New Scaratings

It’s official: The Sandbag Trophy is going to a place it has never been before!

As I said last week, “Any one of these teams is capable of going all the way, so it should be an exciting Final Four this week.” It was indeed: Primetime and Teaser’s fought to a nail-biting finish, and the Davids at Big Guys slew yet another Goliath in the semifinals:

31,550 #1 Danny K’s
48,376 #5 Big Guys

51,762 #3 Teaser’s
50,383 #10 Primetime

First of all, congrats to Danny K’s and Primetime on putting together great tournament runs this fall. I am sure we will be seeing them again in the McCarthy Cup this spring.

So, of course, this leaves us with a terrific final match this week:

#3 Teaser’s vs. #5 Big Guys

I’d like to share a few words of appreciation for both of these teams. This is the third time Teaser’s made the finals of a major tournament (joining their 2017 McCarthy Cup and 2018 Sandbag appearances), and a portion of that team also went to the finals at Diamond Lil’s/Brewstir’s in the 2013 Sandbag. As MERKIN would say, they got the steak knives each time. This will be their chance to be the bride rather than the bridesmaid for a change.

And as near as I can tell, this is the first time the crew from Winnipeg has made the finals of one of these tournaments. Given the fact that they usually have only six people and only eight operable boxes, their run into the finals this year may be the most impressive such a performance in major tournament history. Although they are probably the underdogs here, they have beaten Teaser’s more than once during this tournament, and certainly have the capability of knocking off another Goliath this week.

Sincerest congrats to both tournament finalists, and good skill to them this week in the finals!

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

I don't wish to take anything away from Big Guys, but Danny K's had several players missing last night, including me. Maybe, in the future we shouldn't schedule on a holiday week. I realize that a lot of the blame rest on us as we started later than we should. Either way, congrats to the winners.

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

Congrats to Teasers and Big Guys. Way to go. Tough bit of scheduling there.

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BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Caps and Os!!!!

Sandbag Tournament Final Results:

58,927 Teaser's
46,086 Big Guys

Before congratulating the winners, let's take a moment to appreciate the remarkable tournament run of the Davids at Big Guys. When he signed his team up, MADMAN warned me that they usually only had five or six players and only seven or eight working boxes, but they would try to do their best anyway. Their best, as it turned out, was better than almost everyone else's--including teams with double or triple the number of players and boxes. They should serve as an inspiration not only to other small-but-mighty teams out there, but also to every team that appreciates great trivia-playing. Congrats to them on their great performance--you may have been few in number, but you really were Big Guys in the tournament.

As for the OTHER small-but-mighty team at Teaser's: no bridesmaids, no steak knives this time--they finally got the Cadillac Eldorado! Congrats to a team of similar size to Big Guys which made its own admirable and remarkable run. Despite having an important presence in the NTN/Buzztime community for decades, Chicago has never hosted either the Sandbag nor the McCarthy Cup until now. Along with its dominance on almost every other night of the week, with this win and the Glory Daze and MUDEE trophies, too, Chicago can now rightfully claim to be the hub of triviadom. Sincerest congrats to MERKIN, CLIPPR, DROLL, et al. on a fantastic tournament and a fantastic year.

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 I hope we will see you in future tournaments. I would also like to thank the folks at Danny K's for being excellent hosts of the Sandbag Trophy, and for inviting me to serve as guest commissioner. It truly was an honor.

And now, in accordance with tradition, Danny K's declares the 15th Annual Sandbag Tournament closed, and calls upon the Triviots of the world to assemble a few months from now to celebrate the 24th Annual McCarthy Cup Tournament, also to be hosted by Danny K's.



*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."

I just noticed this post and I am sympathetic with its point. When we at Teasers made the Final Four, I thought about bringing up the holiday week issue, but our core 6 players could all make it. We should consider how to avoid Thanksgiving week next year.

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Merkin

I agree and have considered it for future tournaments. If a holiday falls within the tournament. that week should be avoided. Unfortunately, we started the tournament a week later than we wanted, but it happened.

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

What did Ricky Gervais say at the Golden Globes? Something like 'Thank your agent, thank your God and sit down.' Well, no such luck. Teasers finally wins a Showdown tournament gold after various runners-up and semifinals. I'd say we jumped and shouted like a bunch of macaques, but that's a pretty much normal week. I'd say we quoted extensively from Airplane! and Blazing Saddles in our glee, but that's also a normal week. Austin/CRAY did favor us all with a dramatic recitation of Christopher Walken's scene from Pulp Fiction. Frank/ZARGE found the (steak) knife set in the back. Pete/CLIPPR looked at us in his stern but loving Herb Brooks-like way and allowed that we finally got the job completed.

Let me first thank Danny K's for 'sponsoring' this year's Sandbag and ANON of the Fellowship in Ohio for acting as commissioner of the festivities. Thanks as always to Don Denton and his NTN site for the scorekeeping. Thanks to Buzztime for providing the game.

I also want to congratulate Big Guys of Wiinipeg, Canadian champion and tournament runner-up. Many of us have considered a sortee to your neighborhood, especially to worship the waters at the Crown Royal distillery. Perhaps in the spring. It was nice to have two 'small sites' in the finals, even though we bulked up to nine people and all 14 working boards. Well done, Big Guys.

A word about match play. As a long time golfer, it is clear that in stroke play, if one plays long enough, the #1 team will eventually win. In everything from the Ryder Cup to the Homewood-Flossmoor Park District B-Flight Championship, however, match play adds the diabolical factors of beating one opponent at a time with skill but also the timing and luck needed to win and advance. Especially with the Pyramid/Final Question making all the potential differrence. Next year I hope we can field a bracket of 256 teams.

And for a few bows: Our Core 6--myself, Ron C, Frank, Dave, Austin and Brian, Hall of Famer Pete joining us for the last two weeks just like the Olde Days, part timer Ginny and Derek from Ohio, who moved to Chicago last year and usually plays at Teasers on Wednesdays, who changed his quizzing schedule to join us last night. Also thanks to bartender Mike and Teasers manager Chris.

It has been a good autumn season for Chicago area Buzztime, with Sandbag and Glory Daze wins at Teasers and Mudee Six at Walsh's. We look forward to defending these next year. Also, it's fun every night.

Insert the usual Calvinball joke here.

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Merkin

Congratulations to the Chicago CoDominium!

I would point out, though, that with the cessation of new Buzztime subscriptions that allow Showdown to be played, either
the game will have to be ported over to the phone app, or the game will be phased out. I would bet that termination
is at least as likely as porting.

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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