University Challenge 2012-13 Revisited: Part 10: Matches 29 to 31

OK, so, still no word on a new series of UC; August 15th is now the earliest we can expect it. But I honestly don't see that happening; I'm not going all in on the 22nd, but it makes the most sense in my mind, as it would imply that the extra six quarter-finals have finally been done away with and so the series is starting six weeks later than the last few years. We know Only Connect is back on the 29th, so that's the absolute latest we can expect it IMO. Anyway, on with this week's retrospective...

 

Match 29: Qualification Quarter-Final 1: Manchester vs U.C.L. (4th March 2013) 

So, the first qualifier match of the QFs turned out to be a dress rehearsal for the actual final. It was a close one at first, with the sides sharing starters and quite even on the bonuses, resulting in them being tied on 40-each going into the first picture round. U.C.L. took that, and the three starters after that, and two bonuses from each set meant they suddenly had an 80 point lead. A minor rally from Manchester saw them cut the gap down to 50, but three further starters to U.C.L. and seven bonuses out of nine pretty much wrapped the game up for them.

 

Manchester did recover well in the final minutes, which saw them pull well into three figures, but, even for a team who’d pulled back such a massive deficit so late on in their first match, the gap was just too big for them. One bonus set, on French volcanos, saw them resort to the tactic of saying the same thing (‘Martinique’) three times and getting it right the third time! Used to happen quite a lot back then, but not so much nowadays. U.C.L. won the game 230-150, but both teams played very well, strong on the buzzers and the bonuses throughout; in hindsight, we shouldn’t be surprised that they ended up meeting again in the final…

 

Match 30, Elimination Quarter-Final 1: Imperial vs Bangor (11th March 2013)

The first eliminator started off close, with Bangor moving into an early lead, before Imperial took three starters in a row, including the first picture round, to level the scores. The teams then traded blows for a while, while remaining pretty close together. The music round was, as Adam pointed out, controversial, as it was supposed to be on ‘forms’ of jazz, but instead seemed to be about ‘styles’ of jazz, which isn’t the same thing.

 

Then, around the twenty minute mark, Bangor got a run of starters together that pulled them into the lead. In an attempt to seize the initiative back, Mr Guille took a quick buzz on the next starter, but, with the previous bonus set still on his mind, offered ‘Niccolo de Mecici’ instead of ‘Machiavelli’, before suddenly realising his mistake and looking visibly gutted. Ms Grant took the points and Bangor duly took all three bonuses. Imperial did pull a starter back quickly, but when Mr Tomlinson took the next, that was game over. A couple more starters made the win look a bit more one-sided than it probably was; Bangor won 210-120 and, having twice beaten opponents who looked better on paper and given the favourites a run for their money, were now very much to be taken seriously. Imperial, meanwhile, bowed out in unfortunate circumstances.

 

Match 31, Qualification Quarter-Final 2: St George's vs New College (18th March 2013)

Finally this week, we have the second qualifier match, which St George’s got off to the better start in, leading their opponents 45-10 after the first picture round. In contrast to the rest of the week’s matches, both teams seemed to be struggling with the bonuses; that was until both teams suddenly took a full set each in a row.

 

The poor bonus form returned after that however, with New College really struggling as they attempted to close the gap on their opponents’ lead. They eventually did so with the second picture round, after which they had a ten point lead, which increased when Mr Cappleman took the next starter. St George’s took the next, but New College now had the advantage, and another two starters, even though very few bonuses came with them, confirmed the win. New College won 160-110 to join U.C.L. in the semi-finals. St George’s, we thought, would meet Bangor in the play-offs, but instead, they would face Manchester…

 

So, another three matches in the bag; into the home straight now, with only two more installments to come now. And then hopefully, hopefully, we'll be getting the new series; stay tuned here and on Twitter for more news as it comes. Another three matches coming up next week, plus stay tuned for something extra coming up either on Sunday or next Thursday; see you either then or then then...

University Challenge 2012-13 Revisited: Part 9: Matches 26 to 28

OK, so, we learned earlier this evening that Only Connect will be returning on August 29th. But STILL no word on UC's return; the earliest we can expect it now is August 8th. Any later than that, and I'll become almost certain that the (other) reason for this late start is that TPTB have finally gotten rid of the extended quarter-final stage. We shall wait and see though; in the meantime, our retrospective of the series from ten years ago continues, with both of the 'blog reader' teams making their first QF appearances...

Match 26, Preliminary Quarter-Final 2: U.C.L. vs Bangor (11th February 2013)

Ah yes, this episode. A most fascinating match this, but also one that generated a great deal of ‘controversy’ in the dead tree press. Bangor quickly proved that win over Durham was no fluke as our man Adam took the first two starters of the game; U.C.L. did get a starter, but a penalty gave Bangor possession back, and a run on the buzzer plus two further pens from their opponents meant they’d soon built up a 100-0 lead.

 

But U.C.L. then started slowly chipping away at that deficit, and, by the second picture round, had taken the lead. Bangor did take that picture round to take the lead back, but U.C.L. now had the bit between their teeth, and, in the final minutes, pulled away into the distance. But instead of talking about that, all anyone was talking about was an unfortunate incident when Mr Tyszczuk Smith erroneously offered ‘William I’ instead of William III, and Paxo duly exclaimed “NO! WILLIAM I?!” as Mr TS nervously apologised. Got at least one article in the dead tree press that incident did, even though it was rather tame compared to some of the outbursts Paxo had had at the time (the previous week’s Inspector Clouseau one for one). It's a shame this incident, and the OTT reaction to it, has gotten in the way of, what was actually, one of the best shows of the series (here's a mini-article I wrote about the affair at the time). U.C.L.'s late sprint saw them win 190-125.

Match 27, Preliminary Quarter-Final 3: Pembroke vs St George's (18th February 2013)

This should’ve been a close match on paper, between two strong teams both of whom had looked decent in their first two matches. On the day, however, St George’s quickly ran out into the lead and, while Pembroke were never that far behind, they never looked like being able to catch up. Neither side did that well on the bonuses all night, but, as I remarked at the time, they did seem a bit tougher than usual.

 

All in all, this was probably one of the least memorable matches of the series, a decidedly meh affair. Minor highlight came when Pembroke were struggling with a bonus set on bone structures, and Paxo remarked that St George’s would know all these answers! Another bonus round, given to St George’s, gave mention to Chris Mullin’s ‘A Very British Coup’, which has come back into prominence in the years since following Jeremy Corbyn’s becoming Labour leader. St George’s won the game 195-105, but, despite this impressive showing, this would sadly be as good as it got for them…

 

Match 28, Preliminary Quarter-Final 4: New College vs King's (25th February 2013)

The final preliminary match saw our man Jim take the first starter of the game, but New College got the upper hand on the buzzers after that and pulled away into a lead they never looked like relinquishing, though, again, a rather hit and miss showing on the bonuses meant they never got insurmountably out of sight until late on. King’s eventually got going again when Jim took the music starter; I remember Adam expressing jealousy at the time that King’s seemed to always get classical starters that Jim could get, while Bangor always got non-classical ones he couldn’t! More on that next time…

 

It wasn’t until King’s lost five when Mr Gallant went one generation too late and offered ‘Kim Jong Il’ instead of ‘Kim Il Sung’ that New College pulled totally out of realistic sight. A late rally from King’s, including a pretty good buzz from Jim on ‘the Incas’, saw them reach three figures, but the gap was just a bit too big for them to pull back. New College won the game 165-125.

 

So, another three shows in the bag; another three next week, plus a look back at a long forgotten CITV show that is finally getting some recognition 19 years after being treated so poorly by the network. And, hopefully, some more news on the returns of Quizzy Mondays. See you next week then...