Three-Ways

That's actually the etymology of the word "trivia." Tri Via. Three Ways, in Latin. At the intersections where three Roman Roads converged, officials used to post news and other important announcements that travelers needed to know. I don't really know how that evolved into the "trivia" we know today, but it did. So there you have it.

Haven't really been posting to this blog much lately, mostly because I haven't been playing much basketball myself, and I haven't really been watching much either. What I HAVE been doing is going down to my local sports bar on Monday Nights to play a trivia game they've brought in to attract more patrons now that Monday Night Football is over for the season. Sometimes I team up with friends I know from the bar, and other nights I end up having to compete all by myself. For some unknown reason, I always seem to do better on my own...even though as a group we clearly know more of the answers.

I generally compete under a different team name each time, just so my competitors can't scope me out. But last night's name was the best so far: Carpe Scrotum (which translates roughly as "grab 'em by the balls!"). And duly inspired, I once again won the grand prize for the second time this year...scoring 101 total points, which I think has only been beaten (at least in my experience there) one other time, by my own other high score of 108. Won a ball cap, some "Bingas Bucks," a tee-shirt and some sexy women's underwear; kept the first two, and gave away the latter to couple of young women I'm eagerly trying to recruit on to Team Scrotum. I always get slaughtered on the pop culture, contemporary music and TV questions. So I need someone on my team who actually pays attention to what Lindsey Lohan is up to these days.

The hardest part about playing as part of a team (as opposed to playing by myself) is communication, and being able to trust your team mates. The game has a betting element: you can put a lot of points on questions you know, and fewer on answers you're not that sure about, but you can only use each point value once per round. When I'm playing by myself, I either know or I don't and bet accordingly. But when I'm playing as part of a team....well, we still haven't really mastered that process yet. Two options though -- either everyone suggests and someone decides, or we try to do it by consensus. Or better yet, a routine, a strategy, a lot of trust....and a good facilitator too.

But the really silly thing is how HAPPY it makes me to win these stupid contests. Guess I'm actually a lot more competitive than I let on.

CARPE SCROTUM!