QUIZ RECAP

What a wild and crazy night we had at Petoskey's this Tuesday. With 8 teams competing, we matched our previous record for total participants and forced me to push the sound levels to new untested heights (sorry about the feedback early on). Now although the questions themselves were relatively easy this week, that doesn't mean that the path to victory was an easy one. There were plenty of Double or Nothings to go around, so the winner's podium required strategic decision making in addition to trivia knowledge. The eight teams competing were Johnnies, The Team from Petoskey, Dimetrodon, I licked a butthole, Kevin is not on our team, NFC Ya Face, Heartthrobs, and Walleye Slaters.

Despite having so many teams, the game actually ended on time courtesy of those easier questions. If you're wondering why that would make a difference, well just take a look at General Knowledge Round 1. Did you know our former vice president's name was Joe Biden? Or maybe you knew that bread shaped into a twisted knot is called a pretzel. See, you could have joined Heartthrobs and I licked a butthole and Double or Nothing'ed too.

Picture Round 2 may have been our fastest yet. I had barely finished divvying up the pictures of famous NFL quarterbacks among the teams when they started to turn them back in. Although we did fool a few people into guessing the wrong Manning brother (we wanted Eli Manning), most of the teams were sports savvy and took only a minute or two to complete the task.

Theme Round 3 was all about the 'W'. And by that I mean that every answer had three letter 'w's in them. We even had some home-state representation in the question about the city/state combo that celebrates Adam West Day every year (Walla Walla, Washington). And although only a select few of the attendants tonight believed me, I was truly referencing an Oscar-night meme when I intentionally mispronounced Idina Menzel's name as Adele Dazeem.

At this point in the night the standings were as follows:

1. NFC Ya Face, 35 points
2. Heartthrobs, 34 points
3. Kevin is not on our team, 28 points
4. I licked a butthole, 19 points
5. Walleye Slaters, 15 points
6. Dimetrodon, 13 points
7. Johnnies, 10 points
8. The team from petoskey, 9 points

Guess Who? Round 4 didn't fool people for long. Our ten-point clue was relatively vague and referenced only their NYC upbringing and schooling. But after our 8-point clue capped off the list of jobs they held over the years as culminating with the New York Yankees, teams jumped to their feet to submit the correct answer as George Costanza (from Seinfeld).

Find the Connection Round 5 was a tricky connection to make even though the questions were relatively straightforward. Take the name of the Griffin family's dog on Family Guy (Brian), the brand name of Gillette's razors for women (Venus), and a 1965 Beatles song that's partially in French (Michelle) and see if you can piece together the missing link. If you were thinking it must be related to names, you're in the right ballpark, but the exact connection we were looking for was people with the last name of Williams (e.g. Brian Williams, Venus Williams, and Robin Williams).

Handout Round 6 was yet another quick finish. We asked teams to look at a list of Oscar Winning Best Picture films and match them with the decade that they were released in. It didn't take long for teams to knock out all the answers from the last 40 years, but the early 1900s were a little more difficult to associate. Quite a few teams swapped Hamlet, which belonged to the 1940s, with On the Waterfront, which actually belonged to the 1950s. But I don't think any of us were alive back then so I'm willing to give us all a pass.

Let's take a look at the scores before we reveal the Final Round Prompt.

1. Heartthrobs, 56 points
2. NFC ya Face, 52 points
3. Kevin is not on our team, 51 points
4. I licked a butthole, 42 points
5. Dimetrodon, 25 points
6. Walleye Slaters, 24 points
7. Johnnies, 15 points
8. The team from petoskey, 14 points

It was coming down to a photo-finish, but who would hang on and who would fall behind as we came around the bend for the final stretch. The final round prompt was:

After the USSR dissolved in 1991, Russia and 14 other countries were formed. What are any 10 of those 14 other countries?

History and geography majors rejoice, as this is a much more difficult question than you might expect. Although the USSR controlled many countries during the Cold War, only this small number actually formed after its collapse. So countries like the Czech Republic or Yugoslavia existed before the USSR was ever formed, and therefore were incorrect. We were looking for answers like Tajikistan or Azerbaijan, or the more commonly known ones like Belarus or Ukraine. And if you're thinking, well nobody could know all 10, check yourself!

Both Kevin is not on our team and I licked a butthole successfully pulled off a Double or Nothing which catapulted them into first and third place respectively. Heartthrobs got all 10 correct, but because they played it safe by not Doubling, they would only take second. NFC Ya Face fell just short of the podium at 58, while Walleye Slaters and Dimetrodon brought up the vanguard at 26 and 25 points. The Team from Petoskey and Johnnies were our caboose with 20 and 15 points.

Thanks to everyone for coming out and having a good time. Whether you were here last week or you are just tuning in after a hiatus, try to make sure to come by this next Tuesday for some announcements you won't want to miss.