History Men lost to Albert
The History Men revival continues
Ivor
reports on the triumph of an Anne-less team
Our run of league victories now extends to six - which nicely balances our run of six league defeats at the start of the season. Tonight it was the turn of the Albert, who were the last team to defeat us, to be put to the sword. Anne was missing tonight; off to Ibiza for a well-earned rest and winter sun (it could be said it was a well-earned rest for her team-mates too but who would be as ungracious or foolhardy as to suggest that…). So we had a slight change to our team with: the return of Steve, undeterred by our previous poor performances, Vanessa's promotion to her aunt’s usual seat 3 and me back in seat 4 anticipating what might be a 40th head-to-head with Evelyn.
Quite a few of our games against Albert over the years have been last question pair shoot-outs though tonight was not one of them. Playing second we raced ahead in a low-scoring first half to a 20-10 lead. Albert did start to pull back winning Round 6 8-3 but then lost Round 7 0-5. The margin of victory was largely due to a superior 'steal' rate (3-8) as the unanswereds broke 5-4 and Albert actually had the greater number of twos (8-6).
"You're the Tops"
(R2/Q4)
Mike O’B was in attendance to observe his team’s performance and, sadly, the Paddle of Rebuke was in use. Mike gives the impression of an old-school headmaster thrashing an errant pupil, but only for their benefit, and with great sorrow. Roddy was our QM and thus in the firing line for any opprobium should either team find fault with the paper. I am happy to report that both winners and losers enjoyed their evening. Roddy maintained order with a light hand, and for reasons that can be guessed the overall merriment score was 'convivial' rather than 'feisty' or 'raucous'.
None of us has been to Manchester Museum since it re-opened and I am not sure if I ever knew there was a vivarium on the third floor. I am sure our community charge is being put to good use. When my daughters were young their favourite section was the Egyptian room. After one day at the museum my six-year old proudly announced to her horrified grandmother that it had been a good visit and “you can even see the mummy’s willy”.
Mike
has to rethink his team motivation policies
Well I never. I missed last week's encounter which was fairly disastrous. To make up for this the team invited me along last night to show how much they thought of me, and as a mark of respect, prove they could do much better. Now we can all see how that ended! I may forgive them by next week or perhaps not.
£15,000 for some chewy biscuits!
(R5/Q5)
Electric Pigs lost to Opsimaths
The Opsis win a close encounter to keep in the chasing pack at the top
Mike
comments from the QM's chair
A close match fought out in the traditional 'front room on the left' where quiz contests have been resolved over many decades in the Fletcher Moss (and before that the Albert) pub.
There was some racket, but probably as much was to be blamed on elderly ears for the need to repeat pretty well every question as the other patrons went about their rowdy way. The convoluted nature of some of the question text didn't help either. As QM I found it possible to omit much of the text without leaving out any pertinent information when I was asked to repeat the questions.
The line ups of Guy, Tom, Andrew and Dave (a 'Pigs Classic' ensemble in my book) and Emma, Brian, Charlotte and Nick for the Opsis made for an entertaining and hard-fought competition. It could have gone either way until the Opsis eased ahead towards the end of Round 7. The most animated moment of the evening came in Round 6 when I told Charlotte she was wrong when she gave the answer of "Ribo" to the question asking what the 'R' stood for in 'RNA'. After a fairly heated debate we all agreed that the answer given of "Ribonucleic" was what the 'R' and the 'N' together stood for. We agreed to take a spare and thankfully Charlotte potted "Oleic" for a two. Careless setting Ethel!
The other lapse in the paper was in Round 1 when the question asked for the State south of Detroit when the answer was definitely a Province and not a State. A trick question that tricked both of our teams. Nick was seriously toying with giving 'Ontario' as the answer but was dissuaded by the word 'State' in the question.
The lengthy questioning process made for a late finish (11pm before the Spares had been dealt with) but as ever it was an enjoyable evening with old friends. And for afters Andrew gracefully fielded a number of council-related questions in an impromptu surgery session.
Julianne's greenhouse fall
(R1/Q8)
Kieran
lauds Liam, the returning star 
Damian
bemoans another drubbing
