Re: Div 1/Div 2

• From: fluidmosaic6
• Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 23:59:31 -0700
• Message-ID: <000TSVJQJ.001BOK496.12170551-quizbowl_at_...>

>
>1. I wish that the players had the
desire to >compete at the highest level possible,
which >would solve the problem. If it's not about
>competition, what is it about?
>
>2. As for the
1998 ICT, that's fine---there was >nowhere else for
him to go (i.e., he was >actually that much better
than everyone else in >the collegiate game at that
time). But for the >2001 Div. 2 Championship...if
you're *that* much >better than everyone else at
Div.2, why are you >playing there?

I can tell
you that I and some other Pitt players felt some
uncertainty with sending out a Div II team that could
probably beat our Div I team, but it was probably our
program's one chance to win a title in either division,
that being Matt's freshman year. We had no grad
students last year, don't have any this year, and probably
won't have any next year; just as most freshman can't
compare with Matt or Jacob Mikanowski or Matt Hofer, our
best combination of players would have no chance
against the top ten or so Div I teams. Now Matt's
ineligible and our Div II team will probably be freshmen and
one junior. Nobody gets more than 1 year in Div
II.

Also, we were competing against our peers. It was
actually interesting to have Matt, and Jacob, and any
other Div II player who would have enhanced their
school's Div I team, finally get to see how good they were
compared to the best teams in the country with comparable
experience. We did not go into that tournament expecting to
win. 

This year we'll be making our Div I team
from our four best players, and approaching the
sectionals with fun and not strategy in mind, but when you
have a good chance to win you try to do
it.

Michael davies
mld6_at_...