Where else but in a virtual trivia game – where you are competing against that really good team from Philly – maybe a team with a pair of brothers from Boston – or that one team that plays virtually virtually every single night – are you going to wind up in a three-way tie for 12th place going into the final question after only having missed six points during the regular rounds? Also perfect trivia scores are not unheard of in a virtual game, and y’all can say what you will about those! Are the teams really that good? Yes, some of them are! Are all of them really that good? I’m not saying any more about that!

It was just my usual trivia pardner Mike and I battling the questions. And here they were:

Round One  

The first question is about this woman (well, sort of) – The “Simpsonized” version of that woman, anyway!

1 Characters – What fictional character, introduced in 1934 in a novel by P.L. Travers, whimsically arrives at 17 Cherry Tree Lane in London to help the Banks family?

2 Rivers – The Aswan High Dam, which opened in 1970, helps to regulate the flow of what major African river? Mike said he used to call this the “Aslan Dam.” I think because he imagined it to have a big lion’s head statue at the top or something?

3 Film Awards – At the Golden Raspberry Awards in 2016, Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson earned Worst Actor and Actress as well as Worst Screen Combo awards for their roles in what film that earned Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay? Usually, this category terrifies us, because it could literally be anything – from “best kiss” awards given at the MTV movie awards, to “best wizard fight” – (which of course is Sauron vs. Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring. Also, funny trivia note, the 2016 movie Deadpool would break all of the records set by the correct movie answer for this question a year later (both were Valentine’s weekend openings). Snarky costumed hero beats S&M that doesn’t go far enough every time!

4 1970s Music – Name either group that charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1970s with the song “Summer Breeze.” I am disappointed that I didn’t know both, even if there wasn’t a nerd point attached for doing so.

Mystery One –

Name the athlete based on the “Who Am I?”-style question.

Talk about categories that scare us! Let’s take a deep breath…

M1. I was a forward for the national U.S. women’s soccer team from 1987 to 2004, winning two World Cup titles and two Olympic gold medals. I’ve been married to former baseball player Nomar Garciaparra since 2003. Who am I?

M2. I was born in present-day Germany in 1978 and played my entire 21-year NBA career with the Dallas Mavericks. In 2022, the team unveiled a statue of me taking a fadeaway shot. Who am I?

M3. I won my first major tournament in 2004, and, in 2021, I won the PGA Championship, making me the oldest golfer ever to win a major. My nickname is “Lefty.” Who am I?

M4. I was named to the NBA All-Star Team 18 times during my career with the Los Angeles Lakers. I won an Oscar in 2018 for a short film about basketball. Who am I?

Thankfully one of two women’s soccer players whose names we could remember was the correct one! We missed 2 and 4.

Round Two

5 Artists – Johannes Vermeer, Frans Hals, and Rembrandt were artists in a period known as the Golden Age of what country?

6 Insects – Many insects undergo holometabolism, or complete metamorphosis, which is a four-stage process that begins with the egg stage and ends with the adult or imago stage. Name either of the intermediate stages.

NERD POINT: Name both.

(Note: Use the generic terms, not the names used for any specific species.)

Mike was all over this, thank the insect gods!

7 TV Episodes – What HBO series ended its run in 2007 with a series finale episode titled “Made in America?”

8 Headlines – Which U.S. president was the subject of an incorrect headline from the Chicago Tribune that famously declared he had been defeated by Thomas E. Dewey in an election?

Mystery Round Two –

For this mystery round, your team can give four answers and can put them in any order you choose. You will receive two points for each correct answer.

As part of its “State of the Sides” report in 2022, Campbell’s released a list of the top five side dishes at holiday meals. Name four of those five side dishes.

We picked three correct side dishes. We were in 12th going into the final with 46 points.

World History

The Great Leap Forward, also known as the Second Five Year Plan, was an economic and social campaign from 1958–1962 to transform the agrarian economy of what country?

Mike – again – was all over this (he’s been on fire lately with the questions)! Still, our efforts only managed to move us up to 10th place!

We may do a “real life” trivia game next week, that all depends upon player participation, weather and any other unforeseen circumstance planned or unplanned. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Kobe Bryant! We had no idea you had an Oscar – though we’re wondering why Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was overlooked for his riveting performance in Airplane!