We definitely missed Mike in Saturday’s Sporcle Live game at Oscar’s Sports & Grill in Saline! The poor dear was recovering from a nasty cold at home (and recovering from some other painful things…poor timing what a perfect storm)!  Not only because he would have helped with some answers, but because of other things he tends to do for the team. We had a question about presidential facial hair, and for whatever reason, we just plain didn’t catch a vital question qualifier – so we put down two correct answers when we were supposed to have put down one. So we blew six points ON A QUESTION FOR WHICH WE KNEW THE ANSWER! We just didn’t hear that we only had to put down one! Oscar’s was a bit noisier than usual last night (pretty packed house), so it’s not all that hard to believe that we could miss a few vital words while a question is being asked. We didn’t argue about it or anything, but kind of kicked ourselves for that one a bit! That said, had Mike been there, he certainly would have made sure we were properly answering that question. Even if it made him seem annoying and nit-picking to the host (Sporcle Live with Liz). As our team’s “ambassador,” if you will, he tends to handle the points slips, the score sheet, and helps make sure that everyone on the team (not just him) understands the questions that are being asked! Yes, it can make him a tad…annoying sometimes – but he does this job very, very well! We still didn’t fare TOO badly, despite numerous point flubs in the regular rounds. It was just E and I holding down the ‘Pods fort, we finished with one first place prize, 129 points overall – got both final questions correct, finished first for the night, which puts us in the second place spot. It was just Evan and I handling the questions, and as you’ve probably already gathered, we didn’t exactly handle some of them very well, in some cases! But here…we go!

Game One

1. Ball Fans – What NFL team has a fan area near the end zone for its fans called the “dog pound?” We have a teammate who is a fan of this team, and considered the right answer here, but missed for 2.
2. Awards – Who became the first person born outside of the U.S. to win Time Magazine’s “Man of the Year” award in 1930? Only one team managed to get this one (not ours). Miss for 4.
3. Going Solo – I really did not write this question down very well. So here’s a rewrite…what girl group had Billboard hits in 2017 with songs called “Work It” and “Work From Home?” Miss for 1.
4. Cereal – Chef Mandell, among others, was used as a mascot for what breakfast cereal? Yay points, got this for 10!
5. The Rest – In the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song, two characters on the show were not named in the first version of the song, but instead referred to as “the rest.” Name either of these two characters. 9
6. Long Things- The MacKenzie, Nelson and Slave Rivers are the longest rivers in what country, all more than 1,400 miles long?
7.  Cooking – If food is prepared “Al Forno,” in what device was it cooked? Totally overthought this one, miss for 3.
8. Parks – Within one, in what decade was the National Park Service founded? Big miss, though we did nail the decade in which the first national park was established! Ouch…miss for 7.
9. Title Characters – Name two of the three actors playing the main characters in the 1987 film “Three Men and a Baby.” Name all three for a “nerd” point. Got it, 6.
10. Mystery – What is the last name of characters named Frank and Joe in a book series written by Frank W. Dixon?

Two words in the rivers question gave me a clue to the answer. Can you guess one of those words?

Mystery – Add ‘Em Up

1. Which amendment in the Bill of Rights pertains to unreasonable searches and seizures
2. Total number of tiles in a game of Scrabble
3. Number of simple rules in title of a TV series airing from 2002 to 2005
4. Number of letters in the NHL city winning the most Stanley Cup finals

Missed 2, and 4 (though we did talk about the right NHL city…so close!)

Scores – Fourteen teams, scores 20 to 61, with One is the Loneliest Number and Let’s Get It tied for first. We were in sixth with 46 points.

Final Category – Comic Book Movies

What is the highest grossing film that is an adaptation of a comic book that was NOT originally published by Marvel or DC?
It was released in the 1990s and grossed over 250 million dollars at the U.S. box office.

Evan all over this one right away…

Final scores: What the Shibboleth, 58; ‘Pods, 66.

Game Two

1. First Ladies – Natalie Portman played a 20th Century First Lady in what 2016 film? 10
2. Comics – What comic strip character, first introduced in 1951, was the offspring of Henry and Alice Mitchell?
3. MLB Teams – Which MLB team, which is currently a central division National League team, has had previous names including The Orphans and the Cults? It’s the hard-knock life…for us! Missed this…though we picked another from the correct current division. Brad probably would have known this…
4. Hit Songs (I prayed this would be from “my” era of music, lol) – Name one of the three top 5 Billboard “modern charts” hits for Beck, two for an extra “nerd” bonus? Got one, but not the second…
5. Board Games – What Parker Brothers board game is also the national board game of India? Mike would have helped here, miss for 4.
6. Animated TV – What animated series airing from 2004 to 2009 was created by Craig McCracken featured an 8-year-old boy named Mac and won seven Emmies during its run? Yes, I spelled it that way intentionally. If the plural of “Rocky” is “Rockies,” then the plural of “Emmy” should be “Emmies!” So shall it be, so shall it be written, lol!
7. Mustaches – Who was the most recent U.S. president to have worn a mustache during his entire term? He was one of two consecutive “mustached” presidents. We put down both correct ones when we should have only put one, miss for six. Rap our hands on a ruler! We’ll take our punishment and do a thousand Hail Marys, too!  We’ll try harder to hear better in a noisy, packed bar from now on!
8. Commercials – Audio clue for a product featuring senior citizens in its ads from the late 1980s, got for 5.
9. Ologies – Mycology is the study of what living thing? Multiple choices given, did not write them all down, got for 2.
10. Railroads – The first transcontinental railroad ran from San Francisco to the eastern banks of what river? Every team missed this one…we missed for just 1.

Mystery –

A lot of teams struggled with this round. Unsure if any got #3. Communication breakdown caused us to miss #2 (one of had right answer, other person wrote different answer on slip). Only managed to get #4 correct.

Scores – Fourteen teams, scores 20 to 56, with Fork in first. We were in seventh with 43 points.

Final Category – ’80s Music

Three male solo artists had seven or more songs hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the 1980s. Name two of those three men.

Got all three of them, but ONLY PUT DOWN TWO! We didn’t want to get our wrists smacked with a ruler for a second time that night! And Hail Marys are SO exhausting! Enough teams ahead of us managed to get this, too…still nice to get 20 more points!

Until next time, which will be Monday. Possibly a “double header” (we’ll see how I feel after work Monday). Things have calmed down quite a bit at work, which means for time for trivia games! And blogs!