A New Beginning
The first game of the new season – and with new member Matt whom we dragged away from the Robin Hood with the promise of a game every week and choice of the first butty if we win. We were away to the Harrington Academicals, old friends in a very welcoming pub that has changed considerably in the past few years having for many years been a part of a working farm business. The Cock-A-2 had a problem providing four question masters and the Harrington helped out by providing one.
The questions had been set by the Ox-Fford a pseudonym for a well known League secretary – they were very well received and scored highly by both teams. The Thar desert caused some scratched heads and there was general surprise that Dave Lee Travis was almost a local boy – born in Buxton; but 
the one that generated much chat about supporting the team, and uplifting quizzes was Q42 in the General Knowledge.
It was a jovial and friendly evening and the Lemmings finished the Specialist with a nose in front with 70 points to 60 – no room for complacency. The General Knowledge was closer but the Lemmings still managed to hang on to their lead with 89 to 84.
Individual scores were Bob 15/9, Matt 21/15, Nick 9/12 and Tomo 12/27; conferred points were 9/17, pass-overs 4/9 whilst the Harrington picked up 2/5 pass-0vers. Final score 159 to 144 – a good start for the Lemmings, a great opening game by Matt and Tomo maintaining a high scoring rate.
The evening was rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches that soaked up the new Robinson’s offering Hop Gun – a very palatable drink. Many thanks to the landlord and to the Academicals for a fine start to the new season.
5 comments:
Not sure I have a purpose now, given that I'm commenting on Nick's game, but here goes.
This time last year I was bemoaning 18 on the opening week as the result of too many 50/50 guesses gone wrong. In the specialists I took four 50/50 guesses and got very lucky indeed, which was the difference between a good score and a very modest one. Swings and roundabouts....Lady Luck did catch up with me on the last question when Martin, our convivial stand-in QM asked me for the F in EDF and I misheard it as D and got very confused (you can't ask a question with "de" as the answer) and conferred my way out of my highest ever score.
However, a very pleasant night played at a bucolic pace and intensity that matched the surrounds, despite the presence of some very able quizzers in the Accies (although the absence of one may have helped). A classically Watsonian set of questions, not as elementary as they may have been in the past but very few causes for gripes. We loved the Latin, it accounted for most of the gap between the two sides.
Too early to say which side really won the opening skirmish in the battle for the coveted 3rd place in the B League.
You've always got something useful to add
An enjoyable quiz - some gimmes, some a bit more taxing.
Question of the week from me was the Madame Tussaud one. Nobody at our match got it, but we all 'aaah-ed' as if we should have done once the answer was given. Always the sign of a good quiz question.
It was never going to be a dull evening at the Harrington. Martin agreed to QM at very short notice, as long as we bought him beer all night. We got the expected excellent set of questions from Mark, and the visitors were on great form for quizzing and entertainment value
I'd put money on them for promotion - and we are heading for mid table mediocrity
I'm glad the questions seem to have gone down well. My colleague Mr Morrissey supplied the "4th of October" questions and we nearly made a schoolboy error between us when we swapped some of the questions around, but not the answers. Luckily we spotted this before the final draft as I doubt many people would have agreed that the premier female blues vocalist of the sixties was Ann Widdicombe, or that Rembrandt was once a member of the Monty Python team!
I was happy with the final questions in the end, although there were a couple I would have changed with hindsight that asked for what might be considered mulitple answers, but time got the better of me.
In the spirit of the Latin round, I must offer a “mea culpa” for those!
Post a Comment