Macclesfield Quiz League
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Macclesfield Quiz League |
| News and Views |
| 2014–5 Season |
| A League | B League | C League | Cup | Plate |
The following table shows the number of games won each week by the teams going first and second, respectively, in the Specialist rounds.
| Week | Date | No. of games | First | Second | Draws |
| 1 | 7 October 2014 | 12 | 10 | 2 | |
| 2 | 14 October 2014 | 12 | 5 | 7 | |
| 3 | 21 October 2014 | 12 | 4 | 8 | |
| 4 | 4 November 2014 | 12 | 4 | 8 | |
| 5 | 11 November 2014 | 12 | 11 | 1 | |
| 6 | 18 November 2014 | 12 | 6 | 6 | |
| 7 | 2 December 2014 | 12 | 7 | 5 | |
| 8 | 9 December 2014 | 12 | 3 | 9 | |
| 9 | 16 December 2014 | 12 | 8 | 4 | |
| 10 | 6 January 2015 | 12 | 5 | 7 | |
| 11 | 13 January 2015 | 12 | 7 | 5 | |
| 12 | 27 January 2015 | 12 | 8 | 4 | |
| 13 | 3 February 2015 | 12 | 7 | 5 | |
| 14 | 10 February 2015 | 12 | 7 | 5 | |
| 15 | 24 February 2015 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| 16 | 3 March 2015 | 11 | 6 | 5 | |
| 17 | 10 March 2015 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| 18 | 17 March 2015 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
The Final of the 2013–14 Plate competition ended in an 87–66 win for the Robin Hood over the Cock Inn. Congratulations to both teams for an exciting contest, and particularly to the Robin Hood for securing their first ever piece of silverware. Thanks also to the Knot Know–Alls and Park Taverners for sorting out an interesting and testing set of questions.
The game was expertly question mastered as ever by Rick Davis and I would like to thank him along with Nick Peck who scored beautifully with the less than useful assistance of my reading glasses in lieu of his own!
The AGM was reasonably straightforward. You will remember that we put up the subscriptions last year for the first time in 5 years and thankfully no further increase is necessary. Subscriptions thus remain at £50 per team.
Last year, we made a change to the Specialist Question categories when we changed to six 'fixed' Specialist rounds instead of the previous five – the Arts and Entertainment round was split into two last year to rounds called Art and Culture and Entertainment, leaving two rounds to the discretion of the question setters rather than three.
A change was proposed to revert back to the previous arrangement, and a healthy debate was had. A very close vote (10–9) amongst the teams present decided to revert to the previous arrangements, thus we will go back to having the five 'fixed' Specialist Rounds plus three at the discretion of the setters.
I (and my team) voted to keep the new arrangement, but I don't have particularly strong views on the subject. The whole idea of changing things last year was to offer some help in trying to eliminate some of the more oddball rounds we've had in the past, but that can still happen anyway – you can set a round of bizarre questions on pretty much any subject, I think, if you are so inclined!
One thing that did work well last year was that more vetting was done by the teams setting etc, so that is the best way forward – try and set them in plenty of time and take notice of what the vetters tell you if they have valid comments.
Failing all that, just as we do about football refereeing decisions, moaning about the questions is often half the fun of the night anyway, and we do have the Nine–Banded Armadillo Trophy to find a home for!
The new 2014/15 Rules have full guidance as to what the categories of questions should contain.
I am sorry to have to mention that incidents have been reported to the Quiz League Committee this season which have highlighted unnecessary and unacceptable behaviour by some individuals who have stretched the right to grumble about the questions to well beyond breaking point. Those involved have been suitably spoken to and further transgressions of a similar nature will not be tolerated. We all (hopefully) play these games for entertainment and enjoyment purposes and we'll never be able to answer every question, so please do approach the games in that fashion for the benefit of all concerned.
On the subject of questions, one or two have been highlighted thus far this season that have had more than one possible correct answer. Please try not to include questions with more than one, or indeed multiple, answers, i.e. make sure as far as you can that each question you have written only has one correct answer. As long as we are all human, it is inevitable that some mistakes will be made but if issues are highlighted during games, please use the supplementaries to try and resolve them there and then if at all possible as per the Rules and Guidance documents.
Just four weeks into the new season, only two of the 27 teams remain unbeaten in the League. "Doing a Chelsea" in the A League are the Ox–fford 'C', whilst the Church House Bollington are replicating the feat in the C League.
Congratulations to both for their excellent starts. The Ox-fford 'C' are setting questions for Week 5, so will certainly keep their unbeaten run going for at least another week!
Some remarkable efforts in the last couple of weeks, which are worthy of further mention:
In Week 5, the Church House Bollington won their game 201–82, becoming (as far as I'm aware) only the third team (after the Ox–fford 'C' and the Dolphin) to score over 200 points in a League game. All players scored incredibly well, with Ashton Davies getting a personal best 54. Well done indeed to all concerned for what looks like a record breaking event – and well done to Alice Walker for having a better memory than I have and reminding me of the records!
Also worthy of congratulation is this season's best individual score so far, namely a 57 in Week 6 from Scott Dawson of the Waters Green Rams, just one question short of the magical 'full house'.
The only question Scott didn't get right was his second one of the night, about the name of the hill on which White Nancy stands. Scott can be entirely forgiven for this, not living in Macclesfield! Well done to Scott for such a great effort.
In the A and B Leagues, no teams have broken too far away from the pack as nearly all the teams have lost several games. But if I was a betting man, I might have a penny or two on the Church House Bollington getting promoted from the C League – they only need one point from their remaining five games to guarantee that!
Congratulations to Bob Thompson from the Waters Green Rams for his excellent 57 this week. The only one Bob didn't get to complete the magical 60 was the year in which the first Harry Potter book was published ...
The Church House Bollington are now guaranteed promotion, and are just one point away from the C League title. I suspect even Ray Winstone wouldn't give you decent odds to bet on that!
The B League game between the Plough Horntails and the Wharf did not take place as the Wharf was unable to raise a team. There were good reasons for that and the Wharf did let all concerned know in good time. As I write, this is a 'one off' occurrence and the Wharf should resume as normal next week.
Given that (unlike in other contests) it is not possible to arrange for the game to be played at any other time, the Plough have been awarded the two points for winning the game on a 'walkover'. But the Plough are deprived of scoring points to add to their 'season total', which could be a factor at the end of the season, either for them, for other teams or both.
Assuming the Wharf play their remaining games, should the lack of points for the Plough be relevant at the end of the season, then the Committee will make an adjustment to the Plough's 'season total'. If, in the very worst case scenario, the Wharf plays no further games this season, the Committee will need to consider something else to ensure fairness for all teams in the League.
Congratulations to the Church House Bollington, who took my hint from last week that they needed just one more point for the C League title by drawing their game with the Park Timers! This is the first draw in any League this season, and it means that the Church House Bollington are deserved C League Champions.
The Lamb Shanks confirmed the runner–up spot by beating the Brewers Arms. Both teams will be in the B League next season; many congratulations to them.
I reported last week that the Wharf was unable to raise a team for their game, there being good reasons for that and all concerned were informed in good time. Unfortunately, the same happened this week and the Wharf v Cock–A–2 game did not take place. As per last week, the Cock–A–2 win the game by default and are awarded the two points.
There are only two league games left this season, and the Wharf have now informed me that they will not be able to raise a team for either game. Thus the game that the Wharf should have played next week against the Robin Hood will not take place, nor will the last game of the season where the Wharf should have played the Waters Green Lemmings. The Robin Hood and Waters Green Lemmings will win those two games by default and each get the two points for that game. This means that these two teams can't be caught by anyone else in the B League and thus both will be promoted to the A League next year. Who finishes 1st and 2nd will depend upon the results of the one remaining game each of those teams has to play.
The Wharf were already certain to finish bottom of the B League and be relegated, but of course whether the team carries on at all next season is the main issue. As mentioned last week, the teams that the Wharf should have played are deprived of scoring points to add to their 'season total' which could be a factor at the end of the season for some of them. The Committee will keep an eye on that and will make a decision in due course.
The fact that the Wharf have not been able to play their last four games of the season in the B League as they could not raise a team, for a variety of reasons, has been mentioned in the last couple of News & Views. The League Committee have taken the view thus far that the League standings have remained as they are with the Wharf still included. The teams the Wharf have failed to play have been awarded 2 points for the win by default, but they are deprived of scoring points to add to their 'season total' which could be a factor at the end of the season for some of them.
We could make an adjustment to that of course, or another option is to remove all the Wharf results from the League for the entire season. All options remain open as the circumstances of a team failing to fulfil its fixtures are not covered by our League Rules. The Committee will make a final decision on all this after next week's final games and I will keep all concerned informed ASAP.
An excellent season has seen the Church House Bollington win the C League, with the Lamb Shanks also promoted in finishing second. The Church House have gone from the A to C League in successive years, so they are on the way back!
The C League Individual title was shared for the first time by Church House team-mates Rick Davis and Ashton Davies. This is the first title of any kind for Ashton whilst Rick won this title in 2005–06 and has won three B League Individual titles since then.
In the B League the Robin Hood emerged triumphant at the top of the tree, winning their first ever League title. The Waters Green Lemmings finished second, thus both teams will play in the A League next time around.
The Robin Hood also won the inaugural Nine–Banded Armadillo Trophy for the worst question of the season. "Cucumber Time" indeed ...
Jim Kennelly bagged the B League Individual title which he adds to his C League Individual title in 2011–12.
The Ox–fford were crowned A League Champions for the first time in six years; they last won in 2008–09. The A League was incredibly competitive this year, with "everyone beating everyone else" to use a well–worn phrase.
The Ox–fford also won the Cars and Vans 4U Ltd Question Setters Trophy for their Specialist questions from way back in Week 1, giving them their fourth win in a row of this trophy. Thanks as ever to Allan Sherratt for his support.
The Cup Final saw the Waters Green Rams retain the Cup for the second year in a row after beating the Weaver by 116–109 in a very close and entertaining game. Congratulations to all concerned.
Thanks must go to Rick Davis and Ashton Davies for asking the questions and scoring respectively, along with the Ox–fford who prepared the questions from all those submitted by all teams. An excellent effort by all concerned.
Thanks also to Olympus Trophies and Sam Baker for all his efforts in providing the trophies – very much appreciated as always.
If I don't see you before, have a great summer and see you in the autumn when we start again…
© Macclesfield Quiz League 2019