Re: Blitzing

• From: Steinhice
• Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2001 19:54:12 -0800
• Message-ID: <000TU1HR4.0005NSPS6.12170551-quizbowl_at_...>

I can think of lots of questions I've heard over
the years where the first clue gave a good player
enough to buzz in on -- if and only if they blitzed.
I'll stop after three examples, I
promise.

Tossup begins: "On Nov. 17, 1968..." If you had the
cojones to buzz in there and say, "Raiders defeated Jets
in the Heidi Bowl," then you've demonstrated clear
and distinct knowledge in a single cohesive thought.
A tournament that disallows blitzing would not
accept "Heidi Bowl," despite the fact that whoever
answered the question clearly knew the subject inside and
out. Similarly, I remember Ben Lea getting hosed at
CBCI Regionals when he buzzed in on a list of moons of
Jupiter and said, "They're all moons of Jupiter." He got
a neg 5 because the answer was Jupiter.

Finally, I dispute the notion that only bad question
writing makes a blitz rule desirable. I remember a tossup
that began, "You've probably never heard of Leslie
Co., KY..." at which point I buzzed in and said, "Tim
Couch is from Hyden." Since tiny little Hyden High was
getting national press at the time, and since Hyden did
have another odd claim to fame (Richard Nixon's first
post-resignation public appearance, when they dedicated a gym
named for him), either Couch or Hyden was a credible
answer at that point. Since obviously I wasn't confusing
the two, what harm did it do to state both? 
 Yes,
blitzing can be carried to ridiculous extremes, but I for
one prefer to reward clear and distinct knowledge
even if there are some extras thrown in at no
additional charge. 
 Besides, blitzing does carry its own
element of risk, where you say something clearly
incorrect in the mix and thus invalidate the correct part
that followed. (Recent example: at COTKU someone
answered "House Unamerican Activities Committee's Joe
McCarthy." Since McCarthy was never on HUAC, the moderator
ruled the answer wrong, and I overruled the protest.) I
think this is sufficient to provide a counterbalance to
thge temptation to overblitz.