Regarding reflex responses... I'm not saying it's
necessarily a bad thing. The preparation that you are having
with your team is a very good strategy. I prefer
reading questions BACKWARDS so you can see what the "easy
clues" are and work your way to knowing the harder clues
myself. It at least means that you have a critical
ear/eye for what questions come up and the frequent use
of key phrases to clue you in. The faster you can
recognize those phrases, the better your chances are at
winning. I know for me and my team in writing GLRAC
questions, it's harder for you to pick out those phrases
because we KNOW what those phrases are, and we're trying
to have you clue in on other information outside of
those catch-phrases. Of course, that's the difference
between the writers you're probably used to and my
question-writing "staff" that we've been developing over
here.
It's too bad you buzzer-race folks in Illinois can't
travel (although I have been told that some Illinois
teams have gone to Georgia or Tennessee this year). We
have our "buzzer race" competition next month
(Buzzerpalooza).
--- etc.