by heb23

Season Recap – Original Gravity (Spring/Summer 2018)

Another trivia season wrapped up Thursday, July 26 at Original Gravity. We wound up winning a tournament spot at the end of it all! Strangely, there was never a moment that I thought we wouldn’t be able to do it – yet I never really felt that we WOULD be able to do it, either! We certainly didn’t make an awesome enough showing to ever be in first place at the bar for very long, and we went several weeks without winning any prize money. And at the very end, my attempt to move us into second place… utterly failed.  I chose the wrong player to sit out that game! We had a MLB final question that the absent player would have been able to hit out of the park (go figure). This player didn’t have a sitter for his son that night, and I thought they would both be better off enjoying an evening at home rather than sitting in a noisy bar (the road to Hell is paved with good intentions).

So I knew going into the last game July 26 I’d need the best team I could get. And I think I managed to do just that! A new player joined us in that game, which allowed me to give him a “tryout,” since he will be joining us at a couple of tournament games in August. Other than him, it was pretty much my “usual suspects” at that game.

Looking back on the season, we struggled a bit at the beginning and could usually only bring 1-2 players out to the games. We only started to make some improvement in the last few weeks. Special thanks to Mike (who came out to all but one game), Dave (who came out for about five games), and Brad, who came out for three games. Also special thanks to our special “guests” Kimberly, Ang, Kirsten, and Evan, all of whom have been to at least one game. And also Matt, who came to our last game for the “tryout.” We couldn’t have done this without each and every one of these players! 

Let’s take a look at how things went week-by-week at this competitive little trivia spot in the little ‘ol town of Milan, MI! You are never going to see a better report of a trivia season anywhere guaranteed – or your money back! You’re going to be able to see the final questions for each game (we’ve only managed to get 11 final questions correct out of 24 so far), scores and overall team rankings for each game and moon phases for each game! OK, I’m just kidding about that last part, though the moon WAS full at the very last game! Unfortunately, we didn’t get a good viewing of the “blood moon.” We just weren’t in the right geographic location, but I digress!

Average scores per night for the top four teams are as follows (can you totally tell I used to be in a bowling league):

  1. Big Heads Big Hearts, 113.6
  2. This Is Sparta, 110.3
  3. Pods, 108.8
  4. Where’s Trey, 98.1

As for team lineups, BHBH played mainly as a trio (though they sometimes had add-ons); we averaged 2-3 players per night, This Is Sparta played mainly as a trio, and Where’s Trey usually had six players or more at each game. They disqualifed themselves at the final game because they didn’t slim down their roster to five players (there are actually quite a lot of teams who do this, strangely enough).

Abbreviations for team names are as follows – Pods (Miskatonic University Fighting Cephalopods, which is my team), BHBH (Big Heads Big Hearts), TIS (This is Sparta), Trey (Where’s Trey) and Mott (Team Mott and Significant Others). LP means “league points,” which have been tallied up for each week. I am only including scores for the top five league teams. For each week, teams will be sorted based on cumulative league points, not nightly score rankings.

In summation, Original Gravity turned into a nicely competitive trivia spot! Over this past season, I watched four different league teams being able to enjoy being “top dogs” for the week at least once. Teams This Is Sparta and Big Heads Big Hearts were in a battle for first/second place since the fifth game, with BHBH recently overtaking TIS. We were in fourth place for a very frustrating five weeks straight and only moved into third toward the end of the season. League point totals tightened up among the top four teams at the end, but BHBH remained in first place in the overall standings going into the last game.

Week 1 (April 26)

GAME 1
In 1949, the FCC created the Fairness Doctrine, which forbade stations from using the public airwaves to broadcast unfiltered propaganda.
Who was president of the United States when the Fairness Doctrine was repealed? Miss.

 

GAME 2
Along with his far more popular works, what American author released a series of books attributed to his alias, Uncle Shelby, a series of works originally published in Playboy, and a number of posthumous works, including Every Thing On It? Hit.
  1. Pods, 117, 15 LP
  2. TIS, 114, 12 LP
  3. BHBH, 95, 9 LP
  4. Trey, 80, 6 LP

Week 2 (May 3)

GAME 1
Name four of the seven modern day countries that were created from the former Yugoslavia. Hit.
GAME 2
In the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Megazord was composed of five separate Dinozords, each based on a prehistoric creature.
Name three of those five creatures. Miss.
  1. TIS, 136, 24 LP
  2. Trey, 160, 21 LP
  3. Pods, 119, 18LP
  4. BHBH, 110, 10 LP

Week 3 (May 10)

GAME 1
Since it was first awarded in 1957, only one non-quarterback has won the Associated Press NFL MVP Award multiple times.
Name that player, who won all of his awards prior to 1980. Miss.
GAME 2
Spike Lee has directed four theatrically-released films that feature Denzel Washington. Name two of those four films. Miss.
  1. Trey, 98, 30 LP
  2. TIS, 91, 27 LP
  3. Pods, 91, 24 LP
  4. BHBH, 104, 22 LP
  5. Mott, 125, 16 LP

Week 4 (May 17)

GAME 1
In addition to briefly attending business college, which 20th-century president took night courses at Kansas City Law School, but dropped out after two years, making him the most recent president who did not earn a college degree? Hit.
GAME 2
In 2010, The Big Four: Live from Sofia Bulgaria, was released, a live concert recorded earlier that year featuring four bands, collectively known as “the big four” of thrash metal. Name two of those four bands. Hit.
  1. Pods, 149, 39 LP
  2. TIS, 111, 36 LP
  3. Trey, 72, 36 LP
  4. BHBH, 115, 34 LP
  5. Mott, 33, 17 LP

Week 5 (May 24)

GAME 1
The United States is the fourth-largest producer of peanuts in the world. Name two of the three nations that produce more peanuts. Miss.
GAME 2
Christopher Darden is an American lawyer most-closely associated with what article of clothing? Hit.
  1. BHBH, 152, 49 LP
  2. TIS, 125, 48 LP
  3. Pods, 95, 42 LP
  4. Trey, 69, 37 LP
  5. Mott, 105, 26 LP

Week 6 (May 31)

GAME 1
Actress Brie Larson has appeared in three films that have grossed over 100 million dollars at the U.S. box office. Name any one of those films. Miss.
GAME 2
Name both the southernmost and northernmost cities that have at least one team in one of the four major North American sports leagues. (NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB). Hit.
  1. TIS, 121, 63 LP
  2. BHBH, 102, 61 LP
  3. Pods, 67, 48 LP
  4. Trey, 101, 46 LP
  5. Mott, 51, 29 LP

Week 7 (June 7)

GAME 1
A tiercel is the male of what kind of animal that has been domesticated for use in hunting? Hit.
GAME 2
The eurozone came into existence with the official launch of the euro on January 1, 1999 in eleven member states of the European Union.
France, Germany, Italy, and Spain were four of those countries – name two of the other seven. Miss.

  1. TIS, 154, 78 LP
  2. BHBH, 139, 73 LP
  3. Trey, 108, 52 LP
  4. Pods, 101, 49 LP
  5. Mott, 106, 30 LP

Week 8 (June 14)

GAME 1

The Animals, also known as Eric Burdon and The Animals, had two top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 that notably reference U.S. cities. Name one of those two cities. Hit.

GAME 2

What 1990s TV series, starring Adrian Paul, aired six seasons in syndication and was based on a franchise that began with a 1986 film? Miss.

  1. BHBH, 132, 85 LP
  2. TIS, 107, 84 LP
  3. Trey, 143, 67 LP
  4. Pods, 124, 58 LP
  5. Mott, 56, 31 LP

Week 9 (June 21)

GAME 1
Five players who have been the first overall pick in the NFL draft have also been the NFL Rookie of the Year.
Name two of those five players, who were drafted in 1978, 1980, 1981, 2010, and 2011, respectively. Miss.
GAME 2
What media franchise is the highest-grossing of all time, with sales of over $59B worldwide, including revenue from box office, merchandise, home entertainment, and games? The franchise has released at least one film yearly for the last 20 years. Miss.
  1. TIS, 74, 93 LP
  2. BHBH, 71, 91 LP
  3. Trey, 80, 79 LP
  4. Pods, 99, 73 LP
  5. Mott, 47, 34 LP

Week 10 (June 28)

GAME 1
Four U.S. presidents never had a vice president for the entire time that they served as president.
Name two of those four presidents. Hit.
GAME 2
The only movie to have four women earn Academy Award nominations in acting categories was All About Eve, two each for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.
Name one of the four women who earned those nominations. Miss.
  1. BHBH, 122, 103 LP
  2. TIS, 93, 94 LP
  3. Trey, 131, 91 LP
  4. Pods, 118, 82 LP
  5. Mott, 78, 35 LP

Week 11 (July 5)

GAME 1
In December 2017, Apple unveiled its list of the most downloaded iOS apps of the year. Name two of the top five most downloaded apps of 2017, according to Apple. Miss.

 

GAME 2
Although it seems to refer to a fruit that is actually entirely unrelated to the product involved, what two-word term is used to refer to the highest-quality grade of black tea? Hit.
  1. BHBH, 117, 115 LP
  2. TIS, 104, 103 LP
  3. Pods, 121, 97 LP
  4. Trey, 77, 94 LP

Week 12 – (July 12)

GAME 1
Hollywood Darlings is an unscripted documentary comedy series following Beverley Mitchell, Jodie Sweetin, and Christine Lakin, who were child actors in the 80s and 90s. Each actress has appeared in at least 150 episodes of one TV show. Name two of three. Hit.

 

GAME 2
The following quote is a summary of the appearance of the title character in what novel?
“A young woman mysteriously appears from a body of water and is discovered soaking wet on the doorstep by Sethe, Paul, and Denver.” Miss.
  1. BHBH, 117, 124 LP
  2. TIS, 104, 111 LP
  3. Pods, 121, 106 LP
  4. Trey, 77, 98 LP

Week 13 (July 19)

GAME 1
Of the 24 Major League Baseball pitchers who have at least 300 wins, five of them pitched their last game in the MLB in the 1980s.
Name any one of those pitchers. Miss.
GAME 2
Four of the last eight Grammy Awards for Best Song Written for Visual Media have been awarded to songs featured in animated films.
Name two of those four films. Miss.
  1. BHBH, 120, 139 LP
  2. TIS, 100, 123 LP
  3. Pods, 85, 115 LP
  4. Trey, 72, 104 LP

 

Week 14 – Venue Tournament (July 26)

GAME 1

Six albums released in the decade of the ’90s by bands or groups have sold at least 13 million copies as of 2018. Name two of those five bands or groups. Miss.

GAME 2
Not including countries bordering the disputed territory of Western Sahara, name two of the six African nations bordering at least six other African nations. Miss.
  1. Pods, 111
  2. BHBH, 97
  3. TIS, 70

And that’s a wrap! Let’s see how we do in the league championship August 5!

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.