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In preparation for a natal anniversary, BLZBUB left New Mexico a week before All Hallows Eve. After travelling by donkey cart to the Texas border, he caught a stage coach for the trip to Houston. There he transferred to a tugboat making a run to New Orleans along the Intracoastal Waterway. Once there, he hitched a ride on a U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat to transit Lake Pontchartrain to go to the Manchak Swamp. This allowed him to ‘borrow’ an airboat which would make the trip through the swamps and back bayous north of the lake practical. Weaving his way through thickets of water moccasins and gators, BLZBUB was able to make it to Denham Springs, near Baton Rouge (Ba-tahn Rooge). This placed him near his destination of desire, the campus of LSU. Aiyeee!
Worn-up Round
1. Which confectionary element comes in white, brown, and Viennese forms: NOUGAT. 2. Joe Perry’s ‘Rocks’ is a new memoir from the guitarist of this classic group: AEROSMITH. 3. They are also known as white whales: BELUGAS. 4. ‘Policy ___’ is a term used to describe someone obsessed with political minutiae: WONK. 5. Dmitri Mendeleev’s ‘The Principles of ___’ is a classic of science: CHEMISTRY. 6. Which former dictator died of a heart attack last month? JEAN-CLAUDE DUVALIER. 7. This Scottish singer’s new CD is titled ‘Hope’: SUSAN BOYLE. 8. Channel black, furnace black, lamp black, and thermal black are subtypes of ___ black: CARBON. 9. The ‘Lost Boys’ of Sudan refer to some ___ displaced Nuer and Dinka young men: 20,000. 10. The term ‘fistula’ is commonly used in botany and: MEDICINE.
No game played on a large pasture is more exciting to the soul of a Cajun than those of the beloved Bayou Bengals. But having arrived a day early, it was a good excuse to introduce Mrs. BLZBUB to some of the colorful history of the Pelican State. Forthwith a trip of exploration was organized to the two historic capital buildings located in Baton Rouge. The 1854 Old State Capitol was dressed in Halloween finery, which was a perfect match for visits to the busts of both Francis Tillou Nicholls and Huey Long. Pretty scary, huh kids? This horror was followed by an equally terrifying visit to the Huey Long-built, 1932 New State Capitol. That immense edifice has a lobby featuring life-sized statues of F.T. Nicholls and Huey Long. It also allows one to visit the elevator lobby where Long was assassinated, the pock marks of the bullets still visible. All-in-all a nearly perfect lead-in to Halloween.
Ground-down Round
1. Levodopa is a medicine used to control symptoms of: PARKINSON’S. 2. Bierstadt Lake and Mount Bierstadt are located in this U.S. state: COLORADO. 3. Born in Baltimore, he was an Oriole before he joined the Red Sox and then the Yankees: BABE RUTH. 4. Admiral Miklos Horthy led this country in the years between World War I and World War II: HUNGARY. 5. In Japanese, ‘kimono’ means: THING TO WEAR. 6. Modest Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ is an example of a musical: SUITE. 7. Along with the muon, the electron and three neutrinos, the ___ is a lepton: TAU. 8. Which Russian listed is a tycoon who is presenting himself as an alternative to Putin: MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY. 9. Among artists, a widely used cadmium pigment is cadmium: YELLOW. 10. Irredentism is the advocacy of a state annexing territory on the basis of a common: ETHNICITY. 11. The most common viral infective agents in humans are: RHINOVIRUSES. 12. In 1910, this U.S. state became the first to define by law who is black and who is white: TENNESSEE.
Now BLZBUB doesn’t mean to imply that an LSU game is a big deal, but there are rumors that the Devil himself has to pay more than face value to get tickets on the 50 yard line. The real test of a big game atmosphere is the tailgate parties that begin at 9 AM for a 6:30 PM kickoff. Or the arrival of the ESPN GAMEDAY crew is confirmed. BLZBUB arrived at Noon and after a quick souvenir shopping stop at the bookstore, towed Mrs. BLZBUB down to Doc’s tailgate. Doc is an old college buddy of BLZBUB’s from Nicholls State, but Doc went on to earn a DDS at LSU and has been tailgating at LSU games ever since.
Other schools may compete in enthusiasm at their tailgates, but NO ONE can compete with the food at an LSU tailgate…I Guarantee! We had the mandatory gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish pies and dirty rice, Fo’ SURE. But it didn’t stop there. There was turtle sauce piquant, alligator fritters and bread pudding swimming in rum sauce. To help wash it down there was Abita Springs beer, Rouxgarou Rum and jungle juice. By 3 PM everybody was color blind to anything except Purple and Gold.
Scatology Round
S1. U.S. PRESIDENTS v explorers
As a General, this future U.S. President was victorious at the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe: WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.
S2. Vocabulary v EUROPEAN CUISINE
In French cuisine, what is a tartine? OPEN-FACED SANDWICH.
S3. 2014 Nobel laureates v WORLD GEOGRAPHY
Which large body of water does Azerbaijan border? CASPIAN SEA.
S4. European cuisine v U.S. PRESIDENTS
Gerald Ford, the 38th U.S. President, grew up in this Michigan city: GRAND RAPIDS.
S5. World geography v VOCABULARY
Which adjective is an antonym of opague? TRANSPARENT.
S6. EXPLORERS v 2014 Nobel laureates
In 1606, Luis Vaez de Torres discovered a straight above what is now: AUSTRALIA.
After stuffing our faces at the tailgate, BLZBUB and the Mrs. took a little walking tour of the campus. Old Scratch showed her the Campanile Tower, the quadrangle, the oldest buildings on campus and Mike the Tiger’s enclosure. After another quick pit stop at the tailgate to ‘rehydrate’ with another cup of jungle juice, it was time to head for the stadium. The walk took us past the U.S. Air Force memorial, which the Mrs., a USAF vet, loved.
We entered the oldest part of the stadium, as our tickets were for seats in the original bowl, Section 303, Row 54. This part of the stadium is showing its age, but walking the ramps brought back bitter-sweet memories. But before we could make any headway into the stadium, we were blocked by a long line of folks who were queued up to get autographs. At first BLZBUB didn’t recognize the person, but them it dawned on him. It was none other than Dr. Billy Cannon, LSU’s only Heisman Trophy Award winner. A fast photo was all we could manage, and then it was up to the seats in time for the band’s pre-game show.
Frightening Round
1. Emory University is a research university located in the metropolitan ___ area: ATLANTA. 2. In Monopoly, what color is the deed for Connecticut Avenue? LIGHT BLUE. 3. To berate someone is to criticize in a ___ way: VEHEMENT. {Or BLZBUB way.} 4. John Dortmunder is a very unlucky crook created by this crime writer: DONALD WESTLAKE. 5. The House of Sabah is the ruling family of: KUWAIT. 6. The Hublot Classic Fusion and the Parmigiani Fleurier are luxury: WRISTWATCHES. 7. Tarantulas are classified as: SPIDERS.
In BLZBUB’s youth, there was no bigger rival than the Rebels of Ole Miss, tonight’s opponent. This year’s version of the Rebels was undefeated coming into this game, and LSU would have been an underdog except for one fact. It’s Saturday night at Death Valley, where opponents’ dreams come to die.
Py-Ram-It Round
P1. Lauren Hillenbrand’s ‘Unbroken’ is an acclaimed book about the ordeals of a:
PRISONER OF WAR. {Chorus.}
P2. Frank Gehry and Maya Lin are two architects who have won the prestigious ___ Prize:
GISH. {The team is looking at a list of actors, like the RCA dog looking at the victrola.}
P3. Lake Ohrid, one of Europe’s oldest and deepest lakes, is located here:
BALKAN PENINSULA. {Too old and deep for us. Lake Ohrid is horrid.}
P4. Which African animal has protuberances called ossicones?
GIRAFFES. {Keying on the ossi = bones connection and the lack of protuberances on the other g-d-p-f-v-animules, the team got onto giraffes for the points.}
P5. This magazine, founded in 1984, reprints ‘the best of the alternative press’:
UTNE READER. {MEERA, with the good call.}
The game was a defensive struggle all the way. Ole Miss scored first, with a TD at the end of the 1st quarter. LSU put up 3 points with a field goal near the end of the first half. Neither team could make any headway on the other until late in the 4th quarter, when LSU put together a 95 yard drive of 13 plays, scoring on a 3 yard pass. It was the first pass of the drive. LSU then survived a furious Ole Miss comeback attempt, sealing the victory with an interception at the 1 yard line with 3 seconds left on the clock. Final score LSU 10 – Ole Miss 7.
In an outdoor stadium, BLZBUB’s decibel meter app on his phone registered 103 dB.
The crowd stormed the field and refused to leave for better than 20 minutes. The SEC levied a $5000 fine on LSU for ‘endangering the players.’ After the game the LSU Athletic Director said the SEC would attach a $25,000 fine for a repeat storming of the field. The A.D. said he’d gladly pay the fine if LSU beat ‘Bama at the next home game.
After that BLZBUB went home to Thibodaux to visit with family for a week and celebrate his alter-ego’s birthday. He did play the Oct 28 Showdown game, but didn’t tape it, explaining why our friend BLUMAX had to jump in with that recap.
FINAL TRAGEDY, on the Topic of: RELIGION
Baal Shem Tov is the byname of the founder of this religious development:
1. Twelver Shiism
2. Mahayana Buddhism
3. Baha’i Faith
4. The Fourth Way
5. Hasidic Judaism
The order of the eliminations was 3, 4, 2, and 1, leaving #5, HASIDIC JUDAISM, as the correct answer. JAX recognized the name as derived from Hebrew, so the rest of the list was eliminated as representative of other religions. The team got full points for this question, which is fortunate given the problems with P2 and P3.
The top six scores were 50603, 50530, 49761, 49231, 47266, and 47209. This calculated out to a team score of 49,100 points for this game. For the second week in a row, the Ragged Rascals finished in FIRST PLACE for the Mt/Pac Zone of play.
A quick check of Don Denton’s composite list shows the Ragged Rascals at FIFTH PLACE for the Buzztime system for this week’s Showdown Game. Congrats to The Fellowship, Chicago Loop, and Houlihan’s for their efforts this week.
As usual, a raspberry for Borging to the Smegtasters at Spectators in Albuquerque.
_________________
}}}--( (x) (x) )--->
Oh my gawd, they killed
Ken Z.
You bastards!
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