It’s been a bit of a challenge to get our trivia “crew” all together on the same nights for trivia this year! This is why we’ve been (sometimes) waging a couple of trivia battles a week – we have our Monday games, and are also doing Wednesdays… or Thursdays. This week, Wednesday worked better than Thursday, and I wanted a chance to meet up with one of our “tournament” players out for a regular game before we play semifinals Saturday. And so it was that Mike, Evan and I met up at The Owl in Milan, where Mike and Evan quickly became fans of Founders’ Solid Gold lager – and I had some glasses of Bell’s Oberon. We won a $10 gift card in game one under some strange…circumstances! We were in a tiebreaker for second with another team, who just asked the host to give us the prize rather than battle the tiebreaker. When I talked to the other team, it turns out that they are a couple of teachers and their kid – and have at least $100 in “Owl” money that has been given to them as gifts throughout the school year. Uh, OK, thanks?

We were one point off from a perfect game going into the final in game one, missing only the bonus point on a video games question. And then we blew all 20 points on the final because the category was ’80s music (which is usually a strong category for our team). That’s why these “non regulation” games can be…kind of nice!

The final questions were a bit…rough on this night! We didn’t even really *understand* the final question in game one about singers from We Are The World – and came so, so close to getting the soccer final question right in game two (had Archie been playing with us, we probably would have gotten this one correct)!

The questions…

Game One

1. Colors – In 1872, the Rex Organization declared that the official colors of Mardi Gras are green, gold and what other color? 3

2. Actors – Which “Rat Pack” actor lost an eye in a car accident when he was 29 and was later awarded a Springarn medal from the NAACP? 10

3. Arcade Game s- Name either of the players that can be controlled by  players in the original 1987 Street Fighter video game? Name both for a bonus point. Got one, but not both for 9.

4. Athletes – In 1999, ESPN named what basketball player the greatest athlete of the 20th century? I came up with right guess right away (IKR, the non sportsball expert), but we weren’t confident because I DON’T KNOW SPORTSBALL! So got this for only 4…

5. Disasters (I always get strangely excited when we get this category) – In which East coast U.S. state did the LZ 129 Hindenburg catch fire and crash in 1937? 8

6. New Music – In May, 2019, who released the song Never Really Over, the lead single from the upcoming unnamed album – the follow-up to her 2017 album Witness? Evan all over this for 7.

7. Medicine – In 1915, what company became the first to sell aspirin in tablet form over the counter? 6

8. Capital Cities – La Paz and Sucre are both capital cities of what South American country? Facebook clue, 5.

9. Literary Families – Willy, Linda, Biff and Happy Loman are characters of what 20th Century Pulitzer Prize winning and Tony Award winning play? 2

10. Awards – The Hollywood Foreign Press Association present what annual awards every January for excellence in domestic and foreign film and TV? 1

Word!

Mystery – this was all audio, had to ID the celebrity authors. Got them all correct.

Scores heading into final: Six teams, scores 42 to 66, with us tied with Sloth.

Final Category – ’80s Music

On the 1985 single “We Are the World” by USA for Africa, two singers, neither of whom performed as soloists, have last names that begin with the letter “B”. Name either of those performers.

We interpreted the phrase “neither of whom performed as soloists” as meaning the singers were part of a band involved with this song. However, even HAD we understood what this question really wanted? We STILL would not have gotten it correct. Deep cut? Well played, Sporcle Live! You win this round! No teams got this correct.

Sloth won first on a zero wager, we got second.

Game Two

1. 2000s TV – What NBC TV drama originally aired from 2006 to 2010 and used a depiction of a solar eclipse to replace a letter in the title of the show? 10

2. Storms – Name one of the three months in which the most Atlantic hurricanes formed between 1851 and 2017? I wrote down one of the correct months right away, but then we started to “discuss” our answer more (take one guess what happened). Miss for 3. Commence me talking about how Hurricane Katrina was the ONLY thing that could get the media to STFU about Natalee Holloway’s disappearance (grumble…”missing white woman syndrome,” grumble).

3. Scandals – Jeff Gilooly and his wife are associated with a scandal that occurred in what sport? How do you ever forget a name like “Gilooly?”  9

4. Cameos – Bruce Willis had a cameo appearance in a 2017 film as David Dunn, a character originally introduced in what 2000 M. Night Shyamalan film? 8

5. Aquariums – The National Aquarium, from 2003 to 2013, was a single entity that operated separate locations in both Washington D.C. and what other location 40 miles away? And for the second time on this trivia night, I suggested a correct answer and we put down a different one. This is just a statement of fact, NOT a gripe! In both of these cases I wasn’t super confident… (all’s fair in trivia and war), miss for 3.

6. Birthdays – Although her birthday is April 21, Queen Elizabeth II’s “official” birthday celebration is celebrated in what month – in order for good weather to be more likely? A couple of us on our team with February birthdays decreed that moving our birthdays to months when weather is warmer is a great idea! Got this for 5.

7. Artists – What French artist, born in 1761, is best known for her wax sculptures and namesake wax museums? 7

8. Song Titles – What is the only letter in the title of a Crash Test Dummies song that hit 4 on the Billboard Hot 100?

9. Name either of the most consumed vegetable oils in the world, according to the USDA?  Both are consumed at over the double rate of rapeseed and canola oil – the third most consumed oils. For a nerd bonus, name both. Got one, but not both for 2.

10. Slogans – The Daily Diary of an American Dream is a slogan first used in 1985 by what business focused newspaper? 1

Visual Mystery –

Missed 2 and 3.

Scores – Six teams, scores 31 to 61, with Sloth in first. We were in second with 52.

Final category – soccer

Wagered 10 on this…

There are five countries that have national teams that have appeared in the FIFA Men’s World Cup finals and lost in each of their appearances, one of which is Czechoslovakia. Name two of the other four countries, all of which are also in Europe.

I started writing down Euro countries that I knew won the World Cup – and started crossing them out. I considered a couple that would have been correct, but put down that “hybrid” country instead. It’s not France, it’s not the Netherlands, and it’s not Germany, but its people consume more French fries per capital than in any other country in the world. Can you guess which country I guessed?

Game winners: Hell Yeah, 51, Sloth, ??? (did not write down their points).

Until next time, which will be our hopefully NOT ill-fated semifinal game at the YpsiAlehouse Saturday!! As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Tonya Harding!