As some of you know, I’ve been going through past trivia recaps – mining them for the final questions and compiling them. And in a lot of these game recaps, I’ve seen a very common thread – regret – mainly, regret for not wagering points on final questions that we wind up getting correct. For the remainder of the season, we’re still going to try sticking to the “no zero wagers” rule, especially at bars with 20 or more teams, unless there is something on the line (like a tournament spot, for example).

Why? Because sometimes, pain is how you learn! Let’s talk about dead presidents for a bit, shall we? Specifically, the dead presidents who are disliked the most. Samuel Tilden probably disliked Rutherford B. Hayes because Tilden won the popular vote in the 1876 election, yet lost the election because of the electoral college.  Lyndon Johnson was disliked for the Vietnam War. Richard Nixon was disliked for many, many reasons.  Andrew Johnson was disliked enough to be impeached. I’m not going to get into the assassinated presidents, because duh… Slavery proponents did not like anti-secessionist Zachary Taylor, who was prepared to hold the union together via armed force, if necessary. This is why his body was exhumed in 1991 – to see if he might’ve been poisoned (the results were inconclusive). Some Native Americans really dislike Andrew Jackson. Like with anything involving matters of opinion, it really depends upon whom you ask.

Ask a select group of pub trivia players about Chester A.  Arthur? Chances are, he’s a bit disliked, too! In August, 2012, there was a finals tournament in Detroit asking for postal abbreviations that shared initials with chemical symbols – and initials of presidents – which quite a few teams missed. But guess what? Nobody who got burned by that question is going to ever, ever forget Chester A. Arthur’s name!

Say my name, beeatches! Chester A. Arthur, the 21st U.S. president, was one of two presidents born in Vermont (the other being Calvin Coolidge). Because he became president when James Garfield was assassinated, some called him “His Accidency.” Those mutton chops? Not an accident! Though they could hold their own with any beard of the day!

Which brings me to my point – sometimes pain really is the best teacher. John F. Kennedy’s mother Rose Kennedy used pain to teach her kids to stay the f— away from the stove. She would hold their hands over lit burners to show them how dangerous the stove was. This kind of thing might seem shocking by today’s parenting standards, but back in those days, kids didn’t tend to be coddled. If you wanted to raise a future Pulitzer Prize winner, war hero AND president? You take off the kid gloves! If your strict brand of  “show no affection” parenting also contributes to him becoming a serial womanizer later, well…them’s the breaks, right? Can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs! But I digress, and this is all speculation!

In Wednesday night’s trivia game, we foolishly decided to wager full points on a “number one hits” final category. I thought in the back of my mind, “Well, maybe it will be ’80s hits, then we’ll kick ourselves for NOT going for it.” Nope. It could not have been more out of our “wheelhouse.” It was a (the horror) recent music question! Name two number one hit songs released between early  October, 2017 and now with one-word titles (all three of the #1 songs during this time period had one-word titles). We came close, but nope didn’t get it. And because of this, I’ll never, ever forget the name of THIS guy…

Sorry I couldn’t think of the name of your song! Just please, please, don’t make me listen to it! And stop looking at me like that with those hipster spectacles! 🙂