Football Trivia: No going belly up

I was attempting to channel the postseason version of the 1987 Minnesota Twins as this week's Thursday night football trivia took place at Beer Belly's in our neighboring suburb of Anoka. As such, I considered this my home turf.

After acing the first round written quiz, I earned a #1 seed and first round bye for the bracketed tournament. Since there were only six teams, I had an automatic berth in the final four. 

A gentleman who called himself "Mosquito Guy" earned the right to oppose me in the semifinal round. 

The final four is a best 2 of 3, but some of 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: Eight different NFL quarterbacks have thrown at least 20 interceptions in their postseason careers. Name them. 

Mosquito Guy (buzzing in first): Peyton Manning. Correct.

Brad: Brett Favre. Correct.

Mosquito Guy: Tom Brady. Correct.

Brad: Jim Kelly. Correct.

Mosquito Guy: Fran Tarkenton. Incorrect.

1-0, Brad. 

The next question is a new game called "Closest to the pin." The answer is in numerical form, so whomever arrives closest to the correct answer wins the point. Each contestant has 30 seconds to jot down a number on a piece of paper. 

Question two: According to Forbes, what is former football coach (turned broadcaster turned video game big wig) John Madden's net worth?

Brad: $175 million

MG: $12 million 

The correct answer is......

...........$200 million!!

Brad moves on to finals with a 2-0, win. 

In the championship round, I took on a guy who went by the moniker "Sofa Kingdom." Since SK easily dispatched 21-time champion Brendan Byrne in the semifinals, I knew he was very formidable. 

The finals are (mostly) the same categorical, sudden-death format for each question, though it's now a best 3 out of 5. 

Question one: Name the 12 NFL teams who would be in the playoffs if the regular season ended today. 

Brad (buzzing in first): Green Bay Packers. Correct.

SK: Denver Broncos. Correct. 

Brad: Seattle Seahawks. Correct. 

SK: New England Patriots. Correct. 

Brad: Cincinnati Bengals. Correct. 

SK: Detroit Lions. Correct. 

Brad: Indianapolis Colts. Correct. 

SK: Arizona Cardinals. Correct.

Brad: Philadelphia Eagles. Correct. 

SK: Atlanta Falcons. Correct. 

Brad (Thinking, thinking, thinking. Using the entire allotted 30 seconds): Cleveland Browns? Incorrect. 

1-0, SK. 

Time once again for the "Closest to the pin" contest. Each contestant has 30 seconds to write down a numerical answer on a piece of paper. 

Question two: In the 2014 NFL season, there have been how many successful two-point conversions?

Brad: 52.

SK: 75.

The correct answer is a mere 22. 

Brad ties it up, 1-1. 

Question three: In Division I college football, there are seven teams with either 0 losses or 1 loss. Name them. 

Brad (buzzing in first): Florida St. Correct.

SK: Alabama. Correct. 

Brad: Oregon. Correct. 

SK: TCU. Correct. 

Brad (Taking literally every possible millisecond before one came to me): OHIO STATE!!! Correct. 

SK (Thinking, thinking, thinking.): Ole Miss. Incorrect. 

Brad leads, 2-1. 

Question three: This season, there have been 12 different Vikings players with at least one rushing attempt. Name them. 

Brad (buzzing in first): Jerick McKinnon. Correct.

SK: Matt Asiata. Correct. 

Brad: Cordarrelle Patterson. Correct. 

SK: Joe Banyard. Correct. 

Brad: Ben Tate. Correct. 

SK: Teddy Bridgewater. Correct. 

Brad: Matt Cassel. Correct. 

SK: Jarius Wright. Correct.

Brad: Christian Ponder. Correct. 

SK (thinking, thinking): Charles Johnson. Incorrect.

Brad wins, 3-1!!!!!!

For the second time in 2014, I capture the 1500 ESPN Thursday Night Football Trivia championship!!!!!!

Yes, in an impeccable impersonation of the 1987 Minnesota Twins, I was downright dominant on my home field!

A couple of hours before the contest started, I put out on Facebook an offer for my Anoka County friends to come root me on to victory. If I won, the prize would be $100 in gift cards, part of which I'd use to buy my adoring fans one round of drinks. Only the fetching Mrs. Carlson took me up on the offer, with which she ordered a nice Chardonnay (I was surprised it didn't come in can given what a "hole in the wall" the place was). 

Having broken through and actually won a contest, the only question remaining is can I go back-to-back? Come to Poor Richard's Common House in Bloomington next week to find out!

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