New Scaratings

Beware of church trivia fund raisers. Normally, you will need to reserve a table for eight, and each person on your team will have to fork over ten bucks for their seat. Everything is great, and you have a team there that should kick butt, but wait for the questions to start, at first they may seem pretty fair, until they hit a round like Watson (Ralph) told me about. How many of you could know the number of the isle where you find mustard at the local grocery store, or what a package of Pampers costs at the drug store next to it? I went to one of these once, and there was a bunch of home cooking going on, where certain tables were given significant extra points for smiling the best, and things like that. You could have FOG, LilJol, MERKIN, FSHMAN, SPOTES, MAGUMI, and anybody else you wanted to pick out, but you will NOT win. My housemate, Dave (DHB), went to one last week. He came home more than a little bit frustrated by the trivia questions that were asked, and Dave is a pretty smart guy.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against churches raising money, I just don't like the way they run trivia contests to do it.

Bingo is better. At least the person sitting next to you won't get a couple extra spaces filled in, because they smiled better than you.

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"The game is afoot."

Been there, done that.
I always allow for 5-10 home cooking questions at local charity trivia contests, religious or secular. Anything much more than that and there's trouble a-brewin'.
I also dislike non-trivia tiebreakers ("guess your final point total before the game" sort of thing). That smacks of laziness and I always seem to lose those by one stinking point. Back me up here, Griff.
I also hate mulligans. Paying for points makes me feel like a trivia whore.
I'm a trivia slut at worst. It's especially bad when you win by more than the number of mulligans allowed per team.
And believe me... there's nothing more satisfying than crushing everyone at an event without buying a single mulligan. Mwah! Hah! Hah!

That's not really what I'd call "Real" trivia. Asking questions like that is like having "How many square feet makes up my back yard" as a trivia question. Who's gonna know that?.....and for the record, I don't know either. LOL

I abhor live trivia. Agonizingly slow, unclear questions, trivia administrator not knowledgable of subject matter of questions, cell phone cheats, etc.

Everytime I get roped into one makes me appreciate BT more and more.

They even asked Ralph's (Watson's) team the phone number of some other store in the area. (No joke.)

These are fund raisers first, and trivia knowledge takes a back seat. I probably shouldn't say this, but I have a feeling that the people, who are running it, know their friends, and if they are behind, their table gets awarded exra points for smiling the best, wearing the best costumes, or some other ridiculoius thing, that has nothing to do with knowing shit.

(Damn, I'm going paranoid again.)

p.s. TIAMAT, let me guess. Your back yard is exactly 600 square yards. At least that was what it was last time I snuck back there and measured it. Will you accept a square yards answer instead of square feet?

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"The game is afoot."

Amen...!

p.s. All live trivia ain't so bad. Bob and Marty's live trivia that we play in Louisville, though somewhat challenging at times, asks fair questions. As much as I know that you dislike live trivia, I think you might like playing it there with us. Next time you get back up to Louisville, pencil out 6:30 to 8:30 on your schedule for Monday night, and join FSHMAN, Doctor Mega Hertz, Watson, me, and the rest of the team. I think you might enjoy it.

p.s. As soon as it's over, we head over to Buffalo Wild Wings, and rack up a bunch of number 1's on NTN.

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"The game is afoot."

I have friends who we met through playing NTN who now rarely play Buzztime and spend their time playing this national "Team Trivia" thing. Your complaints are the same that I have with live trivia. I played with the husband one night at a local establishment and the bartender was giving answers to one of the teams (for what reason, we don't know). My buddy told the guy running trivia and he said there was nothing he could/would do about it. I'll play live trivia on occasion, if I'm off the next day, as some of these things can last until 11:00 at night, and getting up at 4:45 the next morning makes for a very short night.

Despite the complaints I have with the ultra-new and pop culture questions, I still much prefer BT.

One thing that the live trivia is good for is the prizes. With a smaller group of players, your chance of winning a prize is much higher. I remember the old days when we would play at places like TGI Fridays, or when we had a pretty regular group at Michael Anthony's, we would get rewarded with a plate of appetizers or a round of drinks if we could get the bar into the national ranking. That was an incentive to play as a team and to avoid sandbagging.

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Malort. It's not just for breakfast anymore.

I agree mulligans is a too easy way out...if there is a round where one is not needed, its a waste of $$$$.

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Mitch (MTCHWF/WLFFLY)

Co-Home Bar: Buffalo Wild Wings Edwardsville, IL and Time Out in St Louis, MO

I just deleted a difficlut pictorial post that YODA told me some might find offensive. I obey, and it's gone, but I thought it was kind of funny, and perhaps a little bit thought provoking as to who would get the last seat at the table.



........... "Hmm, most thought provoking, but where did it go...?"

p.s. I'm easily intimidated, and almost always back down when confronted. I will never become president of the United States, unless I get a massive bunch of write in votes. In which case, I will become a son-of-a bitch hard ass, who never backs down. (Yeah, it will probably be just a one term presidency for me.)

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"The game is afoot."

I find this picture aesthetically rewarding...

Glad you liked it. That is a picture of myself, when I wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, and ask myself, "Is that what the years have done to me?"

p.s. SPOTES, I see you have given up, and now proudly use your early morning picture as your avatar.

p.p.s. This is where we are all headed:

..

(Try to pick out ICEMAN, PENGWN, and YODA.)

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"The game is afoot."