Trivia at Muza: When the player becomes the host

I’ve had a long-running rivalry with Wayne Powers, the captain for the trivia team Blue Mooned.  We’ve played against each other in various trivia games and tournaments, and essentially his team wins a few times, my team wins a few more times.

Recently, Wayne has attempted a very major leap in the team trivia department.  He’s now hosting his own game.

And you’re looking at this blog post and thinking, “Chuck, it can’t be that hard to host a trivia game, can it?”

Oh it’s not easy.  I give Wayne plenty of credit for hosting and creating his own version of team trivia – and trust me, for what any host has to go through, Wayne did a heckuva job last night.

Wayne’s hosting a team trivia event at the upstairs patio at Muza, a European-American restaurant in Troy.  It’s a team trivia format – you can bring as many of your mates as you desire, you write down answers to questions, you earn points, and at the end of the night you can earn a $25 gift certificate to dine at Muza.

Last night was his first night hosting the game proper – they’ve had a couple of “dress rehearsal” runs, so this was his debut trivia show.

“So you’ve double-checked all your questions, right?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said.  “There’s no dispute on any of these questions.”

The trivia crowd for Muza was small – three teams – but I suppose as word of mouth spreads, the game will increase in attendance.  There were four rounds of five questions apiece, and each question had a point value of 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 points, with bonus points sprinkled throughout.

And right off the bat, Wayne had to adjust questions to the intelligence of the arriving teams.

“I know you guys know which President was born in Kentucky,” he asked for one question.

“Abraham Lincoln!” shouted one squad.

“Yeah,” he said, using a ballpoint to cross off a question on his answer sheet.  “But what president was born in Pennsylvania?”

None of us knew it was James Buchanan.  Okay, I don’t even think James Buchanan knew he was born in Pennsylvania.

The lead changed hands throughout the game – one team of Wayne’s friends led, then the other team of Wayne’s friends led – then I led.  I actually took the lead on a quintuple-bonus question that actually had six answers.

“In what states are the following colleges located – Bob Jones University, Villanova, Case Western, Appalachian State, and Robert Morris?”

“Which Robert Morris?” I asked.

“What do you mean, ‘Which Robert Morris?'” Wayne replied.

Mind you, during my maiden season with the National Basketball League of Canada, I kept statistics of all their players.  And at one time during the season, the Halifax Rainmen had a player named Mezie Nwigwe from Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, who replaced DeAndre Thomas, a graduate of Robert Morris of Illinois.  Bonus points for Chuck!

At the final question, I had a lead.  The category was “Sports History.”

“Oh, Chuck’s just going to bet enough to lock everyone out if he gets it right,” whined one of the teams.

“Now what makes you think I would do that?” I asked, writing down my bet as just enough to lock everyone else out if I got it right.  Hee.

The final question – “What NFL team lost 55-10 in the Super Bowl, the most lopsided Super Bowl loss?”

Damn it.  I had this question before… where… yeah it was during the Trackside Trivia a few years ago, when Tres Hombres got it right and I got it wrong, giving them enough to win the Saratoga tournament and get a horse race named after their trivia team.  Okay, Chuck, think, think, think… I seem to recall San Diego getting completely pounded by the 49ers… I wrote down San Diego.

Well, apparently the Denver Broncos got pounded worse – they were the correct answer – and none of the three trivia teams got it right.

I will say this about the game – it was a very spirited contest, and Wayne did have some tough questions in the game.  I know he added some tougher questions based on the brain power of the teams in attendance, and he was surprised that the teams that showed up actually DID know the answers to his super-tough questions.  Never underestimate the power of a decent trivia team.

So if you want to play at Wayne’s “Patio Trivia” at Muza, the first question is at 7:30 on Tuesday nights.  Muza is at the corner of Congress and 15th Streets in Troy, and you should get there early – if for no other reason than to enjoy a tasty dinner before trivia starts.  I had the pierogies and they were divine.  Bring your appetite and your brain cells.  You’ll need both.