I HAD planned on playing at Original Gravity tonight. But I’m just not feeling up to it. That has been the absolute best part of this “casual” trivia plan! Being able to just blow off games on the fly. I can’t even count how many times I dragged myself out for trivia games that I just didn’t even want to play. Truth be told, this is the busiest time of year for me at work, and sometimes I just don’t have the energy for an evening trivia game. Why did I tell my boss I’d stay later today? Oh yeah, money!

Now I’m going to be honest about some things… Are you ready? Don’t be scared (this is all good stuff): One, there was a certain team that didn’t qualify for the Sporcle Live league championship last season. And I was very, very bothered that they didn’t qualify (believe me – it was actually very very upsetting to me)! It is my sincere hope that this team – in its normal configuration – somehow manages to get to the league championship this season. And since this is “honesty time,” I’m a gonna say WHY I want this team at the championship! I want them there because I feel this team has a chance to beat another team that tends to…win a lot. Yes, this might seem to be a petty reason for me to want this team at finals, but a petty reason is better than no reason at all!

Honesty is the “theme” of this post, and also the name of a 1979 hit single by Billy Joel, from his 52nd Street album. It peaked at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

More honesty from me (though it does sound better coming out of Billy Joel)? I also want this team at finals…because it’s simply NOT a finals if they’re not there! Even if they wind up beating us (honestly – they ARE going to beat us), it’s all good! I’ve known this team for several years now, and it’s an HONOR to be beaten by them! When they kick my team’s ass, I can tell myself that we were beaten by the absolute best! A “You win this round,” kind of thing – then I shake my fist at them in fake anger.

And another thing I’m a gonna be honest about…I don’t feel at all good about how the whole thing with Powell’s shook out. Even though I voluntarily walked away from the trivia games there, I also kind of feel we were “forced” out. A trivia team bringing 10 players every week to try beating your two-person team? While I believe in doing whatever it takes to win, in light of some other negatives that were piling up with the place, it… wasn’t that hard to walk away.

I don’t have the best views of the My Trivia Live league right now. And that’s mainly because of one of their hosts (not naming names).  I’m not even sure if we’ll ever come back to the league. Yes, the prizes are better at the tournaments – if you can manage to place in the top three.  Unless a decent local spot opens up, I think the MTL ship has sailed…though I won’t rule out joining forces with other MTL teams that may need tournament players. Maybe some team out there will get desperate enough to ask me! Did you say you needed a… BENCHWARMER? I can do that! I did know the Rosa Parks final answer in the most recent MTL finals – though it…didn’t wind up on the slip (I was very, very bitter about that for a couple of days – since I’m in still in the “honesty” zone, I will go ahead and say that).

In a strange twist, it appears that my team has qualified for the Tuesday, Nov. 13 venue tournament at Tower Inn. What’s more, it looks like we’re the ONLY qualified team. Unless this is some kind of typo/mistake, that would mean all we have to do is show up for that game – and we have a finals spot! I know, that hardly seems fair, does it? We’ve worked very hard to get to finals in the past…if we have an easier way to go this time, I’ll chalk it up to karma!

I’ve already been in talks with potential players, including Evan. Here’s a transcript of our Facebook Messenger convo: (hey this is honesty time):  “I will def be calling your ass from the bench for that (finals)!”  He said he’d be more than up for joining us…now why can’t ALL of my players be so easygoing about showing up for tourneys? Evan has played with us in four Sporcle Live tournaments (helping us win money in one of those). He has also helped in almost as many semifinal games – he’s a trouper – and he LOVES trivia! More importantly – he tends to know stuff that other people on my team DON’T know!

I don’t want to get too excited about this. As I said, it could’ve been a typo. But If we do win a tournament spot, we will USE it! I may not have five players…but we’ll BE there! If for no other purpose than to provide “fresh meat” to the other competing teams! Dig in! Don’t live to eat – eat to live! I’ll also be there to write down the questions so I can do the recap! Hey…who says I’m not useful for SOMETHING? We all have our “jobs” in this universe, after all…

I definitely plan to be at the Original Gravity venue tourney next Thursday. Stars look right so far – I have Thursday off from work (so I won’t be tired). I will be cheering on the team Mind The Gap to win this game (though not super audibly…I wouldn’t want to embarrass them or anything). Sigh…I hope they actually WANT to win this game! They’ll essentially only have one team to beat – and it won’t be MY team! Not THIS time! Though I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be THAT upset if they did beat my team if my team was in real contention! Just a  hunch…

And that’s a WRAP! And heeere’s a photo of a turkey club wrap! Anyone hungry?