The results of Big Brothers Big Sisters Big Brains Trivia 2017

So it’s Thursday night, and I’m at Recovery Room in Guilderland, waiting to participate in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region “Big Brains” trivia fundraiser.  There’s already a buffet dinner (with tasty Recovery Room eats), and I’ve run into a couple of my Facebook friends who are playing on other squads.

I’m also pleased that, no matter how I finish in this tournament, I’ve raised at least $200 for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region charity.  That’s money that can help at-risk youth achieve a brighter future with BBBSCR’s mentoring and support.  That’s important.

Oh yeah, and I do want to try to win this competition …

There were five rounds of ten questions apiece, with point values ranging from 1 to 2 points per question.  Some of the questions had multiple answers, if you got some of the answers right, you received partial credit.

The first round involved pop culture, and I raced through that one without any trouble – yes, I knew that the World War II ship mentioned in the film Jaws was the USS Indianapolis, yes I knew that Homer J. Simpson’s middle name is “Jay” – and things were looking up.

Second round was a sports round, and although I had given Yogi Berra one too many World Series championships, I did well with the rest of the category, including that the snowboarder nicknamed the “Flying Tomato” is Shaun White, that Mickey Mantle won seven World Series championships, and how many times Houston has hosted the Super Bowl (three times, including this past year).

Now here’s the kicker.  Inbetween the second and third rounds, I saw one of my Facebook photographer friends, Laura Saffares, at the bar.  Laura exhibits her artworks at Historic Albany Foundation’s BUILT charitable auction each year, and her works are quite stunning.  We chatted for a few moments between the round.

“Hold out your hand, Chuck,” she said to me.

Okay…

Next thing I know, a little tiny stickpin lands safely on my palm.

“I know you were in the hospital during last year’s event,” she said, “and I know that you have a collection of BUILT artist pins for every year that you entered.  So I saved you a pin for this year.  Now your collection is complete.”

Wow.  Super wow.  Thanks, Laura, that’s so much appreciated.

Okay … back to trivia.

I should note that although I was doing well with the questions, there was a team that completely ran the table all night.  It was a squad of super-brains who play out of the Bacchus bar in Troy for Tuesday trivia games (yes, I’m seriously psyching myself into getting back in the weekly trivia game).  Their trivia name for this competition?  They called themselves “The Notorious B.I.G. Brothers and Sisters.”

You like that trivia name?  So did the organizers, because that squad picked up a special prize for most creative team name.

And in the end, out of a possible 75 points for a perfect game, the Notorious B.I.G. Brothers and Sisters finished the night with 62 points.  I came in second with 54.5 points, not too shabby.  And … since the B.I.G. team also outpointed a simultaneous Big Brothers Big Sisters Big Brains Trivia game at Saratoga Springs, they won the big $200 cash prize … which they handed back to the Big Brothers Big Sisters crew and told them to use that as an additional donation for the charity.

Now how cool is that?

After the game, we chatted for a while – and the team invited me to try out the Tuesday night game at Bacchus.  And you know what?  I’m leaning towards doing that.  Plus, now that my foot is reasonably back to normal, I’m also revving up another run at Graney’s Stout for Wednesday night trivia.

Yeah.  It’s like healing all over again, mind, body and soul.

My congratulations and applause to the organizers at Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region, along with all the corporate sponsors, for a great trivia game last night.  It was fun, and I can’t wait to participate again next year.

Or next week…

Or even tonight … 😀