Yes, this is the final product of my research. Over the past 18 months, both Playboy and then Details assigned and ultimately this story -- the version on The Black Table is a hybrid of the two. (And, um, I'm going to fix that Nov. 29 thing pronto.) But before people start flaming me for the inevitably narrow focus on Ken Jenning, Rob Hentzel and NAQT, I'd just like to state for the record how astoundingly difficult it is to describe quiz bowl in print to someone who has never encountered it before. Playboy killed this story because it ultimately lacked enough sex appeal to justify the complication. I think the editors there expected something along the lines of Ben Mezrich's book about the MIT Blackjack Team -- supernerds pillage the game shows for millions! A more nuanced story didn't justify the space. And Details needed Ken to land a show on Comedy Central to guarantee a pop culture peg for the story; since that didn't happen, they weren't inclined to run it anytime soon. Those experiences -- the initial fascination of my editors with Ken, followed by their inability to grasp the culture that spawned him -- fed this version of the story. (I also have what amounts to a 7,000 word history of quiz bowl and 11,000 words of last April's ICT coverage also laying around.) That said, let the flames begin... Thanks, Greg
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