It seems really…strange – yet blissful! Usually August translates to “trivia tournament time.” In fact, just today in my Facebook “memories,” I had posted about having played in a semifinal game in Plymouth, MI which qualified my team for our first Sporcle Live finals! So we drove into Detroit, played in that finals at the Majestic Theater (which was not living up to its name with its crumbling interior). We didn’t make any real noise at that game, but it was still a great way for us all to get our feet wet!

Weren’t we just so adorable? Sporcle Live finals, August, 2012 at the Majestic Theater. Two of my “regulars” in this photo have since moved to the West coast.  My team’s three “regulars” are the three in the back (Mike, me and Brad).

Over the past eight years, my team played in several semifinal games and finals tournaments in the month of August (and sometimes July). This would make it difficult to plan camping trips, vacations, etc. And could also be an unnecessary source of stress for me. Rounding up the players for one – since one of my players usually starts living at the Michigan Renaissance Festival every weekend beginning in mid August every year, I would always have to find a sub for him. Not to mention the intensity of the high-pressure games themselves! Do really well and you’re riding high for a bit – do really poorly and you could plummet into a depressive state. Overall I would say that the experience was… not always the best for my mental health.

Last August in particular was a bit…rough. A dear friend of mine – whom was also an occasional “helper” for my trivia team – passed away. Four months later at a finals tournament for the My Trivia Live league, our team won a bit of a cash prize – and I still – to this day – feel like that friend was there in spirit. I definitely believed he may have helped me from beyond the grave on that tiebreaker question about Harley-Davidson (he was a huge Harley-Davidson fan). I’m not exactly a spiritual person by my nature, but sometimes…you just gotta believe. Even if it makes no logical sense.

Do I still miss going out for trivia games, seeing the other players and occasionally kicking ass and winning prizes? Of course! But now it’s a matter of playing when and where I want to. With COVID-19 shutting down most of the trivia leagues (even if some games are happening now), there are no longer any trivia games I “have to” go out to play. I don’t even have to leave the house if I don’t want to – I can just sign up for a “virtual” game!

Speaking of that, I’ll be doing a virtual game about The Princess Bride on Friday! My husband just joked that if they re-made the movie now, the roles played by Cary Elwes and Robin Wright would be played by two guys! 🙂