Phil wrote:
"The last time UVA won the CBI
championship, there was the beginning of a tradition that the
CBI champion got a trip to the UK to play the champ
of the Channel Four thing whose name I forget that
they write questions for (sorry, Oxford). The year
before, Michigan had gone over and trounced them; With
the UK's nose bloodied, I'm sure UVA's game would
have been an interesting competition."
You
should be sorry! You refer to "University Challenge",
shown on BBC2, the final of which I had the displeasure
of losing all of two weeks ago.
Anyway, the
main reason we got a battering over here (and always
will do if the UC winners are used) is that UC is an
auditioned-for show - i.e. the teams that appear are not
necessarily the best in the country (28 are chosen of some
200 entries, on the basis of a short test and
interview). Also, you can only compete once for your
institution - no concept of returning winners or anything.
[N.B. - this isn't to say the winners aren't good, but
they sure aren't ever as pro or as practised as your
teams.]
And, just to complete the sour grapes, if you think
_your_ CBI questions swerve around, you should hear the
tripe we get on television.
Rob (no I'm **not**
bitter. Bleah!)