Thursday, December 18, 2014

Football Trivia: The Season Finale

In the 14 weeks 1500 ESPN has hosted Thursday Night Football Trivia this year, I've attended 12 contests, including this week's endeavor at Floyd's Bar in Victoria. Hard to believe the season is over. But, win or lose, it was an absolute blast to participate week in and week out. Trivia MCs Judd and Phil were top notch.



Anyhow, on to this week's details. I opened the season with a win, so I thought it might be kinda cool if I could bookend the year with a victory.

In the opening round written quiz I got one answer wrong, so it was only good for a #3 seed in the bracketed tournament.

In the quarterfinals, I took on a duo called The Sponge Bobs. I was sitting near them during the written quiz and one of the guys started trash talking me a little bit. I'm normally not hyper-competitive against those I don't know well but I wanted to crush these guys after that lame smack talk.

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

Question one: What candy bar does rookie QB Johnny Manziel currently endorse?

Brad (buzzing in first): Snickers. Correct. 

1-0, Brad. 

Questions two: Who was quarterback of the U of M Golden Gophers the last time......

SBs (quick with the trigger finger): Sandy Stephens. 

........they won a bowl game. Sandy Stephens is incorrect. 

Brad (I know they beat Alabama in the Music City Bowl in 2004; so that predates Adam Weber): Asad Abdul-Khaliq? Incorrect.
SBs: {no guess}
Brad: Bryan Cupito. Correct.

Brad moves on to the semis with a 2-0 win. 

In the semifinal round, I took on a quartet of guys who went by the moniker Band of Idiots. 

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: Seven QBs in NFL history have thrown for at least 40 touchdowns in one season. Name them. 

Brad (buzzing in first): Peyton Manning. Correct. 
BOIs: Drew Brees. Correct.
Brad: Tom Brady. Correct, 
BOIs: Brett Favre. Incorrect. 

1-0, Brad. 

Question two: We're going to name a corporate sponsor and you tell us if they currently sponsor a major college football bowl game. 

GoDaddy. 

Brad (buzzing in first): True. Correct.


Jack Link's Beef Jerky. 

BOIs: True. Incorrect. 

Brad wins, 2-0!

So it's on to the championship round where I took on a trio called Get Dressed Stay Dressed (Yeah, I so don't wanna know). GDSD swept out Brendan Byrne in the semis. This is the same Brendan who won six titles this season and a whopping 22 over three years. With that in mind, I knew I was in for a battle to claim my third title this season. 

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: Who are the Top 9 NFL quarterbacks in career passer rating?

Brad (buzzing in first): Aaron Rodgers. Correct.
GDSD: Dan Marino. Incorrect. 

Brad leads, 1-0

Question two: We have a set of five statements here and you tell us whether they're "fact or crap."

Statement#1; Former NFL RB Jim Brown won an Academy Award during his brief Hollywood career.

Brad (buzzing in first): Crap. Correct.

Statement #2: Packers QB Aaron Rodgers has not thrown a regular season interception at Lambeau Field in 4 years. 

GDSD: Crap. Correct. 

Statement #3: As Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick has never had a below .500 regular season. 

Brad: Crap. Correct. 

Statement #4: Teddy Bridgewater's passer rating through 11 career games is higher than Hall of Fame QB John Elway's career rating. 

GDSD: Fact. Correct. 

Statement #5: Randall Cunningham has more career postseason passing yards than Fran Tarkenton. 

Brad: Crap. Incorrect. 

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: The goal posts in the NFL used to be right on the goal line. What year did the league move them to the back of the end zone? 

Brad: 1970
GDSD: 1975

The correct answer is 1974. 

2-1, GDSD. 

Question four: Once again, we'll name a corporate sponsor and you have to tell us if they sponsor a major college football bowl game. 

MicronPC

GDSD (buzzing in first): False. Correct. 


Google

Brad: False. Correct. 


Goodyear Tires

GDSD: True. Correct.


Boston Market

Brad: False. Correct.


Charles Schwab

GDSD: True. Incorrect. 

And we are all knotted up at 2-2. 

It's only fitting that the season finale of 1500 ESPN Football Trivia would come down to a fifth and final question. For that, the MCs decided once again to go with the "closest to the pin" contest. Each contestant has 30 seconds to jot down an answer on a piece of paper. 

Question five: How many touchdown passes did QB Teddy Bridgewater throw in his career at the University of Louisville?

Brad: 65
GDSD: 74

Like the "closest to the pin" question asked earlier this round, we were informed the correct answer is somewhere in between each of our submissions. As MCs Judd and Phil built up the suspense, I figured it out in my head that if the correct answer is 69 or less, I win. If it's 70 or more, my opponent prevails. 

And the correct answer......

........is.........



........................72







Alas, finishing second on this night wasn't all bad. I scored a pair of sweet seats to the Minnesota Wild game on Saturday, January 17!

To summarize the year, I attended 12 trivia contests where I reached the championship round five times, emerging with two victories. I'm OK with that.

Hopefully we can do it again next season. With that, thank you for indulging me in this little weekly excursion.

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1 comment:

Mr. D said...

I've really enjoyed these posts. Impressive results, too.