The recent 20-week long My Trivia Live season has ended, and a new one has begun. What will my team do? Will we commit to playing each week at one spot to qualify? Play several nights a week and and do the “barhop” thing? Play occasionally and hope for the best? I’ll let Frank Drebin from The Naked Gun answer for me:

We managed to qualify for the upcoming semifinals by playing just three games. We didn’t intend to do this. A trivia host texted me about a month ago or so and “lured” us out of what was essentially self-imposed exile, and semi-retirement. I was punishing myself for something I did a couple of years ago at a My Trivia Live game that I wasn’t proud of doing. I didn’t even say “yes” to this host’s request initially. This “exile” would still be continuing now had I not gotten her text. Sure, some other teams may not be happy that we’re back, but, well…sorry not sorry?

As for this upcoming season, I won’t be able to play one spot every week, I won’t be attempting barhop, but we will still play occasionally at local spots when my schedule allows. If that level of commitment gets us to semifinals, so be it – if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Trivia revolves around my life, not the other way around (as it kind of did in my past life).

I’m not expecting to ever be able to dominate any trivia spots again. And that’s OK! My team managed to win tournament spots at several different local bars over the past 14 years – Corner Brewery (2012, 2013, 2015), Arbor Brewing Company (downtown Ann Arbor, 2015), Original Gravity Brewing Company (2017), YpsiAlehouse (2016), Oscars (2018), Tower Inn (2019 in two different trivia leagues), Wurst Bar (2016-2017) and Powells (2018). Post pandemic, we’ve managed to finish second at two different venue tournaments in the Sporcle Events league. I don’t think my team needs to “prove” anything anymore.

Sporcle Events does make it easier for teams to get to the “big dance” than they did before the pandemic. Playing week after week after week after week is no longer necessary to make it to the final Globe Games. God, just writing about playing week after week after week is exhausting! Sure, there are still teams that play the same time and place week after week after week. Some even do that more than once a week. Or even more than that (I do admire that level of dedication).

Things have changed too much post-pandemic for me to pull that off. Firstly, I don’t have all of the players for live games that I used to. One of my dear friends – and trusty trivia backup players (Archie) passed away in 2019, and another (Mr. E.) became a new daddy. Losing even one with a skeleton crew like mine can hurt, losing two really, really hurts! Add those two to the four players I’ve lost to moves out of state/town since 2014, and, well, it seems that cephalopods (my trivia team’s mascot) have become an endangered species.

Another post pandemic change is that I work later shifts than I used to (no more 6 a.m. shifts!) Not having to work early has been great, but dealing with occasional evening rush hours, not so much… If it takes me an hour to get home, I ain’t feeling much up for rushing back out the door for a trivia game. I just want to change into jammies and unwind, maybe watch a bit of fabulous streaming TV. By the time I have dinner, get showered and get a second wind – if i get one – it’s usually too late to hit up a game. Anyone else miss the 8 and 9 o’clock trivia games that stopped after the pandemic? Just me? I didn’t mind those, especially if I didn’t have to work the next day!

I know that some other players’ egos might be more fragile than ours. It can be upsetting to play nearly every week, dominate a spot nearly all season, only to be toppled by some other team (especially one that you hate) at the end. It might even be enough to drive you away and give up on playing longtime spots. I’ve heard that my team drove teams away from one local spot we played. Sorry not sorry?

Same works in reverse, a couple of us decided that we didn’t dig the current YpsiAlehouse trivia scene and decided to quit after seven consecutive prizeless games. Sure, there were other factors involved with our deciding to quit this place, including but not limited to a recent death in the family. But overall, games there became too much of a chore, and the early start time of 5 p.m. was just too…weird. We’re night owls and accustomed to starting our evening activities at 7 p.m. or later. We usually have dinner between 5 and 7 p.m., and we don’t like eating during trivia games (too much of a distraction). We do drink during trivia games (gotta do our parts to support the trivia nights, right?)

I’m just happy to be in the game again in BOTH local trivia leagues. Variety is the spice of life! I can’t take back the not nice things that I did during the craziness of the pandemic, but rest assured, I’ll try my damdest not to make a sequel!