# Trivia contests bore me. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 13, 2016, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-contests-bore-me/774588 "2016-12-13T03:58:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-contests-bore-me/774588/1 "2016-12-13T03:58:11Z")
Last week the final question, after TWO FUCKING HOURS OF TWENTY ONE QUESTIONS, was place these in order: Place these in order: The year Jackie Robinson made the majors. (Snore) 1947. The year of the first Teddy Bear. (Snuff) 1903 or 1907. Go early. The year of the first commercial radio broadcast. KDKA in what, 1920? The year John Dillinger was killed. 1934. I’m asleep and I can answer these questions. Jen: in order but you got a couple years wrong. Me: So I really need to go on Tuesday? Jen: Yes. Me: It keeps me up late and I’ll sleep. Jen: i don’t care. You’ll be there. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-contests-bore-me/774588/2 "2016-12-13T05:10:21Z")
Are you talking about one of those events where everyone sits at long tables? I’ve attended a couple of those myself, and didn’t enjoy them either. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-contests-bore-me/774588/3 "2016-12-13T13:52:36Z")
I’ll watch Jeopardy but any extended session of trivia will get tedious. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-contests-bore-me/774588/4 "2016-12-13T14:27:39Z")
Why do you have to do what Jen says? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-contests-bore-me/774588/5 "2016-12-13T14:46:51Z")
I stopped going to trivia when it became a contest to google the answer on your smartphone. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-contests-bore-me/774588/6 "2016-12-13T15:39:05Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Are you talking about one of those events where everyone sits at long tables? I’ve attended a couple of those myself, and didn’t enjoy them either. They can be really fun, provided the trivia is interesting and pitched at the right level of difficulty, and you enjoy the company of the people at your table. And there’s no cheating. They aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but then, what is? (Cups of tea aren’t my cup of tea.) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-contests-bore-me/774588/7 "2016-12-13T16:05:32Z")
It’s important to differentiate between trivia and unimportant information. Trivia questions, ideally, should deal with things so that the questions are entertaining or refer to things the average person would know about, even if they don’t know the answer. The answer is best if people learn something new by the answer. For example, “Other than Babe Ruth, what member of the Baseball Hall of Fame wore #3 for the New York Yankees?” Baseball again: “The NY Yankees honor their best players by plaques in ‘Monument Park.’ Name three former Cardinals who have plaques there.” TV: “Who was the first person to star in two shows on two different broadcast networks in the same time slot?” Just naming dates and stuff is unimportant information, and can get pretty dull. But the right questions can be tantalizing. The hard part is creating them. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-contests-bore-me/774588/8 "2016-12-13T23:35:52Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Why do you have to do what Jen says? Cuz she’s mean. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-contests-bore-me/774588/9 "2016-12-13T23:41:15Z")
No, really, I take my daughter so Wife is sure someone knows what to if she has a seizure, like she did during the tournament Saturday. I say, “Renee’s a SpEd teacher, FFS.” “Go.” She’s almost as mean as Jen. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-contests-bore-me/774588/10 "2016-12-14T05:31:20Z")
_“Jenny says turn off the radio Jenny says turn out the light Jenny says turn off the video You beat yourself up to bring yourself down Let it go! Let it go! Let it go!”_