We had a couple of good trivia outings in the past couple of weeks playing at Oscar’s Sports & Grill in Saline, winning a $15 gift card on each of those nights – and finishing in first for the night last week. Such good fortunes were not to be on Saturday, when we were laid low by a couple of very tricksy final questions – both of which were answered correctly by one team. So no prizes, finished in fourth for the night. In one bright spot, we did manage to get an “explorers” question right! This particular explorer is notorious with our team – he is almost always the correct answer when we write down someone else – and he almost always the incorrect answer when we write down his name! In a not-so-bright spot, one of our players was called out on the mic by the host during the game. Why? Well, there are always two sides to a story. Sporcle Live with Liz did not like commentary Mike made about a sitcoms question, where he jokingly referred to the category as “shitcoms.” And maybe she thought he was trying to “correct” her when she said “sitcoms” and he happened to say “shitcoms.” Which he wasn’t – he was just making a joke! And no, Mike did not like the question. And yes, Mike does have a fairly “audible” voice, and we were sitting near the host. But his grumblings were just that – grumblings. He can be kind of a grumpy dude whom I have known for almost 25 years. But he is just one of many grumpy people I’ve come to know in my life, and one of a few I’ve met while playing this crazy trivia game (what can I say, I gravitate toward the surly types, lol). Mike’s grumblings were NOT a personal attack on anyone, particularly Liz. Yes, he can rub some people the wrong way, I get that – and he has certainly not won any congeniality awards in his life. Maybe the only solution is for us to sit far enough away for him – and us – to be able to express ourselves without offending the person on the mic. Which we will try doing next time. Expression works both ways – it’s perfectly OK for a host to call a question category one that is “near and dear to my heart” (as was said on the mic several times last night) – and it’s also OK to express the opposite sentiment, as long as it’s not done as a personal attack on someone else. Not all categories are “near and dear to the hearts” of every trivia player! I am fairly certain not every team in the bar was happy to get a “hip hop artists” final category for game one! And nobody on our team has ever watched Ru Paul’s Drag Race – and probably never will. But then people who regularly watch Ru Paul’s Drag Race may not dig “Rick and Morty,” or “Archer,” either. Differences of opinion are the spice of life. And as one of my grumpy former co-workers said, “Opinions are like assholes – everyone has one and thinks everyone else’s stinks” (RIP, Doug F). Yes, we will probably say things that might be offensive, so next time we will sit farther away from people who might be bothered (and I totally understand people being bothered by things we say, I get that, really I do! I’m certainly guilty of that…if I had a time machine…sigh). We did not mean to offend you, Liz – or anyone else! I’m not going to put a muzzle on Mike, that is something we only do behind closed doors (BIG LOL, JK there, I kid, I kid…). And how about the questions? 🙂
Game One
1. ’90s Movies – What 1991 adventure film starred Julia Roberts, Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman? 10
2. Banks – The letter “P” in PNC bank stands for the name of what city in which the bank is headquartered? I knew that a sportsball team plays in a place named for this bank, and we had it narrowed down to two possibilities – but picked the wrong one for a miss for 4.
3. Lawsuits – What peer to peer file sharing service was sued by Metallica and Dr. Dre in 2000 for copyright infringement, among other charges? I had such fun with this file sharing service (wistful sigh)….9
4. Card Games – How many cards are in a pinochle deck? This was a Facebook clue yet had multiple choices for the answer….8
5. World Geography – Named for a rock formation, what narrow strait lies between Spain and Morocco? 7
6 Mexico – What fourth-largest Mexican state shares its name with a Dodge SUV? 3
7. Olympics – within four, in what year was the last time the summer and winter Olympics were held in the same year? Brad and I teamed up here for 5, plus got the extra bonus point for getting the year exact.
8. Shitcom Actors – What actor, who starred in “Two Guys and a Girl” from 1998 to 2001 was also named People’s “sexiest man alive” in 2010? No idea since we never watched the show, we guessed a guy who made his first big appearance in a film the year before (who is kind of deserving of this award, imho, hence the photo tie-in). Miss for 2.
9. Collective Nouns – What is the three-letter word for a group of clams? Thankfully this was easy, we were a little worried about this category!
10. Golfers – What three-time Masters winner was nicknamed “Lefty?” Another category that worried us, but we got this for 1.
Mystery – Slogans
Name the companies that have used the following slogans.
1. “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.”
2. “Save Money, Live Better.”
3. “That was easy.”
4. “Imagination at work.”
Missed #4.
Scores: Six teams, scores ??? to 67, with team Better Late than Never posting a perfect score. We were in third with 59 points.
Final Category – Hip-Hop Groups
This is not a category near and dear to our hearts, so we made sure not to wager too dearly on this one…so we wagered ZERO.
Scottie Gee, Hector the Booty Inspector, DJ-T, and Ashley Ace were collectively known as what group, which backed their frontman from 1989-1993?
And so I will go to the courthouse ASAP with Mike so we can officially change his name to “Hector the Booty Inspector.” LOL…
Final scores: Are You Ready, 60 (zero wager); and BLTN, who held onto their lead and got this correct (go them), 72.
Game Two
1. Numbers – What number is represented by the letter “D” in Roman numerals? 10
2. Disney – Prince Phillip appears in what Disney film? We considered the right dude, but went with the film that featured a prince named Eric instead…miss for 3.
3. Rivers – The Aswan High Dam is located on which major African river? 9
4. Fictional Companies – What is the name of the fictional tool company often promoted by “Tim the Tool Man” on “Home Improvement?” Yay, that is one of only a couple of things I remember about that show…8
5. NFL History – Which NFL franchise lost their first 26 games upon entering the league in 1976? Brad was all over this one, but Mike was not sold on wagering high. I said, “Mike, this is from Brad’s ‘era’ of sports knowledge…” This means the time when someone follows a subject the most heavily in their life (Brad was a teenager around this time and he heavily followed baseball and football from this time). So we were able to wager 7 on a sports question (IKR)…yay Brad!
6. Soundtracks – Audio clue of a Bob Seger song, had to identify which 1980s movie sequel it was used in, 6.
7. Explorers – What was the nationality of explorer Ferdinand Magellan? AND WE GET A QUESTION RIGHT ABOUT MAGELLAN! IKR! 5.
8. Board Games – Name one of the two pieces in “Battleship” that require three hits to sink. Name both for an extra “nerd” bonus. Got one, but not both for 4.
9. TV Personalities – What is the name of the singer, TV host, author and DJ who serves as judge alongside Ru Paul in “Ru Paul’s Drag Race?” Zero clue here, miss for 1.
10. Brand Names – Band-Aid is the brand name and trademark of what company? 2
Mystery – https://www.sporcle.com/blog/visual/home92/ Missed #2, managed to get #3 and #4 by GUESSING. Maybe this is why we didn’t win any gift cards, we used up our luck too many other times in the game! Curse you, Magellan! Maybe you shouldn’t have dropped anchor in what would one day become the Philippines! 🙂 Well, if the natives didn’t kill you there, they probably would have killed you somewhere else…
Scores – Six teams, scores 38 to 57, with us in first. You all know how THIS is going to play out – if we end a game in first, we will certainly f— up the final question!
Final Category – Filmmakers
As of August 2017, Paul Thomas Anderson has directed four films for which he was nominated for an Academy Award in either the category of Best Original Screenplay or Best Adapted Screenplay. Other than There Will Be Blood, name 1 of the other 3.
This was frustrating, his name was so, so familiar to me…but we just couldn’t pull this one off – and unfortunately, we wagered 20 (big ouch…do they make Band-Aids for trivia boo-boos? If so I want a REALLY big one with Batman or Hello Kitty on it!). Shout out to team One is the Loneliest Number for being the only team to get this one correct! We finished in third for this game (again). The team called Are You Ready (I think the last part was “for football,” but I’m not really sure) finished in second. Well, that’s all, folks! We will have to miss our Saturday game next week, but one of us will be visiting an old Thursday haunt, maybe we’ll see some of our old foes in the mix. Or maybe not – and so more for me? As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Ferdinand Magellan! 🐙