Things are heating up on Thursday nights at the Lion & Crown in Watter's Creek! Thirteen teams
(hope no one's superstitious) crowded into the main room and dominated the bar area as well as
we all settled in for a fantastic round of King Trivia Pub Quiz!
Newbie team mentions:
Everybody Settle Down! - A family of three who placed well for first timers and whose name
gave Quizmaster Lou a chance for some schtick. You know, "Everybody settle down! No, that's
the name of the team..." Well, it plays better when you're there.
Dawg Pound - A couple who held their own against seasoned vets of the trivia wars.
Cheeky Monkee's - I spelled their name like the music group. They spelled it properly.
I'm Sorry I'm Late, but Tom Brady let the air out of my Tires - Who suggested I just shorten
their name to "I'm Sorry"... Well played, sir. Well played.
Congrats to Pickles on a Plate, who stole first from Stealth Texas in the last two rounds. ST
settled for second while Bar Guys just edged out Beer Logic for third. Another shout out to the
quiz writers for a splendid question set. The Round Six religious founders set was particularly
challenging and engaging. Also, the Round Seven TV Emmy nominees question yanked a lot of chains.
Pursuant to that, our parting shot comes from Groucho Marx: "I find television very educating.
Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." Happy weekend
every body!
KIRK: "Since the days of the first wooden vessels, all shipmasters have had one happy privilege.
That of uniting two people in the bonds of matrimony."
An odd way to begin a King Trivia Recap, one might ponder. But Quizmaster Lou thinks it is
appropriate. The line is from Star Trek, the original series' standout episode entitled
The Balance of Terror. The scene opened the show by having Captain Kirk perform a wedding
ceremony aboard the starship Enterprise. On Thursday nights, the Lion & Crown Public House
is sometimes QM Lou's starship, where I get to command the KTPQ; And while my happy privilege
wasn't actually performing a wedding last night, it was the next best thing. I got to
participate in a marriage proposal! Since Star Trek pops up a lot in trivia... You get the
intersection, right?
Last week, Kyle from the Ninja Turtles, approached me after the game and enlisted my help in
"springing" the question on his lovely girl friend, Evelyn. Together, we concocted a ruse
where an introduction to pop the question would come from the quiz itself. We selected the
GUESS WHO round as the perfect vehicle to do so. It worked! Only myself, Kyle and a few of
the Ninja Turtles were in on the gag. I decided the best way to "spring the ambush" was to
start with a false Round Four. It went something like this...
QM LOU: For ten points. She was born in 1994 in the United Kingdom. Both of her parents
were professors. After moving to America, she studied science at university before taking a
year off to "find" herself. She took an interest in movies after seeing Jurassic Park and one
of her favorite foods is pizza.
These were all facts about Evelyn that Kyle gave me and I put them into the clue in a true, yet
broad way so that she wouldn't suspect it was about her. Surely, she'd notice some similarities,
but would that blow our cover? No. Evelyn was making notes as Quizmaster Lou read out the
clue! In fact, to lend even more credibility to the canard, Team Helos made a guess! What
could I do? I announced their choice was correct! Not only was Evelyn fooled, but now the
entire pub was conned! All was made right when I read the next clue, though.
QM LOU: For eight points. Currently, she competes in the King Trivia Pub Quiz at the Lion &
Crown Public House in Allen, Texas. As part of the Ninja Turtles, she has helped her team to
victory many times. On this particular night, her fiancee, Kyle, will ask her to marry him.
You should have heard the gasps! It was beautiful! And QM Lou was there with his trusty
digicam to capture a couple of candid proposal shots. (See above) The happy couple posed for
a quick shot in front of the crowd, who gave a rousing hand of applause and forgave ole QM Lou
for pulling the wool over their eyes. After all, a joy like that is shared by all!
Oh boy, did we have fun last night at the ol' Lion & Crown in Watter's Creek! Thirteen teams
competed their little hearts out and everybody was having a cracking good time, even the
hecklers.
QM LOU: Would you rowdy minors please keep it down to a roar or I'll call your mothers!?!
HECKLER: How do you know my mother?
QM LOU: I have an answer for that, sir but you're not going to like it.
The quiz was pretty good, too. A nice cross section of general knowledge, politics and pop
culture that engendered a lot of double-or-nothing's. Pickles on a Plate pulled off an
incredible DoN three times in a row for the first three rounds! They got out in front and
stayed out in front all the way to round seven. Poised for victory, Stealth Texas snuck in
at the eleventh hour and over took them by one point for a first place win! Pickles got pushed
to second and the Ninja Turtles took third. One thing about last night's quiz... It revealed
who follows politics, who loves Dwayne Johnson and who the pot heads are!
Special mention to two newbie teams... First of all, the Trivial Pursuits, playing without
the benefit of a two point bonus, managed to hold their own against some seasoned rivals. Nice
playing there, guys. Also, a style award to the last place finishers, the Simple Girlz. Their
collective answer to identify past presidential candidates yeilded the funniest and most honest
answer to date.. "We're too young for this one - Public School system." (They WERE able to
name Hillary and McCain, though.) Two, nice, young ingenues with the greatest sense of humor
and enthusiasm who lost so well, Quizmaster Lou had to give them consolation prizes. Check out
their picture!
Our parting shot (this one, literally) comes from a rather grim, obscure footnote of history.
Murderer James W. Rodgers was executed by firing squad in Utah in 1960. His last request?
"Bring me a bullet proof vest." Optimism in the face of defeat? You be the judge.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. And if that's setting your expectations too high, go for
mediocre and be pleasantly surprised if you have a nice one!
