We played our fourth game of the current Sporcle Live season Wednesday at The Owl Morning Til Night in Milan, in what is becoming a “semi regular” spot. We’ve been on a Monday rotation for quite a while, and alternating our second trivia nights of the week on either Wednesdays or Thursdays, depending upon work schedules, moon phases, toothaches, flash flood warnings, power outages, solar flares, calamities involving car keys and any other circumstances foreseeable and non-foreseeable. When the stars are right… For those of you keeping score at home, we played our fortieth Sporcle Live game of 2019 on Wednesday, and have almost hit 50 total trivia games for the year (not counting tournament or semifinal games). Believe it or not, there was a time we played a lot more often than we do now!

What about prizes? Aww, do we have to talk about those? Yeah…no prizes on this night, but if prizes were awarded for dramatic performances – we might have won “something” for that! For one – you could’ve cut the intensity amongst our players with a…worn out Stanley box cutter blade encrusted with packaging tape – when we discussed our final question answer for game two! And just imagine how the drama must have unfolded when it was revealed that the answer that Mike wanted to go with for the answer was correct – but it was NOT what we put down! And the Oscar goes to?

I’m hearing that there was some confusion in the trenches about the wording of the game two final question…but I’ll get to that in a bit! How about some regular round questions?

Game One

1. Getting Out – The escape from a penitentiary by brothers Lincoln Burrows and Michael Scofield is central to the plot of what Fox series debuting in 2005? 10

2. To The Casino – What is the three letter term for an area of a casino between gaming tables restricted to dealers and casino personnel? Talk about a very bad-ass sounding job title! Evan was gunning for a hat trick and nailed this one for 9.

3. Mascots – In the 1970s, what pickle brand introduced a stork mascot with mannerisms similar to Groucho Marx? There is a packaging/shipping facility for this company not too far from where I grew up, in Imlay City, MI (was listed as one of Lapeer County’s largest employers). Looks like their parent company – Pinnacle – was recently acquired by Conagra Foods. Read more about that here.

4. Quarterbacks – Three of the five active NFL quarterbacks with the most passing yards made their debut in 2004. Name two of those three quarterbacks – all three for a bonus point. And Evan got his hat trick here, but for only 2 points (plus the bonus).

5. In the Mouth – What is the term for the pointed teeth in humans that are located on either side of the incisors? Miss for 4. You’d think with all the time I’ve spent at the dentist in the past couple of years I would have learned the names of my teeth – George, Randy, Grace, Rita, Mr. Pointy Pants… (JK)!

6. Parodies -What 2008 film is primarily a parody of the 2006 film 300 although it references a number of other movies too? Could not quite come up with the correct name, miss for 3. Why have I not seen this movie? It looks ridiculous (right up my alley)…

More beer less…shirt? And is that Kevin Sorbo? Now I KNOW I have to see this (he doesn’t shy away from the silly roles).

7. Oil – In 1954, the Anglo Iranian Oil Company became known as BP, which is abbreviated how? 7

8. Kings – Name one of the two English kings who are the subject of multiple history plays by William Shakespeare. I recently described myself as “hit or miss” when it comes to literature questions, but on this night, it was a “hit.” It was a nail biter though – the other two on my team weren’t all that confident with my answer (Jeez guys I took a Shakespeare class in college and yes there were two parts to the play about the king we put down)!

9. Queens – In what year did Elizabeth II become the queen of the United Kingdom? Again, little confidence from my trivia “pardners” when I gave them my guess for the answer. “If you’re wrong, would it be earlier or later?” I said, “I don’t think I’m wrong here.” #triviagasm for 5. Any celebratory feelings I had from these two questions will fade away quickly enough later in the game (it’s always something)!

10. Alter Egos – What Marvel comic character is usually depicted as an enemy of Spider-Man and has a “real” name of Otto Octavius? 1

Mystery – Quickfire

Name the four highest-grossing film at the U.S. box office with the word “wedding” in the title

Got two of these correct.

Scores – Eight teams, scores ??? to 58 with More Beer Less Pants in first. We were in second with 55 points.

Final Category – Labor Unions

Solidarity is the English name of a labor union that formed in what country in 1980. The country’s government attempted to destroy the union through martial law and suppression throughout the decade, but by 1990, its co-founder had been elected president.

Wagered zero and knew this (can a facepalm cause permanent injury)? I honestly don’t even know HOW I knew this answer…was this an old Trivial Pursuit nugget lingering in my brain? Mysteries abound…

Winners – Pity Party, 63; More Beer Less Pants, 78.

Game Two

1. TV Themes – What TV series that aired nine seasons from 1962 to 1971 featured the theme song The Ballad of Jed Clampett? For a bonus point, what actor played Jed Clampett? I told Evan that this was a “Yay I’m old” question, got for 10 plus the bonus.

Parody of both the Dire Straits video Money for Nothing AND Beverly Hillbillies by “Weird Al” in his wonderful, wonderful movie UHF. Why parody just one thing?

2. Names – What common six letter name from the Greek means earth worker or farmer? One team managed to get this correct, we missed for 1.

3. Jewelry – Which of the following necklace lengths is the shortest – princess, matinee, opera or lariat? FB clue, 9.

4. Technology – With the seventh generation released in May 2019, what is the only product in the iPod product line that is still currently available? Miss for 3.

5. Travel – What is the fewest number of states a person would have to travel through by land if traveling from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico? Mike was absent while this question was being answered so we didn’t have our “mapmaker.” Evan and I still made a noble effort, and at the very last second before handing in our answer, I said “Let’s subtract one from that just in case we have too many.” Big sigh of relief, got it for 2.

6. Movie Songs – Audio clue song from a movie Evan and I didn’t recognize, but of COURSE the absent player would have spotted (go figure Murphy’s Law of trivia)…Miss for 4.

7. Sports Quotes – What eight words precede the iconic sports quote, “His hands can’t hit what his hands can’t see?” 8

8. (Brace yourselves for another drama filled moment)) – Rock Songs – What band released the single I’m 18 in 1970 even though the band’s lead singer was actually 22 – and  would later take the band’s name as his own? I crossed my fingers and put my head down until the answer was read (don’t ask me why that even makes sense – it just seemed like the thing to do)…Whew! Got it for 7.

9. Nursery Rhymes – According to the common version of a nursery rhyme, what confection is “one a penny two a penny?” 5

10. Retail – Hollister is owned by what parent company? 5

Visual Mystery –

Missed #1 and #2 (hanging my head in shame for missing #2).

Scores – Seven teams, scores 36 to 55, with Do Cephalopods Dream of Electric Sharks in first (our little tribute to Rutger Hauer).

Final Category – U.S. States

What was the first U.S. state to join the Union that does NOT border the Atlantic Ocean?

First, there was the “what does join the union mean” discussion…and then there was “does (blank) state border the ocean or not” question. And I think you can all figure out that we were doomed…we had every single one of the 13 colonies written down and one of those would’ve been correct, but nope…clearly it was not to be.

Game winners: ???, 72; Scoobaru, 75.

One of our players will be sitting in with a MTL team Saturday and “hopefully” helping them get a finals spot! Go…Pod? Another longtime player will be joining the party. Will it be an unholy alliance? Or a dream team? Or both? We’ll see! As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Alice Cooper!