Re: British Quiz Bowl (long&boring?)

padark · Tue, 22 Aug 2000 20:24:02 -0700

"Does anybody know where I can get information
about the British college bowl circuit or anything like
it? I'm going to be in London this fall, and would
like to participate while I'm over there, but haven't
been able to find anything. Either post here or e-mail
me at philpy_at_...."

The two best
people I know of to talk to are Dave Dixon, who seems to
be NAQT's Euro-liason, and Rob Linham, who is the
head of Oxford's QuizSoc. Also try looking at the
Maize Pages (under links here, or go to
www.umich.edu/~uac/mac and go from there) for UK-based QB teams. I know
for a fact that Oxford has one, and they'll probably
list teams they play, at least. Imperial College
London at least used to have a team with a page. And,
finally, <sigh> try cbi.com, or whatever CBI's web
page is. They'll at least have a UC page that might
help you.

In addition, here's my tuppence worth
of thoughts, as an ex-pat Yankee player, on British
quizzing. (DISCLAIMER: I do *not* intend *any* offense to
*any* British player or team. Trust me, I'm not trying
to be snobby. It simply boils down to a culture
difference).

Your ability to play, it must be said, kinda depends
on *where* in London you'll be; LSE, one of the
London colleges, Royal College/Academy, or a former
poly. Basically, the more prestigious the school, the
better your chances of finding QB, I'd say. However,
that said:

***Do not expect to play the way or
as much as you do in the States. It won't
happen.***

Most uni's in the UK do not have a program. The
closest they come is UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE, which is
licenced from CBI, and looks like it. Yes, it's a game
show. Yes, they're students, at least after what
happened a couple of years ago. No, you can't just walk
on; they start taping one season's shows the school
year before. Other than that, it's worse than a
once-a-year CBI situation (in Oxbridge, and in the University
of London, the teams are college-based. This means
that your "gene pool" is a few hundred students, and
is often the JCR President and three of his/her
mates).

At a few places, you may be able to get together a
team. This is far easier at a collegiate institution
(basically, Oxbridge, London, and kinda Durham and York).
This means you'll play some scrimmages and maybe a few
inter-collegiate games. NAQT also runs a British tourney, but you
sure as hell won't travel very far; the concept of the
road trip doesn't exist over there.

Let's put
it this way: I spent last year at Oxford, after
being really involved on the circuit at U-M for four
years. For a variety of reasons, the most QB I did last
year was the weekly pub quiz (these are fun. Don't
knock them). I say this for one reason. Simply, if you
go over there expecting to get your usual fix of
hardcore ACF, or even your usual amount of playing in,
you're going to be really unhappy.

Any other
questions (from anyone), feel free to drop me a line at
patricia.dark_at_...

Cheers,

Patty