Derek Stricklin made OQL USA TOTW in weeks 3 and 4 of Season 19. The following interview was conducted while we drank bourbon and dined on Rabbit dumplings and Dirty Pasta at Butcher and Rye in Dahntahn Pittsburgh. Tim: How did you first get into trivia as a hobby? What are your first memories of it? Derek: I’ve been interested in trivia for a very long time. I watched lots of game shows as a kid, my local sports bar had a Buzztime game where you could borrow a handheld device and answer questions on the TV, and I did very well in middle school quiz bowl tournaments. That interest eventually grew into playing in online leagues and attending events like SporcleCon and Trivia Nationals. Tim: When did you first get into OQL? What team did you join and what has the experience been like? Derek: In 2025, my good friend and frequent bar trivia teammate Paul McLaughlin invited me to compete on his Quizzo Bowl team in Philadelphia, where I first met you. A few months later, you invit...
Chuck Yu of Trust the Butt made Overall Team of the Week in Week 4 with an impressive 18(6). It was a long 4.5 hour trip down to Silver Spring MD. We met at Matchbox on a Saturday morning for their very affordable Unlimited Bruch special and the following interview. Rich : Congrats on Team of the Week for Week 4. How many team of the weeks have you made in your OQL career? I remember you had a recent 17(7), is that your best score ever? CY: Thanks! I’ve made a handful within my division but only overall once or twice. I’m about as capable of getting 1 direct as I am of getting 6 in a given week, so it’s still a fun thing to see myself up there every so often. I’ve never had a full house, and the 17(7) was my first time getting 7 directs, but I think my highest score was probably 18(6) sometime in my first few seasons. Rich : How did you first get into OQLUSA and tell us about the teams you have been on and how the team name was made? CY: As a lot of...