Yep. I am a trivia slave.
I figure it goes hand in hand with being a reader of Cecil’s works. On a handful of occasions [sub](I mean, how can an entire article help you when you only have 30 seconds to pick the right answer?)[/sub] he’s helped me. Other times, he’s led me astray. 99% of the time, I play by a “Table Team” rules, by which if you know the answer you quietly say it to your pals at the table or flash the appropriate number of fingers (yes, we do use that finger). But, I digress. . .
Sitting in the sports bar last night, and Wipeout comes on. I had led one game, and came in second at the last, but this third game it was myself and a few friends. Wipeout; that fickle game where you get no clues, but it subtly takes away choices on you, leaving you scrambling for the answer if you chose #1 and it dissapears.
The moment: it was Question 14, I, my friend “Billy”, and “SDSLIM” are all within 200 points of each other on the top of the boards. Things are getting tight. Sweat beads on my forehead. The beer in my hand warms under the pressure as the question comes up . . .
It’s an easy one. Relating to Bicycle brands who makes playing cards. Piece of cake. The top three are all now separated by twenty-eight points. Twenty-eight points. The screen earlier indicates you need 7000 game points to earn Players Plus points, so I figure (correctly) that they’ll be easy questions. With the final question just moments away, I know it’s a matter of timing. I lay my fingers on the 4, 5, and 3 keys, ready to punch in my answer quicker than the saps around me. All bets are off. Time itself comes to a standstill. Everything is on the line. . .
"Who navigated the first ship built in the New World to travel to Europe?
A. Columbus
B. Hudson
C. Drake
D. Verrazano
E. Admundsen"
Smugly, I click “B”. I’ve read this before. I’ve read how he sailed up the Hudson river (what a coincidence!), and became the governor of Hispaniola. How he had sugar plantations. . . aw shit! Wrong one!
Before I can react, my dreams of taking the lead disappear as the question closes out. My dreams and aspirations of being the winner of a game dashed, all because Hudson sailed north instead of south. I knew I read something somewhere. I knew I’d seen that before. Hudson had to look for that damn Northwest Passage. . . [sub]Hudson, if I ever meet you, I’m going to kick your ass for not sailing south like you should have. . .[/sub]
And the game winner. . . “Billy”.
:mad:
Oh trivia, how you mock me. . .
Tripler
Honestly, do you guys play? I’m “Oswald” at ‘The Dugout’.