I’m ready for trivia on a Thursday night at Elbo Room.
Unfortunately, tonight I’m doing it solo. Jeremy and Alexis have a banquet for their Ultimate team – no word if the meals will be served on overturned Frisbee plates. So Street Academy will be me – just me – tonight, and my teammates will be there in spirit.
I also wanted to tie up a loose end. And it involved the Skidmarks.
See, last Monday, one of the Skidmarks showed up at Brown’s Brewing for Monday night trivia, and he and his buddies plopped themselves at my table.
“Oh yeah,” one of the Skidmarks said. “He texted me Monday night, saying ‘I got Street Academy’s table, ha ha ha.'”
I then asked if he said anything about his team going into the final round with a grand total of four points.
“No,” was the reply. “He didn’t text anything about that.”
Well, anyways… back to this week’s tournament round.
And for the first eight questions, everything went great. I nailed knowing the comedian born Jacob Cohen (Rodney Dangerfield), the award originally known as the “DAC” (Heisman Trophy), and who had an album called “Ray of Light” (Madonna). Perfect through eight questions.
Then came the first bonus question and I lost all momentum.
“Name the actors that appeared in the movie Sweet Home Alabama.”
Well, I know Reese Witherspoon was one of them… at least I got eight points out of the deal.
No, General James meant the “actors” – as in male thespians – and I did not know them and lost big time.
I also coughed on knowing which Massachusetts senator once posed for Cosmopolitan (Scott Brown), which TV show is set in Hattie’s Pub (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), and in what decade Simon Cowell was born (1950’s – dang he’s old). I got those wrong. That’s on me.
I redeemed myself by getting the triple bonus right, naming the major cities near Pimlico Race Track, Arlington Race Track and Calder Race Track (Baltimore, Chicago and Miami), and also getting correct the singer who has a clothing line called “EDUN” (it’s Bono).
So by the 19th question, I had 88 points – a tie for third with one other team, three teams had 90 points and Da Bears had a lead with 100 points.
The final category was “Celebrity Birthdays.”
Oh I HATE this category. I HATE it HATE it HATE it.
Then I thought. What if I played conservative this time – there’s too many variables out there, if enough teams bet the farm and miss the date by a year or two on their answer, I can pull off an upset.
I wagered one point.
“What comic actor / musician celebrated his 41st birthday on August 28th?”
Oh great. I know this. It’s Jack Black. And I only bet one point. Perfect. I bet a wimp bet at the time when I could have bet the farm and gotten it right.
Half the teams said Jack Black, the other half said Adam Sandler.
And in the end, it was Jack Black.
Street Academy came in fourth place, but fourth place doesn’t get any playoff points. Stern Fans (who also bet conservatively, as is their wont) took third place, while the returning “Da Bears” grabbed second place. Another team, Sneaky Pete’s, got first place and the five big bonus points.
Which apparently did not please one member of Da Bears.
After it was announced that Sneaky Pete’s won the prize, Lisa from Da Bears stormed up to General James and started cursing him out. “Sneaky Pete’s was using a cell phone all through the game,” she growled. “They cheated and you didn’t do anything about it! Do your 
job, General James!”
To General James’ credit, he did announce several times that people should stay off the cell phones during the game. Even if you’ve already handed in your answer, it’s usually good form to keep the phone off lest someone get the impression you’re calling your buddies for answers. So whether or not Sneaky Pete’s cheated, I don’t know. It’s not my job to police other teams. I could go up to General James and say, “Hey, Da Bears is using a cell phone.” And it’d be my word against theirs.
And General James is standing in an area where he can’t see what’s going on all over the bar. The Elbo Room has a very large surface area, including a bar and a dining section. General James would need to have Marty Feldman eyes to see everything from one end of the bar to the other. And he’s trying to read the questions and keep score and deal with everybody trying to argue how the question was worded and the semantics of same.
Meanwhile, Lisa was still fuming. “Do your job, General James,” she snarled.
Then she saw me.
“And you! Put this in that blog of yours, Sneaky Pete’s cheated! They used a cell phone and they won!! And we’re never coming back here again!!!”
Okay… see you guys next week, I suppose…
Hey look. I didn’t get some of the questions right, and I didn’t bet enough to win. But that’s because the Celebrity Birthdays category is so nebulous, when I hear “In what year” or “how old is” to start a question, it gets antsy. I’ve been off by a year, and I’ve lost because of it. And I just had the other end of the spectrum – I had the right answer, but only bet an eeny-weenie amount.
But at least I’m taking responsibility. Da Bears got second place, earned three playoff points, and one of their members is going ballistic over another team’s alleged use of a cell phone. I’m staying out of this one. It’s not worth my trouble.
So here’s the standings after two weeks. Remember, there is no “mandatory attendance” record, so it’s not necessary for me to list every team who played Thursday night – just the ones that earned playoff points.
| Trivia Team Name | Points | |
| T-1 | Sneaky Pete’s (+5) | 5 |
| T-1 | Schooled | 5 |
| 3 | Stern Fans (+1) | 4 |
| 4 | Da Bears (+3) | 3 |
| 5 | Just the Tips | 1 |
Two weeks down. Eighteen more weeks to go.
Chuck The Writer 
I know I tend to overreact to things, and definitely do so emotionally, but that’s how I felt last night about what happened. A team that I saw cheating had not only beaten us, but won, and it was unfair. I shouldn’t say cheating, as I don’t know if they were, but they were breaking the rules. General James announces that the use of cell phones is prohibited during the game, and this particular team had them out and was using them, plain and simple. When I asked one member about it, he said he was planning his hockey tournament. That’s all well and good, but nonetheless, cell phone use is prohibited during the trivia game if you are participating.
I have been called a Luddite before, and I am probably in the minority in this tech-obsessed age, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable or impossible to not use your cell phone for a few hours. If something is urgent or you are waiting for that call about the donor kidney, they maybe you shouldn’t be out playing trivia where cell phone use is prohibited. It’s not that hard of a concept to swallow. I noticed other members on that team had cell phones out on the table and also using them during game play. I mentioned this to General James, and he made a simple announcement about the prohibition of cell phone use. I honestly wasn’t too upset at the time, as I assumed they were one of those teams who show up for fun and had -38 points, but when I found out they beat us, I was apoplectic. What’s the point of having rules if they won’t be enforced? What’s the point of having a trivia contest if you can simply look up the answers on your cell phone? Some people say I take it too seriously, but why shouldn’t I when there are money and prizes on the line and there are rules? This should be a fair and honest competition, after all. If a group of people want to go ahead and set up a cell phone trivia tournament, where the goal is to see who can get the answer from the internet or a friend as quickly as possible, than by all means, please go ahead, but The Team Formerly known as Da Bears will not take part in it. We want to play fair and with integrity against other teams and see who really knows the most trivial knowledge on that date and time, without any artificial aids. We will be on the search for a pure game, where if we win, we know we did so without cheating or breaking the rules, and so did our competitors.
Chuck, to say that I am not taking responsibility is completely false. We had the most points at halftime, and we had the most points going into the final question, all while having our cell phones tucked securely in our pockets and purses. To then find out we lost to a team that broke the rules, rules that they knew about and did not follow, is unfair. To say that General James can’t possibly see all that’s going on? When I did mention that the other team was using phones, he could have walked over the 30 feet and checked it out himself. To say that you could have accused us of cheating? Of course you could, but you would have been wrong, and if it was checked out, that would have been proven. To say it’s not my job to police other teams? I wasn’t doing that, they were sitting right next to us and I saw them and said something. If they want to cheat, and General James doesn’t want to enforce his rules, that’s fine. No one is forcing James to run this tournament, and if he can’t do so fairly, than we won’t go. To say we shouldn’t gripe because we did win playoff points (which have no value by the way) is ridiculous. We still would have liked to won, if we earned it. It’s not just a title that’s at stake.
Also, please don’t quote me exactly unless you have a tape recorder and know exactly what I said and how I said it. I’m not saying you are way off, but they are not exact quotes and you shouldn’t present them as such. Just more sloppy reporting without fact checking, which is what I should expect from the media.
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This is nothing new at the Elbo…go read the posts from the last trivia tournament. I don’t like driving to Albany and spending my money at a place where I’m playing against cell phones, either. Cell phones are the #1 factor in deciding where we’ll play.
I took in a Memorama trivia game last week and while I prefer the Baker games the host at Memorama walked around with a wireless mic and didn’t say “Please don’t use cell phones”, he called out a team saying “If I see you on that phone you’re out of the game”. I liked that.
Some teams are just one-time players or casual players and probably don’t care…but if the host sees them with phones they should just be playing along…not playing to win.
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Lisa, if you see someone cheating (using cellular device) during a question there is little The General can (er…make that…will) do. The best responce is publicly mocking and chastising the offending party.
– Start a “Cheaters” chant amongst your team.
– Any question where The General publicly announces the answers, write down “(Offending Team Name) are a bunch of cheaters”
– Change your team name to “(cheating teams name)’s Cell Phone”
Encourage others to join you in your crusade. Long time Elbo room teams are sympathetic to exposing cheaters, Mayhem, I’m looking at you.
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And to think that there are people who find this “trivia stuff” boring!
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Thanks for the support, guys. CFO, I do appreciate when a host will walk around and actually enforce the rules. I don’t want to play with cheaters or with hosts who will tolerate them. Anyone can play for fun, I am not denying them that right, but if they are breaking the rules, they should be disqualified for that, plain and simple, and not earn any points or prizes. We’re gonna try a new place, or move out of the area if possible.
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Lisa –
While I do appreciate your passion for competitive team trivia, and while I do enjoy playing against Da Bears, I think where you lost focus was when you started screaming and cursing at General James after the game. The message was lost in the delivery.
I speak from experience. I’ve had arguments with hosts in the past. But it’s done and over with afterward. I questioned that Sweet Home Alabama question last night – I consider anyone who takes the stage or appears on screen as an “actor,” and my thought was that he was referring to the two performers who were the romantic leads in Sweet Home Alabama, of which Reese Witherspoon was one. That was not the subject of the question; I missed it, it cost me a 24-point swing. That’s my bad. But I didn’t go up to General James and curse at him like a longshoreman because of it.
And as for your statement about “sloppy reporting without fact checking,” please be aware that this is a weblog. This is not the New York Times. This is not the Congressional Record. And I’m not going to print every curse word you were throwing around because I didn’t bring a stenographer with me to trivia.
Anyways, now that I hope cooler heads have prevailed, see you next week at Elbo Room. 🙂
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I am going to address this once and be done with it because the fact that you are tarnishing our “names” with false accusations isn’t right. We did not cheat on one single question the entire game. I can stare you or anyone in the face and say that with a clear conscience, same as anyone else sitting at our table. Whether you choose to believe us is your own business. You said above, “I shouldn’t say cheating, as I don’t know if they were”…….well the rest of your post and actions last night obviously insinuate that was exactly the case. And it could not be further from the truth.
Our phones were in plain site, stacked on the table, and there was clearly no effort made to use them for answers the entire game. You approached one of our team members (Hockey Tournament guy) after an answer was turned in and also during a break. In doing so, you couldn’t casually mention your concern and explain? You chose to yell and swear, which was disrespectful and completely out of line. Had you done so, we surely could have accommodated your concern and put them in our pockets instead of sitting in plain site on the table, which we thought adequately honored, the rules of ‘no cheating’.
Now knowing the great concern that visible cell phones apparently create, out of respect to other teams we’ll be happy to put them completely away in future weeks and still put up a respectable showing, if not be there at the end for a 3rd week in a row, untainted and with integrity. Last week we were in 2nd going into final question, bet it all and lost. This week we were in 3rd, bet heavy and won. Win some, Lose some. Have a good weekend….
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Chuck,
The disagreement I had with General James last night was a little bigger than the issue of semantics. If you didn’t understand the question, you could have asked for clarification, which someone must have done as he provided it by saying they were the male actor leads, and which I did ask him when I presented my answer, as Fred Ward was also in the movie and could have been an answer. I’m talking about rule-breaking, and if that’s how you guys want to play, by all means go ahead, but it will be without one of your strongest competitiors. And while I do understand you are not a reporter for the New York Times, if you are going to put words in quotes, credit them to me and publish them, they darn better be right. Also, I think you are missing the point that we will NOT be back at Elbo Room next week. We won’t play where rules of fairness are not enforced because of laziness. Good luck in getting your (tainted) trophy. I hope it means a lot to you.
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Sneaky Pete’s,
If you actually read my post, (although it was long-winded, I know), you would see that after I cooled down, I realized the issue was not about cheating per se, but about rule-breaking. Cell phones are prohibited, whether you are using them to cheat, call Aunt Mary on her birthday, or plan a hockey tournament. If having cell phones out was not breaking a rule, I wouldn’t have said anything. I believe you didn’t cheat, but when I mentioned something to you and General James, and the rule was repeated, the cell phones still did not go away. End of story.
From the Trivia Nights Live Website, “CELL PHONES STRICKLY PROHIBITED
– Don’t be the team that cheats. No one will like you!”
Sure, it’s spelled wrong, but that the rule. Don’t give people the chance to accuse you of cheating by following the rules and playing the game right. It’s not like it was never mentioned, and it’s not like I wasn’t clearly annoyed and felt that this was unfair. When I thought you were just playing for fun, I was OK with it; when I realized you had beaten us and won a monetary prize, I was not.
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As a second member of the Sneaky Petes team, I’d like to chime in that, if handled more appropriately last night, this whole issue could have been resolved on the spot. As relative trivia newbies, we weren’t quite aware what you were so passionately accusing us of, when we knew we weren’t cheating. I remember thinking to myself “Of course we’re not cheating, our phones are just sitting here, what is she ranting about?”
“Further, your accusations were made on two ill-timed occasions, which further contributed to the chaos. 1.) well after we had turned the answer to one question in, one guy was checking his schedule for a weekend hockey tournament and 2.) during intermission, a second member was sending a text message.
Now, having said that and having read today’s blog exchange, I understand the issue you’re raising, and I agree 100 percent that all phones should be removed from sight. If we need step out into the bar area or outside to make a phone call, send a text, or relay information about an event, we will do so.
I apologize for the headache to any and all involved and look forward to next week’s challenge.
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Thanks for your reply, Pete is Sneaky. I hope you understand that after a day to think about it and much discussion, I do realize that I was acting inappropriately and do apologize for that. I was assuming you knew the rules, and had blatantly ignored them, as I asked about the phones and General James mentioned it more than once. I would like to think I will address such situations differently in the future. I’m still not sure that I want to continue, though, as although Sneaky Pete’s has realized the root of the issue and agreed to make a change, General James didn’t, and I don’t know if he will. Again, if he is going to have rules, he is going to have to enforce them and take accusations seriously. Simply reminding people about the no cell-phone rule is clearly not sufficient. He had us put them in a bag at the last finale, but I don’t see why the week-to-week qualifying challenges should be any different if he doesn’t have the eyes to see all over the room or take the time to walk slightly out of his area. If our 3 points can qualify us for the final, we might be back.
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Did anyone else have an issue with the quadruple bonus question last night?? Which was:
Roy Halladay pitched a perfect game in 2010. Which four pitchers have had to SETTLE for no hitters in 2010??
The key word in the question is settle. Dallas Braden was one of the answers, yet he pitched a perfect game, and thus didn’t have to settle for a no hitter. We were lucky enough to include him on our answer sheet. Wonder if any team excluded him, costing themselves 8 points.
Our team is new to this. Who knew trivia could get so intense!
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hey chuck, just to clarify, please dont ever group ben in as a skidmark. that is an insult to us. he happens to be a friend of a couple team members. he didnt use the team name did he?!?! if so, not cool.
its amazing, isnt it? cant say i ever thought trivia would get so hardcore back in hooters days. i love it!!
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Honestly Chuck as a Skidmark I’m offended by you not explaining the “Ben” situation more clearly. He has maybe been at elbo trivia like 4 times in the last 2 years so a “skidmark” he is not. Obviously Ben was acting on his own as there was no other members of the team with him. It would have been nice if you had pointed this out when writing about the incident. People may not like us, but we respect the game and the people that play it.
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“as a Skidmark I’m offended…”
I’ve got nothing to add to this…
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The cell phone cheating is why we stopped going to Elbo Room two tournaments ago. Sorry to see it still isn’t being policed. When I saw that for the championship last time they actually took everyone’s cell phones and banned the bouncer from playing I thought they had fixed things, guess not.
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