We finished third in a recent virtual trivia game but that’s not the oddest thing about that! Even stranger was that our final question was the dreaded “We Didn’t Start the Fire” category! I know I’ve blathered on before about how much I hate that song, even if I don’t hate Billy Joel as an artist. I just think that song is a waste of talent for a person whom, in my opinion, is one of the best piano players in popular music. All he does is pound a pentatonic melody on the piano in this song, there is no artistry to it at all. It’s like if you let your 5 year old kid pound on a piano. It’s offensive to me, really.

All of that said, though – how about some other questions?

Round One

1 Games – In what lawn game are there two ways to score under the official rules—by throwing a ringer, which scores three points, or by having a thrown game piece closer than an opponent’s, which scores one point apiece? Mike nailed this one, he would prove to be the game MVP.

2 TV Resumes – Who has appeared on TV as an actor in a self-titled sitcom and as the host of The American Bible Challenge and Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Yup, Mike again!

3 Bridges – The Öresund Bridge connects Denmark to what other Scandinavian country? Hat trick Mike!

4 Cars – What model of Volkswagen has a four-letter name that is also found in the NATO phonetic alphabet? He taught me the NATO alphabet, so he had an assist, but I knew which word we needed.

Mystery Round One

We missed #4.

Round Two

5 1970s Music – According to the title of a 1975 song by Paul Simon, how many ways are there to leave your lover?

6 Measures – What is the “H” term for the metric unit of area that is equal to 10,000 square meters, or approximately 2.47 acres?

7 Speeches – In what U.S. city did Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver the “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, his last before his assassination?

8 Soccer – Name one of the three most recent countries to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup, following China, which hosted in 2007.

NERD POINT: Name two of three.

We got one correct.

Mystery Round 2

Dear John – The correct answer is the LAST name of the man named John who is described in each clue.

M1. Comedian and actor whose credits include the 1996 film Romeo + Juliet, his one-man Broadway show, Freak, and the Ice Age franchise

M2. Politician who represented Georgia in Congress from 1987 until his death in 2020, and who was one of the key organizers of the 1963 March on Washington

M3. Founding Father who served as the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

M4. Original drummer for Led Zeppelin, often regarded as one of the most influential drummers of all time

Got all of these. We were in seventh going into the final with 50 points.

Final Category- 80s Song Lyrics

Name two of the three Major League Baseball players who are referenced by name in the 1989 single “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel.

We knew one right away, had to rely on a guess for #2, thankfully our guess was right. We moved up to third.

We plan to do a live game again next week, if we can get at least a couple of helpers. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Mickey Mantle!