by Get Lynned » Tue Apr 19, 2016 6:47 pm
You're speaking from the heart - nothing controversial about that. (Believe me Josh, dialogue is always welcomed. I've said my fair share of lamentable things, and yet, I'm always welcome to talk on the boards - "its why we have it.")
I completely see where you are coming from there. I think what I'm referring to with my post isn't a dissatisfaction with Fisher losing (I was, though), or a "oh wow, this is a shocker", just to clarify. Earlier in the week, Bob Kilner mentioned in his SE prediction (on a different thread) something along the lines of "SC/Fisher... isn't this the top two every year down there?" (which in Bob's defense, was innocuous). So it made sense for me to make my earlier post on this thread and figuratively say "hey, would you look at that...".
I myself would not call this a fluke, although fluke may be a variable term. The Liberty team I watched vs Dublin Jerome in the losers' bracket semifinal and vs Fisher in the losers' bracket final were better than both teams in the games I saw.
It's most likely that we're going to see the regional competition for the SE Reg. become more of a multi-horse race. To what extent, in terms of the region and who specifically will make it a multi-horse race... I'm not sure. This is a diverse region, but it is also very hard to concretely define because the boundaries of the region have been as far north as Mount Vernon, as far northeast as New Philadelphia area (Indian Valley, 2015), and as far east as St. Clairsville. The only thing we really know for sure is a bunch of central Ohio teams, teams from the Ohio river area, and teams sprinkled in the areas between attend the regional.
The question that kind of precedes that would be "what comes first: do we see a region where there are six-to-eight schools who all have a viable chance at making it to state, or a region where the geographic split is 13-3 Central Ohio to Southern Ohio?"*$ If we see more Central Ohio schools play and improve, we then the fire under SC and FC's butts gets warmer. I don't think we'll see the necessity of an additional region to satisfy (what appears to be) growing demand in Central Ohio for a few years, so we could see more leveling of the playing field in the meantime: whether its the law of averages, traditional powers being weaker, or more schools being active in the game and getting better. I'll go with the conventional answer, (and the correct one), the latter.
*$ - regarding this, it wouldn't be too far off to suggest this region will look very different in five years or so *IF* one were to believe the theory that it's only a matter of time until the large Columbus suburban schools (Ohio Capital Conference country) manage to break through into quizbowl.
Many schools in the region can look to Liberty's win and think "if they can, why not us." As a supporter of good quizbowl, who enjoyed the competition in high school, and one who wants to see other kids enjoy the same thing in HS and for the betterment of the game, I say "then bring it." (encouragingly, of course) As a very passionate alum, I welcome threats like Liberty to my alma mater's quest to replicate the success Brandon Shull, Andrew Smith, and earlier iterations of FC squads (ft. Steven Wellstead, et al) experienced at the regional level. Iron sharpens iron, and more competition makes each school better for states level and the national stage - so it's good for Ohio as well.
Thomas Moore
Ohio Wesleyan '18
Retired from online, for good.