Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Trivia Q&A: May 14

It was a terrific night at Professor Thom's on Monday night, as we had a good crowd come out to see Daisuke Matsuzaka pitch a complete game victory for the Red Sox over the Detroit Tigers, 7-1. We decided not to start Trivia while the Red Sox game was being played, so we waited until the conclusion, as so many people were focused on it. When the sounds of "Dirty Water" concluded, we got Trivia rolling at about 10 PM.

18 teams took part in the festivities, and the scores turned out to be higher than even I imagined. 7 of the teams got 50 points or more (there were a lot of perfect 10 scores last night), but in the end, BLOHARDS, my friends from the Red Sox based fan group, wound up the winners by just three points. They got just two questions wrong all night (out of a possible 45) to take the crown. They rolled up 63 points, the highest point total ever by a team in the current format we now have.

We finished up at just before midnight, and I want to thank everyone who stayed until the finish (all but two teams remained). With all the high scores, I may have to make next Monday's edition of Trivia just a bit harder.

Current Events
1. A cruise ship ran aground off the coast of this US state earlier today, causing the evacuation of over 200 passengers.
2. Daimler Chrysler announced that it will sell off Chrysler to a private equity firm for this amount (within $1 billion).
3. The Pentagon announced that as of today it would block soldiers in Iraq from accessing two of the most popular web sites on the Internet on military computers. Name one of the two.
4. A first class stamp's price was raised to this amount starting today.
5. The trial of this American-born al-Qaeda operative, after a five year wait, was scheduled to begin today.
6. The Chicago Board of Education is being sued by a 12 year-old student and her grandparents after this Oscar-winning film was shown in her class last year.
7. NBC announced that this TV series will return for an 18th season this fall.
8. This rap singer was arrested Friday by LAPD on suspicion of making criminal threats.
9. A neighborhood in this NYC borough was announced to have the cleanest streets in the entire city.
10. This South American city was chosen to be one of the seven sites of the July 7th Live Earth free concerts.

Answers: 1. Alaska; 2. $7.4 billion; 3. YouTube and MySpace; 4. 41 cents; 5. Jose Padilla; 6. "Brokeback Mountain;" 7. "Law and Order;" 8. The Game; 9. Staten Island; 10. Rio De Janeiro.

Baseball Quantity 1-10
1. The number of world championships won by the Boston Red Sox in their history.
2. This was the number worn by Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio and Hank Greenberg.
3. This is the number of National League championships won by the New York Mets in their history.
4. On a baseball scorecard, a right fielder is reffered to by this number.
5. The number of no-hitters pitched by Nolan Ryan in his MLB career.
6. This is the number of times the Chicago Cubs have won the World Series in their history.
7. This was the number of teams that Babe Ruth played for in his MLB career.
8. This was the number of teams in each major league prior to expansion of both leagues in the early 1960s.
9. The St. Louis Cardinals have won the most World Series of any NL team with this number.
10. The number of current MLB teams who are currently based in Canada.

Answers: 1. six; 2. five; 3. four; 4. nine; 5. seven; 6. two; 7. three; 8. eight; 9. ten; 10. one.

True or False Trivia ("The Q Train")
1. Gatorade was developed at the University of Florida and was named after the football team.
2. Cheryl Tiegs was once a member of the TV show "Charlie's Angels."
3. The Lemonheads were Willy Wonka's helpers in "Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory."
4. The Mississippi River was Huck Finn's escape route in the classic novel, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."
5. Igor Stravinsky was a world famous ballet dancer.
6. The letter "T" does not exist in the traditional Hawaiian language.
7. The country of Ecuador is NOT located on the Equator.
8. A Japanese pagoda is a type of horse.
9. Political rule in a matriarchy is controlled by women.
10. The Civil War is not represented at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlingtom National Cemetery.

Answers: 1. true; 2. false; 3. false, it was The Oompa Loompas; 4. true; 5. false, he's a classical composer; 6. true; 7. false, it is; 8. false, it's a building; 9. true; 10. true.

General Knowledge
1. According to the classic commercial, what stomach reliever goes, "plop, plop, fizz, fizz?"
2. Which famous cartoon character was created by Bill Cosby?
3. Which country hosted and won the 1998 soccer World Cup?
4. What is the official title of the ruler of Brunei?
5. In ballet, how many dancers participate in a traditional "pas de deux?"
6. Who is the last character to be killed by a shark in the classic film, "Jaws?"
7. According to Joyce Kilmer's poem, who alone can make a tree?
8. What Latin phrase commonly refers to an attorney's services being offered for free?
9. What was the name of the TV family who lived in "The Little House On The Prairie?"
10. At sea level, water freezes at what temperature Fahrenheit?

Answers: 1. Alka-Seltzer; 2. Fat Albert; 3. France; 4. sultan; 5. two; 6. Quint; 7. God; 8. pro bono; 9. Ingalls; 10. 32.

IQ Trivia
1. Who was the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 at the Olympics? (4 points)
2. Which artist popularized the sculpture with movable parts known as the mobile? (6 points)
3. What is the Portuguese man-of-war? (5 points)
4. Who is the patron saint of lost causes? (5 points)
5. Which Pulitzer Prize-winning play features the character Willy Loman? (5 points)

Answers: 1. Nadia Comaneci; 2. Alexander Calder; 3. a jellyfish; 4. St. Jude; 5. "Death of a Salesman."

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