Ranking the top 10 trash players in OH
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I figured I would create a 'fun' player poll for trash players in Ohio. Fun, however, is a relative term, and nothing quite gets out the competitive beast within us all like dunking trash tossups on our quiz bowl colleagues. N.B. - I really don't have a scope on any current high school students that are proficient enough at trash to crack my top 10. I have one listed in my honorable mention, but that's because I know the kid personally is good at trash. Not trying to neglect any current h.s. students!
Rank your top 10, include any honorable mentions. For me, the 8, 9 & 10 was just more based out of my experience and observation and it's entirely possible none of my 8-10 corresponds to any other 8-10.
Solid, but would probably get pwn3d by most of the people whose ranking is closer to zero
10. Me - didn't really want to rank myself, but the players I listed in my honorable mention either a) few people would know or recognize; or b) are good trash players that I just have never played against or really have no indication to their trash knowledge, even though I'm assuming they're pretty solid.
Anyways, generally I think I'm pretty competent at anything that isn't movies or vidya gaymez. Last time I played Kilner, I was like 15 or 16, and even then I still scored some snazzy tossups on that man (such as MCMLXXXIV.) I like to think I'm one of the better sports & music players in this state that was born in the 1990's. Niche television knowledge (I have first-clued a common link tossup on "people named Steve Smith" during a Kilner TRASH event. Thank you, The Red Green Show.) Definitely a good hockey and college football player, same with rap. <humble brag>
9. Sam Blizzard - if I were to make a judgment on the best trash player that graduated high school in the 2010's, on the basis of me playing that particular person, I would pick Sam. (Although, I have another player that is listed above him, but I never played against the particular player I have listed - however, I think my justification for that player being ranked as high as he is will make sense when you scroll down.)
Obviously, Sam was a pretty talented quizbowl player! What may not have been so obvious, however, is he was really freaking good at any trash that wasn't sports! I think Sam won several scoring titles at TRASH @ Tipp; he's had to have at least made the top three multiple times there. Nevertheless, Sam was incredible at all sorts of trash - especially music and television.
t7. Greg Bossick - it actually might be the case that, say, Sam (or even me?) is better than Greg at trash on a typical 20/20 distribution, depending on the packet, but I am pretty confident in my assertion that Greg is one of the most knowledgeable people I know when it comes to sports (particularly college sports.) I know he killed my tossup on Arizona State in Kilner TRASH 2016 (granted, the Anthony Robles clue may have been a little easy - but probably very few people are knowledgeable enough about NCAA wrestling to where that is an 'easy' first clue universally.) I don't know enough about Greg's breadth in trash, but my guess is he's a pretty efficient player on a team of four.
t7. David Jones - I actually never played against Coach Jones or seen him play, but I know his cultural literacy is high and if I were to write a 20/20 packet on things from 1990 to 2006, he'd do pretty well on it. (I have no idea who really is better at trash between Jones and Bossick, so I just put them both as a tie for sixth. The next six people I have listed I think are in a league of their own.)
The powerhouses of Ohio trash.
6. Joe Wells - I've played against Joe before in trash, and he's pretty good. From what I remember, great at television and music; good at sports and movies. Good depth in the categories he knows.
5. Alex Connor - Most people in this state are either average to garbo at hockey, and while I like to think I'm competent to 'good', truth be told that Alex Connor is pretty good at hockey. In fact, I think he's probably the best hockey player in the state (even though it makes so few appearances at trash events, and half of the time in an Ohio event it's me who writes the hockey!)
Alex is also pretty good at college sports, such as college football; he's pretty solid at television; and I'm led to believe between older movies, various music, and certainly memes/internet, he's pretty solid too.
I should note, however, the reason why Alex is fifth (and not fourth) in my ranking is he once had a player who answered "Kentucky State" for a tossup on "Louisville" when the giveaway was "this Kentucky university and rival of the University of Kentucky." Impermissible! Awful! For shame, Alex!
4. Drew Scheeler - Drew actually could be #1, #2, or #3 in the state at trash. I really don't know enough about the trash events (or quiz style competitions surrounding pop culture & sports) that he may play outside of Ohio to make a judgment of where he stacks versus my top three, so that's why he's number four: he may very well be the best, or second-best, or third-best, but I really know so few about his actual trash talents, whereas I know a lot more about my top three players.
3. Nick Tabar - okay, so, some of you are probably reading this and thinking "I have never heard of Nick Tabar." I actually have never met Nick Tabar, nor have I seen him play. To give a little bit about what I know about Nick, who he is, and why I have him at #3: Nick graduated from St. Edward (yes, that St. Edward) within the last five or so years. St. Edward, obviously, didn't play much in the way of actual quiz bowl, but they would always go to Kilner's TRASH in Northeast Ohio. They would do exceptionally well. Nick, as far as I know, was their captain. I don't want to speak for Bob (actually, yes I do), but I remember Bob telling me that "Nick is one of the best trash players, especially for high school, that I've ever seen." An example that Bob has told me to impart to me Nick's trash talent is a case of him powering a tossup on Sixpence, None the Richer on the second clue (which would probably be too early for a clue on the one song they're by far most famous for, 'Kiss Me'.) If I recall correctly, Nick has written packets for Kilner's TRASH and its usually one of the first ones played.
2. Bob Kilner - Bob has probably powered every single tossup he's heard on anything that pertains to Mike Judge, (so, anything related to King of the Hill; Beavis and Butthead; Idiocracy) and the works of Trey Parker and Matt Stone. He is pretty solid at sports, and that's an understatement. In terms of television and movies, anything related to comedy and action - he's probably going to power. When it comes to music, he's pretty good at 90's and early 2000's music. I have seen this man power a tossup on Nickelback.
1. Mike Sedlack – this one probably has some people scratching their head, while other people would think “but of course!” Mike is really, really good at trash. One year, the super team of Bellas, Sedlack, Kilner and ??? (it wasn't Jones, b/c Northmont didn't go to Solon that year) whipped my team at Solon's trash. Mike was balling hard. Mike is pretty exceptional at a lot of music, he's really, really good at sports (although I'm better than him at the NBA 2000-current), he's pretty solid at a lot of movies and television. Bob Kilner might be a great player when it comes to Comedy Central 2000-current, but Mike would absolutely dunk on anyone who dares to take him on in a packet of Comedy Central '91-99 (this dude has, like, three episodes of Dr. Katz memorized verbatim.)
Honorable mention, people that I do know are good enough at trash that they could snag a tossup or two against anyone in a round.
Luke Schmelzer (F.C. class of 14): Luke won a scoring prize, at least once, at TRASH @ Tipp. A pretty good television and movies player, Luke was definitely strong at classic rock and sports! In fact, Luke could probably be good enough to be top 10 or so in my list, but I decided to keep him off because I am reminded of the time I negged a tossup on "Gerald Ford" with "Bush 41" at History Bowl nationals our senior year because the clue I buzzed on referenced the happenings from The Simpsons' episode "Two Bad Neighbors", only for Luke to playfully quip (coupled with an audible Lynn sigh) "nice one, Tom!" He said he'll come to Battlebuzz, though, if the date works.
Luke Skelton (F.C. class of 15): arguably one of the best trash players I've met when it comes to baseball (especially considering the dude was born in 96.) Pretty good at music (rap), pretty good at basketball questions as well. Always one of the funnest people I've had the pleasure of playing trash with, with or without refreshments.
Brock Conrad (F.C. class of 18): pretty good at sports tossups, especially football and baseball (makes sense, he's played both of those sports all throughout high school.) Knows music, quick reflexes. One of the better high school players in the state when it comes to sports tossups, from my observation.
Rohin Devanathan - Rohin is awesome at NBA questions.
Honorable mention, people that I would likely assume could make a top 10 - it's just that I've never seen them play trash before.
The really obvious one here is Steve Oppenheim - I'm not going to say that I'm a better player than him at trash, because everything I have heard indicates he is pretty good at trash at any level. However, I don't think I have met him before or even seen him play. At least with someone like Coach Jones, I have enough confidence in knowing what areas of trash they would excel at to justify their spot in my top 10.
Another one is Jonathan Graham. Jonathan is in all likelihood a top 10 player based on what little I know about him and his trash abilities (I don't peruse the trash section of hsqb much.) I'm not trying to slight him by not including him in my top 10 - but like Steve, I don't think I've ever played him in, or see him play, trash, and I don't know Jonathan that well enough to get an idea of what he does know. Unlike Steve, I have met Jonathan!
- Both Joe and Michael Czupryn
- Mike Bindis
- Brian Saxton
- Joe Bellas (he is probably better than me at trash. I just don't know too much about his trash experience or performance other than him being a part of the Kilner-Sedack alliance that blitzed Brandon, Hunter and I when we played them.)
- Jarret Greene (Jarret is actually better than me at trash, but he's not in Ohio currently - or I guess for the forseeable future? If he was in Ohio right now, he'd definitely be in my top 10. The dude has had some incredible buzzes on the Denver Broncos and definitely knows a lot of music.
Rank your top 10, include any honorable mentions. For me, the 8, 9 & 10 was just more based out of my experience and observation and it's entirely possible none of my 8-10 corresponds to any other 8-10.
Solid, but would probably get pwn3d by most of the people whose ranking is closer to zero
10. Me - didn't really want to rank myself, but the players I listed in my honorable mention either a) few people would know or recognize; or b) are good trash players that I just have never played against or really have no indication to their trash knowledge, even though I'm assuming they're pretty solid.
Anyways, generally I think I'm pretty competent at anything that isn't movies or vidya gaymez. Last time I played Kilner, I was like 15 or 16, and even then I still scored some snazzy tossups on that man (such as MCMLXXXIV.) I like to think I'm one of the better sports & music players in this state that was born in the 1990's. Niche television knowledge (I have first-clued a common link tossup on "people named Steve Smith" during a Kilner TRASH event. Thank you, The Red Green Show.) Definitely a good hockey and college football player, same with rap. <humble brag>
9. Sam Blizzard - if I were to make a judgment on the best trash player that graduated high school in the 2010's, on the basis of me playing that particular person, I would pick Sam. (Although, I have another player that is listed above him, but I never played against the particular player I have listed - however, I think my justification for that player being ranked as high as he is will make sense when you scroll down.)
Obviously, Sam was a pretty talented quizbowl player! What may not have been so obvious, however, is he was really freaking good at any trash that wasn't sports! I think Sam won several scoring titles at TRASH @ Tipp; he's had to have at least made the top three multiple times there. Nevertheless, Sam was incredible at all sorts of trash - especially music and television.
t7. Greg Bossick - it actually might be the case that, say, Sam (or even me?) is better than Greg at trash on a typical 20/20 distribution, depending on the packet, but I am pretty confident in my assertion that Greg is one of the most knowledgeable people I know when it comes to sports (particularly college sports.) I know he killed my tossup on Arizona State in Kilner TRASH 2016 (granted, the Anthony Robles clue may have been a little easy - but probably very few people are knowledgeable enough about NCAA wrestling to where that is an 'easy' first clue universally.) I don't know enough about Greg's breadth in trash, but my guess is he's a pretty efficient player on a team of four.
t7. David Jones - I actually never played against Coach Jones or seen him play, but I know his cultural literacy is high and if I were to write a 20/20 packet on things from 1990 to 2006, he'd do pretty well on it. (I have no idea who really is better at trash between Jones and Bossick, so I just put them both as a tie for sixth. The next six people I have listed I think are in a league of their own.)
The powerhouses of Ohio trash.
6. Joe Wells - I've played against Joe before in trash, and he's pretty good. From what I remember, great at television and music; good at sports and movies. Good depth in the categories he knows.
5. Alex Connor - Most people in this state are either average to garbo at hockey, and while I like to think I'm competent to 'good', truth be told that Alex Connor is pretty good at hockey. In fact, I think he's probably the best hockey player in the state (even though it makes so few appearances at trash events, and half of the time in an Ohio event it's me who writes the hockey!)
Alex is also pretty good at college sports, such as college football; he's pretty solid at television; and I'm led to believe between older movies, various music, and certainly memes/internet, he's pretty solid too.
I should note, however, the reason why Alex is fifth (and not fourth) in my ranking is he once had a player who answered "Kentucky State" for a tossup on "Louisville" when the giveaway was "this Kentucky university and rival of the University of Kentucky." Impermissible! Awful! For shame, Alex!
4. Drew Scheeler - Drew actually could be #1, #2, or #3 in the state at trash. I really don't know enough about the trash events (or quiz style competitions surrounding pop culture & sports) that he may play outside of Ohio to make a judgment of where he stacks versus my top three, so that's why he's number four: he may very well be the best, or second-best, or third-best, but I really know so few about his actual trash talents, whereas I know a lot more about my top three players.
3. Nick Tabar - okay, so, some of you are probably reading this and thinking "I have never heard of Nick Tabar." I actually have never met Nick Tabar, nor have I seen him play. To give a little bit about what I know about Nick, who he is, and why I have him at #3: Nick graduated from St. Edward (yes, that St. Edward) within the last five or so years. St. Edward, obviously, didn't play much in the way of actual quiz bowl, but they would always go to Kilner's TRASH in Northeast Ohio. They would do exceptionally well. Nick, as far as I know, was their captain. I don't want to speak for Bob (actually, yes I do), but I remember Bob telling me that "Nick is one of the best trash players, especially for high school, that I've ever seen." An example that Bob has told me to impart to me Nick's trash talent is a case of him powering a tossup on Sixpence, None the Richer on the second clue (which would probably be too early for a clue on the one song they're by far most famous for, 'Kiss Me'.) If I recall correctly, Nick has written packets for Kilner's TRASH and its usually one of the first ones played.
2. Bob Kilner - Bob has probably powered every single tossup he's heard on anything that pertains to Mike Judge, (so, anything related to King of the Hill; Beavis and Butthead; Idiocracy) and the works of Trey Parker and Matt Stone. He is pretty solid at sports, and that's an understatement. In terms of television and movies, anything related to comedy and action - he's probably going to power. When it comes to music, he's pretty good at 90's and early 2000's music. I have seen this man power a tossup on Nickelback.
1. Mike Sedlack – this one probably has some people scratching their head, while other people would think “but of course!” Mike is really, really good at trash. One year, the super team of Bellas, Sedlack, Kilner and ??? (it wasn't Jones, b/c Northmont didn't go to Solon that year) whipped my team at Solon's trash. Mike was balling hard. Mike is pretty exceptional at a lot of music, he's really, really good at sports (although I'm better than him at the NBA 2000-current), he's pretty solid at a lot of movies and television. Bob Kilner might be a great player when it comes to Comedy Central 2000-current, but Mike would absolutely dunk on anyone who dares to take him on in a packet of Comedy Central '91-99 (this dude has, like, three episodes of Dr. Katz memorized verbatim.)
Honorable mention, people that I do know are good enough at trash that they could snag a tossup or two against anyone in a round.
Luke Schmelzer (F.C. class of 14): Luke won a scoring prize, at least once, at TRASH @ Tipp. A pretty good television and movies player, Luke was definitely strong at classic rock and sports! In fact, Luke could probably be good enough to be top 10 or so in my list, but I decided to keep him off because I am reminded of the time I negged a tossup on "Gerald Ford" with "Bush 41" at History Bowl nationals our senior year because the clue I buzzed on referenced the happenings from The Simpsons' episode "Two Bad Neighbors", only for Luke to playfully quip (coupled with an audible Lynn sigh) "nice one, Tom!" He said he'll come to Battlebuzz, though, if the date works.
Luke Skelton (F.C. class of 15): arguably one of the best trash players I've met when it comes to baseball (especially considering the dude was born in 96.) Pretty good at music (rap), pretty good at basketball questions as well. Always one of the funnest people I've had the pleasure of playing trash with, with or without refreshments.
Brock Conrad (F.C. class of 18): pretty good at sports tossups, especially football and baseball (makes sense, he's played both of those sports all throughout high school.) Knows music, quick reflexes. One of the better high school players in the state when it comes to sports tossups, from my observation.
Rohin Devanathan - Rohin is awesome at NBA questions.
Honorable mention, people that I would likely assume could make a top 10 - it's just that I've never seen them play trash before.
The really obvious one here is Steve Oppenheim - I'm not going to say that I'm a better player than him at trash, because everything I have heard indicates he is pretty good at trash at any level. However, I don't think I have met him before or even seen him play. At least with someone like Coach Jones, I have enough confidence in knowing what areas of trash they would excel at to justify their spot in my top 10.
Another one is Jonathan Graham. Jonathan is in all likelihood a top 10 player based on what little I know about him and his trash abilities (I don't peruse the trash section of hsqb much.) I'm not trying to slight him by not including him in my top 10 - but like Steve, I don't think I've ever played him in, or see him play, trash, and I don't know Jonathan that well enough to get an idea of what he does know. Unlike Steve, I have met Jonathan!
- Both Joe and Michael Czupryn
- Mike Bindis
- Brian Saxton
- Joe Bellas (he is probably better than me at trash. I just don't know too much about his trash experience or performance other than him being a part of the Kilner-Sedack alliance that blitzed Brandon, Hunter and I when we played them.)
- Jarret Greene (Jarret is actually better than me at trash, but he's not in Ohio currently - or I guess for the forseeable future? If he was in Ohio right now, he'd definitely be in my top 10. The dude has had some incredible buzzes on the Denver Broncos and definitely knows a lot of music.