TALKING TRIVIA and SHOP

by Tim Rich   I recently met up with Nick Salyers in San Antonio to chat about trivia and other topics. He recently made TOTW in OQL USA. I decided to have a virtual dinner with him at Biga, the best restaurant on the River Walk. Rich:  How did you first get into trivia as a hobby? Salyers: I would say I first got into trivia as a hobby in early 2020 when I joined LearnedLeague during the pandemic. Prior to that, most of my trivia-related activities were limited to watching game shows (I was a latchkey kid and GSN was my babysitter), going out to pub trivia when my friends felt like it, and attending one quizbowl practice in grad school that I left in the middle of after the captain would belittle us every single time a question went dead. I first found out about LearnedLeague in 2014/2015 when I read a Washington Post article about the league and I thought it sounded cool and wanted to join, but I had zero connections at the time. When the pandemic hit, I was bored one day a...

by Tim Rich  I recently caught up with Big Meaty Equal Protection Clause’s Miranda Onnen who recently made TOTW. We met up at Emilio's in Soho. They are known for their chicken parm and celebrity diners. Rich: How did you first get into trivia as a hobby? What are your strengths and weaknesses in terms of categories? Onnen: Every evening when I was growing up, my family had the same routine -- we'd eat dinner, watch Jeopardy, my parents would read to my twin brother and I, and then we'd go to bed in time for them to watch Ed and Spin City. I was getting the questions right even at the age of 7-8, so I knew I was pretty good at it. I played HS quiz bowl and loved it, but it went by the wayside in college as I focused on other things like political involvement and Model UN. I took the Jeopardy test almost every year, and ended up auditioning four times before I made it on a little over a year ago. That's when things really took off in terms of my trivia participation. Yo...

  By Tim Rich  I recently caught up with two time TOTW honoree Allie Kallmann Wegner. It took awhile to get used to the virtual rarefied air in the Mile High City but I was able to cope.  Rich: How did you first get into trivia as a hobby? Wegner: I was kind of a weird kid, so probably when my parents tried to keep me busy with BrainQuest flash cards. But I first got into trivia for its own sake when I worked at a retirement home in high school. Jeopardy! was on during our break, and if we all timed it right, we’d get to catch all of Double Jeopardy and Final. Then in college, pub quiz was also $3 burger night at McNellie’s in Norman, OK, so a lot of us would go weekly. In grad school, I needed a part-time gig. I was a frequent TriviaNYC sub across the city, with my favorite of course being Saturday nights at One Star – which is where I got my Learned League referral, and the rest is history!  Rich: When did you first get into OQL? Did you know your teammates? Wegne...

  By Tim Rich I recently caught up with Scott Blish of Taco Belly Rubs. He is The Man in the quizzing world, having led OQLUSA in scoring on seven occasions. I’ve played in friendlies and league matches against his team and it's astounding how many facts the man knows. In Week 5, he posted a 25(7) although I would’ve settled for the eye pleasing 24(7). I caught up with him in Ybor city recently and we had virtual pho while chatting about trivia. Rich: When did you first get into trivia?  Blish : When I was in seventh grade, the school librarian at Thomas Edison Junior-Senior HS in Elmira Heights, NY, who doubled as the school academic team coach, came and grabbed me out of a classroom and bundled me onto a bus with a bunch of seniors to attend our local televised regional academic tournament. I was very surprised when he designated me as a starter, and even more surprised when I answered half the questions in the game and we defeated a school five times our size for our first...