Football Trivia: Say "Uncle."

I was back last evening for another swing at 1500 ESPN Thursday football trivia, with the locale being Uncle Buck's in downtown Minneapolis. Since this place is merely 1 block from Target Center, there were throngs of Garth Brooks fans killing a little time before his 7:30 concert. By about the time the trivia contest got rolling at 8:30, there may have been 20-25 people remaining in the entire bar.

Anyhow, seven teams chose to participate. I once again excelled in the opening written "quiz," which earned me a #2 seed.

In the quarterfinals I took on a team that called themselves the "Destroyers."

As usual, this is a "Family Feud" style tourney where one has to buzz in for an opportunity to answer first. This is a best 2 of 3.

The opening question took an interesting turn, as MCs Phil and Judd attempted to mix things up. In this instance, they would name three NFL running backs and we had to answer which of the three does not hold a significant college football record. If one buzzes in first but gets it wrong, the opponent gets the point. 

Question one: Barry Sanders, Arian Foster and Danny Woodhead. 

Destroyers (about 5 seconds elapsed before he took a chance on buzzing in): Arian Foster. Correct. 

FYI, Woodhead is the NCAA Division II all time rushing leader while Sanders hold the Division I single season rushing record. 

1-0, Destroyers. 

Question two: Name the NFL team who drafted QB Eli Manning with the 2004 #1 overall pick. 

Brad (buzzing in first): San Diego Chargers. Correct. 

1-1 tie.  

Next was the "closest to the pin" contest, where the contestant who comes closest to the correct numerical answer gets the point. Each jots an answer down on a piece of paper. 

Question three for the win: In his two seasons at Marshall, WR Randy Moss had how many TD receptions?

Destroyers: 95
Brad: 44

The correct answer is 54. Brad wins, 2-1!!

Waiting for me in the semifinals was 20-time champion Brendan Byrne. After winning only once in this season's first 5 weeks, Brendan had won 3 of the previous 5 Thursdays and was poised to go on another run. 

The final four is also a best 2 of 3, but the questions are in category format, meaning there are multiple answers. This year has an interesting twist. The rule now is if each player gets one correct answer, it moves to sudden death. That means the first person to give a wrong answer loses the point. 

Question one: In Minnesota Gophers football history, 7 QBs have passed for at least 15 touchdowns in a season. Name them. 

Brad (buzzing in first): Adam Weber. Correct. 
Brendan: Bryan Cupito. Correct. 
Brad: Cory Sauter. Correct. 
Brendan: Asad Abdul-Khaliq. Correct. 
Brad: Mike Hohensee. Correct. 
Brendan: Rickey Foggie. Incorrect. 

Brad leads 1-0. 

Next question would be a new contest they like to call "Fact or Crap." The MCs had seven statements which we had to determine were either factual or "full of crap." The person who buzzes in first has the advantage because if we run the table, the one quicker with the trigger finger would obviously prevail since the contestants alternate after the first statement. 

First statement: After his senior season of high school, Randy Moss initially signed to play college football at Notre Dame. 

Brendan (seemingly pressed his buzzer at the same time as me but was literally a split second faster): Fact. Correct. 

Statement #2: Before beginning his career at ESPN, Chris Berman was a play-by-play announcer in the English Premier League.  

Brad: Crap. Correct. 

Statement #3: Former NFL running back Ricky Williams is a certified yoga instructor. 

Brendan: Fact. Correct. 

Statement #4: Despite being the NFL's all time leader in TD receptions, Jerry Rice never led the NFL in touchdown catches in a single season. 

Brad: Crap. Correct. 

Statement #5: Talk show host Maury Povich was drafted in 1978 by the Oakland Raiders but a knee injury prevented him from ever playing a game in the NFL. 

Brendan: Crap. Correct. 

Statement #6: Dennis Green has coached in more NFL playoff games than has Mike Tomlin. 

Brad: Fact. Correct. 

Statement #7 (If Brendan gets it right, he gets the point. If he's wrong, I win): Actor Ashton Kutcher is a minority owner with the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. 

Brendan: Crap. Correct. 

1-1 tie. 

Question three to determine who moves on to the finals: After the 1969 season, the American Football League merged with the National Football League. As a result, there were 10 new teams in the NFL. Name them. 

Brad (buzzing in first): Oakland Raiders. Correct.

Brendan: Buffalo Bills. Correct. 

Brad: Kansas City Chiefs. Correct.

Brendan: San Diego Chargers. Correct
Brad: Denver Broncos. Correct. 

Brendan: New York Jets. Correct

Brad (thinking, thinking, thinking): Baltimore Colts (D'OH!!!! For the second straight week, I realized I gave an incorrect answer the millisecond I verbalized it. I tried in vain to grab my words as they floated into the air). Incorrect. 

Brendan wins, 2-1. 

And has been the pattern this season, whomever has defeated me ends up winning the championship. On this evening, Brendan won his 21st all time championship by defeating the Jermichael$, another football trivia stalwart, in a hard fought 3-2 decision.

I guess we're up in Blaine next week. Finally, we're getting closer to my neck of the woods!!

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