Yup. It was just another of hundreds of nights spent at home – the only difference was – virtual trivia! Well, in our case, adding trivia games to our evening activities isn’t exactly a “stop the presses” event! Fun fact, “stopping the presses” is actually much, much harder to do than it sounds (it doesn’t just involve flipping a switch). It’s actually a big deal when someone in a news room yells this and chances are, it will ruin a shift for some poor schmuck working in a press room. Back in the long, long ago when I worked at a news rag, the only time I heard anyone yell “Stop the presses” (which he only did to be dramatic) was when we found out Princess Diana was dead – and hadn’t just died in a car accident (this was a pretty big event at the time). But none of this is important, and isn’t going to be on the test! And isn’t print becoming a thing of the past? Moving on!

So the two of us decided to pick a game that we knew our friends and occasional friendly rivals from Sparty On would also be playing. The game was hosted by Sporcle Live with DJ Todd, whom we remember from having hosted live trivia games in the distant past (Johnny’s Grill in Belleville, MI). We did about as well as you’d expect of a team with just two players (not great, but also not TOO bad)!

1. Mythology – In Greek mythology, what creatures lived on an island and lured sailors to shipwreck with their voices and music? Easy way to start the game, even if mythology ain’t your thing, you’re probably going to know this! And right then and there we decided we wanted to add these – and mermaids – to the pirate board game we occasionally play!

2. TV Settings – The fictional Eastland School, a private all-girls school in New York, was a main setting during the first several seasons of what TV sitcom?, Girls, GIRLS!

3. Rivers – The Chattahoochee River flows through which Southern U.S. state capital? I mistakenly thought this river was the same river featured in many scenes in the movie Deliverance, but thankfully this mistake did not hurt us (a similarly named river is also in this state). Did you know former president Jimmy Carter helped push to make filmmaking a thing in this state – and there are still a lot of things filmed here. Yes, I gave a hint to the correct answer (don’t worry, I won’t do that for ALL of the questions)!

4. Measures – In the U.S., a peck is equal to how many dry quarts?

5. College Football – What is the most recent school to produce Heisman Trophy winners in consecutive years?

NERD POINT: Who is the only player to win the Heisman Trophy twice?

We incorrectly guessed Alabammy State, had no clue on the Heisman winner.

6. Animals – Plains and wood are the two subspecies of what animal native to North America? Ask Mike sometime to describe what this animal smells like (it’s one of his very vivid childhood memories, and his description is just as vivid). It starts out like, “You take an old shag carpet that’s been sitting outside for a year and has been pissed on and defecated on frequently…” You get the drift!

7. Albums – What singer is pictured reclining in a loveseat with a drink in hand on the cover of her album Pearl, released posthumously in 1971? Oh how fashionable it was to be young and die around this time if you were a musician…

8. Casinos – What Las Vegas casino opened in 1957 and shares its name with a popular brand of orange juice? Easy peasy…

9. Firsts – In what decade did Miss Iowa Cheryl Browne become the first African American contestant in the Miss America pageant? We had it narrowed down to two decades, one of which was correct (we chose the wrong one).

10. Companies – What toy company now owned by Mattel was founded in 1930 and named after the last names of some of its founders? Miss, we guessed Parker Brothers. And this seems like a question we’ve missed before…

Mystery – Competition TV (Yikes… NOT IT)! For each given performer, name the reality competition series that they won during the show’s first season.

M1. Melanie Amaro

M2. Kelly Clarkson

M3. Javier Colon

M4. Bianca Ryan

Only got #2 correct. Should have taken Mike’s advice and put in “America’s Got Talent” for the other three of them so that we’d possibly get at least one more right (this strategy has worked for us in the past).

We were in fifth going into the final with 53 points, Sparty On (or should I say “Smarty On, lol” – were in first with 53 points.

Final World Capitals

Name three of the four capitals of the constituent countries that make up the United Kingdom.

Got this, but not enough to move us into the top three… Until next time, as always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Mrs. Garrett!