New Scaratings

You like movies about gladiators?

_________________
"...It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED...."

I can see how the following questions would be difficult:

What sport does Tiger Woods play?
Who is the all-time leading scorer in NBA history?
What professional team did John Elway play for?
What sport is Wayne Gretzky the all-time leading scorer?
What type of ball do you use to play football?
A tennis ball is used to play which sport?
A pitcher holds beverages, but also plays this sport?

:-p

_________________
Buzztime is a company full of dumbshits.

The Elway and all-time NBA scorer questions are not in any way like the others you listed, though.

There are different degrees of following sports, and you're not recognizing those who don't give one damn about them. I could ask you which Pokemon is No. 9 and while you might know it, you probably have to look it up. People with different knowledge levels would know or not know the answer to that question. People who played the first generation and then stopped playing the games might have a general memory of how the starters worked and their order, even if it's a bit fuzzy. Diehards would certainly know it. People who never played or followed the games would probably be hurting. Sports is a very specialized field of knowledge. There are going to be people at a disadvantage when it comes up... accept it. :p

Someone who doesn't follow sports will be able to tie Tiger Woods to golf, and Wayne Gretzky to hockey. That's because people who do like sports won't stop socially jerking off about them. People who don't follow sports can escape things like John Elway and NBA records if we try hard enough. And we do. Just like you avoid knowing which Pokemon gym leader specializes in Poison types.


You probably grew up liking sports. Most sports fans did; I've watched my young nephew indoctrinated into liking sports (maybe a strong word but it's definitely what happens), trying to bond with his dad over observations of what's going on in the game. He basically regurgitates the kinds of things he heard his dad say, hoping to say something correct that will connect and get a response out of him.

I bring this up to point out that there is a deep bias going on when people scoff at people not knowing sports. It's so deep they need to be aware of it. I am very biased towards Pokemon because I grew up with it (and so did dozens of millions of people in the US). For me, anyone who doesn't know the first gen starters should retire from trivia. Around 30m of those games sold in the US back in the 90s. If you factor that some kids bought both games, you can still assume 20-25m of the sales figure were individual people. And if you assume every other kid had one non-playing person in their family care enough about their interests to learn a bit about the games, well over 30m people probably knew the starters, including their order. Asking the 1st-9th pokemon is just like asking what sport did Babe Ruth play, in some ways.

But I also know there is no reason to expect /everyone/ to know it, even if I grew up with it and it is embarrassingly easy for me. I wouldn't declare that people who don't know something so basic to videogames should give up on trivia. I get it... sports are popular. At the same time, people need to realize it's esoteric as fuck if you're not into it or around sports fans all the time.

For the record;
A, Kareem Abdul Jabbar is one of the most famous basketball players, EVER!
B, Pokemon is for little kids and is stupid. ;-p

I am just happy that when I see that ONE question about Pokemon, I know I will have a 1/5 chance of getting it correct. But, while waiting for that one question about Pokemon I will continue to get 1000s of Sports questions correct in the mean time.

Also, John Elway won 2 Super Bowls, just between those 2 games I would guess over 100 million know who he is. Compared to a very small percentage who even care about Pokemon. If you like Pokemon, fine, but comparing the major sports to Pokemon, is laughable, at best. You should have compared Pokemon to something like, Lacrosse, then you might have a point.

Btw, Kareem is the all time leading scorer in NBA history.

My father doesn't pay attention to Sports one bit, but he could tell you what team Kareem played for. He can't quote stats, because he doesn't care about sports. I also never talk sports with my Dad. If your nephew uses sports to communicate with his father, then they have deeper issues.

War! Chinpokomon...

_________________
Buzztime is a company full of dumbshits.

Pokemon has sold more than 250 million copies worldwide since its debut in 1997. More or less split between the U.S. and Japan with the holdovers in Europe and elsewhere. It isn't part of the pop culture mainstream like it was during its peak from 1998-2001, but it hasn't gone away by any means. Still makes Candy Crush Saga look like a pile of shit. Granted, the demographics for this game make it more unlikely for someone to know video games than, say, sports, especially when you consider where these games are played, but on a parallel track I'd say knowing anything about Pokemon is akin to knowing something about Kareem or Elway. Both are mainstays and extremely well known within their bubbles.

Going with the lacrosse comparison, I saw a question about the Gears of War video game franchise recently during a game of Six. While it is pretty well known in the gaming world (especially for Xbox owners) it might be a stretch for anyone outside the gaming community to know it.

It's all a matter of perception.

Pokemon is definitely specialized knowledge but is nothing compared to the Big 4. Sports is still considerably more mainstream than Pokemon, the day people sit around the 'water cooler' and talk about Pokemon, might be a first, but sports is water cooler. It isn't like it was a question about Grandville Waiters or Gary Sichting?

_________________
Buzztime is a company full of dumbshits.

He might have gotten one had he hustled more on defense.

BT has one premium game per week dedicated to sports, for almost 20 years they had two per week. This is because sports is an essential cornerstone to trivia. I don't see one or two weekly hour long Pokemon games in the near future with BT.

As far as trivia goes, being totally ignorant in sports is no different than not having a clue in history or geography. If you know nothing about one of the six categories of Six, you've got issues.

A is irrelevant to people who don't watch sports.
B well yeah but shut up.



Obviously being good at sports trivia helps with buzztime because so many are asked. I generally face 1-2 sports questions a week that are of any consequence. I remember the info for later on, but it's not likely to be asked again in Final Six (not for a while). I am not really incentivized to beef up my sports knowledge. My games rarely come down to the sports question...normally I blow it well before that.




That sports is bigger than video games is not being contested here. It was never a comparison of size, it was a comparison of size within their respective field. 30 million is damn insane for video games. Ocarina of Time, widely regarded as the best game of all time (in terms of story and everything else), only sold ~7 million copies. Not knowing the first 9 Pokemon (or any given evolutionary chain) is very much akin to not knowing Elway played for the Broncos. CVAVRA gets what I mean. (Also you kind of owned up to understanding over 2/3 of people in the US wouldn't be expected to know about Elway. )

Don't be this guy*, man, play some pokemon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANKYbuVOyks

That question actually had an easy out but imagine such a question without a LOTR character mixed in.




What kind of trivia player would I be if I didn't look up that and the John Elway question? :p I may not give a damn about sports but I collect data put in front of me in a trivia context.




Not really. It's human nature to try and bond over things. Kids are super obvious about it is all I am saying.




You have such large penis! Ours is so small.

Yeah it's never been argued that sports trivia isn't big. It's been argued that I don't give a shit about sports regardless. But I will say there are going to more gamers than science fiction enthusiasts, so a dedicated game isn't proof of anything. If it is, it's time to make a game dedicated to video gaming.


Not knowing a category in Six doesn't mean anything. It's probably technically encouraged because it's a team game. In high school our quiz bowl team had a sports specialist so the rest of us could focus on everything else. It was nice.

You do know you're arguing with people who have played top level trivia longer than you've been alive? And if you listened to the advice of those who can break 60k solo in Six you just might be able to crack that elusive 50k mark you've been clamoring for.

Category in the first round of Jeopardy today is Basketball Hall of Famers!

The only advice I've gotten is to quit trivia. Courtesy of Lewser and Bud if not more.

The rest of what has been directed at me has been pissing on me for not knowing sports. Maybe someone politely suggested I brush up on sports but I must have missed it.

No, most of it is you arguing with those who have been in the game longer than you've been alive about the team arguably the greatest hoopster ever played for and other level 0 sports tidbits. When you admit this is very different than Pokemon characters, then people here would be much more willing willing to help.

I already said there is a difference. The whole point of that comparison was to illustrate how anything can seem super easy if you grew up with it, are interested in it, or are otherwise situated to let some of it filter in to your general knowledge.

Also if you'd notice, that argument came up after lewser made a majorly condescending post (pitcher question, etc). I decided to propose some rebuttals, sue me.

Several have said study up on topics you don't know. You chose not to study. SPOTES studies everyday, as many around here do. But it is an everyday curiosity about many things. I was not very good in sports trivia 20 years ago, knew basic stuff, but not the history. I made an effort to get better. That is what you need to do. I don't do much studying anymore because there isn't really a need, no sports trivia game. (don't you dare say The Pulse is sports trivia)

You chose to study for some game that it is virtually impossible to study. Study simple lists in sports, until then we will give you shit, 'just give up trivia' for not knowing a really simple answer about sports.

_________________
Buzztime is a company full of dumbshits.

Fair enough.

My point should have been clearer. I should have said if you don't know what team Kareem played for you should quit trivia or read Wiki or some other site about championship major sport teams. Especially if SIX is one of your favorites.

Good luck and start reading.

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

LET'S GO ....Orioles!!!!

We both know this isn't true.

mrgray, I don't think anybody is literally suggesting that you quit playing trivia because you don't care about sports. You are obviously passionate about the game, and some of the best trivia players in the country are simply suggesting that you can make a leap by studying up on categories you are weaker in. These guys aren't the best in the country because Buzztime just happens to ask exclusively things that they enjoy and grew up interested in.

My, my... this thread certainly perked up...

It's not like mrgray is on an island here, folks. Every single top notch trivia player that I've ever met has gaping holes in their arsenal. And it's usually sports, topically enough.
Mine is TV from the last twenty years or so. I don't know it and I don't want to know it. Therefore I am willing to suffer the consequences accordingly. However, this fact also disallows me from validly griping about it afterwards (hint hint ) which may explain part of the gnashing of teeth going on here from others.

Others will suggest studying, which is fine. If you enjoy studying for things, and it's clear from your preference for having that sort of game that you do, knock yourself out. It may help to some degree.
But it will almost certainly never make you a "great" trivia player. So do it because you enjoy it.
All other considerations should be second by a mile.

I will freely admit one of my gaping holes is Pokemon. Costs me dearly at least once every three years.

Then what is the deal with Canada?

_________________
Buzztime is a company full of dumbshits.

CANADA!!! Exactly! I sit in a room with a map of the world on the wall, yet I still refuse to pay any attention to Canada, despite knowing that there has to be X amount of Canadian information/content in the game over an hour's time, due to Canadian law.

I know the rivers, just from a fishing aspect (Atlantic vs. Pacific salmon/steelhead runs), but never bother knowing which province touches what state, etc.

Same with prescription drug questions...the ads are on TV all the time, but if I don't know a way to use it recreationally, well, let's not go there...

Countdown just asked what role Karem Abdul Jabbar played in Airplane! Broke into hysterics laughing.