20for20: Nathan Murphy

Nathan Murphy

Nathan Murphy is a member of NAQT and the logistics director of the HSNCT. You may recognize him as the PA announcer before the finals, as the host of the awards ceremony, as the soothing voice from the staff training videos, or—since he’s a high school and college basketball referee—as the logistics director who will give you a technical foul when you’re out of line.

How did you get involved with quiz bowl?
After years of watching Jeopardy!, competing at geography bee, playing trivia games with whoever would play against me (an increasingly small number the older I got!), I somehow had no idea there was formal competition of this kind in school. Then a week or two into my freshman year of high school, I heard an item on the daily announcements for a kickoff meeting of the quiz bowl team after school. I went, and it was instantly obvious to everyone involved that this game was for me! I’ve played or staffed at at least one state, regional, or national quiz bowl tournament every year since then except one (my freshman year of college, when somebody else represented Gonzaga at CBI Regionals).
How did you get involved with NAQT?
A college teammate of mine, Amanda Walker, was on the Jeopardy College Championships when we were both juniors. That spring, she and her tournament cohort were invited to join the HSNCT staff, and they had a blast. The next year [then-logistics director] Joel Gluskin sent out his then-annual plea for more staff, and Amanda sent Joel the names of basically my whole team. A bunch of us went, and we had a grand time. This was in 2007; since then I’ve only missed two HSNCTs (birth of my daughter, and a year her birthday fell on the Saturday of the tournament).
What was your experience with your first HSNCT like?
Bear in mind I’d never played in a tournament with more than about 12 teams. The 2007 HSNCT had 160! My teammates and I were in awe. We had an incredible time at the tournament itself: I was assigned to keep score for the legendary Eric Hillemann, whom I’d read about in Ken Jennings’ book [Brainiac], and working with such an amazing official was a real treat. And we loved being in Chicago. My only thought was to not screw anything up so I’d be allowed to come back—it was too much fun to not do it every year! My mom actually predicted my future with NAQT; she said, “just be yourself, and before you know it, you’ll be helping to run the thing.” Guess she was right!
What is your favorite thing to do at the HSNCT?
Oh, man, that’s a tough question. I enjoy so much about the weekend. I started announcing the teams and players for the finals in 2015, and it’s a role I relish; there’s always a great satisfaction when the last box is packed away Sunday night and we call ourselves "done" for another year, but that’s always a sad moment, too, because it means I won’t see some great people for 10 months. One of my favorite things about the HSNCT specifically (since I started as the LD) is Friday evening check-in, when I get to say hello to everybody, greet friends I haven’t seen in a year, and start to put names and faces together for the newer folks. But probably my favorite moment is Friday night when scrimmages are done, everything for Saturday is all set to go, and there’s a sense of this giant organism, coiled and waiting to spring into wonderfully complex life the next morning. It’s a great feeling.
What about at other national championships?
I don’t get to go to the MSNCT [Middle School National Championship Tournament] every year, but when I do go I usually get to be a moderator. It’s incredibly satisfying to see the event come together as a logistics director, but there’s something great about getting to be a game official, and I always look forward to that. In 2016 the teams selected me as the moderator for the final; that was a pretty neat moment for me—especially when it came down to the last tossup!
What are your hopes for this year’s HSNCT?
We’re trying a few new things in 2018, so my biggest hope is that everything comes together and works the way we have it planned! I’m pretty excited for our first “prime time” finals on Sunday night, and we have a few things we’re working on in terms of the production of the event that we think are going to be pretty neat. It should be a ton of fun and I can’t wait!
Do you have a favorite memory from the HSNCT?
It’s hard to beat my first one in ’07 and the sense of awe at what we were a part of. But hosting the last two years in these magnificent facilities (the Hilton Anatole in Dallas and the Atlanta Marriott Marquis) has been a real thrill, too.
What are some of your favorite memories about playing quiz bowl?
It’s hard to beat captaining your high school to its first-ever state title as a senior. But we had such a grand time on our road trips playing for Gonzaga, that they might in fact beat that. Missoula, Montana for CBI Regionals as a sophomore, our first real tournament, was magical—we had no idea how we’d do but we assumed badly; realizing we were actually pretty good (we went unbeaten in the round robin before losing in the playoffs) was an unexpected delight!
Who was your strongest competition when you were a player?
Joe Nutting of Skyview High School and I were probably the candidates for strongest player in our area in high school; beating them for the state title as seniors was pretty sweet! In college, we had sharp rivalries with Montana State Billings and Washington. Each of them denied us a trip to CBI Nationals in the final once. Alas that we didn’t have an NAQT Sectional Championship to play in the northwest back then! (Nor did we even know who NAQT was to host one ourselves.)
How did you make the transition from scorekeeper to logistics director?
At my second HSNCT on staff, I happened to be assigned (essentially at random) to share a hotel room with someone who was helping Joel Gluskin with some of the staffing organization that year. He and I hit it off at once—we are both sports officials, for one thing—and we’re still good friends. The next year, Joel was looking for somebody to take over organizing scrimmages on Friday night, and my friend suggested me; from 2009 to 2012, I was kind of the scrimmage- and consolation-round czar for NAQT. I introduced the first consolation mini-tournaments in 2011, and brought some organization and planning to an aspect of the event that had needed a little love. I guess I caught somebody’s attention, because in 2013 Joel and R. Hentzel invited me to handle the staff-related aspects of the ICT and HSNCT that year; after that went pretty well, I was invited to be the full LD of those two events in 2014, and then became a member in 2015.
What does being a logistics director entail?
In short: if it needs to happen on the weekend of the tournament, or if it has to be made or printed or whatever, I’m responsible for making sure it actually happens. There are some exceptions to that—I’m not responsible for the question set in any way, for example, or for getting teams to come to the event—but for the most part, it’s my job to make sure that all the people, documents, facilities, equipment, lodging, etc. all come together on tournament weekend so that the event happens the way it’s supposed to.
How does a logistics director differ from a tournament director?
Most of what I do would be familiar to someone who’s served as a tournament director at a local or regional event, but I don’t do everything a local TD does. For instance, the way we run things, the logistics director has nothing to do with recruiting teams, verifying eligibility, gathering payment, those sorts of things, and that’s a big part of a TD’s job at most events (one I’m glad I don’t have to handle!). And, as I said above, I don’t have any role in creating the question set. But huge swaths of details—staff, facilities, lots of documents, the day’s timetable, etc.—that would fall to a local TD are either mine to do or delegate, or are generally done by others in the company but my final responsibility to make sure are completed. I also handle all the travel issues and lodging for the staff.
On tournament weekends, it’s similar—everything I do is part of a TD’s job, but Robert Hentzel, the president of NAQT, is the actual TD. He is the final authority on competition, which means he runs the protest process, has the final word on how we fix issues that come up, and usually is the one to speak to teams when there’s an issue. I handle everything to do with staff (running meetings, handling any changes that have to be made), with the facility, and with all the other issues that come up.
When you became the logistics director, what did you think HSNCT was going to be like in 2018?
The honest answer is that I didn’t think that much about it. I’ve always been pretty focused on “this is the tournament in front of me, so that’s where my focus is.” But I really hadn’t considered any format changes at all, so I can’t say I looked forward to the 20th HSNCT being large enough that we had to split the field at the start of prelims to make the whole thing work out. The size it’s grown to—more than twice the size of my first one in 2007—is just astounding to me. It honestly intimidates me a little bit when I think about the scope of the thing—usually I don’t let myself.
What do you think the HSNCT is going to look like 20 years from now?
I think the role of technology in quiz bowl is going to increase dramatically. If you look at the difference in capability of general technology from 2008 to now, and then jump out 20 years in the future, you have to assume that there will be massive gains; what that means for our game, I don’t know. Will questions be read automatically? Responses judged by machine? Officiating done (or monitored) centrally, reviewing replays of protested decisions? I don’t know, but tech is the great unknown in quiz bowl’s future. What I do know is that it’s incredibly important to me that we keep the experience of the HSNCT as top-notch as it’s been for the ten years I’ve been involved.
I also think the format probably won’t be able to remain the way it is: the interest is too high, and it keeps growing. Maybe the technology piece will help with this, but I suspect we’ll have to rethink how we organize our championships (and the path to them) in the next two decades.
What part of your involvement with the HSNCT do you wish more people knew?
Just the size of the task. It really is a massive thing to get 250 volunteers organized, assigned, going to the right places, with the right paperwork, all at the same time. Hopefully on tournament weekend it is so smooth that it doesn’t draw notice, but it really is a giant piece of organization! It’s a lot of hours (mostly late at night on my couch after the kids are asleep with some random sporting event on the TV…usually a Stanley Cup playoff game as we get into tournament time) and a lot of love that go into it.
If you weren’t the logistics director, what would you be doing at the HSNCT instead?
I’d be moderating, goofing off in the evenings, playing a lot more side events than I get to today, playing a lot more board and social games with friends than I get to today, and sleeping a lot more than I do when I’m directing! (That last one’s a lie, though. Even when I’m not directing, I end up staying up late at championships!)
What advice do you want to share with players?
Soak up these experiences. You won’t find me telling people that high school is the best years of your life—I really hope that isn’t true!—but traveling for competition in high school is a unique and very memorable thing for most of us. You won’t have a lot of experiences in your post-education lives of traveling together as a team to try to accomplish something. Prepare well, play your best, but above all, soak in the experience, and your time with the people you’re sharing the journey with.
Advice for coaches?
Please treat my game officials with respect! The vast majority do this already, and we are grateful for this, but as somebody who’s played, coached, and officiated a variety of things, I know how easy it is to get frustrated in the moment. We absolutely know that sometimes errors happen, and that sometimes decisions don’t break the way you think they should, but please remember that everyone moderating and keeping score at an NAQT national championship is giving their very best, volunteering their time so your teams can have a tournament to play at, and was somebody’s player once upon a time. Treat them the way you’d want an opponent to treat your former players!
Advice for the community as a whole?
I just want everyone to know how incredibly grateful Joel, R., I, and everyone at NAQT are for continuing to give of your time and your talent to make the HSNCT and the other national championships as marvelous as they are. I say “thank you” in person and over email every year, but I wish I knew a better way to really convey the deep gratitude and respect I have for everyone who works on a tournament staff. I remember how amazing an experience playing in big events can be, and I’m sure all of you do, too. Everyone who works on our tournament staff is actively creating that amazing experience for the current players, and that’s a wonderful thing.
Any last thoughts?
We always shoot for perfect, but we know it never actually is; if you think of something that can be better, tell us! Outstanding events are built on years of consistent small improvements. I hope everyone who travels to one of our championships this year has a marvelous time - enjoy HSNCT XX and the first-ever Sunday night finals! And staff: check the cards!

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The 2018 High School National Championship Tournament took place May 25–27, 2018 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, Georgia.

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