Macclesfield Quiz League
Sponsored by AstraZeneca
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Macclesfield Quiz League |
| News and Views |
| 2000–1 Season |
... by Mark Watson and Haydn Thompson.
| A League | B League | C League | D League | Cup | Plate |
The following teams were thanked for providing question masters for their own games: Nags Head 'A', Prince Albert, Waters Green Rams, Sutton Club.
This week's Specialist questions, set by CAP, were the most popular of the season so far, and currently sit top of the Sema Group Trophy table.
At one time we would have been able to refer to the CAP team as current favourites to lift their own eponymous trophy. While it is still their own trophy, it is no longer strictly eponymous as the quiz team has retained its original name desite the change undergone by the actual sponsors (which is presumably the employer of most if not all of the team).
The Finals night this year will be held on Tuesday 8 May. We have been having the Finals Night on Wednesdays in recent years, but we have managed to get our order in first this year, and so have managed to secure a Tuesday.
[See Week 12.]
The Cup draw ensured that there would be some high–profile casualties in the Round of 16 (to be played on 6 February), as the top four teams in the A League were all drawn against each other: the Bridgewater visiting the Ox–fford and the Star Inn hosting the Nags Head 'A'.
Congratulations to the Brocklehurst Arms on their first ever League win. It has been 24 games in the making, but the Maine Road stalwarts amongst us know how sweet these things are after a long wait ...
It was also achieved against the run of play: 12 of the 15 games this week were won by the team who went first in the Specialist round. The Brock were not one of them. Something to add fuel to your post–mortems ...
Further to the above: the Brocklehurst came a cropper in their next game, against the New Castle, but they came very close to winning their first ever knockout game the following week, and causing a real upset in the process, when they lost to the Puss in Boots (of the B League) by just one point.
And further to the one above that: the winners of the two games referred to (the Bridgewater and the Star Inn) were drawn against each other in the Cup quarter–finals!
Congratulations to Alan Hodgson, whose individual score of 54 was the highest of the season so far – beating the 51 scored by Steve Auty in Week 2.
Just for your information, the results this week were heavily weighted in favour of those teams who went first first – 13 of the 15 games were won by those teams.
Interestingly, this was reflected in both sets of questions: 12 of those teams won the Specialist round and 12 won the General Knowledge round too.
Notwithstanding the above, there were personal bests on all sides this week. Most notably in the C League, on every team at least one person scored a personal best; six teams notched up two, and one (White Swan) managed three. In total there were 41 personal bests – an average of just a smidgeon over four for every three teams.
Special mention should be made of the Prince Albert, who achieved the rare distinction (particularly at this stage of the season) of all four players scoring personal bests: Graham Bailey (51), Alan Schultz (42), Phil Kelly (30) and Damien Murphy (27). The unfortunate opponents on the receiving end of this outstanding performance (total 176) were CAP, for whom Peter Cole also scored a personal best of 42.
Graham Bailey's score of 51 equalled the second highest individual score of the season so far (see last week).
This week's question setters were the Church House (Specialist) and The Crown (General Knowledge).
Nine of the teams who went first first this week won, and six lost. In the Specialist, seven going first won and seven lost. There was also one draw. In the General Knowledge, nine teams going second won and six lost.
Also this week, the Quiz League takes its first trip down the Information Superhighway. Those of you with Internet access can now see last week's results, tables, full Individual scores and Sema Trophy scores on www.maccql.freeuk.com.
All credit for this fine work is due entirely to the League's Web Wizard and CAP stalwart Peter Cole. Peter has contributed immeasurably to the League over many years, and on behalf of the Committee and all of us who amuse ourselves on a Tuesday night, I thank him for his latest efforts for our benefit.
And finally ... [in Week 7] I did announce that Finals Night this year would be Tuesday 8 May. AstraZeneca have now said this was a mistake and the room is already booked that night. It would appear that the combined might of the Sequence Dancing Club can outgun anything we can muster. Thus, Finals night will be the following night: Wednesday 9 May.
In stark contrast to Week 10, when there were 41 personal best scores, this week there were only five. There were none at all in the A League, one in the B League and two wach in the C and D Leagues.
This was reflected in the Sema Group Trophy scores, where the Specialist questions (set by the Waters Green Rams) were ranked 25th out of the 26 sets presented so far this season and the General Knowledge (set by the St. Dunstan) were 20th.
Ten teams who went first first won, and six who had the opposite questions. In the Specialist (set by the Castle) eight won by going first and seven by going second, and there was one draw. In the General Knowledge (set by the Chester Road Tavern 'B'), four won going first and twelve going second.
In a slight improvement on last week, there were 14 personal bests this week: three each in the A, B and D Leagues, and five in the C League. The Castle's questions were quite well received (currently ranked 12th out of 28) but the CRT's General Knowledge set are only 24th.
With just one week to go, the Franklin's Specialist questions were the most popular of the season so far and have replaced CAP (Specialists from Week 6) at the top of the Sema Group Trophy table. The General Knowledge, set by the Star Inn, are not far behind in 5th place. As the GK questions from Week 6 (set by the George & Dragon 'A') are currently 26th, I think it's fair to say that this week's questions taken as a whole were also the most popular of the season so far.
© Macclesfield Quiz League 2018