Davy Jones: 1945-2012

I was very saddened to hear about the passing of Davy Jones, one of the lead singers for The Monkees, of a heart attack at his Florida home at the age 66.

Like many of you out there, I grew up with the Monkees. I watched "The Monkees" when the show first ran in the late 1960s, but I remember them more when she show went to syndication in the 1970s. They were on every Saturday, and I always watched them. The show was always fun.

The Monkees are proudly in my iPod, and the music is really timeless. Antenna TV shows "The Monkees" every Saturday and Sunday, and I would guess they will show a marathon of shows at some point in Davy's memory.

Here I present Davy doing a cool acoustic version, with Seth Swirsky, of "I Wanna Be Free", from 2010. (With thanks to my friend Jeff Polman for the clip.)



Thanks for all the great music, Davy. Godspeed.

George Was No Fan Of Leap Day

The late, great George Carlin gives his brief thoughts on Leap Day:

Trivia Q&A: February 28

We had another huge crowd in for Trivia on Tuesday night, as 25 teams took part. The crowds continue to be simply amazing, and I thank each and every one of you who make doing Trivia Night such a joy for me.

We had some very good numbers for Leap Day Trivia and True or False Trivia. We had three teams going into IQ Trivia separated by a single point, and it was equally close when IQ Trivia ended. The team in first, J-Lo's Aereolas, held on by getting three of the five correct and won by just one point. Congrats to Dave, Larry, Alex, Paul and Ruth, who captured the win with 43 points.

Second place went to The Bain of Romney's Existence with 42 points, and third place went to Cornelius T. Wintergreen Esq., with 41 points.

Best Team Name: I Got Santorum All Over My Mitt

Current Events
1. Media research company Advertiser perceptions ranked which print magazine recently as "The Strongest Brand" among ad agencies and marketing professionals?
2. Islandia, a "city" of just five people, was officially abolished last week by what southern US state?
3. What eastern US state will become on Thursday the eighth state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage?
4. 51 people were killed and over 700 injured when a train crashed in South American capital city last week?
5. What comic actor set a new record with 11 Razzie Award nominations announced last Saturday, for three bad movies he did in 2011?
6. 44 people were killed in a prison riot in what country last week?
7. What company apologized yesterday for including fortune cookies in its "Taste the Lin-Sanity" frozen yogurt sold at a location in Boston?

Leap Day Trivia
1. On this day in 2004, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in a coup d'etat as president of what country?
2. In 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to win an Oscar for her role in what classic film?
3. In 1972, what Hall-of-Fame baseball legend became the first player in MLB to sign a $200,000 per year contract?
4. Actor Dennis Farina was born on this date in 1944. In what classic 1988 comedy did he portray a gangster named Jimmy Serrano?
5. Legendary lawman Pat Garrett died on this day in 1908. What infamous outlaw did he kill in July 1881?
6. In 2004, what film became the third in history to win 11 Academy Awards?
7. On this date in 1956, Aileen Wuornous was born. She would eventually be executed in 2002 for murdering seven men in the 1990s. What 2003 film told her story?

True or False Trivia ("The Q Train")
1. Jousting is the official sport of Maryland.
2. Antarctica is windiest and driest of the seven continents.
3. The New York Yankees were one of the original American League teams in 1901.
4. The governor of Hawaii once received a 30,000 signature petition to change Maui's name to Gilligan's Island.
5. More shoplifters are caught on Sunday than any other day of the week.
6. Smoking damages your body within minutes and not in years as was once believed.
7. December has consistently shown to have the highest suicide rate.
8. Vending machines kill four times more people every year than sharks do.
9. At the 2010 Grammys, Taylor Swift won more Grammys than Elvis Presley did in his entire career.
10. North Dakota is the only US state that borders three Canadian provinces.

General Knowledge
1. The Phantom of the Opera is set in what city? ( 1 pt)
2. Mount Etna is found in what country? ( 1 pt)
3. What is the second largest continent in area after Asia? ( 1 pt)
4. Betty White was nominated for an Emmy award in 2011 for what TV series? ( 2 pt)
5. An otoscope is used for an examination for which part of the human body? ( 2 pt)
6. In what German city did the festival of Oktoberfest originate? ( 2 pt)
7. Great Barrier Island belongs to what country? ( 3 pt)

IQ Trivia
1. Which US government department has had jurisdiction over the National Weather Service since 1940? ( 4 points)
2. Comedian Steve Martin started his career as a writer on what late 1960s TV show? ( 5 points)
3. What is the third largest body of water in the world after the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans? ( 4 points)
4. "Pomp and Circumstance", also known as "The Graduation March," was written by what English composer? ( 4 points)
5. The Maurice J. Tobin Memorial Bridge is located in what major US city? ( 3 points)

Answers
Current Events
1. People; 2. Florida; 3. Maryland; 4. Buenos Aires, Argentina; 5. Adam Sandler; 6. Mexico; 7. Ben & Jerry's.

Leap Day Trivia
1. Haiti; 2. "Gone With the Wind;" 3. Hank Aaron; 4. "Midnight Run;" 5. Billy the Kid; 6. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"; 7. "Monster."

True or False Trivia ("The Q Train")
1. true; 2. true; 3. false, started in the AL in 1903; 4. true; 5. false, Wednesday; 6. true; 7. false, June; 8. true; 9. true; 10. false, Montana.

General Knowledge
1. Paris; 2. Italy; 3. Africa; 4. "Hot In Cleveland;" 5. ears; 6. Munich; 7. New Zealand.

IQ Trivia
1. Department of Commerce; 2. "The Smothers Comedy Hour;" 3. Indian Ocean; 4. Edward Elgar; 5. Boston.

Captain 33. Thank You.

Jason Varitek will indeed be calling it a career, and will be doing it on Thursday at JetBlue Park.

Tek calls it a career after 15 seasons, and only Carl Yastrzemski, Ted Williams and Jim Rice played longer on the Red Sox without playing for another team.

It was clearly time for the Red Sox catcher to call it a career. He will stay on with the club in a capacity that has not yet been announced. I would guess that the Sox will have a day for Tek in 2012, either with or without the also-retiring Tim Wakefield. They should both have their numbers retired as well.

Thank you, Tek, for 2004 and 2007. But thank you especially, for the iconic image shown on this post. No need to explain it, you all know when and where it happened. You'll be seeing a lot of this photo over the next few days.

And that certainly isn't a bad thing.

Celebrating Leap Day This Tuesday Night

This Tuesday night, the Special Category will be "Leap Day Trivia," seven questions about February 29th, the day that occurs every four years, and will happen this Wednesday. You'd be surprised that more has occurred on this day than you'd think.

The Q Train lightning round will be "True or False Trivia."

The Sneak Peek question for this week is:
"An otoscope is used for an examination for which part of the human body?"

We will get going shortly after 9 PM. The crowds continue to be huge over the last month, so getting to Thom's as early as you can might be a wise move. Hope to see many of you on Tuesday night.

Finally, Some Hardware On Merseyside

Liverpool won the English League (Carling) Cup for a record eighth time at Wembley, winning 3-2 on penalty licks after a thrilling 2-2 tie after extra time with underdog Championship side Cardiff City.

It was Liverpool's first trophy since their FA Cup Final win over West Ham United in 2006. Here's more on the win from Soccernet.

Hopefully, this is the start of more hardware to come, as Liverpool are in the FA Cup quarterfinals, against Stoke.

The First Six

It was 19 years ago today that the World Trade Center was attacked for the first time, and six innocent people were killed and hundreds injured when a bomb detonated in a parking garage below the buildings.

Say a prayer today for those victims and their families.

May they never be forgotten.

Happy 69th, George

Today would have been the 69th birthday for the late, great George Harrison.

To celebrate the day, here is a really cool YouTube clip from Eric Idle's "Rutland Weekend Television" program, from 1975. George appears as "Pirate Bob", and later as he's about to do "My Sweet Lord" with the band, he breaks into "The Pirate Song." Great stuff. (Neil Innes, who was in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" as one of "Robin's Minstrels" is in this clip.)

BTW, Rutland Weekend Television morphed into "The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash", the great Beatles parody that Eric Idle did in 1978, and George appeared in that as well, as an interviewer named Eric Manchester.

Happy Birthday, George. We miss you:

"The Mets: A 50th Anniversary Celebration"

It's going to be a long year at Citi Field this year. Potentially, a VERY long year. Not a single Mets fan I know has any optimism whatever. It could be a year they drop 100 games. It's reminding me a lot of the darkest era in Mets history, the late 1970s.

If you're a fan of the team and want to escape from the team's travails, I recommend you pick up "The Mets: A 50th Anniversary Celebration," a new hardcover coffee table book chronicling the long, strange trip over the last half-century of the Mets. It was produced by the New York Daily News (and features many News headlines over the years involving the club).

The book was written by News sportswriters Andy Martino and Anthony McCarron. The book is divided by the decades, discusses every season and it makes for some fascinating reading, with great inside stories of the team. It features the heroes (Tom Seaver, Gil Hodges, etc.), the villains (M. Donald Grant) and the heroes who became villains (Fred Wilpon). Ron Darling does a terrific forward to the book.

I grew up with the Mets, and we were both born in the same year. Even though I am a dedicated Red Sox fan, the Mets will forever hold a special place in my heart. The first MLB game I ever saw was at Shea Stadium in 1968, and the book brings back the memories I have of Shea so clear.

The book has every facet of Mets history covered, from their birth after the tragic loss of the city's two beloved National League teams, the two World Series championships, the decline and rise in the late 1990s, to the end of Shea and the start of Citi Field.

If you know a devoted Mets fan, you know he or she is going through some tough times with their beloved team. But "The Mets: A 50th Anniversary Celebration" is a terrific walk down memory lane for them, and it will get their minds off what's transpiring now.

Trivia Q&A: February 21

We had 21 teams in on Tuesday night, and yet another crowded bar enjoying the Trivia. I was joined on the night by my dear friend Renee, who went to grammar school with me about a hundred years ago. It made the night even more special.

The numbers were very good for the first two rounds, but I surprised they weren't as strong for The Q Train, which was "Oscar Winners' Film Trivia." I didn't think I made it that tough. Oh well.

We had two teams who ran the table and had a perfect score in IQ Trivia, and one of those teams, Cornelius T. Wintergreen, came from fourth place after the third round to pull out the win with 51 points. It was their first ever win.

Second place went to The Best Lin Was Freddy Lynn, with 48 points. Third place was a tie between Van Buren Boys and Chris Brown's Favorite Way Into Manhattan? The Brooklyn Battery Tunnel with 46 points.

Best Team Name: Kim Kardashian Wants a Chink In Her Armor

Current Events
1. Harris Interactive recently released its list of the 60 "Most Visible US Companies." Who was number 1?
2. What elderly Oscar-winning actress revealed yesterday that she's suffering from a degenerative eye condition, but insists she's not going blind?
3. Over 380 inmates were killed when a fire broke out in a prison in what Central American country last week?
4. What southern US state's lawmakers are debating a controversial bill dubbed "Don't Say Gay", a law that would ban teachers from discussing homosexuality in classrooms before high school?
5. Christian Wulff resigned as president of what European country last Sunday following allegations of corruption earlier in his political career?
6. Singer Charles Anthony died last week in his Florida home at the age of 82. In what genre of music did Mr. Anthony leave his mark?
7. What cable TV show host canceled two days of his show last week to care for his ailing mother, but returned to TV yesterday?

Oscar Trivia
1. Of all the nominees for this year's Best Picture Oscar, which is the only one that grossed $100 million at the box office in North America? a. The Help; b. Moneyball; c. Midnight In Paris; d. Hugo.
2. True or False: In the late 1950s, the Academy had a rule that anyone who was a Communist could not win an Oscar.
3. An Academy Award weighs approximately how much? a. 2 lbs; b. 8 lbs; c. 12 lbs; d. 17 lbs.
4. Which one of the following actors has won both a Best Actor and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar? a. Al Pacino; b. John Wayne; c. Jack Nicholson; d. Paul Newman.
5. Name 3 of the 4 African-American actors to win a Best Actor Oscar.
6. Which one of the following actresses has won both the Best Actress and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar? a. Jessica Lange; b. Sally Field; c. Kate Winslet; d. Elizabeth Taylor.
7. What is the first and only movie to win Best Picture that was directed by a woman? (3 pt)

Oscar Winners' Films Trivia ("The Q Train")
1. Tommy Lee Jones
2. Kim Basinger
3. Jon Voight
4. Gwyneth Paltrow
5. William Hurt
6. Holly Hunter
7. Adrien Brody
8. Natalie Portman
9. Christopher Walken
10. Emma Thompson

General Knowledge
1. What color is the card showing lawful permanent resident status in the United States? ( 1 pt)
2. In the famous fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin could spin straw into what? ( 1 pt)
3. What famous cartoon character uttered the phrase "I Taw a Putty Tat?" ( 1 pt)
4. What California city was the last Pony Express delivery made in? ( 2 pt)
5. What country was kicked out of the Organization of American States in 1962? ( 2 pt)
6. "The Rainbow Warrior" is a ship used by what group? ( 2 pt)
7. What was the former name of the city of Amman, Jordan, which is the current name of a major American city? ( 3 pt)

IQ Trivia
1. "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" was the first album, released in 1967, by what English classic rock band? ( 4 points)
2. Saul of Tarsus was better known to the world by what other name? ( 3 points)
3. If you were convicted of committing uxoricide, who did you kill? ( 5 points)
4. "Room 237" is a 2012 documentary that looks at the obsessive fans of what 1980s horror film? ( 4 points)
5. Clyde Tolson was the right-hand man and longtime assistant of what famous 20th century American? ( 4 points)

Answers
Current Events
1. Apple; 2. Dame Judi Dench; 3. Honduras; 4. Tennessee; 5. Germany; 6. opera; 7. Stephen Colbert.

Oscar Trivia
1. a; 2. true; 3. b; 4. c; 5. Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker; 6. a; 7. Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker" (2009)

Oscar Winners' Films Trivia ("The Q Train")
1. The Fugitive; 2. L.A. Confidential; 3. Coming Home; 4. Monster; 5. Kiss of the Spider Woman; 6. The Piano; 7. The Pianist; 8. Black Swan; 9. The Deer Hunter; 10. Howard's End.

General Knowledge
1. green; 2. gold; 3. Tweety; 4. Sacramento; 5. Cuba; 6. Greenpeace; 7. Philadelphia.

IQ Trivia
1. Pink Floyd; 2. St. Paul (Apostle Paul); 3. your wife; 4. "The Shining;" 5. J. Edgar Hoover.

No, Not THAT Chris Carpenter

The whole Theo Epstein-to-the-Cubs compensation mess has finally concluded, and the Red Sox will receive right-handed pitcher Chris Carpenter from the Cubs as compensation.

No, not the Chris Carpenter you're thinking of. He pitches for the Cardinals and won a championship last season. (BTW, both players are named Christopher John Carpenter. Weird.) Or the "Cris Carpenter" who pitched for the Cardinals from 1988-92. (Boy, this is getting confusing.)

This one is a relief pitcher ten years younger than the Cardinals' current ace, and appeared in ten games and had no record with a 2.79 ERA in his rookie year of 2011.

The trade with the Cubs is officially Carpenter and a player to be named later to the Sox for a player to be named later.

You really didn't think the Sox were getting Matt Garza, did you?

Tek AWOL, Probably Retiring

The Red Sox pitchers and catchers all officially reported to Ft. Myers yesterday, but there was one noticeable absence: Jason Varitek.

Speculation is running wild now that Tek will go the same route Tim Wakefield went last Friday: he will shortly announce his retirement from MLB.

And I hope he does. He has an invite to camp on a minor league deal, but the fact that he's not in right now tells me Tek's ready to hang it up.

He might just be waiting for some time to pass after Wake's announcement to make one of his own. We shall see.

Both Josh Beckett and Jon Lester spoke to the media yesterday about the terrible events of last September. Frankly, it's time to move on from 2011 and turn the page. I don't care about "apologies" or "mea culpas." It's a new season and I know the media will harp on this all spring and into the new season. They're the Boston media. They are expected to harp on the Red Sox failures.

My friend Chris Jaffe has another of those cool columns about a player's career highlights at The Hardball Times, and this one is about Tim Wakefield. Check it out here.

How Much Do You Know About Oscar?

This week's two revolving categories will both be on the same subject: Sunday's upcoming Academy Awards. The Special Category will be "Oscar Trivia." (No, not the Oscar pictured here unfortunately. I should do a round of "Odd Couple Trivia" someday.) Seven questions about the Academy Awards and its history, and it will be a mixed bag of questions: multiple-choice, true or false and multi-point questions all in one category.

And the Q Train lightning round will be "Oscar Winners' Movies Trivia." I will give you the names of ten current actors and actresses, and you have to tell me which film they won their Oscar for. (There won't be any multiple Oscar winners.)

The Sneak Peek question for this week is:
"What country was kicked out of the Organization of American States in 1962?"

We will get started shortly after 9 PM, so I hope to see many of you this coming Tuesday night, as the Academy Awards take center stage at Professor Thom's!

Someone Will Wear 47. No One Will Wear 21.

Pete Abraham had a column at Extra Bases the other day about the numbers the new Red Sox players and coaches will be wearing in Spring Training. Here's the list:

Coaches
Bobby Valentine 25
Bob McClure 22
Alex Ochoa 36
Jerry Royster 43

New 40-man roster players
Nick Punto 5
Cody Ross 7
Kelly Shoppach 10
Ryan Sweeney 12
Mark Melancon 37
Andrew Bailey 40
Clayton Mortensen 59
Will Middlebrooks 83
Che-Hsuan Lin 85
Drake Britton 87

New non-roster pitchers
Jesse Carlson 58
Aaron Cook 35
Justin Germano 50
Will Inman 79
Doug Mathis 70
Ross Ohlendorf 47
Vicente Padilla 44
Carlos Silva 23
Chorye Spoone 80
Justin Thomas 78
Alex Wilson 89

New non-roster position players
Dan Butler 81
Pedro Ciriaco 77
Alex Hassan 82
Mauro Gomez 72
Josh Kroeger 73
Jason Repko 16
Max St. Pierre 75

Two things struck me about this. They are giving Ross Ohlendorf number 47. You remember the last guy to wear 47 on the Sox, don't you? Somebody named Terry Francona. (I guess they couldn't wait even one year to give it out.)

And still NO ONE wearing 21. I know the Red Sox haven't officially retired the number, and have wanted to give it out. (I remember Jonathan Papelbon saying he was offered the number, but turned down the opportunity. And I also see that the Sox wasted no time giving out his 58 to Jesse Carlson.) Is there still that much respect for Roger Clemens from current players?

The number of the best Red Sox manager in my lifetime is given out as soon as he's left the premises (and to a marginal pitcher at best), but no one has worn 21 since The Texas Con Man, one of the most despised figures in Boston sports history, left.

What's wrong with this picture?

Wake Retires

Tim Wakefield will announce his retirement later today in Ft. Myers at a news conference.

One of the classiest guys to ever wear a Red Sox uniform leaves the game after 19 seasons, 17 with the Red Sox, 200 wins (186 with the Sox), 256 strikeouts and a career 4.41 ERA. Wake did everything asked of him as a pitcher and more: starter, middle reliever, mopup man and closer. (He also had 22 saves) He didn't reach the Red Sox career record for wins, as he is third behind Cy Young and Roger Clemens. But that makes no difference really, as the Red Sox should honor the great Wakefield with a day in his honor and retire number 49.

Wake also leaves with two important things: two championship rings. He'll always be One of The 25.

And how much did Wake mean to his teammates? I'll never forget this stirring tribute to him by Mike Timlin after the Red Sox won the World Series in 2007 (from my friend Cyn):



Thank you for 2004 and 2007, Wake. Enjoy your retirement. You've earned it.

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The Kid

My friend Chris Jaffe at The Hardball Times has an excellent column about the career of the late Gary Carter (that still seems so hard to believe).

I never knew that Carter made his MLB debut for the Montreal Expos in September 1974 against the Mets. (And who was the starting pitcher for the Expos that night? The infamous Mike Torrez.)

That and a lot more facts about the career of one MLB's greatest catchers.

Definitely check out this column, it's interesting reading for any Gary Carter fan.

So Long, Kid

I was saddened to hear that the great Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter lost his battle with brain cancer today. It had been a tough for fight for him and he was just 57.

I'll never forget the night the Mets made the trade for Carter in December 1984. It came out of nowhere, and you knew the Mets were serious about winning when they pulled it off.

My favorite Carter moment was the home run he hit in the 10th inning of Opening Day at Shea in 1985, his first game in a Mets uniform. It won the game, and he was hailed a new Mets hero.

Gary Carter was a great player and good man, with a smile for everyone. My deepest sympathies to his family and friends. Now let's hope the Mets management has the good sense (something that's been in short supply recently) to retire Carter's number 8. In his memory, I present this YouTube clip of Gary doing a Newsday commercial back in 1986. (He was clearly a better ballplayer than actor.)



Rest in peace, Kid.

Trivia Q&A: February 14

We had 16 teams in for Trivia Night, and a lot of the bar was focused on "Linsanity" early on, as there were a few Knicks fans in watching their fourth quarter comeback, topped by Jeremy Lin's three-pointer. There was a good crowd as usual, but a number of folks weren't into playing Trivia. Odd.

Current Events was a tough round, but the scores rebounded in the next two rounds. We had the top three separated by five points heading into IQ Trivia, but the team of Where Do Broken Hearts Go? To Trivia at Professor Thom's wound up winning by a single point, with 45. They led the entire night, and a nice job by Emily and her friends as always.

Second place went to For V-Day, My Honey Gave Me VD wound up with 44 points, and third place went to I Choo-Choo Chose You with 37 points. Interesting that only 2 of the 16 teams that played had any kind of reference to the passing of Whitney Houston, and neither was what you would call "rude."

Best Team Name: Where Do Broken Hearts Go? To Trivia at Professor Thom's

Current Events
1. What US state's legislature approved a bill allowing same-sex marriage last week?
2. What central African country is being sued for illegally squatting in its embassy property in Washington DC after the lease to the building expired earlier this month?
3. What rock legend received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last week, the 2,460th to be so honored?
4. Florence Green, a 110-year-old woman from England, died last week. What was the great significance of her passing?
5. A famed portrait of what First Lady, which had hung in a midwestern state's governor's mansion for three decades, was recently proved to be a fraud?
6. An Italian fugitive, who had eluded police for four years, was caught by police in England after he posted a picture of himself on Facebook at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London posing with a wax figure of what famous American?
7. What film won the Best Picture and six other awards at the British Academy Film Awards last Sunday night?

Presidential Trivia
1. Which prestigious US university has the most US presidents as alumni? a. Harvard; b. Yale; c. Virginia; d. West Point.
2. Who is the only US president to be sworn in by a woman? a. Calvin Coolidge; b. Harry Truman; c. Lyndon Johnson; d. Theodore Roosevelt.
3. Which one of the following US presidents was not born in New York State? a. Theodore Roosevelt; b. Millard Fillmore; c. Martin Van Buren; d. Calvin Coolidge.
4. Which president appointed the most number of Supreme Court justices? a. Franklin D. Roosevelt; b. George Washington; c. Thomas Jefferson; d. Abraham Lincoln.
5.Who was the first president born outside the original thirteen colonies? a. James Buchanan; b. US Grant; c. Abraham Lincoln; d. Andrew Johnson.
6. Which president served the shortest term in office? a. James Garfield; b. William Henry Harrison; c. Warren G. Harding; d. Andrew Johnson.
7. Which president served in the House of Representatives after leaving the presidency? a. John Adams; b. William Howard Taft; c. Calvin Coolidge; d. John Quincy Adams.

Valentine's Day True or False Trivia ("The Q Train")
1. Women send more Valentine's Day cards than men.
2. Cupid was the son of Aphrodite.
3. Valentine's Day was mentioned in "Hamlet."
4. Al Capone's gang is believed to have been behind the infamous 1929 massacre on Valentine's Day.
5. Valentine's Day is the largest card-sending holiday of the year.
6. 15% of US women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day.
7. February 14th was made the St. Valentine's Day holiday by King Henry VIII.
8. Teachers receive the most Valentine's Day cards.
9. The majority of all American roses are produced in California.
10. The majority of people who but flowers for Valentine's Day are women.

General Knowledge
1. What is the official language of Brazil? ( 1 pt)
2. A fatwa is an edict issued by a leader of what religion? ( 1 pt)
3. What 2006 film did Sacha Baron Cohen portray a journalist from Kazakhstan? ( 1 pt)
4. The Volvo and Saab automakers are based in what European country? ( 2 pt)
5. From what country did Israel take the Golan Heights away during the Six Day War of 1967? ( 2 pt)
6. What city will host the 2016 Summer Olympics? ( 2 pt)
7. What is the smallest country in area in Central America? ( 3 pt)

IQ Trivia
1. In 2000, who was the first athlete to receive a second Sports Illustrated "Sportsman of the Year" award? ( 4 points)
2. The islands of Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire belong to what country? ( 3 points)
3. On January 21, 2002, what corporation was named "Best Retailer of the Year" for 2001, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection the very next day? ( 4 points)
4. What infamous American figure gave his profession on his business cards as a "secondhand furniture dealer?" ( 4 points)
5. In 1980, what world leader was given the key to the city of Detroit, MI for making a $250,000 donation to save a church in that city? ( 5 points)

Answers
Current Events
1. Washington; 2. Cameroon; 3. Paul McCartney; 4. Last known WWI veteran; 5. Mary Todd Lincoln; 6. Barack Obama; 7. "The Artist."

Presidential Trivia
1. a; 2. c; 3. d; 4. b; 5. c; 6. b; 7.d.

Valentine's Day True or False ("The Q Train")
1. true; 2. true; 3. true; 4. true; 5. false, Christmas; 6. true; 7. false, Henry VII; 8. true; 9. true; 10. false, men (73%).

General Knowledge
1. Portuguese; 2. Islam; 3. "Borat;" 4. Sweden; 5. Syria; 6. Rio de Janeiro; 7. El Salvador.

IQ Trivia
1. Tiger Woods; 2. Netherlands; 3. K-Mart; 4. Al Capone; 5. Saddam Hussein.

The Great Bob Zupcic

My friend and blogger Jere put up a cool YouTube clip today on his site, A Red Sox Fan From Pinstripe Territory, of the great Bob Zupcic. You older Sox fans will remember him as the early '90s Red Sox outfielder and fan favorite. (Bob played with the Sox from 1991-94, and the 1992 team he played on in this clip may very well have been the weakest hitting Sox team in my memory. How weak? Tom Brunansky led the team in home runs with 15. The Sox finished dead last that year under the guidance of Butch Hobson. Yes, I've done my best to forget those years, too.)

This is a cool clip of Bob blasting a game-winning grand slam (the term "walkoff" had not come into the lexicon then, and since I hate it anyway, I won't use it) off Mike Henneman of the Detroit Tigers in 1992. What also struck me about this part of the clip was the reaction of the Red Sox players as Bob reaches the plate. They congratulate him, and there is none of that "we just won the World Series" crap that goes on today after someone gets a hit to win a game in the ninth inning. No one with any shaving cream in this clip.

And in the second part of the clip, Bob robs Mickey Tettleton of a home run, reaching into the Red Sox bullpen to pull it in. (When I saw that Tettleton hit it off number 49, my first thought was Tim Wakefield, but Timmy was in Pittsburgh at the time. That 49 was the immortal Paul Quantrill, who a dozen years later gave up one of the most famous home runs in Fenway history, to David Ortiz in the 2004 ALCS Game 4. However, Quantrill will NOT be the answer to the question, "Who wore 49 before Tim Wakefield?" That goes to somebody named Mike Hartley. No, I don't remember him either.)

Enjoy:

A Happy Valentine's Day To You All

And if he wins a championship in Boston, do we start referring to him as "St. Valentine?"