Those of you who wondered at last week's unannounced quiz hiatus may have been fearing that the Quiz would not return for a third calendar year. Put your anxieties to rest, for our resolve to lighten your weekly load has never been greater. Happy New Year, my factoidal friends: Onward we march toward the Hundredth Quiz!
2004's very first Wombat groan-inducer:
Headquartered in Texas, a recently-founded American association of sporting "professionals" announced a historic event in November of 1999 -- a first-ever (it claimed) multi-day tournament with substantial cash prizes going to the winning teams (first place took $5,000). Previous competitions offered prizes that had to be donated to charity. The association's announcement noted: "Top [competitors] spend decades [working to achieve] national recognition but have had no arena in which to "strut their stuff" for prize money like in most other sports."
Competition kicked off at the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi campus. Because of the nature of the competition, questions were raised about how the winner would be determined. President of the association Robert Benton said, "'It may be hard to believe, but [competitors in this sport] are basically honest ethical folks. Their hard earned reputations among peers are worth far more than the $10,000 (total prize moneys awarded) at stake.'"
What sport did this groundbreaking tourney involve?
First correct answer posted to comments wins an extra-large woolen beret that blew off of the head of a Brooklyn Francophile last week and landed in front of our building. No Googling or pursuing an advanced degree in cultural studies (those of you already holding such degrees should type with your eyes closed). One guess per comment, please, but comment as frequently as you like.
Posted by BT at January 02, 2004 10:42 AMchukickng pumpklis with caraplits.
(That's what "chucking pumpkins with catapults" looks like when typed with one's eyes closed.)
Posted by: terry on January 2, 2004 11:02 AMPump-and-dump stock swindles.
Posted by: Jonathan on January 2, 2004 12:44 PMLying.
The winner is easy to determine. He or she is the guy or gal with his or her pants or culottes on fire.
Is the word culottes related to the French 'cul'?
(Meaning ass.)
Posted by: Scott on January 2, 2004 12:50 PM"Is the word culottes related to the French 'cul'?
(Meaning ass.)"
Please don't tell me what "cul de sac" really means, then. I just don't want to know.
Posted by: boxjam on January 2, 2004 02:05 PMbonfire building
Posted by: teenidol on January 2, 2004 02:17 PM"I am El Niño. For those of you who don't know Spanish, that means... The Niño."
-Chris Farley
Therefore cul de sac means... ass de sac.
Posted by: teenidol on January 2, 2004 02:22 PMcastration
Posted by: teenidol on January 2, 2004 03:02 PMcastration by bonfire
Posted by: teenidol on January 2, 2004 03:15 PMbtw, if you hit "post" below and then quickly come to your senses and try to "cancel" it posts anyway
Posted by: teenidol on January 2, 2004 03:16 PMHorseshoes
Posted by: Jonathan on January 2, 2004 04:25 PMhorsepucky chucking
(hey, it beats horsepucky chugging)
Ah, the tomfoolery.
I will note that the "sport" in question, is, on an amateur level, quite popular.
Posted by: BT on January 2, 2004 05:07 PMHacking.
Posted by: Garthmeister J. on January 2, 2004 05:26 PMThat was hacking of the computer variety, I might add. As opposed to the, say, journalism variety.
Posted by: Garthmeister J. on January 2, 2004 05:28 PMA popular amateur sport in which we have to trust the competitors' ethics in order to determine the winner.
A sport where it'd be easy to lie, but you wouldn't for $10,000.
Poker.
Posted by: boxjam on January 2, 2004 08:58 PMmight it be shuffleboard?
Posted by: uberdeb on January 2, 2004 09:46 PMhandcar races?
Posted by: teenidol on January 2, 2004 11:24 PMtetherball?
Posted by: Gavin in West Virginia on January 3, 2004 12:46 AMRock/paper/scissors?
Posted by: Gavin in West Virginia on January 3, 2004 12:47 AMJump-rope?
Posted by: Gavin in West Virginia on January 3, 2004 12:53 AMQuarters (or some other form of drinking game)?
Okay, that's enough. Hello from Charleston.
Tomorrow, we cruise through Kentucky.
It warms my heart that the Quiz is compelling Gavin to check in from his southern-fried odyssey (do they have internet stations at The Waffle House now?)
A hint for those of you dedicated to pursue this through the weekend.
The noncompetitive form of this pastime is popular not only in the US, but around the world. Enthusiasts come from all walks of life. Van Morrison mentions it in his song "Coney Island" on 1989's Avalon Sunset (the answer has nothing to do with amusement parks).
Posted by: BT on January 3, 2004 10:36 AMBirdwatching?
Posted by: Scraps on January 3, 2004 03:40 PMWell done, Scraps -- birdwatching or "birding" as our verbalizing age would have it -- is the answer. The "Professional Birding Association" looks to have vanished, but they did at least announce the contest
http://www.prweb.com/releases/1999/10/prweb9666.htm
No longer is there any active sign of the group on the Net, or of their "probirding.com" domain. I guess it was hard getting that pro tour off of the ground.
Sorry it took so long for me to weigh in with an answer this week.
Posted by: BT on January 4, 2004 06:43 PMI went bird-watching this weekend - saw a golden bobhopper.
Posted by: boxjam on January 5, 2004 09:31 AMYou had me going for a moment there.
Bob Hopper grew up in Los Angeles with his mother and father, Bob and Anna, and his two siblings, Eleanor and Bill. The family lived in Los Angeles, and Bob remembers “going with his father on buses with his fellow Lions Club members to baseball and football games.” He was encouraged by his father, from the time he was about 12 years old, to take part in adult conversations with his business friends. Bob remembers he “always had good jokes and stories at the dinner table. Bob wrote that his Dad was “in the death business.” He managed cemeteries and developed mausoleums. He listed his Dad’s characteristics as “realism, balance, humor, and public service.” He died in 1965, when his son was 21. Bob wrote, “We had a good relationship and I was lucky that, when he died, I had no doubts that he valued me and that he understood how much I appreciated him. His one word to describe his experience of his father was “golden.” Bob married Carol in 1966 and they have two children, Allison and Beto. He thinks his fond views of his father’s good traits contributed to the quality of his fathering, but, he said, “Judging how I am as a father is harder than assessing my own father.” He realizes that he had let himself be so busy at work that he didn’t spend enough time with his son. And his daughter recently pointed out examples of his not being a good listener, which he is trying to remedy. Bob makes every effort to stay in close communication with his children, always being willing to take the first step, but being realistic about the differences between the styles and needs of the two generations. He hopes his “son will believe that life is stable and good enough for him to take the big gamble on becoming a husband and father.” He wants his fathering to be seen as partnership.
From --http://www.uucava.org/sermons/FathersonFathers061701.htm
Posted by: BT on January 5, 2004 09:49 AMPOO, shouldn't searching the sermon database also be disallowed for the quiz?
Posted by: teenidol on January 8, 2004 12:01 PMThe post-correct-answer nonsense period is not subject to any search restrictions, per the Amendment to the Bylaws passed last Thermidor.
Posted by: BT on January 8, 2004 12:30 PM