By: Chuck Miller
trivia

And your new regular trivia host … Chuck Miller!

In 2024, I “retired” from the competitive team trivia community. After fifteen years of answering questions about every imaginable topic (and getting most of them correct), I felt that my playing time had run its course.

Then, last July, one of my friends asked if I would consider being a substitute host for him; he had a few personal dates that conflicted with his trivia night. Now I had never hosted trivia before … but I figured I would help a buddy out.

Next thing I know … I’m sub-hosting trivia games all over the Capital District.

And tonight … I get my first regular series as a trivia host.

The transition is complete.

Starting tonight, I will host a regular bar trivia game at Beer Bones Bar and Grill in Loudonville. It’s the bar in the plaza adjacent to the old Hoffman’s Playland location. First question is at 7:00 p.m., and I’m hoping for a large crowd for opening night. Or at least a decent-sized one.

Again, this is a major transition for me. Instead of answering the questions, I’m now asking the questions and interacting with the trivia teams. And eventually, if all goes well, I’ll garner some regular trivia squads, and one of them will move up to compete in the local championship tournaments like Trivia Bowl in February, and Summer Bowl in July.

And of course, a few rules about competitive bar trivia.

  1. Don’t shout out the answers. There’s always some dimbulb who thinks they have the answer right, and they shout it out like they’re the teacher’s pet in fourth grade. And more often than not, they just caused four other teams who didn’t have the answer to put down his answer, whether it was correct or not.
  2. Don’t look up the answers. AI is not your friend. And ChatGPT will not save your bacon. And this is not the game show where you can phone a friend. If you have a friend who’s smart and stays at home, bring them to the bar next week and you can all have fun.
  3. Don’t yell at the host. I’m very sensitive. 😀
  4. This is bar trivia. Nobody’s winning a new car at the end of the week. It’s most likely a gift card for your next visit to the bar, or a pitcher of beer, or something along those lines. It’s just a game.
  5. And finally … let’s all have fun.

So this is where the transition takes place. Yeah. This should be lots of fun.

Let’s do this.