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Hanging with Mr. Fleming-Cooper

Longtime OQL USA vet Stephen Fleming-Cooper made Team of the Week in OQL USA in back to back weeks four and five. I caught up with him at Rumi's Kitchen in Atlanta for a nice Persian dinner and the following interview:   Rich: Congrats on Team of the Week for Week 4 and 5 of Season 18. How many team of the weeks have you made in your OQL career? Fleming-Cooper: To be honest, I don’t know. I don’t really keep track…I’m always here to help my team do as well as they can, and while the individual accolades are nice, they don’t stick with me as much. I think it’s somewhere in the teens, maybe? Rich : How did you first get into OQLUSA and UK and how tell us about the teams you have been on and how the team name was made?  Fleming-Cooper: I was invited into OQL USA by former player (and multi-time Jeopardy champion) Dave Leach, who was one of my college quiz bowl teammates. I was hooked immediately -- and even as our lineup has shifted over the years, I keep coming back becaus...
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Omaha, somewhere in middle America with Emily

Emily White is a veteran of OQL and has made TOTW 4 times in Season 17. One big highlight was in April of 2024 when she wrote the April Regions friendly and it was playrest by three other players by the name of Emily.  I met up with her at Omaha Kebabs, an Armenian restaurant to conduct the following interview.  Tim:  You made TOTW in week 7, 8, and9. How did you like those sets and did you Britney anything? Emily: To be honest, apart from a pair here or there, I don’t really remember sets long after I’ve played them. They must have been in my wheelhouse, though! I didn’t Britney anything in Week 7, but in Week 8, I was lucky to snag the recent Super Bowl MVP pair. I started playing fantasy/daily fantasy football about three years ago, and it really helps the current player names stick in my head. I definitely couldn’t have gotten a Britney on MVPs from even a decade ago, apart from, like, Tom Brady. Also, I got the Bridgerton pair in Week 9, which is pretty funny because...

Spilling the sweet tea with Greg Fanoe

 I recently ventured down to Tampa to interview Greg Fanoe who made TOTW in Season 17 week 8 of OQL USA. This is his fifth time making team of the week and he was the only one to get a full house on the set.  He also got a full house in OQL UK on 3/18, making TOTW. I met up with him at one of Tampa's first Michelin starred restaurants, Rocca in Tampa Heights. Their tableside mozzarella cart was fascinating and  I tried the Agnolotti, a stuffed pasta that I had never had before. For such a nice place, it was very affordable. Tim:  How did you first get into trivia as a hobby? What are your first memories of it? Greg: I’ve always been interested in trivia. My family was big on Jeopardy! & Trivial Pursuit from when I was a kid. In high school I was part of my quiz bowl team at Walton High in Marietta, GA which was reliably a top level team until our longtime coach retired not long after I left (my team got top 5 at both of the first two NAQT nationals in 1999 and 20...