Week 10 of the 2011 $1,000 Elbo Room Spring Trivia Tournament

The dream is always the same.

Instead of going home, I go to the neighbors’.

I ring, but nobody answers.

The door is open, so I go inside.

I look around, but no one seems to be there.

Then I hear the shower running.

So, I go upstairs to see what’s what.

Then I see her.

This… girl!

This incredible girl!

I don’t know why she’s there, because she doesn’t live there…

…but it’s a dream, so I go with it.

“Who’s there?” she says.

“Chuck,” I say.

“What are you doing here?”

“I don’t know.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m taking a shower,” she says.

Then I give her…

…”Do you want me to go?”

“No,” she says.

“I want you to wash my back.”

I’m getting enthusiastic about this dream.

So, I go to her, but she’s hard to find through all the steam.

I keep losing her.

Finally, I get to the door…

…and I find myself in a room full of trivia teams competing at Trivia Bowl 8.

I’m over three hours late!

I’ve got two minutes to take the whole test.  And half the questions are about South America.

I’ve just made a terrible mistake.

I’ll never get the Trivia Bowl back.

My life is ruined.

Okay, cue the Tangerine Dream soundtrack and Rebecca DeMornay on a Chicago elevated train.

It’s time for yet another round in the Elbo Room trivia tournament.  And after three weeks, my Street Academy trivia team is back at full strength, as Jeremy McNamara and Alexis Curry have arrived straight from their most recent game of Ultimate.

“How did you do at Ultimate – ” I ask.  “No, wait a second.  Let me figure it out.”  I pointed at J-Mac. “You did awesome.”  Then I pointed at AC.  “You did okay.”

“I didn’t play for more than five minutes,” Alexis replied.

“I didn’t get off the field for five minutes,” Jeremy joked.

Ah, it’s good to have them back.

It was a rough trivia round – teams were going from first place to last place in the span of a few questions.  At one point, we were third from last after 15 questions.  Then we tore through a four-question run – naming the decade in which the TV show Meet the Press debuted (1940’s), then adding the state where the New England Maple Museum was formed (Vermont, duh), the three planets in the solar system that are smaller than Earth (Mercury, Venus and Mars – thanks J-Mac), and the stage name of the actress born Tara Patrick (Carmen Electra).  By the 19th question, we were only twelve points off the lead.

This is good.  We can still take a win, or at last earn some playoff points.

“The final category,” General James announced, looking at my table, “Is on SOUTH AMERICA!”

Oh, . Not ing South America again!?! First it was the triple at the Relay for Life trivia event, and now this? Haven’t I done enough ing penance?

Ah well. In went all our chips. We’re locked in the tournament anyways.

“What country in South America borders both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans?”

The three of us thought and thought. Chile seemed to be the logical answer. So we wrote down Chile. And so did four other teams. The Skidmarks, who were two points ahead of us, bet nothing – a no-balls bet. Get That Poison Out, who were four points ahead of us, bet the farm and said Argentina.

Well, guess what. The country was Colombia. And NOBODY got it. NOBODY.

So the Skidmarks – by virtue of betting nothing and hoping everybody fell around them – got five points for finishing first. Team Schooled garnered second place and three playoff points, and a new team – Two Shots – finished third with a single playoff point to the good.

And you know what – every time a ing South America question comes up, I know my team is going to get clowned. Every ing time.

Still, I can take some ing solace in the fact that Street Academy is still locked into the finals. That still means something.

Because no matter what, sometimes in life you’ve just got to say “What the .”

So here’s the standings after ten weeks. The top eight teams are listed above the “CUT LINE”; if the tournament ended today, those would be the eight teams that can play in the championship round. Any team with a star in the box marked “Finals” has mathematically qualified for the money round, no matter how they do for the rest of the tournament.

Elbo Room Trivia Standings – Week 10

	Trivia Team	Points	Totals	FINALS
1	Schooled	3	23	★
2	Street Academy		19	★
3	Skidmarks	5	17	★
4	Get That Poison Out		11	★
5	Woo Hoo a Go Go		9	★
T-6	The Waffledingers		5
T-6	Stern Fans		5
8	Two Shots	1	1

And only the top eight teams will make it into the final tournament round on May 26, 2011. Any team in ninth place or below will not make the cut. So teams now have to keep playing and avoid the dreaded cut line.

Ten weeks down. Three weeks to go.