Jazzy Latin music blared from the patio of some distant cafe as I dole­fully chomped on a free sample from Godiva Choco­lates. The overcast sky – and the wafting bit of bite on the edge of the breeze – did nothing to improve what seemed at the time like the worst day of my life.

I don’t want to talk about Knowledge Bowl State this year. First of all, I’m trying to avoid writing a column about something that an­other article in this week’s paper might discuss. Second of all, it still hurts.

Tiebreakers, I thought. Why do they call them “tie­breakers”? By my calcula­tions,...