Getting on over that Hump Day!

Wednesdays can feel like they last forever, it’s nice to have a game to look forward at the end of the day! Our team are almost as plentiful as the laughter, Wednesday night never disappoints!

Valley Grill in Middletown, Md 

That was probably the closest game I have seen in awhile here at Valley Grill, and the leader board fluctuated quite a bit in the second half! It all culminated into a very close final question, where the right wager choice was paramount in tonight’s success. Here are the results:

Fat Kids are Hard to Kidnap in 1^st

Simple Minds in 2^nd

Southpaw Fish in 3^rd

Our first category for next week will be the PBS show “Doc Martin”, NOT the shoes! ~ Ronnie

Revolution in Fairfax, Va

Ian

The Tavern in Olney, Md 

Coming Soon..

Applebee’s in Frederick, Md 

Tonight’s game opened with a question about Mel Brooks Films, and asked for the speed slightly faster than ‘ridiculous speed’ which is ‘Ludicrous Speed!!’ according to the film ‘Spaceballs’. We also asked teams to name the superhero that Ryan Reynolds portrayed back in 2011, before he was Deadpool. Most teams remembered he played the Green Lantern, although he’s much better off being Deadpool.

Tonight’s audio question asked teams to identify different songs with chemical elements in their title, like Gold Digger or Iron Man. We also asked about Scottie Pippen talking about the Golden State Warriors, when he claimed that his 1996 Bulls would sweep them, a claim that can never be proven or disproven.

Halftime asked teams to identify things that begin and end with the letter ‘O’ such as the Orinoco river, or Oreos. We also had teams match the Principal to the work they are from, like Mr. Feeny or Principal Skinner. In the third round we asked about pectin, which is something in plant cell walls that I’ve never heard of, but is used in jams and jellies and comes from Citrus Fruit too.

We also asked for the historical document that King John signed as well as the year he signed it, which was The Magna Carta in 1215. There was even a Star Wars question, which asked for the only character mentioned by name in the opening crawl for Episode IV, which most teams knew was Princess Leia.

In the final round we had a Scooby Doo question which asked all about Velma. The question asked for the nonsense word she said whenever she discovered  something, as well as who played her in the 2002 live action version. Turns out Linda Cardellini wasn’t as tough as ‘Jinkies!’ was for some teams. I was surprised anybody knew the answer on the abbreviations question, asking what the PB in APBA meant, which was Power Boat.

The final question tonight was in the category of ‘Pope-Pourri’, and asked for the 16th century man who Pope Paul III was speaking to when he said he’d been waiting 30 years for his services. About half the teams were able to get to the answer of Michelangelo, and that definitely shook things up.

Third place tonight went to We’ve Embraced Our Mediocrity, who heard the category and immediately decided on the zero-bet. Second place went to BTF, who held a good lead but lost it on the final. Winning tonight, sneaking all the into first on the final is Bored of Education! Congrats ladies, what a finish! Next week we start with a question about Impressionist Art, so study up, and I’ll see you all next week!

Until next time,
-Chad

Belles’ in Frederick, Md

Oh my Wednesday night crew knows how to make me laugh.. and how to make me sigh. And how to make my head hit the table as they harp on the same bad joke.. over and over again…. I will give you this though, you’re persistent! You were just as persistent in your search for those top 3 spots. Well, half of you were celebrating when you were in the top 3 and half of you were celebrating not being last… I’m sure there’s a lesson in there about setting your goals.

We had a tie for 1st going in to a tough final, between Colonizing Uranus and Tokyo Sex whale, but the whales just couldn’t grab that final and fell to 2nd, leaving Uranus in 1st! Comfortably Dum made a comfortable wager and settled on in to 3rd. Nice game! Next week we will start with colors that end in urple. Yup. Toughie.

Bennigan’s in Clarksburg, Md 

Once every few weeks or so, the competitive field at Bennigan’s gets a little extra special. We had a strong regular group that shows up fairly weekly but one particular team only comes once a month or two because of scheduling conflicts. When they do, they are terrifyingly good at trivia! Dusty Baker School of Management. Every team at Bennigan’s knows that when they come in to the place, they mean business. And for good reason, they’ve never lost. Like, never. They win every single time they play! Bound to lose eventually but it’s not something we’ve seen before!

Going into half time, Just the Tip led Dusty Baker by 1 point. This was pretty astonishing because Dusty Baker has barely ever shown any signs of weakness but they actually missed questions in the first half! Notably, they missed 4 on the matching section of the halftime page, and at that point it seemed they knew they were in trouble. Just felt like an off night. Well, an off night for most teams is hanging out at the bottom of the standings hoping that the waiter can bring you enough alcohol to forget everything that happened over the last 2 hours. Dusty Baker’s off night is a one-point deficit to overcome at halftime. Not terribly difficult.

Just the Tip really screwed the pooch in the 3rd round. One of the categories was Star Wars and, despite having a self-proclaimed Star Wars Trivia Genius, they opted to bonus 3 Clues 1 Word instead. Which was the first mistake they made. They, along with a handful of other teams, missed their wager on this one, but for them it was doubly costly because it was their 5 point bonus chip too.. So long, Just the Tip. Gotta a play a near perfect game to have a shot to beat Dusty Baker and tonight Just the Tip just wasn’t ready.

Dusty Baker pulled into the lead after the 3rd round but a good margin, 4 or 5 points. Close behind was The Yellow One is the Sun, a team who doesn’t come often and even when they do, they aren’t making the noise that they did tonight. Always competitive but rarely at the top, The Yellow One seemed to be the only team close enough to give Dusty Baker something to sweat over.

Going into the 4th round, Dusty Baker missed wager points on one question and dropped a few of the 2 point bonuses as well, and as luck would have it, it gave The Yellow One is the Sun a chance to move up into the lead. By 1 point they led going into the final question. A rare sight to see Dusty Baker trailing AT ALL but going into the final question; I don’t think it’s ever happened. The Yellow One was 1 question away from taking down a trivia juggernaut.

Final question was a tough one. Less than half the teams picked it up. If Dusty Baker got it, it was up to the Yellow One to nail it as well so they could take down the much acclaimed victory tonight. Most of our teams up top missed it but a few did get it and were able to hop a spot in the money. 3rd place tonight was The Gold Team who got the final and moved up nicely! 2nd place to Roaming Gnomes, another crew who sniped the final to cap a pretty impressive comeback. Winning tonight on the strength of a correct response on the final in addition to a Dusty Baker MISS, the winners are The Yellow One is the Sun! An exciting night indeed.

Every good story needs the overpowered villain that is just too strong to lose, and we’ve got one here. And they’ve been defeated. They’re like Johnny Lawrence in Karate Kid, they’re like the Cowboys in Little Giants, they’re like the Monstars in Space Jam. The only reason they’re feared is because they’re terrifyingly good at what they do. And they do it consistently. Glad to see someone take them down, but expect to see more dominant runs by these guys in the near future. Good game tonight, see you next week.

1st Place:     The Yellow One is the Sun

2nd Place:    Roaming Gnomes

3rd Place:     Gold Team

Next week:     Singin’ in the Rain

Memories in Mt. Airy, Md

While we were almost out of the “Warren Moon Era”, this week’s game gave teams a few head-scratching moments and produced a joke answer or two. But scores remained high and tight as we moved question by question closer to securing those post-season berths.

Barefoot Bernie’s in Hagerstown, Md

Hagerstown is our oyster and hump day trivia night at Bernies is that shiny little pearl inside.

OK…so I’m not as smooth as Willie Shakes. Either way we did have a romp Wednesday night for sure. A great game of trivia went down in Hagerstown, MD. And a close, photo finish, tie breaker craziness at that! The scores were bunchy for a bit bu by the final we had no ties. However, that said, all of the TOP 3 decided they did not like POPE POURRIS in the least and all secretly wagered ZERO leaving the opening for some other crews…

We navigated through some tough ones.

Ty Cobb was nasty! Power Boating had a bite and the OVER-UNDER was seductively challenging!

At the end of the shake down we had a finish for the record books. Great game everyone. Those are fun to watch 🙂 Congrats to our podium takers…

Have a great weekend everyone. Next WED we start it all off with some “Men’s NCAA Final 4 History.” 

Luv ya! See you soon…DG 🙂

Hard Times Cafe in Arlington, Va

We welcomed a few new teams to Hard Time Cafe tonight (and one other team we hadn’t seen for a LONG TIME!).  We hope you make it back for a return visit!  Tonight’s third round separated the leaders from the rest of the field, and once again it was Kitten Mittens who took down the field with another win!  Second place went to Two Girls and an Idiot, with Swedish Police on Vacation making a triumphant return by gaining a few spots on the final question to take third place.  next week, we’ll begin with a question on the Stanley Cup Playoffs! ~ Matt