[Regarding the title: The best joke I’ve ever written came after a CNN headline about vibrations that appeared on sonar which came from the movement of ice within icebergs. The headline read: “Icebergs sing under pressure”, to which I commented “Scientists reported they had to wait ten seconds to make sure it wasn’t ‘Ice Ice Baby.’”]
This is the first of two weeks where I'm focusing on the relationship a new coach will have with the person who put them in charge. I'll refer to the person as the pressure, as they are ultimately the control valve as to whether a team with a week's practice before taping continues after the taping. For the book's purpose, the pressure is external to the team, but an internal pressure can develop once the coach and their students realize this is something they want.
The pressure is in charge because they choose who will manage the team for the school, because the television program made the offer to them to have a team on the show. The pressure in this case wants the team to succeed, wants the school to succeed, and wants you to succeed as coach, but they don't know what is necessary to achieve that success. That's why they've pawned the task off to you, the coach. We can find a task that works to keep them involved, is more suited to their normal job, and fills a need for us. But for us to find a task for them, we have to understand the pressure’s role and interests in the scope of televised quiz bowl.
Televised quiz bowl exists because of three mutually beneficial interests.
The television station requires programming, and wants viewers from across its viewing area to be interested in watching the station.
The sponsors want viewers across the viewing area to become familiar with their brand, so they sponsor a local show featuring people from across the region.
The schools that compete want to publicize their school, highlight their students, and show an aspect of them (academics) that would not normally get on the local TV station.
Now the way these interact means that the quiz show continues with interest from across the viewing area, but the other two legs of the triad have to possess a certain degree of neutrality among the competitors. They can't really promote one school and not do the same to the others, so they limit their promotion to general pumping up of "who's on this week." If we want more promotion of your school (and you do!) it has to be done by the school itself. And you, the coach, are going to be busy enough that it shouldn't be your job.
We can give the pressure a task to accomplish that fits the goals of the triad, and by suggesting it to them, makes you the coach look like you're on the ball. We can have the pressure run the publicity of the team. You'll need to get them started.
First at your practices, get pictures of the team lined up, and get a few pictures of the team during practice. Give these to your pressure after you've suggested that they work publicity. Also have a press release ready to go with the pictures.
[At this point I will insert a template of a press release that the coach can fill in and hand a completed press release to the pressure.
The key components will be:
Paragraph 1: Short introduction to what the team will be doing.
Paragraph 2: Paragraph explaining the show's content and history.
Paragraph 3: Highlighting this is a new team at the school, very excited to get the opportunity to compete on the program.
Paragraph 4: When they will be taping and when the episode will air.
School Contact Information for followups.]
Advise your pressure to not worry about television, and to focus on local newspapers and local media websites, the more local, the better. Television is a time sink for you at this level. The local station that airs the show is not going to focus on your team, the other stations in the market won't promote another station's programming. You want to focus on very local media because your school district may represent all of their readership.
Positive news from the education desk is scarce, especially in COVID times, so something that shows something to look forward to will get placed. Since your school is doing this for the first time in a while, you have the benefit of novelty, and that novelty increases the chance the article will be considered for publication.
A secret I've learned from writing press releases to local papers for teams that went to a national championship: If you write the press release with enough information that it answers all the questions of the paper's editor, it will go into the paper the way you want it. So a well-informed article will get you on your way.
The final reason to do a press release is this: it tests your pressure's willingness to help your team. If they can't be bothered to follow through on the effort you've put in, it's good to know that as soon as possible. Especially before you ask them to do what I will suggest next week.
Stuff to Look at
Edward Gorey's Gashlycrumb Tinies
Stuff to Read
Edith Sitwell's Elegy for Dylan Thomas, which allows you to transition a bonus from one to the other.
The Articles I learned from this week
Mostly this is for the Hunter S Thompson content, but Raymond Chandler’s fear of his own cat is a mood I can empathize with.
A new inorganic blue pigment: pigments, like Linear A and B are kind of my question slow jams.
The South Sea Bubble: which I don’t know as much about as I should.
Tulipmania or what it was not: also this mentions Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, which is one of the secret texts of quiz bowl, but the article gives a bad link to it, so use this one.
The Articles You Can Learn From This Week
A list of foods that changed America
Lunar New Year in three articles: 1 2 3
Didn't You Learn Anything from Last Time?
1
His painting "The Sacrament of the Last Supper" contains details arranged on two Fibonacci spirals which extend from the arms of Christ's projected torso.
A. Name this artist who integrated mathematics into his religious paintings, and surrealism into works like Lobster Telephone.
answer: Salvador Dali
B. The torso is projected in front of a view of the sky visible through this pentagonal Platonic solid.
answer: dodecahedron
C. Another Dali religious painting depicts Christ crucified on this higher dimensional solid.
answer: hypercube
2
Ruth Ella Moore published work on the distributions of types of this substance in the African-American population.
A. Moore's work built on Karl Landsteiner's work in grouping this substance based on the presence of A and/or B antigens.
answer: human blood
B. This surgeon developed methods of storage and shipping of blood which was used in World War II's Blood for Britain campaign. An incorrect legend about his death was that he was refused a transfusion due to his race.
answer: Charles (Richard) Drew
C. Research and advocacy by Roland B. Scott helped establish a center for the study of this blood disease at Howard University.
answer: sickle-cell anemia
3
Answer the following about television shows broadcast immediately after the Super Bowl.
A. A 1992 episode of 60 Minutes showed this Arkansas governor denying an affair with Gennifer Flowers.
answer: William Jefferson Clinton
B. A 2018 episode of this NBC series revealed the reason for Milo Ventimiglia's characters death to be a fire due to a short in a Crock-Pot.
answer: This Is Us
C. "The One After the Superbowl" was an episode of this series, which packed cameos from Jean-Claude Van Damme and Julia Roberts in to the story of Ross' attempt to meet up with his monkey Marcel.
answer: Friends
4
The second performance of this opera included a completion of Act 3 by Franco Alfano, but the first was stopped by the conductor noting the point at which the composer died.
A. Name this 1926 opera by Puccini, telling of Prince Calaf's pursuit of the title Chinese princess.
answer: Turandot
B. Turandot's first performance was stopped by this composer, who fled Italy at the beginning of World War II and led the NBC Symphony Orchestra.
answer: Arturo Toscanini
C. The performance took place at this Milan opera house.
answer: La Scala
5
Reflecting on his post-mission activity, he reported that "The Moon is one big sandtrap."
A. Name this astronaut who one-handed a shot from a six-iron, launching a golf ball about 200 yards.
answer: Alan Shepard
B. Shepard's shot came at the end of this 1971 mission to the Moon.
answer: Apollo 14
C. Previously Shepard was the first American in space while flying Freedom 7, the first flight of this program.
answer: Project Mercury