Challenge the Stupid Sportswriter, Week 5
A series-low 135 point finish (with five of the nine answers wrong) proved again that the sportswriter, especially when on vacation and his mind not properly challenged, is ripe for a whoopin' in Sports Trivial Pursuit, and that result in Sunday night's "The Challenge" hosted by Fred Roggin on KNBC Channel 4 was bad enough for a tie for 320th place (is that really possible)?
Guess there'll be no Universal Studios tickets for me this week as I begin week 2 of getting paid for staying away from anything work related -- except this blog, occasionally.
For the season, I'm at 820 points, tied for 51st. I really thought I'd be better at this. I'm ashamed to call myself a professional know-it-all at this point.
Patrick Alog, who we've found out is a recent graduate of Cal State Fullerton and does play-by-play partime on the Titans' volleyball, softball and women's hoops as well as other work on men's basketball and baseball, didn't have a great week either, finishing tied for 25th this week, but he still leads the season with 1,255 points.
Here's the breakdown of this week's Q-and-A. Again, if you were successful in beating me, drop me an email thomas.hoffarth@dailynews.com and I may have a kind word to email back to you.
1. Before Mike Dunleavy, who was the last Clippers coach to lead them to the NBA playoffs?
a) Bill Fitch
b) Alvin Gentry
c) Larry Brown
d) Dr. Jack Ramsey
2. What year did Tim Salmon break into the majors with the Angels?
a) 1994
b) 1992
c) 1993
d) 1991
3. How many gold medals has volleyball legend Karch Kiraly won?
a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) 4
4. (an audio question) Which baseball Hall of Famer is singing this song (a version of the Sam Cooke song, "Cupid")?
a) Eddie Murray
b) Dave Winfield
c) Ozzie Smith
d) Reggie Jackson
5. The Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes were formerly known as which team?
a) Hartford Whalers
b) Quebec Nordiques
c) Winnipeg Jets
d) Atlanta Flames
6. Who is the only three-time All American in baseball at UCLA?
a) Troy Glaus
b) Jackie Robinson
c) Garrett Atkins
d) Chase Utley
7. Who is LaDainian Thomlinson's favorite NBA team?
a) Knicks
b) Rockets
c) Lakers
d) Heat
8. Ducks forward Teemu Selanne performed what job before playing in the NHL?
a) Landscaper
b) Pizza delivery
c) Mailman
d) Kindergarten teacher
9. Who was not honored as one of the NBA's 50 greatest players in the league?
a) Shaquille O'Neal
b) Tim Duncan
c) Charles Barkley
d) Karl Malone
Answers:
1. a) Bill Fitch, in 1997, when they were swept by Utah. My gut pick was Larry Brown, which got 0 points.
2. b) 1992. Kind of a trick question, since he won the AL Rookie of the Year award in '93. I blindly guessed right and got 40 points.
For the record, this is the first time in five weeks that I've received a full 40 points for a correct answer. Maybe my DirecTV has caught up with the rest of the world; maybe they've made some technical adjustments. Maybe I just answered so darn fast that I caught them on the tail end of dropping it to 35. Nevertheless, this is important to note: On my worst nine-question performance, I finally got one perfect score on a question.
3. c) 3 (indoor in '84 and '88 and on the beach in '96). I zoned out and forgot the first two, so I got 0 points.
4. c) Ozzie Smith, from the baseball CD "Oh Say Can You Sing." I took Ozzie because I knew the other three choices were just wrong. Got 35 points.
5. a) Hartford, which moved in '97. I thought Carolina was an expansion team and was thrown off by that one and took Quebec. Got 0 points.
6. c) Atkins, in '98, '99 and '00. I had noted that choice "d" hadn't been used yet, so I did an SAT strategy and took Utley, but was wrong. 0 points.
7. b) Rockets. This was easily the stupidest question on not just the night, but the entire five weeks of questions. I wasn't going to be lured into guessing the Lakers. I guessed the Knicks. Got 0 points.
8. d) Kindergarten teacher, in Finland for three years. Again, a quirky question but having done a story on him before, I knew this one, and it fit into my strategy that no "d" answer had been given yet. I got 35 points.
9. b) Tim Duncan. The key was knowing when that list came out, and it was in 1997 -- the 50th anniversary of the league. Duncan was a rookie that year. My initial thought was that Dennis Rodman's name was going to be one of the choices -- he was left off, somewhat controversially -- but Duncan became the right choice after a little bit of a delay, so only 25 points.