The biggest news coming out of Sporcle Live this week, in their latest newsletter, was that the state of Iowa now has its own league division! Go Hawkeyes! Yay Iowa, where Superman grew up (or was that Kansas? Meh, they’re all the same)… where the corn side is crispiest! Just kidding, of course…though that IS big news is you’re an Iowan!
The REAL big news was about changes to the league’s “barhop” program. Previously, the top five “barhop” teams – that is, the teams that play in the most venues in a season in their respective divisions – would get an automatic pass to the league championship. Now, the top 10 “barhop” teams will have to vie for ONE spot – just like all of the other teams! They can do this one of two ways – win a venue tournament at a bar where they regularly play, or win the “last chance play-in game,” which will occur two days before the league championships.
Read more about it here: here
It sounds like quite the gamble. What’s the incentive of playing several times a week only to have to play in a qualifying game anyway? It will be interesting to see if this change will separate the true trivia junkies – from the opportunists. Face it. The people who are already playing five times or more a week (some of them in multiple trivia leagues) will still probably do so. For some of these people, trivia IS their life! We shall see how things shake out once the “barhopppers” are integrated with the rest of the trivia rabble in their quest to be “the one” team to get a tournament spot!
Sounds like a “rubber meets the road” challenge, doesn’t it? Will the regular “barhop” teams be up to the challenge? Or will they concentrate more on other trivia leagues, including My Trivia Live, which still give the top barhop teams an automatic tournament spot? I will definitely be keeping my eyes – and ears open.
My team barhopped for a few seasons, but we stopped doing that in April of last year. Why? We missed the challenge of HAVING to win a tournament spot – and felt that barhop kind of “cheapened” the experience of getting to a tournament. We wanted to feel like we really “earned” our way in! Though after having barhopped, I am loathe to say that it’s a “free” ride by any means! Barhop takes quite a lot of commitment – and work! So it’s really a tough call.
hebspeaks 