Hop along

Hoppers Bar & Grill in Waconia (apparently there was nothing available in Sioux Falls, SD) was the site of the latest 1500 ESPN NFL trivia night, sponsored by Coors Light.

I had already been to Happy Hour in downtown Minneapolis in honor of a co-worker's birthday, so bar hopping to Hoppers seemed rather apropos.
 
As usual, it began with MCs Tom & Phil asking ten questions, with 60 seconds to jot down each answer. Three of the eight participants aced the initial written exam, myself included in that, so it was on to the main tournament.

In the first "Family Feud" style round, I took on Noah, a guy whom I trounced a few weeks ago.

This was a best two of three, with each question having only one answer.

First question: Who leads the NFL in sacks this season?

Noah (buzzing in first): Clay Matthews. Incorrect.

Brad (for the point): J.J. Watt. Incorrect.
Noah (for the point): Aldon Smith. Correct!

Noah leads, 1-0.

Question two: Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown was a two sport star at Syracuse......

Noah (buzzing in early): Football and Track. Incorrect.

The rest of the question: ....What sport other than football did Brown play?

Brad (for the point): Lacrosse. Correct!

1-1 tie.

Question three: Dan Devine was coach of the Green Bay Packers.....

Noah (taking a chance with the early buzz in): Notre Dame.

.......from 1971 until 1974. He left the team in 1975 to coach which college program? Notre Dame is correct! Noah moves on to the semi finals.

And for the record, Brendan Byrne won it all again this week. He was a 10-time winner last year and won for the fifth time this season. He's called the Rain Man of NFL trivia for a reason.

With that, there are three more Thursday evenings for me to pick up my first championship. If nothing else, I would think I'd be able to parlay these excursions into some sort of Coors Light endorsement deal.

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