Well, we had a bit of a kerfuffle this week at The Brewyard Beer Company in Burbank, involving the excellent, wonderful, talented, gracious and entirely lovely ladies running operations behind the bar, Liz and Vicki.
Yes, the do a great job, to be sure. And we're always delighted when they opt to participate in the quiz. But still, an incorrect (or incomplete) answer is still incorrect. And it is the Quizmaster's job to maintain certain standards of fairness and accuracy.
So when "The Bartenders" team responded to a question asking what Han Solo won from Lando Calrissian in a card game in Star Wars with "the Falcon," and every other team correctly answered "the MILLENIUM Falcon," we had no choice but to ding 'em a point.
Did they take this decision with grace and good humor? No, they did not. Well, good humor, sure. But grace? Uhm...no. There was name calling. There was bird flipping. A suggestion was made as to where your faithful QM could put his microphone. It was hurtful. (But not as hurtful as if I had taken the microphone advice!)
Worst of all, bar goddess Liz abused her position by offering free beers to trivia players who agreed to come up and dis this humble QM, questioning both his judgment and his parentage. You'd be surprised just how many quizzinators were more than willing to do this.
Ultimately, we had no choice but to award the Bartenders 10 bonus points*. Lesson learned: never engage in battle with the Bartenders. Especially at The Brewyard. See ya next week.
*note: the 10-point bump resulted in The Bartenders still finishing in last place! Take THAT, Liz!
We had a bit of a battle this week at Brewyard Beer Company in Burbank. after easily cruising to wins for two weeks in a row, Here for the Beer faced stiffer competition from The Oxford Kamala, who demonstrated a iron-willed determination to claim victory.
The Here/Beer crew must have sensed it. When Oxford's one point lead was announced after round three, one of the Beer crew shouted out, "that's insurmountable!" One point? Insurmountable!? Show a little confidence, Beer crew.
You can show us your stuff and achieve trivia quiz glory when we meet again next Wednesday at the Brewyard. Come on out and show Kamala what you've got!
"So you're the quizmaster?" She asked. I was doing my usual pre-quiz thing, working the room; greeting KT players; inviting other Brewyard patrons to join in the fun. She saw me coming, and offered up a smile that was equal parts invitation and defiant challenge.
Her friend whispered something in her ear as I neared their table. She shook her head "no," and her smile was suddenly less inviting and more defiant. Then she asked her question. Something about the way she said "quizmaster" triggered a warning alert in my head.
"Yep, that's me. I'm Tim, and I will serve as your faithful and forthright quizmaster tonight."
"There it is," she replied. "That quizmaster charm. That quizmaster smirk. You're all so handsome and charming and aloof and unattainable. I hate you all!" Then she laughed, and her friend laughed, and I couldn't help but laugh, too.
So I asked what suddenly seemed like the obvious question. "Did a quizmaster break your heart? She slowly nodded her head, and I realized the heartache was deep in her.
"What a beast! I hate him on your behalf!" I said. Tell me about him. Would I know him?"
"No, I don't think you would. It was years ago. Fifteen, at least. He was the most charming, handsome, stimulating man I've ever known. I've always found intelligence attractive, and he used to whisper seductive things in my ear. Things like, 'there are three dots on the domino in the dominoes pizza logo,' or 'Michael J. Fox's middle name is actually Andrew!' And with each little factoid, I became more enthralled."
"So what was his name, and what happened to him?"
"I don't know. He just...vanished one day. He always talked about building some sort of trivia game empire, so I suppose he went off to pursue his dream. His name was Josh..."
Come on out and join us for trivia fun at the Brewyard next Wednesday and every Wednesday. Take a shot at beating Here For The Beer, and maybe I'll tell ya what became of Josh.
