New Scaratings

One of the recurring themes in 2001: A Space Odyssey is the idea of humans venturing where they have never gone before. It is only when humans make the major exploratory step of digging up the monolith on the moon that the long-planned alien signal gets sent. This leads to the exploratory mission--on a ship called "Discovery One," no less--to either the monolith orbiting Jupiter or Saturn's moon Iapetus (depending on whether we are talking about the movie or the book). When Dave goes into the Monolith, he is taken to where no human has gone before on his way to becoming the Star Child.

In retrospect, then, it turns out to be entirely appropriate that The Fellowship voted to make 2001 the theme of this year's tournament, as the trophy will be going to a location where no major trophy in Showdown (Sandbag and McCarthy) has gone before. Teaser's came in 1st last night, decisively defeating Danny K's 53,363 to 43,960, while in the other bracket Mad River slipped past erstwhile giant-killer Buster's Bar by a mere 275 points, 45,085 to 44,810. Neither Teaser's nor Mad River has ever hosted one of these cups and one of them will become the first "new" winner of a major since Concert Pub won the Sandbag back in 2011.

Before moving on the the final match, we must first pause to congratulate both Danny K's and Buster's Bar for making it to the semifinals in tough brackets and knocking out multi-time champions along the way. They are certain to be among the favorites to go deep in the McCarthy Cup this spring (and Buster's won't be sneaking up on anybody ever again, I'll wager). Kudos to them!

As for the final game, while one of these teams will be a "new" winner of the trophy, both are venerable and arguably long overdue to claim a major victory. Mad River has been a fourteen-time quarterfinalist, a six-time semifinalist (the fourth-most ever behind only The Fellowship, Grand Slam/BWW-Crystal City, and Sam's/Concert Pub), and it appeared in the 2014 finals. Teaser's has an even longer tournament pedigree: the first of its ten quarterfinals appearances dates back to the 2001 McCarthy Cup, and it was a finalist in the 2017 McCarthy Cup (and this is not even to mention its near-legendary always-a-bridesmaid status in the Tim "DINGO" Richardson Brainbuster Tournament). Whichever group wins, it will be a well-deserved honor for a legendary team. Sincerest congratulations to both of them for making the finals, and--for the last time this tournament--good skill on Tuesday!

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

Anon,
First, thank you for once again skillfully conducting this tournament (and arranging it this time so we weren't in the same bracket as the Fellowship.) Second, since you count Grand Slam and BWW/Crystal City as a single team for the purpose of ranking them among past trophy winners (not to mention grouping The Fellowship under the various places where it has played), you should in fairness count Mad River as the latest incarnation of A&M Roadhouse and B4, both of which won the McCarthy Cup in days of yore. We've added a few good players and lost a few since then, some to death, some to disappearance, but the core of the team has continued to play together in the only regularly competing NYC team. (Our local rivals, Houlihans, are based on Long Island, not NYC.)
Gratefully,
XTrain

Thank you for the kind words Anon, and let me chime in as well with kudos to you for the organization of the tournament and the commentary over the weeks. That was all from 2001? I was going to guess Martin Chuzzlewit.

Indeed, in the shifting alliances and host bars of the game, I have been part of some top teams over the years at Diamond Lil's/Brewstirs etc. and Walsh's as well. We have won two Thursday Mudee's at Walsh's, but in terms of the Tuesday games (and Smartest Bar), we have the greatest collection of steak knives in the world.

Regardless of the results it is always fun to compete. Thanks to Kent for allowing someone else to win this time. I am reminded of a reporter asking Phil Mickelson, before he began the final round of what would become his first Masters win, what he thought of the fact that Tiger Woods, who had played only so-so that year, was not in contention. He replied "It doesn't suck."

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Merkin

First, thanks!

Second, I hope you know that I intended no slight--quite the opposite. In fact, I have suggested this very thing in the past; but I remember NYDAVY being very insistent with me that the Mad River team was NOT to be considered the same as the A&M/B4 group, nor was it to be considered the same as the NickelodeInn team, either. Because I considered him to be much more of an authority on this subject than me, I have deferred to him on this ever since.

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

SHAKES corollary to Sayre's Law:

"Trivia politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics, precisely because the stakes are so low."

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

Yeah. . .we just wanted to let someone else win for change. Yeah, that's it--Be all sporting-like and whatnot. That's why we lost. Yeah, that's the ticket...

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

“They were back, precisely where they wished to be, in the place that men called really great. There before them, a glittering toy no Star-team could resist, floated the planet Earth with all its peoples. They had returned in time. Down there on that crowded globe, the scores would be flashing across the network ranking screens, the great tracking computers would be searching the Hall of Fame--and history as men knew it would be drawing to a close.

A thousand miles away, they became aware that a slumbering beast of trivia had awoken, and was stirring against them. The feeble energies that team had collected were no possible menace to them; but they preferred a cleaner sky. They put forth their will, and the burst of knowledge flowered in a silent detonation that brought a brief, false dawn to half the sleeping globe. Then they waited, marshaling their thoughts and brooding over their still untested powers. For though they were masters of the trivia world, they were not quite sure what to do next.

But they would think of something.”

For much of the first decade of this century, the Showdown Trivia World turned on an axis that ran from New York City to Washington D.C. From 2002 to 2007, the two great powers—A&M Roadhouse/B4 and Grand Slam—collectively claimed five annual titles in wins and 6 annual titles in average score and average rank. They also claimed every single McCarthy Cup from 2001 to 2007, and the second Sandbag Trophy in 2008.

So 2018 has been a bit of a return in time. D.C. won the McCarthy Cup again in spring, and Sandbag Trophy will be traveling to NYC for the first time, giving the team there its first tournament title since the 2006 McCarthy Cup.

Not that it wasn’t a fight. Mad River just slipped by Teaser’s 45,722 to 45,399—a mere 323-point margin. This was certainly one of the closest major-tournament finals margins ever, and perhaps even the closest. So a well-deserved tip of the hat, a silver medal, and yet another set of steak knives must go to the seemingly-perpetual bridesmaids at Teaser’s for giving Mad River the best possible run for their money. If they keep this up, it will only be a matter of time that one of these things will be wending its way Chicago-ward.

That being done, I hereby crown Mad River the champion of the 12th Annual Sandbag Tournament. The crew there has participated in every one of these tournaments since the first one, in which they went deep (falling to The Fellowship in the quarterfinals). As long-time advocates of all-wetware play, they exemplify the principles on which the tournament was founded, and thus the trophy is going to an entirely-appropriate home. Congrats to them on their well-earned victory, and we look forward to their hosting of the 13th annual tournament next fall. I trust someone from the team will contact me with an address so I can ship the trophy there.

Before closing the books here, I want to take this opportunity to thank every team that participated in this year’s Sandbag Tournament. You, the playership, are what make this event a success and such great fun every year. Sincerest thanks to all.

And now, in accordance with tradition, I declare the 12th Annual Sandbag Tournament closed, and I call upon the Triviots of the world to assemble a few months from now to celebrate the 21st Annual McCarthy Cup Tournament, to be hosted by BWW-Crystal City in suburban D.C.



*Darkness falls as the flame slowly extinguishes. The music swells, and dewy-eyed observers look on silently.*

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

On behalf of the Mad River team, I would like to thank Anon for his kind congratulations, and I would like to thank Big Guys, The Old Barn, Buster's Bar and Teaser's for making us earn it.

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“When I see the right and the ability to do everything granted to any power whatsoever, whether it is called people or king, democracy or aristocracy . . ., I say: there is the seed of tyranny, and I seek to go live under other laws.” --de Tocqueville

I think a brief history will shed a more even-handed light on this situation.

The Showdown team at Nickelodeinn began circa 1993. From the mid- to later nineties, it was generally considered (there were no statistics kept until I began the practice in 1997) to be the predominant Showdown team. Let's call the people who played then the "original Nickelodeinn people."

When I began to keep statistics, this group ranked number one and National West Covina was ranked number two. This lasted until West Covina began using computers to play Showdown, roughly the second half of 1998 . After that happened, most of the original Nickelodeinn players began to drift away. Circa 2000/2001, the team picked up a few players who had previously played at Maggie Mae's (including myself) and a new recruit from "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" (XTRAIN).

Nickelodeinn closed its doors in the spring of 2002. By the fall, the team found itself a home at A&M Roadhouse. Only two "original Nickelodeinn" players went to and played regularly at A&M Roadhouse, NYDAVY and NYMFAF. Due to some new players, the group experienced a resurgence, one that continued when A&M Roadhouse gave up the game and the group moved to B4.

To make a long story short, there was an acrimonious breakup of the group in 2007, one centering around NYDAVY. He stopped playing the game shortly thereafter; NYMFAF and myself stopped playing Showdown due to family obligations. Those who remained went to play at Mad River, where they have remained ever since.

What is my take on the legitimate/illegitimate descendants of these teams?

The original Nickelodeinn team had a distinct temperament, let's call them the trivia equivalent of the Yankees' Bronx Zoo. It was a temperament not shared by those who came later on. There is only one "original Nickelodeinn player" still playing the game, and that is SYZYGY, who has played on Long Island teams, now Houlihans, for the past umpteen years.

There are two current Mad River players who did play for at least some time at Nickelodeinn, myself and XTRAIN. Would I consider either of us original Nickelodeinn players? No. We were on the roster, but we didn't have the Nick spirit, as Davey might put it.

On the other hand, there's no question in my mind that the current Mad River team is the direct, spiritual, literal, whateveral descendant of the A&M/B4 teams: a sizable, significant chunk of the A&M team plays at Mad River. If Mad River were modern man, A&M looks like Cro-Magnon, while Nickelodeinn Man seems more like Neanderthalish, somewhat related, yes, but not a direct descendant and now extinct.

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“When I see the right and the ability to do everything granted to any power whatsoever, whether it is called people or king, democracy or aristocracy . . ., I say: there is the seed of tyranny, and I seek to go live under other laws.” --de Tocqueville

And congratulations to Mad River for the win. Confusion on the last question over tortoise vs. crab cost Teasers. Bring on the steak knives.

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Merkin

Thanks for the history and the helpful characterization, STRO! One day I would like to visit and play with the Mad River Man colony in its native habitat.

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