Knowledge Bowl, Match 8, Southern Baptist Educational Center (SBEC) Trojans vs. Covington Chargers. Aired December 19th, 2009.

SBEC (Red)
John, Junior (Captain)
Katherine, Junior
Rob, Junior
JT, Junior
Alternate: Tim

Covington (Blue)
Will, Senior (Captain)
Matt, Senior
Devin, Senior
Sam, Senior
Alternate: Wyatt

Results
Round One: SBEC 110, Covington 50
Round Two: SBEC 90, Covington 60
Round Three (Lightning Round): SBEC 95, Covington 10
Final: SBEC 295, Covington 120

The Game: The match got off to a bumpy start, as host Jim Jaggers grabbed the Lightning Round questions instead of the toss-up batch. Whoops. The teams then settled in as it began proper, the contest remained within striking distance until the Lightning Round proper, when SBEC went great guns on the buzzers.

Trigger-happy is the way to be in the final round. Teamwork is the stuff of the first two rounds. But the Lightning Round is for showboating — in athletics terms, it's when it's okay for Lebron James to just grab the ball and put the team on his back and take over a game. And, for SBEC, they were all prepared to be Lebron. Every team member answered correctly in the third frame, with Rob getting 5 of 6 correct. As a team of one-on-one open-court players, they collected 10 correct out of 17 attempted.

Stat of the Week: SBEC rang in early 10 times in the match — and only missed one. Dynamite.

For the Record: I had SBEC victor in round one. They advance to face the ECS Eagles.

The Kids Are Alright:
John is a two-time Language Fair gold trophy winner. Katherine plays piano and Rob plays violin. JT is heading to the University of Memphis for studies in biomedical engineering.

Will is the tennis team captain (leading seems to be in his blood) and wants to study nuclear engineering in college. Why nuclear engineering? He hopes to use it to get a job. Advice for the kids: If all you want is to get a job, you should major in history or English. That qualifies you for a wide range of low-wage positions.

Matt's a drummer and is currently reading Grimm's Fairy Tales. Didn't Disney make some movies out of that? Devin is the captain of the soccer team and is headed off to East Tennessee State to major in biochemistry. Sam plays on the soccer team. Hey, that's a lot of athletes for a Knowledge Bowl team. What's in the water up there in Covington?

Dr. Richard Ranta, Renaissance Man: After we get to know the kids, Jaggers and Knowledge Bowl judge Ranta hold brief palaver where Ranta tells about some other nonprofit/initiative/community effort he’s involved in. It’s quite funny, en masse, getting a handle on all of the things Ranta participates in.

This week we learned that Ranta is a member of the board of directors of the Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission. The commission is tasked with helping attract film productions to the region and supporting the locally based movie industry. For my money, the best movie ever made in Memphis is Mystery Train.

Malaprostagisms: Abbreviation, question, Tyrrhenian Sea, ferrous, Fort Clatsop, nitrogenous, hemocyanin, Legio Patria Nostra, Vitaly Ginzburg

Previously on Knowledge Bowl:
Match 7: Raleigh-Egypt vs. ECS
Match 6: Westminster Academy vs. Immaculate Conception
Match 5: St. George's vs. CBHS
Match 4: Hutchison vs. Germantown
Match 3: Marion vs. FACS
Match 2: Bartlett vs. West Memphis Christian
Match 1: Houston vs. Kingsbury
2009-10 Season Preview