I’ve hosted trivia in the Capital District for almost a year now. And I’ve had my own dedicated games (Tuesday nights at Beer Bones in Loudonville, Wednesday nights at Van Patten Golf Course in Clifton Park) since approximately last November.
I’ve experienced two types of teams in my regular games – the ones who have played at that venue for a long time, and I’m just the “new host” (they like the “new host”), or they show up one time, have a good game, say they’ll be back, and never return. I’m okay with that. If they had a good time that night, that’s fine by me.
The Goat House was different.
They started showing up at my Beer Bones games about five months ago. A bunch of Siena seniors. Rugby players. And from what I understand, good rugby players. Like, they go to tournaments rugby players.
The Goat House was, for all intents and purposes, my first-ever “homegrown” team. And although their success rate in trivia wasn’t as strong as their success in rugby, they had a good time and were competitively friendly with everybody else.
Last night was their final game at Beer Bones. This weekend, they’re all graduating from Siena and will embark on their next individual journeys, most of whom will no longer spend time in the Capital District.
I’m sad in a way. They were nice guys. Win or lose, they had a lot of fun.
And yesterday, during the trivia game, I made sure to give them a shout-out during the contest. The rest of the trivia teams gave them some nice cheers and applause.
In their final game last night, the Goat House finished fifth out of eight teams. But they didn’t care about the loss. They enjoyed the camaraderie. They posed for team pictures. They posed for photos with the waitstaff.
“Chuck,” one of them said, “Get over here, we want a picture with you.”
Dude, you think I’m going to turn down a request from rugby players? Have you seen what rugby players can do on the pitch?
So I posed for pictures.
Then I handed the waitstaff my phone.
“One more picture,” I said. “This one’s for me.”
And she took one more picture.
Now this is nice.
I’m going to miss these guys. Win or lose, they always had a great time here at Beer Bones.
That’s the kind of thing you hope for as a trivia host. It’s not just answering questions and handing out prizes.
It’s about having a great time. And I’m good with that.
Chuck The Writer 