I know it's summer, but if there's any use for it now or in the fall, I'm available to read on weekends. I'm in the DC metro area and could probably travel as far as Richmond or Philly--ok, even Princeton--as long as it's public transit accessible and I have a place to stay the night. For those of you who might vaguely remember me, I played at various levels for Princeton (1988-1991). I was at Penn Bowl I, but search me which Princeton team I was on. I also played at BYU (1996-1998+), and I'm sure evidence of my existence is still googleable from Usenet, or at least of my participation in BYU Perpetual Motion. Anyway, I won't pretend to be anywhere near as good as my esteemed teammate who's currently in the spotlight - and congratulations to him! - but I can still read just fine, if anyone's short a reader. Incidentally, I was looking through the archive and I noticed that a rumor was floated here last year that the BYU administration terminated their quiz bowl program because of skimming of funds, which certainly makes for an interesting theory. ;^) However, it was ultimately an "economic" matter. The school sees all of its programs as being extensions of the proselyting efforts of the LDS Church. When a BYU sports team does well, e.g., people get warm fuzzies about the school and that builds positive associations for later interest in Mormonism. The same holds true for dance teams, performing arts groups, and any other group that the school sponsors including the academic team. The bottom line was that the quiz bowl team simply had too little exposure (except in the QB community) vis-à-vis its operating costs. As folks here know, flying in and out of Salt Lake with even one team for trips is a costly affair. Taking multiple trips, whether to the Bay Area, back east, LA, or the midwest, required a large budget per capita. When time came under President Bateman (the first LDS religious authority to be appointed to the BYU Presidency) to make budget cuts, our quiz bowl program got the axe. Other team members (if any are around) can clarify whatever points they want, but that's pretty much the crux of it.... ....Craig
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