New Scaratings

Thanks for the shout out! We had around 12 boxes go 4 for 4 on that round but we missed the last one. We also thought the last question was pretty easy.

It's a mortal sin to borg yet it's perfectly OK to use paper references?

BO

Will BLZBUB post the whole game again? I did not play last night for the first time in a while.

I still don't believe that scientists have detected water 12 billion light-years away. We knew we were going to get a question like that in Pyramid or Final after we breezed through the Category round on nice culture/music/current events questions.

Are you saying Fletchers uses paper refs? I wasn't aware of that. They are a very well respected MacCarthy Cup participant (and previous winner) so I know thay play straight up for that. That's disappointing news, if true. I've always admired them and have enjoyed meeting several of their fine players that have visited us in Tampa.

And, BO, I assume you no longer keep that 50 lb Websters in your lap while you play?

I am saying Fletcher's has used paper refs in the recent past, and that was the underlying reason why they allowed the use of such (but not electronic refs) when they ran the McCarthy Cup. So no, they haven't always played straight up for McCarthy.

Are they still using? Who knows. But all of this was mostly ignored when they won and then ran McCarthy. They are a solid team regardless.

The dictionary didn't last long after we moved from Hoffbrau to Stadium in 2000, so it's been ~10 years. What many here don't know is that back then, many top SD teams used paper references.

BO

I understand that and for those that don't know, I played with BO at the Hofbrau for four months in 1998. BO had this enormous dictionary on his lap whilst manipulating four boxes at once and could find answers for the team and would often still plug in the four highest scores. Quick hands: quick mind. It was where I first encountered Team Showdown and it was the damndest thing I had ever seen in an NTN bar.

I have the greatest respect for BO as a wetware player and as a "look-up artist" if he chooses to play that way. I have no doubt that his ability with paper would rival many laptop users.

He's also a terrific troll.

Thanks. And all that for a measly $1 every Tuesday.

Hell, it cost you less than $20 to create the current Tampa trivia monster that has terrorized multiple locations! There's several bars in Florida that owe us a lot of money as a finders fee.

BO

As did the Passport teams.

Of course, IIRC, didn't buzztime once actually encourage the use of paper? I think it was something like in Sports Trivia in the current events round, buzztime ran ads that said something like grab the newspaper But that was a long time ago so the noggin is real foggy now...

"A reservoir of water", no less. A somewhat delusive description, I would assert, since it's unlikely they actually saw a huge sphere of water wobbling around near the edge of the universe. I assume what has really been detected is evidence of a lot of H2O molecules in a small region of space. But how can they know it's still there?

This was the one we all tanked (fortuitous pun intended).

With the exception of Six, back in NTN's heyday, many top teams in every premium game used paper refs. Passport is obvious, for the year rounds in SL and SIQ, PB teams had their bibles out, etc. Thing is, most of the top teams knew each other and exactly how they played, so it wasn't that big a deal.

BO

For the record, I played with the Fletcher's Tuesday night team one night in May. I saw no sign of ANY use of references, nor did they need them.

I appreciate the respect shown to our team. We have had an extrordinary run this year only twice finishing lower than 16th place. We have a comfortable lead on Don Denton's Place-points ranking which we should be able to maintain throughout the rest of the year.

However, there are dark clouds on our horizon. We're seeing very strong signs that our home--the In The Zone Pub--may not survive for long. If we don't appear in the rankings some Tuesday soon, you can probably surmise that it wasn't because we blew the final question.

A couple years ago we found a padlock on the door at the Wild Wing Cafe on Tuesday evening. It took us a few months before we located a suitable replacement. We may be in the market once again.

And, BO, I've learned a lot in the past 13 years and if we lose our home I might just have to come to Addison with a fist full of $1 bills to win some of my loot back if you're still playing those easy money Countdown games.

Fletcher's Pub had quite a variety of reference books at the long table they share for Showdown when I was up there in 2009.
As best as I can recall, they went completely unused during the game, so I'm not entirely certain why they were there.

Yes, congrats to the Concert Pub for being the brainiest of the bunch this past week. The "reservoir of water" got all of us, and only a few of us landed on the Central America for the animal question.



As one who has dealt with almost the exact same situation recently, I sincerely hope this does not come to pass. It took pretty much three solid months until we could find a place to accommodate us. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and your terrific team.

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

The Persians landing in Greece had similar problems.
For the exact same reason, I suspect...

"Our many answers will blot out the sun."
"Then we shall play trivia in the shade."

Oh, I wasn't making a judgment of the behavior. I've always believed the game is played on the honor system -- and that the game polices itself (as you point out, the top teams in each game know each other & how they play). Personally, it's only bothered me when the rightful winner is displaced. I know some people take the position that you're either #1 or you're not...so if #1 is legit, #2 is legit, #3 is cheating, #4 is legit and you finish #5...to me, who the heck cares about everyone else, #1 is legit and that's all that matters. However, other people would still be upset at #3 since they should've been #4. But that topic has been discussed to death so rehashing it isn't going to any good.

I was just questioning when buzztime once boasted that paper references were okay. That stance is somewhat like the NFL, who up until as recently as last year, used to sell still pictures of violent, illegal hits...but then also starting fining players for violent, illegal hits. Buzztime has always wanted the participation, but then they used to disqualify scores (particularly in QB1) that didn't "look" legit. The owners of the games have tried to have it both ways, which obviously doesn't fly...

Rumors that the population of Streetsboro doubles on Tuesday nights are greatly exaggerated (it's more like only +50%).

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Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

I do believe that the population of Streetsboro did increase substantially the Tuesday that we visited.

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Middle age is when a broad mind and a slim waist exchange places.