Bestest Players

jp_lien <*no_reply_at_yahoogroups.com*> · Thu, 08 May 2003 17:28:09 -0000

Ok, I was going to let this whole thread pass by, but the orgy of 
schmalty congratulations emanating from the bay area has made me 
realize that any praise I choose to heap out will be palatable by 
comparison.

First, I will say that I have never seen Seth Teitler play, although 
(apparently unlike the original "best players" poster) I scan the 
results from all regions to keep track of who's on top, and I've 
definitely noticed his general dominance.  I've been further
convinced 
of his considerable ability by observing some of the excellent 
questions he's written lately (esp. for the Illinois Open).  Also, I 
haven't seen Joon play since ICT '99, in which his Harvard team 
drubbed us so soundly that any memory I might have of his science 
abilities has been washed out in a haze of pain.

Having said that, the best science player who's ever been in my 
kitchen (who is, in fact, in my kitchen right now), and for my money 
the best science player east of California, is the A-Train Andrew 
Thomas Ullsperger.  You may remember him as the winner of the midwest 
edition of this past summer's Science Masters.  I'm not trying to 
insult anyone, but on numerous occasions I've witnessed members of
the 
vaunted Chicago science squad howl in agony as Andrew beat them to 
things that it seemed their god-given right to get.  To be fair, the 
reverse has also happened, but much less often.  While Andrew's 
greatest depth lies in the oft-asked biochemistry area, he covers 
every science subdiscipline, including Colvin Science, and although 
I've played with great science players (Roger Craig, Dennis Loo),
I've 
not seen his equal.  Also omitted from the orginial post was Robert 
Osborne, who simply must be mentioned in any discussion of the best 
science players.  I think Joon's caveat about excepting Subash is 
relevant here too, as in any given round Subash can up and take all 
the science questions if he chooses to do so.

Second, with all this talk about Latvia, I feel obliged to point out 
that UIUC has it's own Latvian scholar in our regining best player 
Adam Malamen (who can count Latvian, along with Bulgarian, amongst
the 
languages he speaks).  Based on my experience (limited to ICT 2002 in 
this case), he can hold his own with Mr. Hoppes on history (although 
probably not overall).  And while Ed Cohn edges him slightly on the 
20th century, I think Adam has greater history breadth than anyone 
I've met.  His fourteen tossup performance on the Civil War round at 
TTGTE last year, and his 4th overall position at this year's 
Sectionals spring immediately to mind.  Both his scoring and his 
conservative political perspective will be missed next year.

As for the best active player overall, anyone who doesn't think it is 
Subash is deluding themselves.  While his recent ICT performance was 
by all accounts incredible, I'd like to point out that the
handwriting 
was on the wall at ACF Regionals last year when his team eviscerated 
the strongest non-national-tournament field I've ever seen.  The man 
went 110-12 (74.3ppg) sitting next to Andrew Yaphe (55.4 ppg).  To my 
mind, this makes all talk of his being a "NAQT player" a little 
ridiculous.

Finally, since my retirement (by which I mean, of course, getting a 
job) is imminent, I'd like to add that the midwest is the coolest of 
the regions in which I've played, both because of the overwhelming 
quality of the teams, and because of their warmth and friendliness.  
The southeast has the latter but, no offense here, lacks the number
of 
top teams (esp. given that Kentucky competes here as often as there).

The mid-atlantic, frankly, has neither (which isn't to say that there 
aren't friendly teams there, just that they are drowned out by the 
assholes).  So I'd like to extend my thanks to my opponents and 
especially my teammates for a memorable two years of competition.

The best player typing this post right now,

J.p.