It’s not always easy being “in charge” of a trivia team. Not only do you have the challenges of communicating with and dealing with your varied “human resources,” which is not unlike trying to herd cats –  but sometimes you have to make tough decisions!

Vyvyan on the British sitcom “The Young Ones” describes his MO for solving most of life’s problems…

In this case, I had to decide which player to cut from our team that will play next Thursday at Original Gravity. I will have a “ringer” joining us in this game, and this game will be kind of an unofficial “tryout,” since he may be joining us at our MTL games next month. I don’t need to try out his knowledge – I know he is more than qualified – I just want to make sure he will get along all right with my regular “crew!” If he helps us advance to the league championship, there’s really no doubt I will keep him on board for the MTL games next month. This will be a good test.

Only problem is I already had my five players set for this game! Whom to cut? Evan? Awww HELL no! He’s a millennial, and has been a very dedicated and vital player for us in nearly the past year at both regular games and tournaments. Mike? He’s my husband, so…not a chance! I like having him at my side, and if I cut him out, they WILL ask something only he would know! Happens every time! Plus he’s our team’s “secretary,” meaning he keeps track of the score sheets, scores, answer slips (he does have the best handwriting out of all of our players, lol). Which brings me to my two other remaining players, Brad and Dave. Hmm…..one of them will have to be cut, which one will it be?

This time I’ve decided to cut Brad from the venue tournament team. He’s not really a fan of playing at OG anyway, and needs to be driven to games. I kind of wanted to strangle him when he rode with us to a game last Thursday (he turns into an 8 year old when he sits in the back seat). Isn’t it good I decided not to have “real” kids? But I digress… Because of the knowledge areas of the “ringer” I’ll have, Brad will not be as essential in this game. Dave, on the other hand, is stronger in a couple of categories that are weaker for this other player. I think I’m making the right call, and Brad has already said he’s OK with being cut. Whew! Dave is very, very geeked about being able to play in this game. He had to bail on our OG venue tourney last year because of a last-minute issue involving the divorce from his second wife. This will be his shot at “redemption,” I guess you could say!

We’ll see how this never-before-used ‘Pods lineup works out next Thursday!