Matt Weiner
| Matt Weiner | |
| |
| Noted subjects | General, History, Literature |
| Current college | None |
| Past colleges | VCU (2003-2008), Pitt (2001-2002) |
| High school | Maggie Walker (1998-2000) |
| Stats | HDWhite • NAQT |
Matt Weiner (IPA: /ˈwinɚ/) is one of greatest quizbowl players in the history of the game, and is perhaps the most important figure in promoting the expansion of good quizbowl in the modern era. He is an alumnus of VCU and played as an undergraduate for Pitt. He currently plays open tournaments and does a lot of editing, writing, TDing, and organizational work for VCU, ACF, PACE, NAQT, and HSAPQ as well as independently.
He is also known as "the talented Mr. Weiner." [1]
Writing
Matt has been a critical force in sustaining good quizbowl by editing countless college tournaments. However, he has been criticized for not being a meticulous or careful writer, writing confusing common link questions, and for finishing many of his tournaments at the last minute. Ryan Westbrook aptly called him the "Gilbert Arenas volume shooter of quizbowl." Some of his most notable editing jobs include working as the editor-in-chief for the 2009 ACF Nationals, editing Penn Bowl from 2007-2009, editing the well-received 2008 ACF Regionals with Matt Keller, writing FICHTE and FICHTE II, and working on every incarnation of the VCU Open.
Matt has also been an important writer of the high school questions. He was the founding CEO of HSAPQ and now serves on their editorial board. He was the Chief Editor for the PACE NSC from 2002 to 2008 keeping the organization afloat.
Playing
Matt has won many tournaments and countless scoring titles, but his greatest achievement is leading the winning team at Chicago Open the last three years. His other notable finishes include winning the inaugural Minnesota Open with [Charlie Dees]] as his only contributing teammate, winning the 2008 Chicago Open and the 2007 Illinois Open as part of a team with Jonathan Magin, Eric Mukherjee, and Jerry Vinokurov). He has also won Ryan Westbrook's Experimental Doubles Tournament on a team with Gautam Kandlikar, and earned third at the 2007 Illinois Open Literature Tournament, playing alongside Mike Sorice.
Quizbowl Advocacy
Matt Weiner has been one of the most important advocates of good quizbowl in the modern era. Aside from editing PACE for seven years and founding HSAPQ, he founded the hsquizbowl.org's forums where he currently is an administrator. Matt has also been an important leader for Virginia quizbowl since his graduation serving as an informal coach to VCU and mentoring several high school players such as Tommy Casalaspi and Sarah Angelo by holding summer practices at [VCU]]. However, some of his mentoring attempts have been less succesful including his disastrous attempt to have Tommy Casalaspi (then a high school sophomore) write for the 2009 ACF Nationals leading to bonuses on the lesser known works of William Plomer. (Note that this was actually a bonus on South African literature to which "William Plomer" from all possible clues was the hard part, not a bonus on any works of William Plomer, and it was written not by Tommy Casalaspi, but by Andrew Yaphe; outside of those minor details, Ted Gioia is a good wiki editor).
Matt Weiner has very strong opinions on some philosophical topics, including a distaste for the opinions of Edmund Gettier. Nevertheless, he should not be confused with this guy. He is also not the bassist for The Hot Club of Cowtown or the creator of Mad Men.
Things Matt Weiner doesn't like
- Most things, especially Wikipedia
Things Matt Weiner Likes
- ACF
- Chupa Chups
- Comedy skits that end with someone running through a wall and leaving a person-shaped hole behind
- Driving ridiculous distances instead of flying
- Edith Wharton
- Edwidge Danticat
- Floor hockey
- 80s alternative music
- MIKE BENTLEY
- New York City
- Oscar Wilde
- PACE
- Robots wearing clothes
- Round-robin formats
- Russian history
- Sex with men, according to Robin Richards
- Shops named after what they sell
- Star Wars comic books
- Team handball
- Top Chef
- Victory Over the Sun
- Wayside School
- William Shatner
See also
- VCU
- Players active in 2003
- Players active in 2004
- Players active in 2005
- Players active in 2006
- Players active in 2007
- Players active in 2008
- Pitt
- Players active in 2001
- Players active in 2002
- High school players active in 1998
- High school players active in 1999
- High school players active in 2000
- Maggie Walker
- People
- HSQB Moderators
- Original QBWiki Page