina Journal article]
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*[http://jacksonville.com/news/2013-07-26/story/educator-fazil-dean-trapeze-first-female-assistant-superintendent Fazil Dean biography]
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[[Category:High school national championships]]
 
[[Category:Original QBWiki Page]]
 
[[Category:Original QBWiki Page]]
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[[Category:High school quizbowl in Florida]]

Latest revision as of 13:15, 5 September 2024

The National Academic Super Bowl was a competition run by Duval County Public Schools that lasted from 1976 to around 1988. It involved six-person high school quizbowl teams answering speed tossups such as "Name the longest river in Europe" on the football field at Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville.

History

An event that would eventually become the National Academic Super Bowl was created by Duval County (Jacksonville Area) assistant superintendent Fazil Dean in 1976 for district schools. No records publicly exist from this time.

In 1981 the event invited teams from across the nation and billed itself as a national tournament, even though the majority of the field comprised of teams from the southeast. It was televised on at least a local basis on Jacksonville PBS affiliate WJCT that year as well as in the home market of champion Douglas Freeman on WCVE in Richmond.

Freeman (as Henrico County) won the competition in 1981 over Sandalwood (as the Duval all-stars) after a controversy over whether the game-deciding final tossup, asking for who said, "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute," had the correct answer on the page or not.

The Duval all-stars won in 1983 over East Baton Rouge of Louisiana, 196-52, answering questions such as "Who was the poet whose most important work was 'Andrea del Sarto'?" Incumbent Secretary of Education Terrel Bell attended this tournament as a spectator and was inspired to create the National Academic League.

In 1984 over four thousand "fans" filled the stands to watch the finals, during which marching bands, cheerleaders, and television crews were present. The 1983 Super Bowl involved 18 teams from 8 states and was sponsored by the Duval County School Board under the direction of superintendent Herb A. Sang. The Duval County public schools all-star team won the tournament in 1984 over the Birmingham, AL all-stars.

By 1987, the format had changed such that all the non-Duval teams played a regular invitational tournament, whose winner faced the Duval County all-stars in the Super Bowl. In both 1987 and 1988, the tournament had eighteen teams, and Duval's opponent was the Fayette County all-stars from Kentucky. The 1987 Super Bowl was nationally televised on The Learning Channel (now known as TLC).

The 1988 Fayette team included Brian Reed, Eric Brooks, Greg Koerner, and Andrew Joseph from Lafayette, Brennan Gaunce of Henry Clay, and Jason Hall, Jeanie Krause, and Akbar Aksan from Tates Creek.

Some accounts of the tournament refer to individual schools participating, and others to all-star teams representing countywide public school systems. It is possible that the rules changed from year to year.

It is unknown how long the Super Bowl lasted after 1988 or who else won it. Fazil Dean retired from her position as assistant superintendent in 1989, possibly contributing to the Super Bowl's downfall. It was apparently supplanted by the Panasonic Academic Challenge (PAC), the first iteration of which was held the last known year the Super Bowl was held. The Panasonic Academic Challenge, now known as the National Tournament of Academic Excellence (NTAE) is an annual national championship run by Florida state education administrators.

Results

Year Champion Second
1981 Henrico County All-Stars) (VA) Sandalwood (FL)
1982
1983 Duval All-Stars (FL) East Baton Rouge All-Stars (LA)
1984 Duval All-Stars (FL) Birmingham All-Stars (AL)
1985 Vermilion Parish All-Stars (LA) Duval All-Stars (FL)
1986
1987 Duval All-Stars (FL) Fayette All-Stars (KY)
1988 Duval All-Stars (FL) Fayette All-Stars (KY)

See also

External links

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