From l to r: Anita, Steve, Antonio, Ken, Pablo and Conseulo
Welcome to the first entry of my new official sub-category (Geeks Who Drink) and re-titled category (Factoids, see the second entry at Webster’s site)! I thought it would be most appropriate to launch this change with our kick-ass victory last week at Rumble in the Pub Austin.
Some quick exposition, namely for those who haven’t been following my trivia exploits.
A couple years ago, my friend Jeremy recruited me to participate in a Futurama competition sponsored by Geeks Who Drink. I was initially hesitant because I had been to Opal Divines on a Saturday night when GWD was happening in the background and it was annoyingly loud. Still, my love of Futurama overcame any objections. We came in third but I had such a good time I was willing to try again with regular quizzes and the Geek Bowl.
Then I was invited to audition for another opening with a more serious team through my Waterloo Records buddy Chip. Let me define serious, this team plays at least twice a week and they often come in the top three. Nervous would’ve been an understatement. My main concerns were twofold: did these people have fun and was there any field of knowledge I could contribute to. I showed up at the Highball, did my best and I think we came in second or first. Point is, Pablo and the gang said I was always welcome in the future. I usually can only swing Sunday nights at the Highball (now being rebuilt) or Black Star Coop, where we collide with our nemesis Team Dong, their Bowl handle. I rarely ever join them on Tuesdays.
This Winter, Geek Bowl VII was hosted in Austin again, details will be an overdue story, soon I promise.
Fast forward to Summer.
One thing I always hoped the GWD organization would do is a regional tournament. Whether or not it feeds into the Bowl like Divison I NCAA basketball, I didn’t care. Setting up a champ for Denver, Austin, Seattle, so on was just an idea. The GWD people at HQ (Denver) must’ve read my mind and they decided to experiment during the slow season by organizing the Rumble in the Pub with four cities: Denver, Austin, Seattle and Albuquerque (home to Geek Bowl VII’s reigning champion). Instead of this being a one shot, Rumble was an ongoing point-building process: three for first, two for second and one for third. From June through late July, the contenders had to pick a permanent name to register with HQ and accumulate enough points to qualify to be one the 30 teams invited to the final Rumble on August 10. I was absent for the vote regarding our permanent name: Keep F***ing That Chicken. The moniker is based upon an Anchorman-esque gaffe on the news, otherwise, I would’ve pushed for something witty.
So during June and half of July we hit new, additional places to accumulate enough points to secure a spot: 38. It was quite fun. Strange Brew seemed alright but rather far, Pinthouse Pizza was a favorite of mine (I recommend the cannonball), tried the Goodnight and our experience at Gibson Bar was a bust. Once we were comfortable, the team took a few days off until the big push at Mr. Tramp’s.
I almost didn’t go. Having been through an anxiety/panic attack earlier in the week made me feel guilty about attending. Somara told me I had to get out of the house, this was the best remedy.
Obviously we won the whole she-bang! The majority were from the Austin area. A couple teams represented Waco, San Antonio and maybe Houston. There were names we recognized over the Summer: Moms Who Drink, Our Drinking Team Has a Trivia Problem, Corpus Christi Atheists, House Hodor, How I Met Your Mothra and our rival with the even lamer Loosely Inspired by Real Events.
We were off to an incredibly strong start. We aced the first two rounds: Current Events (a tad easy) and Fighting Scenes and Songs, the latter required the song’s name and which movie it was used in. To make the second round a little harder, visiting quizmasters performed the tunes via karoke. Antonio, our team’s film buff, nailed two tricky songs: “Escape” in Dirty Deeds and the long-ass title for the lightsaber battle in The Phantom Menace. We were dreading round three because it was a speed round. We tend to suck on these. This time it was a relatively confident chance: since 1900, name the eight US presidents to win 55% or more of the popular vote at least once. Seven out of eight is a record for us. With 47 points, we figured we were screwed. We’re up against the best teams in the area, one or two mistakes and kaput, we’re stuck in the pack. Not really. The majority were in the upper twenties while we nailed first with a one-point lead. Surprisingly, our rival was back in fifth.
On to round four, Fantasy That Isn’t Game of Thrones. And my parents said D&D would never amount to anything thanks to Dragonlance being the first answer. We failed on the last question: Which Pevensie child ruled Narnia after the White Witch was defeated? We didn’t hear the Pevensie part and went with Prince Caspian. D’oh! It’s Edward. Nailed the visually-based fifth: name the eight American Muslims. Sadly they’re all male. I didn’t know Dave Chapelle, Everlast and Mos Def were converts. Round six I’m drawing a blank on. Seven was another audio round called Name That Bigot, we got Kirk Cameron confused for Rick Santorum.
Now our first-place lead shrank to one point. Yikes! On to General Knowledge, a total crapshoot. We shined as a team here plus I knew the comic-book answers, another field my parents used to ridicule! Excitement continued to build as the QM Evelyn read off the final scores. KFC remained absent as she worked closer and closer to the top three. We did it by one point!
What did we receive besides the shakeweight spray-painted gold? To divide amongst ourselves, the prize money of $300! More importantly, we defeated Team Dong and have the bragging rights for a while! Marketing director John Dicker let us know, as per the traditions of the WWE, we are now the villains. Cool! I am looking to be fitted for a cape any day now.
In conclusion, I want to thank you all for your support, your numerous questions I have been asked over the years and playing Trivial Pursuit with me.
Next up for KFC? I’m thinking championship T-shirts, a new name to prep for Geek Bowl VIII (announced to be in Austin one last time, Jan. 25, 2014 at the ACL Theater), I’m campaigning for Knowledge Brings Fear in Latin and a showing better than 29th at said Geek Bowl.