David Jones
Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2024 12:12 amIn today's annual OAC Committee meeting, David Jones (Northmont High School) announced that he will be stepping down as West Central representative with his remaining membership on the Committee to be served as an At-Large delegate, as he is winding down his level of involvement with quiz bowl in the coming years.
To some extent I'm writing the following for cathartic relief, because to hear of this news does invoke some feelings of grief and sadness. At the same time, I'm comforted to know this servant to the cause will be at peace in the end.
David's impact on Ohio quiz bowl, it... I struggle to think what an Ohio quizbowl universe without David Jones would look like. The thought brings my mind to a void. So I move onto the next definition as I scrawl down the page.
--- --- ---
Trailblazer. Advocate. Leader. Dedicated statesman. They all fit. Deciding which is the more apt of the four amounts to self-debating which side of an egg is better to crack. All apply to David's tenure as a coach, tournament organizer, writer and OAC Committee member.
Life-changer. Role model. Preparer of future leaders. Selfless. Challenger.Ardent believer in his students. This time, I think to the side of David that I never had the pleasure of getting to experience and witness firsthand -- Jones the educator, and the alum who gave back to the education system that made him. I'm not sure how many times in my adulthood that I ended up at Northmont HS to read a tournament, but be it the old building or the new building, whenever I stepped into David's classroom it was if I, myself, stood on the shoulder of a giant. The culture of hard work, of challenge, and the value of education comes full circle in David's classroom. I've seen Jones hold the OAC State Championship trophy before, yeah, but those are comparatively unremarkable instances to my memory when I recall the level of satisfaction, pride and joy that he took in his students' achievements in the classroom. Especially on the AP tests. And, looking back, it ties together what many of us often saw with David Jones: he doesn't challenge his kids because he wants to win, but that he challenges his kids because he knows they can win.
--- --- ---
David Jones is responsible for many of the reforms that started about 15 years ago and gained incredible momentum a decade ago, that shape today's Ohio Academic Competition. Reforms not just limited to the incorporation of OAC into good quizbowl, but also structural reforms and consistent service that bring us the OAC Regionals and State tournament in its current form as well as the functioning, proactive Committee composition. An example of service, the fruit-bearing Jones tree of Northmont alumni afforded our state two Executive Directors whose service, past and present, has helped sustain the well-intended efforts of Jones and his peers in the short-term with the infrastructure and examples in place to set a course an even better future for Ohio's quiz bowlers. To which I say, thank you. Not just for the material gifts of your hard work, but for the example you set for today's leaders. David had also said one motivation to dwindle down his Committee involvement was to help pave the way for new leadership in the Dayton area to follow in his footsteps locally and statewide (not his exact words, but I believe it is a fair paraphrase.) I'm confident that many of us in the community, inspired by you, will assure that the baton gets handed off smoothly.
David's activities and involvement as a coach, outside of the OAC billing, similarly have been of tremendous benefit to the statewide quizbowl circuit. The Rowdy Raider (sidebar, I have a hard time italicizing that without picturing Jones standing in a lecture hall or Tipp's ampitheater announcing it) was not just an elite tournament that attracted the Who's Who of regional-national powerhouses, but it was a game changer. A novel concept, this idea of not just accruing high levels of competition outside of Ohio but also getting Ohio teams to embrace it. The Northmont Academic Challenge Tournament in January was the first-known regular season pyramidal OAC tournament production (I will also make the general note that this is where the intuitive "Last Chance" OAC qualification idea called home.) David was also an unwavering figure in stressing the importance of good quizbowl practices, good tournament-functioning norms, the value of standards and fairness. I do believe that the generally-high (and attainable, if you work at it) standard of how tournaments ought to run and what they ought to look like in this state, the gold standard, can be thought of as the Jones standard. His level of interpersonal diplomacy and belief that it was good practice to form camaraderie, therefore working relationships and trust, with other coaches help laid the path of there being a statewide circuit in Ohio.
--- --- ---
My parting words,
To David,
As a former high school player whose experience was generally shaped for the better by you and your efforts, even though you weren't my coach, as a tournament director and active soldier toward making Ohio (and the OAC) better, thanks for everything. I hope you take consolation in knowing that the players whose experiences were made richer by your hard work earlier on in your tenure as an OAC Committee member, today are motivated and committed to ensuring that we can replicate that for today's youth in your stead.
In the rare instance that I'll choose to speak on behalf of my alma mater (that I'm increasingly trying to draw distance from) and the parties pertinent to it... on behalf of Brandon Shull, Hunter Wotruba and a throng of our peers (of various notability) in the post-Wellstead saga of Fisher quizbowl, thank you not only for your professional and cordial relationship with Sedlack and Stevenson over the years but also the general efforts of you and Northmont quizbowl in helping shape a fair, competitive and worthwhile quizbowl circuit for us to enjoy as teenagers. I'm not entirely sure what that would have looked like without the Thunderbolts, and I shiver to think about it. (An example of this would be how Northmont coming to the Golden Shamrock, in our minds, affirmed the spirit and prestige of the tournament.)
Take care, thanks for everything, and be good to yourself in the years to come, man.
To some extent I'm writing the following for cathartic relief, because to hear of this news does invoke some feelings of grief and sadness. At the same time, I'm comforted to know this servant to the cause will be at peace in the end.
David's impact on Ohio quiz bowl, it... I struggle to think what an Ohio quizbowl universe without David Jones would look like. The thought brings my mind to a void. So I move onto the next definition as I scrawl down the page.
--- --- ---
Trailblazer. Advocate. Leader. Dedicated statesman. They all fit. Deciding which is the more apt of the four amounts to self-debating which side of an egg is better to crack. All apply to David's tenure as a coach, tournament organizer, writer and OAC Committee member.
Life-changer. Role model. Preparer of future leaders. Selfless. Challenger.Ardent believer in his students. This time, I think to the side of David that I never had the pleasure of getting to experience and witness firsthand -- Jones the educator, and the alum who gave back to the education system that made him. I'm not sure how many times in my adulthood that I ended up at Northmont HS to read a tournament, but be it the old building or the new building, whenever I stepped into David's classroom it was if I, myself, stood on the shoulder of a giant. The culture of hard work, of challenge, and the value of education comes full circle in David's classroom. I've seen Jones hold the OAC State Championship trophy before, yeah, but those are comparatively unremarkable instances to my memory when I recall the level of satisfaction, pride and joy that he took in his students' achievements in the classroom. Especially on the AP tests. And, looking back, it ties together what many of us often saw with David Jones: he doesn't challenge his kids because he wants to win, but that he challenges his kids because he knows they can win.
--- --- ---
David Jones is responsible for many of the reforms that started about 15 years ago and gained incredible momentum a decade ago, that shape today's Ohio Academic Competition. Reforms not just limited to the incorporation of OAC into good quizbowl, but also structural reforms and consistent service that bring us the OAC Regionals and State tournament in its current form as well as the functioning, proactive Committee composition. An example of service, the fruit-bearing Jones tree of Northmont alumni afforded our state two Executive Directors whose service, past and present, has helped sustain the well-intended efforts of Jones and his peers in the short-term with the infrastructure and examples in place to set a course an even better future for Ohio's quiz bowlers. To which I say, thank you. Not just for the material gifts of your hard work, but for the example you set for today's leaders. David had also said one motivation to dwindle down his Committee involvement was to help pave the way for new leadership in the Dayton area to follow in his footsteps locally and statewide (not his exact words, but I believe it is a fair paraphrase.) I'm confident that many of us in the community, inspired by you, will assure that the baton gets handed off smoothly.
David's activities and involvement as a coach, outside of the OAC billing, similarly have been of tremendous benefit to the statewide quizbowl circuit. The Rowdy Raider (sidebar, I have a hard time italicizing that without picturing Jones standing in a lecture hall or Tipp's ampitheater announcing it) was not just an elite tournament that attracted the Who's Who of regional-national powerhouses, but it was a game changer. A novel concept, this idea of not just accruing high levels of competition outside of Ohio but also getting Ohio teams to embrace it. The Northmont Academic Challenge Tournament in January was the first-known regular season pyramidal OAC tournament production (I will also make the general note that this is where the intuitive "Last Chance" OAC qualification idea called home.) David was also an unwavering figure in stressing the importance of good quizbowl practices, good tournament-functioning norms, the value of standards and fairness. I do believe that the generally-high (and attainable, if you work at it) standard of how tournaments ought to run and what they ought to look like in this state, the gold standard, can be thought of as the Jones standard. His level of interpersonal diplomacy and belief that it was good practice to form camaraderie, therefore working relationships and trust, with other coaches help laid the path of there being a statewide circuit in Ohio.
--- --- ---
My parting words,
To David,
As a former high school player whose experience was generally shaped for the better by you and your efforts, even though you weren't my coach, as a tournament director and active soldier toward making Ohio (and the OAC) better, thanks for everything. I hope you take consolation in knowing that the players whose experiences were made richer by your hard work earlier on in your tenure as an OAC Committee member, today are motivated and committed to ensuring that we can replicate that for today's youth in your stead.
In the rare instance that I'll choose to speak on behalf of my alma mater (that I'm increasingly trying to draw distance from) and the parties pertinent to it... on behalf of Brandon Shull, Hunter Wotruba and a throng of our peers (of various notability) in the post-Wellstead saga of Fisher quizbowl, thank you not only for your professional and cordial relationship with Sedlack and Stevenson over the years but also the general efforts of you and Northmont quizbowl in helping shape a fair, competitive and worthwhile quizbowl circuit for us to enjoy as teenagers. I'm not entirely sure what that would have looked like without the Thunderbolts, and I shiver to think about it. (An example of this would be how Northmont coming to the Golden Shamrock, in our minds, affirmed the spirit and prestige of the tournament.)
Take care, thanks for everything, and be good to yourself in the years to come, man.