Wisconsin Trivia State Championship

Several states around the US have trivia competitions. Wisconsin has one of the biggest participating groups for trivia, while some states only have a few representatives from one or two big cities. So in case you think that it's a bunch of dorks sitting around playing trivia, well, you're only half right because apparently Wisconsin has at least 5 major cities FULL of these dorks (us included!). Tim and I started playing a couple of years ago with some of our college friends, but that group disbanded when people started moving away from Madison. More recently we started playing again with our neighbors across the hall in our apartment building. It has become such a hit with this group that we go at least once a week, sometimes more than that! It's a great social activity, and I feel I'm learning lots of useless facts.

So how do you play trivia? In Madison, you can play Monday through Thursday night, with several bars to choose from each night. There are 6 rounds with 3 questions per round (18 total questions), as well as a half-time question and a final question worth more points. You get to wager points on each question, so it is a game of strategy as well as a game of who knows more useless shit! If your team is ranked in top 20 in your area at the end of the season (usually a couple of months), then you automatically get to participate in the State Championship (with a $1000 prize!). If you are in the 20-40 top teams, you get to participate in the Wild Card game for a chance to go to the state.

Enter Team Suicidal Puppies (my neighbors idea). We qualified for the Wild Card round, and halfway through the tournament we had essentially ZERO points. We realized we had no chance of making it to state, but we were going to keep trying anyway. Going into the final question, we were in dead last place (I kid you not). The final question is worth up to 15 points, and if you get it right you get 15 points, and if you get it wrong, you lose 15 points. We wagered everything, and on that single question went from DEAD LAST to FOURTH PLACE and qualified for the State tournament!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Unfortunately we got destroyed at the State tournament, but still managed to finish middle of the pack. However it was the comeback of the century, and we have been trying to have a repeat performance ever since with no such luck. Alas, we still enjoy trivia, and love to play. Our team is currently ranked 17th! Check out our league standings ;o)