I had some difficulties publishing this blog on Facebook today. By the time I was done, the look on my face WOULD resemble this woman’s – if only I had the energy to be that pissed off!

We might be competitive on our Sporcle Live trivia nights, but at least we’re honest! Five more points were given to us in game two in Wednesday’s trivia game at Arbor Brewing Company (Corner Brewery) game than we actually earned, so congratulations to Your Resume Sucks for being the true first place game winners in game two! We’ll do a gift card swap with you guys next week! We’ve played in so many spots where trivia hosts will sometimes (and even regularly) give out extra points to teams during games. And Sporcle With Tim has even said on the mic that if he catches teams cheating, he will make sure those teams do not win by giving other teams higher scores. The good news is he didn’t catch any teams cheating! The bad news is the math error in our favor was not entirely accurate! Correct scores will be reported here! As for us, we finished in third overall for the night with 142 points, and have moved up to third in the bar’s overall standings. We WOULD be in second had we wagered 20 points on the game one final instead of 10…but we’ll talk more about THAT in a bit! But first, the questions…

Game One

1. Territories – The United States gained control of Puerto Rico after it gained independence from what country? 10
2. Directors – What American filmmaker was the subject of a 1994 film directed by Tim Burton? 9
3. Advertising Mascots – The advertising mascot whose official name is Poppin’ Fresh wears a white hat that has what name written on it in a blue circle? 8

Psychodoughboy and Mr. Fuck from Jhonen Vasquez’ book Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. One of them compels Johnny to kill – the other compels him to kill himself! If you read this, it will probably be one of the darkest comics you’ve ever read! Pro tip – do not read to your kids! But let them find it under your bed when they’re about 16 or so!

4. Fairy Tales – The Brothers Grimm story “Little Briar Rose” is a variant of a classic fairy tale that is more commonly known by what name? John and I teamed up here for 7. My Disney Princesses blog helped steer me away from the wrong answer (thank you blog)!
5. TV Settings – The series NCIS has spawned two spin-offs, each primarily set in a different city. Name those two cities. Miss and miss. Do we HAVE to watch that show? Cans I just read the wiki article instead? Hell, do I even want to do that?  Miss for 2.

6. Hip-Hop – In addition to Run and DMC, what is the name of the third member of Run DMC? Close but no cigar, miss for 1.
7. Sports Personalities – Known for his mascot-themed predictions, what former college football coach has been a regular commentary on ESPN’s “College Game Day” since it debuted in 1987? For an extra “nerd” point, for which college did he spend most of his coaching career? Nice work Brad, missed the bonus (though he picked the right state), 3 points.
8. Bodies of Water – What large body of water is bordered by Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran? 6
9. Video Games – What video game is played in the final round of a tournament in the 1989 film The Wizard? At the time of the movie’s release, this video game had not yet been released in North America. Facebook clue, and a miss! Though our guess was really, really close. The two of us who usually wrangle the FB clues were a bit too busy yesterday to be able to watch this movie – let alone read the wiki article about it! Never again will we burned by a FB clue question! From now on, we will search every Library of Congress entry pertaining to all Facebook clue questions for trivia games. And in this case, why didn’t we try interviewing Fred Savage and Christian Slater? For that matter, what the hell has Fred Savage been up to these days? Slater is voicing a character on “Archer.” Uh yeah, never again!  Miss for 4.
10. Words – From the Latin for “cross,” what four-letter word can mean the essential point in an argument? 5

Mystery – Actors who are turning 40 this year

1. Actress known for voicing Louise Belcher on “Bob’s Burgers” and playing Carol on “Last Man On Earth.”
2. Actor appearing in Waiting, Accepted and Live Free or Die Hard.
3.The longest tenured Saturday Night Live cast member
4. Singer with the band Eden’s Crush and winner of 10th season of “Dancing With the Stars.”
Missed 1, 3, and 4. I tried really hard on #1…I knew the woman shared the same last name as the woman voicing the character Francine on “American Dad.” I just couldn’t think of that name…Tim said only eight teams out of 20 managed to get all four correct.

Scores – 20 teams, ??? to 67, with Money Badgers posting a perfect game. Ennui was right behind them with 66, and we were in ninth with 53 points, tied with one other team.

Final Category – Summer Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has added four sports to the 2020 Summer Olympics schedule that have NEVER been an Olympic sport before.
Name any one of those four sports.

Mike and Brad wanted to wager zero on this one and I did not! I knew Olympics was kind of a strong category for Brad, and thankfully, John chimed in saying that wagering zero would not help us win. Mike still wanted to wager zero, and he had it written as such on the wager slip. So I…took it out of his hand (it was more like prying), wrote down a different wager, and walked up to the host and made sure to hand it to him before Mike could change it again. We wound up splitting the difference and wagering 10!

Brad and I both teamed up on this, and managed to come up with two answers that were correct, but we put down the one we thought was “safer.” We won’t be having these arguments about final wagering anymore! You’re looking at a kinder, gentler ‘Pods team (yeah, right…since when does THAT philosophy ever work)? Seriously…we will attempt to do better at bickering less!

Game winners: Don’t Forget to Strip Your Bartender, 82; Alternative…Facts of Life, 83 and Money Badgers, 87.
Game Two
1. Shoes – Founded in 1908, what shoe company was acquired by Nike in 2003? Miss for 3, overthought this.
2. Big Albums – Audio clue of Casey Kasem talking about a 1993 album which was the biggest selling debut album of all time for a Swedish group that was not Abba. John was all over this one (yes really), 5.
3. State Names – How many U.S. states have the letter “b” in their names? 10
4. TV – Jan Levinson, Holly Flax and Helene Beesly are all love interests of what character on a TV series that debuted in 2005? 9
5. The Human Body – The lacrimal glands are most closely associated with which organs of the human body? 8
6. Film Series – Within two, how many years apart were the films Rocky and Creed both released? Bonus for getting it exact, we were only off by one, though our first guess was spot on, 7
7. Famous Scientists – What notable scientist was born on Christmas Day according to the Julian calendar and was knighted by Queen Anne in 1705? 6
8. Your Grandparents’ Music (I literally could not wait to hear what this question would be) – What singer released a 1958 album called “Saturday with Mr. C” and a 1961 album titled “Sing to Me, Mr. C,” both referencing his popular nickname? Our “elder statesman” Brad was all over this…even though he was not even alive when these albums came out! But I’ll bet his parents listened to this guy on their date nights! Got this for 4.
9. Italian Food – Often served with spaghetti, what Italian sauce is traditionally made using eggs, hard cheese, pancetta and peppers? Miss for 1.
10.Politics – As of January, 2018, who is currently second in the U.S. presidential line of succession behind Vice President Mike Pence? 2.
Mystery –

Brad managed to get all of these (nicely done)!

Scores – Twenty teams, scores 32 to 63 with Your Resume Sucks in first. We were in second with 59 points.

Final Category – ’80s/’90s TV

The first five seasons of the TV series Designing Women featured main characters named Julia, Mary Jo, Charlene, and Suzanne, who all worked at the designing firm Sugarbaker and Associates. Name two of the four actresses who played those characters.

Glad we only had to name two…coming up with a third might have been tricky!

Final Scores – Money Badgers, 77; ‘Pods, 79 and YRS, 84.

Until next time, which might be Saturday *weather permitting.* As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Michael Scott!