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No Pressure with Joshua Hill

 I recently caught up with Josh Hill who made TOTW in Season 13 Week 11 of OQL USA. He recently celebrated a birthday and I met up with him in Little Rock, Arkansas for an interview. Hill was on the first Friendly Writer's MTT team for Team USA and is a Season 34 seven time Jeopardy! champ.





Rich: How did you first get into trivia as a hobby?


Hill: Thanks Tim! I have been quizzing for most if my life, going back to junior high school and on into college. I have always loved learning about the world and the people in it, and trivia sort of sprung from there. I unconsciously stepped away from trivia after leaving college, but my quizbowl captain Andrew Wehrman invited me to LearnedLeague, and I was soon hooked again.






Rich: How did you first get into OQL as a player?




Hill: I saw posts on the LearnedLeague message boards about the Online Quiz League at the outbreak of the pandemic, and I decided to give it a shot. Great call, that! Anyway, the commissioner at the time formed a scratch team, which we named “The Orphans Have a Real Heavy Rep” since we were orphans as a scratch team. 





Rich: What was your experience like playing with the Orphans? Why did you decide to leave and start fresh in D5?






Hill: Playing with the Orphans was a refreshing and eye-opening experience. (Orphans 4 Life!) It rejuvenated my love of quizzing and of being on a quiz team, and at the same time, it opened my eyes to many deficiencies I have in my game, to the point where I felt I was dragging the Orphans down a notch. Thankfully though, my group of friends who recap LearnedLeague matches with me were interested in trying out the OQL format, and it gave me an opportunity to “grow the league” as well as take on a new challenge - and that challenge has been very rewarding! The Tiger Trivia Institute is a force for facts, fun, and friendship, as we create the next generation of game show champions. 😹







Rich: Tell us something about your Regions team and how did you like the specific format this past season?







Hill: My Regions team, the Mid-South Ivory Bills, is another great addition to my quizzing life, and I had a lot of fun, with hopes that we can play as a team again this year. The format from this past season did do more to highlight the chasms in my quiz game, and it provided ample motivation to work on those chasmic areas. (Is chasmic even a word? Well, it is now!)






Rich: What was your Jeopardy! experience like and what did you think of the 2024 JIT?






Hill: I really enjoyed being on Jeopardy! The show staff was very helpful and encouraging, and the only nervousness I felt was general competitive anxiety - but once the games started, it felt like I was back in quizbowl, and I felt surprisingly comfortable - I chalk that up to the staff. The JIT was very interesting seeing so many former champions grace the Alex Trebek Stage. I keep my pawdigits crossed that maybe I will get an invite someday, but life does go on regardless.







Rich: Besides trivia, what are your other hobbies?






Hill: Outside of trivia, I enjoy playing tennis with my wife and niece (they are both far better than me!), and I also play on a men's senior league baseball team (I usually play left field or right field when I'm not pitching.)






Rich: What is the live trivia scene like in your city? Is there a bar/restaurant that you play at every week?






Hill: There is live trivia in the Little Rock area, but I typically do not partake often nowadays. Before the pandemic, I played regularly at American Pie Pizza in North Little Rock, where my Jeopardy! watch parties took place.






Rich: Besides OQL, what other online leagues do you play in?






Hill: I have played in Mimir's Well before, as well as the OQL ICC and OQL-USA Pop Solos, but time constraints currently limit me to OQL-USA and (pawdigits still crossed) OQL-USA Regions.






Rich: What pro sports are you a fan of and what are your top five moments?





Hill: My sports teams, in some order, are Tottenham Hotspur; the New Orleans Saints; and my beloved Arkansas Razorbacks. Given those sports teams and their relative lack of success, I don't know if I can feasibly list a “top five.” 😹 Definitely when Spurs made the Champions League final against Ajax, that was a top moment that I got to share with the Little Rock Spurs supporters group, of which I am one of the longest-tenured members. Also, the Saints winning the Super Bowl was huge, and their first season back in New Orleans after Katrina was a great memory. When the Hogs beat Duke in 1994, 76-72, that may be THE top moment for me… but the one moment that ranks as the most indelible, is when that foul pop-up hit the ground against Oregon State. 😿






Rich: What is the dining scene like in your city? What is your favorite cuisine and beverages?





Hill: There are some cool restaurants in Little Rock, with my favorite probably being Stickyz Rock n Roll Chicken Shack. “I want some chicken and friiiiiiies!” 😹 And as far as beverages, my drink of choice, as the Orphans well know, is Dragon's Milk bourbon barrel-aged stout.





Rich: If you could have dinner and play live trivia with any five people from history ( dead or alive), whom would you choose?





Hill: Live trivia? Hmmm… let's go with Alex Trebek of course… also: Nelson Mandela; President Barack Obama; fellow Jeopardy! champion John McCain; and Marie Curie. I have a feeling Curie would smoke us all.





Rich: What movies did you watch last year and which do you want to win Best Picture at the Oscars?





Hill: To go back to chasmic trivia deficiencies: I didn't watch many movies last year, and I do not know which movies are even up for Best Picture. I did watch Inside Out 2 for sure, and I don't remember if Wakanda Forever was 2024, but I watched that too… having said that, I long ago circled on my calendar the date of November 26, 2025 - that is the date Zootopia 2 comes out! (I am still miffed that Zootopia did not get a Best Picture nom.)






Rich: What good books did you read in 2024?





Hill: I also don't have much time to read books, but I have read a good portion of a very poignant book: Black AF History, by Michael Harriot. I highly recommend this book!






Rich: Who are your favorite musical artists and what artist would you want to see in concert but have not?





Hill: I really want to see Linkin Park in concert… many of my instrumental piano covers were of Linkin Park songs, and it hurt quite a bit when Chester Bennington passed away... Other than that, favorites include Lil Wayne, Rihanna, and the great Arkansas native Johnny Cash.





Tim: Would you ever go to Trivia Nationals or SporcleCon?





Hill: I am hoping to go to both this year! Chicago and New Orleans are my favorite city and my wife's favorite city, respectively. Maybe, if I can make it, I'll see you there!

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