Week 12 of the Graney’s Stout Summer Trivia League

Well, this wasn’t planned.  Not by a longshot.

Apparently I miscounted the number of weeks in this trivia league.  I was so used to the Elbo Room’s 12-week tournaments (that often lasted 16 weeks or more), that I thought the Graney’s Stout Summer Trivia League was a 12-week affair.

Nope.  It’s thirteen weeks, and the last week to accumulate points is next week.

Still, I’m 107 points behind Nacho Punch for the fourth and final “money” spot, and this week’s round was an unmitigated disaster for the Street Academy squad.  Every time I’d get a run going, I’d mess up on a 10-point question and fall in the hole.

First off… the Greek god of music is not Hermes.  Apparently it’s Apollo.  I missed it.

Next – the 48th state is not New Mexico.  Apparently it’s Arizona.  I missed that one.

And the Occupy Wall Street movement began in 2011.  Not 2013.  Not 2014.  Yep, I used the double, got it wrong, lost 20 points for my shame.

And all I kept thinking was … Nacho Punch is pulling away.  They had at least a 30-point lead on me going into the final question.  If this was the final week of trivia, I’d be toast.

Final question is in the category of American History.

I have 68 points.  Nacho Punch has 98 points, and a 107-point lead in the cumulative score going into tonight’s game.

I had to bet all my points, and hope that Nacho Punch bet all their points – and that I would get the question right, and Nacho Punch would get it wrong.  That’s the only way I could get back in the statistical run.

Right.  And Bartolo Colon will hit an inside-the-park home run in my lifetime.

The final question… American History … “After initially boycotting the Continental Congress, which state was the last of the original 13 colonies to join the United States of America?”

I think I know this.  Or at least I know which states it’s not.  It’s not Delaware, that was the first state.  And it wasn’t Massachusetts, that’s the sixth state.  And New York’s the eleventh.  That’s three states eliminated from the mix.

Now I have to remember my numismatism.  In 1999, the United States Government started minting quarters with states on the back of the coins, in order of each state’s introduction into the Union.  I remember that the early coins had Pennsylvania and Connecticut and Georgia and the like…  So that eliminated a few more states.

All I had left was Rhode Island and the Carolinas.  I figured the Carolinas went in together or at least closely together… that left, by process of elimination, Rhode Island.  I wrote down Rhode Island.  So did a couple of other teams.

Nacho Punch bet everything they had.  And they said New York.

I knew New York was wrong… but was I right with Rhode Island?  Did I make up the 107-point deficit, or was I looking at a 107-point deficit going into the final week?

Well… throw the pitch to Bartolo Colon.

Okay, so it’s not an inside-the-park home run, but still…  mmmit was high, mmmmit was far, mmmit is gawne! (sorry, just channeling my inner John Sterling.)

The answer was Rhode Island, I got it right, Nacho Punch got it wrong, and hey I’m back above the cut line with one week to go!

That’s right … one week … next week … and there’s still a chance I can walk out of Graney’s with some extra chedda chedda in my wallet.

So how did your trivia team do this week?

Graney’s Stout Trivia League Standings
Summer 2016
Week 12 of 13

	Trivia Team	Week 12 Scores	Tournament Totals
1	Dan 2014: Dan-chman Turner Overdrive	190	1643
2	Woo Hoo a Go Go	180	1378
3	The Fist	88	1113
4	Street Academy	136	955
THE DREADED CUT LINE
5	Nacho Punch	0	926
6	Stern Fans	112	764
7	Team Squirtle	0	652
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Next week … is the final week.

I promise.