New College Oxford comfortably defeated two very good teams from Homerton College Cambridge and York in the opening rounds, scoring over two hundred. The unchanged quartet, therefore, must've been taken very seriously:
Remi Beecroft, from Letchworth in
Hertfordshire, studying Psychology and Philosophy
India Lenon, from London, studying Classics
Captain: Andrew Hood, from Wasperton in
Warwickshire, studying PPEIndia Lenon, from London, studying Classics
Tom Cappleman, from Bracknell, studying Maths
King's College Cambridge, lest we forget, came through the repechage after narrowly losing their first match to the subsequently very impressive St George's, before also defeating Homerton, and then scraping past Warwick in the best match of the second round (IMO). They also remained unchanged:
Curtis
Gallant, from North London, studying Classics
Amber Ace, from Perthshire, studying Classics
Captain: Fran Middleton, from Chorleywood in Hertfordshire, studying Classics
James Gratrex, from Leeds, studying Physics
So, on paper, LAM and OW regular James Gratrex and co were going to have to go at it to beat New College. They started off well, with James getting the first starter; however, this was then followed by an early interruption on the word ecumencal ("that would be an ecumenical matter!", as Father Jack would say). New College then began an early surge, with the hitherto excellent Tom Cappleman contributing most/all of the starters.
The first picture round, on air operations of World War II, saw New College lead by 45-10. Mr Cappleman continued his impressive buzzer form through the next quarter, though the side seemed to be struggling on the bonuses, which Andrew Hood seemed to be taking rather seriously, given his very odd hand gestures. Mr Hood did contribute one starter, but Mr Cappleman was the main driving force here.
Soon, King's were 100 points behind. The music round saw James take, what appeared to be, a speculative early guess, which was right, much to his relief. His side were now behind by 110-30, and subsequently took a second starter, before Andrew Hood bought New College back into the game. Curtis Gallant buzzed early on the next starter, but was one generation too early, saying Kim Jong-il instead of Kim Il-sung.
At this stage, most of the starters had been answered, but not many bonuses. At this rate, this series may well be won on the buzzer.
The second picture round saw King's get back into the game, and they now trailed by 155-55. James tried to buzz in on the next starter, but realised he was wrong when he buzzed in. Cue Tom Cappleman, who'd had a quiet period, who pulled New College further ahead.
With the match pretty much won, New College eased off, and allowed King's to recover some of the lost ground. The closing minutes saw James and co pull back to respectability, reaching three figures, and actually ending the match strongly. At the gong, New College won by 165-125.
A good late recovery from King's, which shows that they still have potential left in them. Neither side did terribly well on the bonuses tonight: New College managing a rather low (by their previous standards) 11 bonuses out of 33, while King's managed 9 bonuses out of 25 with two penalties. Tom Cappleman ended the match with seven starters (six of which were before the music round), whilst our man James led for King's with five starters. Best of luck for next time James and co!
Next week's match: Manchester vs U.C.L., with the winners going through to the semis. Very tough match to call.
This points to Imperial vs Bangor, St George's vs New College, and Pembroke vs King's in that order for the qualification/elimination round of the quarter-finals.
Amber Ace, from Perthshire, studying Classics
Captain: Fran Middleton, from Chorleywood in Hertfordshire, studying Classics
James Gratrex, from Leeds, studying Physics
So, on paper, LAM and OW regular James Gratrex and co were going to have to go at it to beat New College. They started off well, with James getting the first starter; however, this was then followed by an early interruption on the word ecumencal ("that would be an ecumenical matter!", as Father Jack would say). New College then began an early surge, with the hitherto excellent Tom Cappleman contributing most/all of the starters.
The first picture round, on air operations of World War II, saw New College lead by 45-10. Mr Cappleman continued his impressive buzzer form through the next quarter, though the side seemed to be struggling on the bonuses, which Andrew Hood seemed to be taking rather seriously, given his very odd hand gestures. Mr Hood did contribute one starter, but Mr Cappleman was the main driving force here.
Soon, King's were 100 points behind. The music round saw James take, what appeared to be, a speculative early guess, which was right, much to his relief. His side were now behind by 110-30, and subsequently took a second starter, before Andrew Hood bought New College back into the game. Curtis Gallant buzzed early on the next starter, but was one generation too early, saying Kim Jong-il instead of Kim Il-sung.
At this stage, most of the starters had been answered, but not many bonuses. At this rate, this series may well be won on the buzzer.
The second picture round saw King's get back into the game, and they now trailed by 155-55. James tried to buzz in on the next starter, but realised he was wrong when he buzzed in. Cue Tom Cappleman, who'd had a quiet period, who pulled New College further ahead.
With the match pretty much won, New College eased off, and allowed King's to recover some of the lost ground. The closing minutes saw James and co pull back to respectability, reaching three figures, and actually ending the match strongly. At the gong, New College won by 165-125.
A good late recovery from King's, which shows that they still have potential left in them. Neither side did terribly well on the bonuses tonight: New College managing a rather low (by their previous standards) 11 bonuses out of 33, while King's managed 9 bonuses out of 25 with two penalties. Tom Cappleman ended the match with seven starters (six of which were before the music round), whilst our man James led for King's with five starters. Best of luck for next time James and co!
Next week's match: Manchester vs U.C.L., with the winners going through to the semis. Very tough match to call.
This points to Imperial vs Bangor, St George's vs New College, and Pembroke vs King's in that order for the qualification/elimination round of the quarter-finals.
Did you, umm, enjoy that Incas starter?
ReplyDeleteA frustrating match, especially for the first half. Capplemann shut us out so bad, for example on that "Meso-" question that both me and Gallant where trying to buzz in for. In the end it wouldn't have swung things by much.
The bonuses were, or felt, very tough, for both sides, hence the relatively low scores. Battle was won and lost on the buzzer. (And I had ecumenical in my mind as well... sigh.)
Apparently some people on twitter were billing this match as Capplemann v. Gratrex (and I also got a marriage proposal!) If so I fell badly short in the first half at least. Credit to him, though, he's been impressive all the way through the series and if he stays in form then New College will be tough to beat.
Good call on the matches -- a rematch against St. George's did indeed await us if we'd won. I'd have enjoyed the opportunity for revenge, but instead we've got to try to knock over yet another Cambridge College to survive. And Pembroke have been pretty impressive too, so... Game on!
The Incas starter was a good call there, James. One of those things that someone who knows the subject can get from a detail like that.
DeleteAnd a marriage proposal? That makes it two from your team! (Miss Middleton got one as well on YouTube)
Best of luck for next time!
The only problem of course is that this marriage proposal (plus another declaration of undying love during my final appearance) together form 2 girls who apparently fancy me. This is also precisely two more than the number of women who have felt the same way about me when I'm not just some guy on TV.
DeleteOh well.
I'd have loved that music round - instead we kept drawing pop music, or that horrid one about which characters were singing.
ReplyDeleteBad luck Jim =(! I was rooting for the King's team the entire time but that Cappleman from New College seems to have an inbuilt computer - he was very impressive! And I felt that there was a lot of pressure on you in particular as there were quite a number of maths/science type questions in this match (Are 3 classicists any good in this regard? Perhaps when the clue in the question is related to Latin like in this match!)
ReplyDeleteMany thanks duck -- do I know you from elsewhere perhaps?
ReplyDeleteIn those Thermodynamics questions I had taken that subject the term before so had come across the Virial Expansion. I genuinely thought Virial was somebody's name rather than Latin for Force or some-such. Whoops!
No I don't think so! I watch on youtube as I live in Australia and don't have access to BBC/Iplayer (such a travesty!)
ReplyDeleteI'm also curious as to know about the make-up of the Kings Team this season. Having 3 out of 4 players from the same field (that is, Classics) is a very bold choice indeed! Of course, team compositions of that sort doesnt necessarily affect performance - Imperial college usually perform quite well on UC despite being a science-y sort of place. I *think* that scientists are generally more well-informed about the humanities than the humanities majors are on science...just an observation/opinion...
Oh, well there you are. I know a few people in Australia and am surprised but pleased to hear that it has fans of the show who haven't been told about it by me! Anyway...
ReplyDeleteHow teams are selected varies from place to place, but at King's there was a sort of selection quiz. I only made it into the team on a tie-breaker, and I think Ace came first. Her contribution's been equally important -- almost singlehandedly won our High-Scoring Loser match, for example.
As to your observation: Perhaps. Arts subjects are usually more easily accessible, at least partly, than Sciences. The more specialised you get in any subject the less this is true, but certainly textbooks in Sciences become very quickly too technical for a layman to follow. So perhaps it IS easier to become informed in Humanities than Sciences. The best though seem capable across the board. Gail Trimble springs to mind...