For the third time this Sporcle Live trivia season, we posted a score lower than 100 points! Yes, we pretty much “shit the bed” on both rounds – posting decent scores heading into the final questions – and failing/wagering on them both. Shit happens! We’ve been trying to not wager zero on any final questions this trivia season, which in most cases, has worked out well! Not every game will turn out like Saturday’s game did (oh the humanity…) Our “B” team met for trivia Saturday at Oscar’s Sports & Grill in Saline, and walked into a pretty chock-full joint! We were going to have to be put on a waiting list for a table in the restaurant area, but jumped on the opportunity when some seats opened at the bar. It was a little…cramped, however, so we kept our eyes peeled for a table to open up in the bar area. A solo player wandering in was going to take the table, and we hastily offered to trade our three seats at the bar for that four-person table, and all was well. Since another solo player wound up coming in to play and needed a spot at the bar, it all worked out! They had spots to sit in at the bar…and we had a table, which worked better for our three-person team than sitting at the bar would have. Our players this time included myself (Heb), Mike, and our “loaner” Evan – whom has been our “weekend warrior” for at least a couple of trivia seasons now. He has been coming out to join us for weekend games which have not exactly been a draw for most players on our team. Go figure – having better things to do on a Saturday night (blows raspberry)? What could be more exciting than failing a final question about the Winter Olympics? Or failing a final question about acting families? Well…I’m waiting! 🙂 And I suppose y’all are waiting for me to make with the questions already, aren’t you!

Will do! Here are the questions!

Game One

1. Hurricanes – What 1992 hurricane was the most destructive and costly to make landfall, though both records have been broken since then by Katrina and Irma? 10

2. Soccer – Name one of the two countries to co-host the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Name both for an extra “nerd” bonus point. Got both…I remember the weird live air times for those matches…you could either tune in at 2:30 a.m., or set your VCR! Yes, I actually set my VCR and taped some of these matches. I might even still have some of those VHS tapes in the garage, though I no longer have the means to play them, lol…Ireland vs. Germany in the group stage was pretty epic… Those Irish really knew how to scrap! I think up until the final match of Germany vs. Brazil, Ireland was the ONLY team to score against Germany, and they just managed to score ONE goal against the fierce, formidable German ‘keeper Oliver Khan who was a blonde brick house.

The Ireland/Germany match ended in a draw. Oh yeah, we got this for 9 plus the bonus. But you knew that, didn’t you? 🙂

3. Actresses – Born in Jerusalem, who is the most recent Asian born actress to win the Oscar for best actress, doing so in 2011? 8

4. Video Games – The best-selling video game of 2017 was the latest installment in what series that debuted in 2003? Interestingly enough, ALL of us teamed up on this one (IKR). It’s true! But we weren’t confident enough to wager more than 2.

5. Stooges – Which of “The Three Stooges” was known for saying “Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk” among other phrases? This one not getting by a couple of Gen-Xers… 7.

6. Agencies – What do the letters P and T stand for in the United States PTO Agency, which ensures that inventors do not have their intellectual properties stolen? Reasoned guess for 4.

7. Slogans – What Ragu sauce debuting in 1990 used the slogan “I Feel Like (blank)?” FB clue, 6.

8. Musicals – “On Your Feet” was a jukebox musical based on songs by a husband and wife with what last name? We spent WAY too much time discussing what a “jukebox musical” could possibly be. But even had we not wasted time doing that, we would not have gotten this right anyway. Miss for 1. Our only miss of the game!

9. Borders – Name one of the two Canadian provinces bordering Minnesota, 5.

10. Legal Terms – What nine-letter word beginning with the letter “A” describes a sworn statement in writing that is often used by courts as evidence? We are now 1/3 on getting questions about legal terms correct, lol…got this for 3.

Mystery – Identify the cartoon series from the 1980s/1990s based on the following lyrics from their theme songs:

1. Sometimes some crimes

Go slipping through the cracks

But these two gumshoes

Are picking up the slack

2. Friendly faces everywhere/humble folks without temptation

3. Like father, like son

You’re always number one (Yes!)

Best buddies, best pals (Yeah!)

You always seem to work things out

4. sugar, spice, and everything nice

These were the ingredients chosen

To create the perfect little girls

Got all of these…team effort, I would have only known two of these on my own…

Game one standings – Seventeen teams, scores 22 to 66, with us in first.

Final Category – Winter Olympics

Evan said he was good on the recent gold medal winners, and I said I was decent on host cities/countries, so we decided to wager just enough to win…if we got it right. Which we won’t…

Four of the first five Winter Olympic Games were held in nations that all border each other. Name those three nations.

Knew two for sure, but were kind of torn between the third one – and almost…managed to write it on the slip! But we didn’t…Knowing that some of the Olympic games were canceled because of war kind of threw a monkey wrench into our brainstorming a bit…But we did pick three countries that bordered each other – and all hosted Winter Olympics in the early years (bangs head against table repeatedly)!

Oh well…time to clean up the shit…where’s that powdered Oxi stuff? 🙂

Game Two

1. Nicknames – What retired NHL player had nicknames including “The Next One,” “The Ball,” and “The Big E?” Evan with right guess for 3.

2. Big Countries – What is the largest nation by area that lies entirely south of the Equator? 5

3. Authors – “Road Work,” “Thinner,” and “The Running Man” were all published with what author’s name on the covers? Sporcle Live with Liz accepted two answers for this one, though we came up with the one that was probably the more difficult one!

4. Money – Which U.S. state’s quarter contains the phrase “Foundation in Education” and features a picture by Grant Wood? “Who’s Grant Wood,” Evan asked. So I said, “He’s that guy who painted that picture with the grumpy farmer holding a pitchfork and standing next to his grumpy wife.” Then Evan’s face lights up, and he says, “Oh, OK.” We picked a nearby state that involved a landmark Supreme Court decision about education, miss for 2. Seriously…we need someone on our team to step up to be our team’s expert in state quarters! These questions get us almost every time…but coins are just so, so boring!

5. Number One Hits – What was the only song by Bill Haley and the Comets to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts? I was in the bathroom while this was being asked, but I could hear it from the bathroom. I rushed back to the table and asked the guys, “You guys know this one, right?” Mike had a low point slip out and said, “No.” I grabbed a much higher point slip and said jokingly, “Geez, I’m glad you guys need me!” Isn’t that the truth, though? Take a bathroom break, and that’s when your teammates really need you! Murphy’s Law of trivia…Got this for 9.

6. Games – Homer, Henry, Lizzie and Harry were all original playable characters in what board game? Mike and Evan with correct guess for 4.

7. Superheroes – Name one of the two actors who only portrayed Batman once on film since 1970. Name both for an extra “nerd” point. Got both for 8.

8. T.V. Theme Songs – Audio clue of BBC series theme song played backwards. Triviagasm moment for Mike for 7 points.

9. Anatomy – Renal physiology is the study of what organ of the human body? 6

10. U.S. History – Who was the first U.S. president to preside over all 50 U.S. states? 1

Visual Mystery –

Missed #3 and #4, though our guess for the band in #3 was from the right era…and we did not know the singer in band #4 was ever blonde.

Game two standings: Thirteen teams, scores 17 to 60, with Sam and Andy in first. We were in second with 58 points.

Final Category – Award-Winning Families

As of February 2018, based on combined age, who are the oldest living father and son to have both received Academy Awards?

We had some extra “qualifiers” given to us, which I think may have wound up confusing us more than we would have been had the question been asked as presented above. Our extra “hints” were that the son won an Oscar in the 1970s and in the 1980s, and the father won an honorary Oscar in 1990s. We did put some effort into this one, but just couldn’t come up with it. Our minds were going in too many decades/directions. Clearly this was not a “Go Pods” kinda night!

Do not know who got first, but there was a tiebreaker between that team and One is the Loneliest Number and that team, which I think may have been the team called “Let’s Get It.”

That’s it for now! Our next trivia outing will be our MTL game at Powell’s on Monday, so look for a recap of that game on Tuesday. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Gordon Gekko!