Each year that I get to participate in some
capacity, there are things I expect to
see: anxious first-time competitors and
supporters, bloodshot eyes from hours
of studying, flashcards by the ton, crisp
uniforms, and the latest mental strategies
for staying just a bit out of reach of the next
team during the game. What blew me away
this year was the sense of comradeship,
fair play, sportsmanship, professionalism
and goodwill from one team to another, one
school to another, one region to another.
Left to right, Jacqueline Wallner, Allison
Chikos, Sarah Roberts and Edward Whitney
get ready to hit the buzzer during the 2010
Knowledge Bowl. Erika Giffin, alternate, sits
behind them.
Students congratulated each other for
making it to the national playing field hours
before anyone had to do the first buzzer
check. I watched as eliminated teams
were sincerely congratulated by advancing
teams before they could even make it
offstage. Completely in the spirit of being
a professional until the job is done, team
members from Lincoln Culinary Institute,
West Palm Beach, Fla., (there were others,
and other moments, but this stands out in
my mind as great showmanship) stayed
with it and pounded the buzzer for all they
were worth. Even when, mathematically,
the remaining points (there were four tiles
left—that’s how indelible this poignant
moment was for me) wouldn’t yield a
win, the team kept at it. Escoffier would
have given the team two batonnets and a
tournée for the effort, I’m sure of it.
to hear their support. There wasn’t a
convoluted strategy of going for all 40- or
50-point questions first in an effort to
mentally dominate. Each team got in a
question-answering groove and avoided all
the math questions until the very end when
there were no other options, as students
are known to do. Gone (but certainly not
missed) was the strategy of getting so far
out ahead and then putting buzzers down
when it was mathematically impossible to
lose (or the opposite—hands off buzzers
when winning was mathematically out of
reach). And it goes on.
This year, the games gave me more as a
professional, and I came away from the
competition with a lot of great moments.
Throngs of supporters cheered their
teams—not once did the emcee have to
encourage the audience that this wasn’t a
séance and the competing teams needed
Hitesh Arora, CC, CPC, Andrew Croney,
CPC, Glendon David, Francois Leonce and
Jami Yaccarino (representing the Southeast
Region); Carol Baier, Ellen Cervone, Rebecca
Hawk, Dianne Palmieri and Allison Yeagley
(representing the Northeast Region); and
Carlos Esparza, Lorian Koller, Megan Leppert,
Evan Rossman and Virginia Vermeulen
(representing the Western Region)—ya’ll did
us proud. Thank you for the professionalism
and great memories this year, and toques off
for the hard work it took to get to the nationals.
For all you wannabe contenders: Which protein
energy malnutrition (PEM) disease has the
symptom of a swollen belly caused by a fatty
liver? If you immediately said kwashiorkor, you
might have a chance to be a Knowledge Bowl
titan one day. If you read this answer out loud
(because you don’t know what it is, and you
need to have a culinary white-light experience)
and someone said, gesundheit, well, both of ya’ll
come—we can always use a cheering section
next year at the Gaylord Texan in Dallas.
James W. Paul II, MS, CSC, CCE, FMP,
is director of operations for Billiken Dining
Services, Saint Louis University, St. Louis,
Mo., and a member of ACF Greater Atlanta
Chapter Inc.
Allison, Erika, Sarah, Jacqueline, Edward
and coach Dina, thanks for the lovely
memories and stellar performances onstage
and offstage as our 2010 champions.
