Trivial Pursuits

[word_geek]

In between all the other things that happened in one week in October, there was one other bit I didn't mention yet. It happened on Friday, so a few days after getting back from Massachusetts, and the night before the baseball game.

Comments

Re: Quibbles!

[ohsochewy]

Oh, man. That's the first rule of Trivia Club: do not [mess] with the Trivia People. Our Team Trivia games are usually pretty clean, but every championship always ends up in some sort of kerfuffle.

Like our last one, for example: I can't remember the exact question, but it was something like, "What was the first non-variety show filmed before a live studio audience?" I believe they wanted I Love Lucy, but we gave them Howdy Doody, which preceded I Love Lucy by four years. They mumbled something about how Howdy Doody was a kid's show, but that's not what the question asked... and even though we weren't actually in the money for that one, it could have meant up to $200 for us. (At the previous championship, we uncharacteristically bet 0 on a four-parter we got correct, which would have given us $1500. Ouch.)

So yeah, it's for charity, but if you want people to LIKE your charity, and KEEP liking your charity, you'd damn well be on the ball. You get what you pay for.

(Another favorite, illustrating the reason why we stick with the Zupan-run contests: "Where is the Sea of Tranquility?" "Canada!")

Re: Quibbles!

[word_geek]

Honestly, only the Reagan/Nixon thing bothered me, because it's so easily verified. I mean, it's not like this is some obscure fact...it's electoral totals. They have records of those. And it's not like it's from the early 1800s, and people might be uncertain. It's also not like it's currently 1985, and you could forgive a trivia-master for not having the latest data. It's pretty cut-and-dry: Nixon, 520; Reagan, 525. You don't even have to know the numbers -- I knew, from personally watching the results in 1984, that Reagan had won every state except Minnesota and DC. Dad knew, from personally watching the results in 1972, that Nixon had won every state except Massachusetts and DC. Massachusetts has more electoral votes than Minnesota (in 1972 and 1984), so Reagan had more. Simple!

It's a good thing I'm not letting this bother me, or anything.

Re: Quibbles!

[ohsochewy]

Clearly, they need a NO MANTIDS rule. Because if something's incorrect, I'll be damned if I just let things go. *shudder*