academic buzzer team

lexicon

A-Train, The

nickname of UIUC ABT member Andrew Thomas Ullsperger due to his past as a football player and intimidating presence in quizbowl games. Abbrev. “train, the” (rare, unless Sudheer is talking.)

Cabal, The

group generally considered to consist of the ABT class of 2004; i.e. Dave Carlisle, Mike Januszyk, Mike Sorice, and Andrew Ullsperger. Name has its origins due to the consistence of this lineup (usually as Illinois B or C) in 2000–2001.

crippled by knowledge

condition of having real knowledge of a topic cause a player to give an incorrect answer. Commonly the afflicted individual will answer with a much too precise answer when the question is looking for something general. An example is Nick’s critical neg with Pareto optimality against Princeton at the 2002 NAQT ICT on a question looking for equilibrium. See also handicapped by knowledge.

ding, ding, ding

expression demanding something, such as money, from someone or; by extension; an expression of joy at obtaining something (sometimes used on thirtying a bonus.)

Dominator, The

nickname of ABT member Dom Ricci. Dom played a central role on the 2000 National Champion team, but has since entered a de facto retirement, a fact sometimes lamented by the rest of the team.

jobbing

the defeat of a clearly superior team by a clearly inferior one. Illinois B teams have a historical tendency to execute jobbings of Illinois A teams, although this trend did not manifest itself in 2001–2002 despite Sudheer and Hairboy’s frequent smack talk.

handicapped by knowledge

condition where someone has enough knowledge of a topic to dissuade ringing in with the obvious answer in a situation where it is actually the correct buzz, typically resulting in the other team collecting ten points and a bonus question. See also crippled by knowledge.

-itude

a suffix applied to make a given thing into a rating and thereby define an operational metric for comparison. Examples include “negitude”, “vulcitude”, and “driveitude.”

to Jeremiah

to incorrectly answer a question by swapping two words in your response. Named in dishonor of former ABT member Jeremiah Thompson, who once answered with “Captain, O My Captain” on an “O Captain, My Captain” tossup.

neg artist

a player with a strong tendency to neg, particularly at inopportune times.

negging up a storm

phrase used to describe the accumulation, by either an individual person or a whole team, of an unusually large number of negs. Can be used in either the context of a single game (or part thereof) or a series of games.

power vulch

in tournaments with powers, a vulch early enough in the question to still collect the full fifteen points. Power vulches are typically the source of much intra-team bragging.

’Shnu, The

nickname of semi-legendary former UIUC ABT and MAQT member, ACF partisan, and compulsive gambler Vishnu Jejalla. The ’Shnu is said to be able to beat Gustav Mahler to a tossup on Mahler’s 8th symphony and flame brighter than 10,000 suns on quizbowl newsgroups.

thirty

to obtain all of the available points on a given bonus (generally 30 points).

this packet needs to burn

Code phrase for a simply awful packet. Inspired by Chris Vicich actually burning such a packet in a planter outside Lincoln Hall after a practice during the 2001–2002 school year.

those stats aren’t going to pad themselves

standard justification for continuing to play aggressively in a practically decided game, running up the score against bad opponents, power vulturing, etc.

vulch

the act of buzzing in before the end of a tossup after the other team has already negged. Usually accomplished only for the purpose of padding one’s stats.