We played our seventh My Trivia Live finals on a recent sunny Saturday afternoon at the Library Pub in West Bloomfield. I’m extremely thankful that Kim agreed to do the driving and let her fancy car GPS guide us there! I do not have GPS enabled in my older car, so me and my husband driving separately to try finding this place would have taxed my brain so much that I wouldn’t have anything left in reserve to answer questions about board games, technology, movies, streaming services, social media posts, and presidents!

Thanks not only to Kim, but also to Ryan G., who played his first ever MTL game by agreeing to help us out! We certainly bow to your encyclopedic Stephen King knowledge, sir!

Both of our “guest” players play with or have played with other trivia teams. Kim has her own longtime team called “Sparty On,” and Ryan previously played with a team called “Betty Ford Rejects,” (pictured above) who played regularly at a bar in Berkley (which no longer offers trivia). Though he said he hadn’t been out to any live games for a few years, he was excited to be able to help us out! In 2016, I stepped in to help his team advance to a league championship. What – you’ve never been thrust into a semifinal to play with four other people you’d never met before? 🙂 Ryan was a friend of a friend whom I’d gone out to the bar to visit, and I wound up getting roped in to play with her team when another player called off.

One of the three cash prizes eluded us, but we did finish eighth out of 39 teams and got the final question correct. Final questions in MTL finals are notoriously difficult, so just getting them right is an accomplishment in and of itself!

Strangely, before the game even began, I made two statements which would wind up being prophetic. Not that I’m telling the late alleged seer Nostradamus to move over or anything like that, but a couple of things are worth noting! One, when one of the MTL brass came over to inspect our loose leaf paper to make sure it didn’t have any helpful information written on it, I joked, “Gee, I hope he doesn’t find that list of presidents I hid in there!” Secondly, we happened to be sitting by the team who would wind up taking the top prize. I joked with one of the players on that team sitting closest to me, saying “I’m totally cheating off your paper today,” and he joked back that he would slip me notes with the right answers on them! Neither of these things actually happened of course. What did happen was that they would win the top prize, and also, we did have a final question about presidents – and while I was trying to figure out the right guy, I hastily jotted down a list of 20th century presidents, with three of them circled as possibilities. Thankfully one of the ones I circled wound up being correct!

Our longtime friendly rivals More Beer Less Pants wound up taking the first place $1,200 prize, and Apollo 15, another team with whom we are familiar (especially when we venture into playing in Ann Arbor) wound up taking second. As of this time, I do not have any information as to which team finished third.

Round One

Board Games – A player who avoids licorice spaces and is first to reach Candy Castle has won what board game?

Movie Titles – The answer to what 2000 movie title question is “parked behind a mail truck?”

Lingo – What fashion brand launched in 1921 has a name that has become slang for anything “good or satisfactory?” I don’t think I would have come up with what Kim suggested on my own, but since I listen to lots of pointless contemporary pop songs at my work place, I could confirm that word is mentioned in some of those songs. So we went with it and got it, yay!

Round Two

Laws – In honor of its co-author Patsy Takemoto Mink, what law passed in 1972 has been renamed the Equal Opportunity in Education Act? Miss. I was thinking “That law that allowed girls to play sports with the boys” but could not come up with the correct name for that. 😦

Actors – What Oscar nominated actor played “Cowboy Curtis” on the Pee Wee’s Playhouse?

Baseball Players – Whose #21 jersey was retired by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1973? Miss.

Round Three

Music – In a June, 2024 social media post, what musical artist responded to Eminem by saying “To be included in your process feels good while I’m still singing and playing the music that I love. I’m honored?”

Animals – The caracal is a member of what mammal family?

Technology – Before being renamed in the late 2000s, what app was known as Free Map Israel?

Halftime – Identify which decade the following words became officially in use per Merriam-Webster:

Webcast, text messaging, UFO, bathtub gin

We were off by one decade for UFO.

Round Four

Authors – Rattlesnakes, a sequel to Cujo, is included in what Stephen King short story anthology? Before the question was even read, our guest player Ryan said “If it’s about Stephen King, I’m all over it.” Well then! 🙂

Geography – Stretching across southern Panama and northern Colombia, what remote, difficult to navigate area connects North and South America? We picked another difficult to navigate area of Panama, but sadly, not the right one, miss.

Movies – What Oscar nominated film was filmed over a 12 year period and focuses on a character named Mason?

Round Five

Shopping – Name either of the companies making up the name of retailer H&M. Miss.

Devices – A HANS device is most commonly used in what sport? Miss.

1990s Music – The “Bayside Boys Mix” of what song was the #1 single for 1996? Yay, some points for this difficult round!

Round Six

Streaming – What free ad-supported streaming service launched in 2014 was acquired by Fox in 2020?

Birthstones – The name of what birthstone translates into “not drunk” in Greek because it was thought that wearing it would prevent drunkenness?

Alcohol – Under no circumstances can spirits containing 70 percent alcohol by volume or higher – or what proof – be transported in luggage, per rules dictating airlines?

Including all ties, we were in tenth going into the final with 52 points. More Beer Less Pants and Better Late than Pregnant were tied for first with 60 points.

Final Category – Presidents

Excluding Jimmy Carter, which U.S. president was alive the longest after leaving office at U.S. president?

We wound up finishing in eighth, got the question correct, but wagered a cautious 12 points. We were torn between a couple of presidents who lived to old ages after leaving office. Wagering it all would not have put us in the cash prize zone. More Beer Less Pants held onto their lead and took first, Apollo 15 took second, and…as of this posting, I don’t have any information about which team placed third. I’ll update this post if either of the people I contacted about this wind up having the details.

We have a camping trip “up north” planned soon, and we are taking a short break from MTL trivia games. Some of us need a breather after two consecutive competitive trivia weekends! A mid-week Sporcle Events game is possible. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, Steve Miller!