Well, it appears that with Karl and James unable to make it, I am the main link to the world outside the Hyatt Regency this year. I, myself, am getting there at the last minute, flying out early Sunday morning the day after my brother’s wedding.
This will be my 20th nationals in a row to attend: One as a spectator, one as a scorekeeper, five as a quizzer, four as a judge and nine as a quizmaster. It remains one of my favorite times of year. Getting to see friends, both old and new, makes the trip worthwhile. And there’s nothing more satisfying to me than hearing a quizzer get a hard concordance question (especially when that quizzer was me!). This is the culmination of a mind-blowing amount of work and all of the quizzers should be proud at what they’ve been able to achieve since nationals last year.
The Gospel of Matthew will always have a special place in my heart because it was the best finish our team ever had back in 1997. (You can read a full recollection here. Beyond the really cool plaque our team walked away with, the lasting value of that year continues to amaze me. The book itself is chock full of interesting stories showing the big fight that took place between Jesus and the religious establishment, that can sometimes parallel what we see in the church today. Famous passages like the Genealogy, the Sermon on the Mount, or the commissioning of Peter remain with me to this day.
Enough reminiscing. On to nationals this year! To start, it’s already been mentioned that there will be no official streaming. These hotels charge a fortune for internet in the convention center area, so I think this is probably justified financially. We will try our best to get streaming of the major events using some other means. This all depends on how good the 4G is in the hotel. If we cannot do that for whatever reason, we will still put a chat room on the front page of the website that we can keep people updated as the championship games progress.
As for predictions,
