Good Morrow, my trivia empire! Season 10 TOC was the greatest Tournament of Champions yet – and it’s not only because I, your majesty, the Trivia King, was given the task of quizmastering (but that sure does help). For those of you who couldn’t attend or just can’t remember due to your enjoyment of the libations, let me bless you with a brief overview of the evening’s happenings.
As the doors opened and teams flooded our trivia arena, the teams gathered: friends reconnected with friends, old rivalries were dredged up, drinks were ordered (and consumed…then ordered again, and consumed again, and so on). A mysterious Man in Black delivered the questions to me in a secure briefcase, keeping any curious eyes from sneaking a peek.
Right out of the gate, ten teams dared to go double or nothing. Eight were successful, a beautiful sight to behold which led me to cry a singular, masculine, royal tear. Unfortunately, two of our doubling teams would start the game with an unfortunate zero. There were eleven other teams that should have been so daring, but alas, they had to settle for a healthy six points. In my Kingdom, those who are daring are always rewarded(except, you know, those who doubled and got zero)!
Round 2 took us back to our love of Saturday morning cartoons. Ahh, yes. Remember way back when we watched Saturday morning cartoons? What a fantastic last Saturday it was! Our questions focussed on not just any Saturday morning cartoons, but on unlikely cartoons based on movies. Care to give it a go:
Things I learned in Round 2: Fast and the Furious, Little Shop of Horrors, and Evolution (Ivan Reitman’s sci-fi rip-off of his own Ghostbusters) were apparently made into a cartoons. Huh. Who knew?
After Round 2, two teams were tied for first place: The 4 Eyes Quartet and The Gene Pool. Were they be able to defend their first-place ranking? Did any new challenger pass them and take our top prize? Do the 4 Eyes Quartet have a total of 16 eyes? Read on to find out!
Round 3 was a glorious collection of questions all about streaming: online streaming, “Islands in the Stream”, Airstream recreational vehicles, and more. We even had a special guest appearance from online streaming sensation, Ninja! Ok…it wasn’t Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, himself, but we did have a pretty cool actual ninja show up to show off some moves and throw some (definitely not foam) throwing stars.
Things I learned in Round 3: A lot of people thought PewDiePie was the famous streamer under the Ice Cream mask on The Masked Singer. As if PewDiePie could take the time away from his 2020 Presidential campaign to sing some songs (don’t fact check this). It was Ninja, of course!
After Round 3, The 4 Eyes Quartet remained in first place with The Gene Pool dipping to second (but only one point behind!) Would this intense back and forth continue all night? Could a new team compete with these two powerhouses? Seriously, how many eyes are in The 4 Eyes Quartet? Let’s find out!
Round 4 – Oh, boy! What a difference one round can make! Most teams knew early on that the mystery person was a famous tennis player with the last name Williams. But which sister could it be? (Spoiler Alert: It was Venus) (Spoiler Alert 2: Most teams wrote Serena).
Things I learned from Round 4: 71 of the teams knew it was a Williams sister. 1 team thought it was Amanda Coughlin. I also learned that Gary Busey has nothing to do with the Williams sisters. How do I know? The legend himself sent a video to tell us!
After Round 4, the rankings shifted drastically. Secular Healing took over first, Dick City: Population: Weiners was in second, and La La Land 2: Dan Mitchell’s Revenge was in third. The 4 Eyes Quartet was, coincidentally, in fourth.
Round 5 asked the teams to Find the Connection and caused another major shake-up in the rankings. While most teams figured out the connection (slang terms for money), most didn’t know G-Unit released the album Beg for Mercy.
Things I learned from Round 5: I never knew I had thing for skin-tight orange bodysuits and cheesehead hats. You learn something new every day.
Before Round 6, it was time to award the spirit prize. Teams had been cheering, dancing, drinking, and doing all the could to be considered for this coveted trophy. But it came down to two teams: Box Wine Children and Boardwalk 11 (aka The Illegitimate Children of The King). They clapped, they cheered, they stomped their feet – all to win the applause of the crowd. In the end, Box Wine Children (formerly Our Combined IQ Is… and already two-time winners of the Spirit Prize) were crowned the recipients of the 2020 Spirit Prize. Boardwalk 11 didn’t leave empty handed, as they still had the honor of sharing my beautiful looks.
Round 6 asked the ultimate question: do nerds like sports? Teams were given scientific names of animals and they matched them up to a sports team that had that animal as a mascot. Lions, Tigers, and Bears…oh my! Well, except the tigers. They weren’t included in this round.
Things I learned from Round 6: The Golden Knights decided against a knight mascot and use a Gila monster instead. Makes sense, right? I also learned that Vespa is the scientific name for a Hornet; so, is a Vespa scooter supposed to be Hornet in some way? The King demands answers!
Finally, it all came down to Round 7 where we looked back at the 2010s and asked, “which artists made the most money in tour ticket sales”? Lots of good answers (good, but wrong): Neither of the Justins made the list (Bieber or Timberlake).
Things I learned from Round 7: U2 made over a billion dollars in concert tickets during the 2010s…and I died a little inside.
In the end, drinks were had, pizza was consumed, friendships were made, and friendships were broken (probably over Serena and Venus Williams). And six teams took home cash prizes:
Final Scores
| Rank | Team # | Team Name | Total |
| 1 | 11138 | We’re Not Here to Make Friends* | 60 |
| 2 | 17876 | Coastal Elites | 60 |
| 3 | 10348 | Secular Healing | 59 |
| 4 | 10285 | Bruce Jennertalia | 55 |
| 5 | 10213 | Dick City Population Weiners | 52 |
| 6 | 22302 | Don’t Suck | 48 |
| 7 | 10518 | Mighty Mighty Puffins | 47 |
| 8 | 12107 | The Stumps | 47 |
| 9 | 18156 | Pettifoggers | 46 |
| 10 | 11023 | The 4 Eyes Quartet | 45 |
| 11 | 11885 | How Bout Them Bruins | 45 |
| 12 | 10064 | Streets of Rage | 45 |
| 13 | 12043 | Giant James And The Peaches | 45 |
| 14 | 14240 | Counter Intelligence | 43 |
| 15 | 12170 | Highway Stars | 43 |
| 16 | 10187 | Danile | 43 |
| 17 | 13502 | Those People | 42 |
| 18 | 10021 | The Hightops | 42 |
| 19 | 14365 | The Mighty Baanchoos | 42 |
| 20 | 14156 | SNAFU Worldwide | 42 |
| 21 | 15676 | Mike Tyson Speech School | 41 |
| 22 | 14895 | Oscar de la Bob | 40 |
| 23 | 10073 | Crippling Autism | 40 |
| 24 | 13572 | Paddington Kills | 39 |
| 25 | 16720 | The Irregardless | 39 |
| 26 | 13232 | Our Team | 39 |
| 27 | 13079 | The Gene Pool | 38 |
| 28 | 10418 | Bakshi Boys | 38 |
| 29 | 10643 | Because Jeopardy Won’t Let Us Drink… | 38 |
| 30 | 10355 | La La Land 2: Dan Mitchell’s Revenge | 37 |
| 31 | 10919 | Zach Attack | 37 |
| 32 | 10058 | Nintendo 69 | 37 |
| 33 | 14452 | Bad Mama Jamas | 37 |
| 34 | 10068 | Ruby’s Drag Race: All Stars/Season 2020 | 37 |
| 35 | 10481 | Box Wine Children | 36 |
| 36 | 14204 | See you Next Tuesday | 36 |
| 37 | 11501 | Pacific Courier | 35 |
| 38 | 22505 | Boardwalk Eleven | 34 |
| 39 | 17981 | Drunk in Public | 34 |
| 40 | 14799 | Trivia Amigos | 34 |
| 41 | 15103 | Steamed Hams | 34 |
| 42 | 13567 | The Dil-dont’s | 33 |
| 43 | 16814 | Sharks On The Ark | 32 |
| 44 | 17921 | Digressionary Funds | 32 |
| 45 | 10065 | Gazpacho | 31 |
| 46 | 17670 | Pussy over Pancakes | 31 |
| 47 | 10011 | Eat Me I’m A Danish | 31 |
| 48 | 10028 | Mr. No Poster Shop | 30 |
| 49 | 12369 | Ship of Fools | 30 |
| 50 | 11769 | Awesome Sauced | 30 |
| 51 | 10016 | Westros Basptist Church | 30 |
| 52 | 14196 | Swedish Fish Oreos | 29 |
| 53 | 15859 | The Chuckleheads | 29 |
| 54 | 17756 | Choke Me Harder, Daddy | 29 |
| 55 | 12782 | Hodge Podge | 29 |
| 56 | 18843 | The Pannidos | 28 |
| 57 | 10291 | Zombie Caviar | 28 |
| 58 | 15101 | What’s Left of the Avengers | 26 |
| 59 | 20934 | Ssshhh | 26 |
| 60 | 16043 | The Implication | 24 |
| 61 | 16661 | Mr Poopybutthole | 24 |
| 62 | 15751 | Agents of the Zeitgeist | 23 |
| 63 | 18024 | Burnt Champagne | 23 |
| 64 | 16567 | Spacedust and Ovaries | 23 |
| 65 | 10155 | Tequila Mockingbirds | 22 |
| 66 | 13483 | Flaming Toxic Trivia Monkeys | 21 |
| 67 | 10033 | Team of Enchantment | 21 |
| 68 | 11696 | Indifferent Penguins | 19 |
| 69 | 13196 | Jessicas Team | 19 |
| 70 | 10435 | Penis Riot!! | 19 |
| 71 | 10962 | Flying Chanclas | 18 |
| 72 | 17814 | Oedipus and The Motherfuckers | 17 |
*Won Tiebreaker
