A Brief History of the Iowa Trivia Team

1986: Flaming Gobs of Vomit Death

Score: Maybe 45 or so
Place: get serious

Truly, no idea what we were doing.  Nick brought along a Trivial Pursuit game thinking it might help.  More drinking and dart playing than actual answering of questions.  It was always a comfy 45 degrees in Kev's apartment.  Had one phone, and it was a rotary dialer, at that.

By the way, we introduced that name to the contest, although other teams have since used it for a jam name.  It was originally the name of a punk band in Austin, TX.

1987: Manifestations of Spineless Indecision

Score: 85
Place: somewhere in the top 300

The name comes from the rules of  the Couch Potatoe (Who let Dan Quayle in here??) Game...?  Still had one phone line, but at least it was a tone dialer.

1988: Another Iowan Discovers Sex

Points: Records were destroyed in the Great Peshtigo Fire.  We're guessing around 400-500.

An influx of new players, many of whom have no connection whatsoever to Drake University. Chris, Judy and Brad were added through Chris and Brad's association with Nick at Northrop.
First appearance of the word Iowa in a team name.  We apologize for the acronym.  Borrowed a second phone.

1989: Leisure Suit Iowans in the Land of the Lava Lamp

Points: 650
Place: 11

Chants of "Lava lava lava" were used to break slumps.  Also the last year in Kevin's apartment.  Jim Sievert brought a dog.  We haven't invited him back. First year to have two phone lines, and a third line was a cordless.  Would have worked better if we would of had a charger. More people added that were associated with Nick at Northrop. Never EVER drink Jim Beam while sleep deprived.

1990: Dyslexic Agnostic Iowans Who Wonder if there Really Is a Dog

Points: 670
Place: 9

Top ten!  Had to look at the board every time to remember the team name.  Moved to the new Brimmer domicile. Best memory is of a semi-frozen soda volcanoeing all over the new carpet.

1991: Dammit Jim, I'm a Doctor, Not an Iowan

Points: 780
Place: 6

OK, so we couldn't think of any good team names.  Oley gets the credit for this one.

1992: Iowans Holding their own Caucuses

Points: 550
Place: 8

... but we did better the next year. If memory serves, Scott and Chris played Castle Wolfenstein most of the weekend. First year in the newly renovated "Brimmer Basement". The temperature of the basement invoked memories of Brim's old apartment.

1993: Iowans Often Watch Actuaries Needlessly Suffer

Points: 585
Place: 14

We got more acronymble, too. The year that prevented a '90's top ten decade. We spent part of the post-contest decompress agreeing that if next year turned out to be as bad as this one, we would just fold the team.

1994: Like Water for Iowans

Points: 690
Place: 7

Bad name. The movie was popular and the Mississippi had flooded turning Iowa into a sixth Great Lake. Chris apologizes for suggesting the name. We improved, as did the contest, so we remained a team.

1995: Mighty Morphin' Power Iowans

Points: 785
Place: 8

Trivia masters liked our name.  Dedicated a playing of 'Mighty Morphine Power Rangers' to us. Nick gets credit on this one.

1996: Grumpy Old Iowans

Points: 760
Place: 5

We really can't remember anything from this year. It's all just a blur. Actually, maybe it was snow blindness. A blizzard of epic proportions stranded three people in Marshfield, WI on Friday night. The trip from Chicago took several members 6 1/2 hours. The trip back to Chicago was almost as bad, with Wisconsin State Troopers marking the larger drifts and US 41 being closed down shortly after team members made it through.

1997: Iowabonics

Points: 855
Place: 4

Started out as Tickle Me Iowans, but somebody else was getting tickled so we switched. Another snowstorm year with two members getting, ahem, "jerked around" by Northwest Airlines' regional carrier. Everyone arrived by midnight or so.

1998: Ski Iowa - Guaranteed Tree-Free

Points: 915
Place: 2

Smallest team and best finish.  Prize was a Sesame Street Singalong cassette.  Moved to the compound at 1 Brimmer Way.

1999: Iowa Sofa Kingdom

Points: 835
Place: 3

Not our highest point total, but a trip to the radio station Sunday night makes up for it. Prize was a Vanilla Ice comicbook and a New Kids on the Block comicbook.

2000: Extra Phone Line $90, Additional Beer $80, Being an Iowan… Priceless

Points: 1065
Place: 3

First time in quadruple digits. Consistency is becoming our hallmark with our third prize ceremony trip in a row. Prize was a book of "Italian Pornography" that is left in Italian hotel rooms.
 

2001: Temptation Iowans - Sponsored by Sprint PCS

Points: 1120
Place: 6

Highest point total yet. Dropped a few places in the standings but we finished closer to first than ever before. Also, we were the "Featured Team" on the local Fox affiliate. The closeup of a steaming chili-cheese dog was priceless. Interesting to note that we were 2 minutes away from answering the Super Garuda and taking 2nd (Thanks John Rickert). Our hallmark this year was the number of times we called just after the beep and were allowed to give an answer. First year with a cable modem and a local area network. Added a sponsor that gives us more phones to use.

2002: Lord of the Iowans: Fellowship of the Corn - Sponsored by Sprint PCS

Points: 1165
Place: 3

New highest point total yet. Our fourth trip to the station in five years. We were interviewed by the Chicago Tribune and one of the new players appeared on Green Bay television. The Chicago Trib pictures included a chili-cheese dog shot. This year's incarnation had 20 people (max, about 10 that were there the entire weekend) and 2 computers on the internet. The Whitewater bunch played "Harry Pothead and the Whitewater Crew Stoned" until they hit 420 points. Hmm, 4:20?? Prize was an AOL CD signed by the trivia masters...I think.

2003: Lord of the Iowans: The Two Silos - Sponsored by Sprint PCS

Points: 1250
Place: 4

New highest point total yet, but no trip to the awards ceremony. A large article in the Post-Cresent featured Kev and the Leg Lamp; they misquoted Kev, claiming we won in 1998. We had 15 people through most of the weekend and added a wireless network (6 computers on the net). An SQL worm hit during the weekend, slagging many websites across the country and making the internet a wasteland of dead links.

2004: Lord of the Iowans: The Return of the Pig - Sponsored by Sprint PCS

Points: 1215
Place: 5

One of the tightest races in memory. The Bank of Kaukauna - 1335, Skull Squadron - 1265, Lucky Guess - 1250, Six Feet Under - 1230, Lord of the Iowans - 1215, Apocalyspe Cow - 1145. Finally, we are rid of the "Lord of the Iowans" name even though it served us well the first two years of the trilogy. Who knows what we will be next year...something with "Iowa" in it :-)

2005: Iowans Only Whack As Needed, Sir! - Sponsored by Sprint PCS

Points: 1062
Place: 3

YAY! Another trip to the awards ceremony. Trivia was 40 years old this year, while we Iowans were participating in our 20th contest. We pulled in a plastic Mardi Gras mask and balloons for our efforts. We were left wondering what happened to Lucky Guess. Normally near the top, this year they dropped to 7th. Bank won again by 105 points over Skull Squadron. We were 70 points behind Skull. Everyone received a 20th trivia anniversary copy of Pink Flamingos. In the most shocking of all trivia happenings over the weekend...BRADLEY SLEPT?!?!

2006: Radio-Free Iowans - Sponsored by Sprint PCS

Points: 967
Place: 3

Does anyone remember anything about this year? My mind is, as it often is when a question is read on the air, blank. The prize was a box of cereal...Roundy's Tasteeos.

2007: Bored Ass: Cultural Learnings of Trivia for Make Benefit the Glorious Nation of Iowa

Points: 1185
Place: 4

Ok, we were a bit bummed about missing a trip to the station by 5 points. Especially since "someone" gave up 5 points offered by a Trivia Master due to a phone answerer being intentionally misleading. I swear, I will never again give up points when they are offered. Ever. We should have been Letters From Iowa Jima, but the host gets power of attorney over the name ;-)

2008: Subprime Iowans with a Wider Stance

Points: 1190
Place: 3

Karmic irony wins out. Last year, if we (by "we" I mean "I") had not given up those 5 points over the intentionally misleading phone answerer, we would have been tied for 3rd with 1190 points. Our total and place this year? A profound case of Karmic Irony. Little did we know in January that come October, the economy would melt down due to the subprime lending crisis. Makes us look kinda prophetic eh? Communication was greatly enhanced by making the big-screen TV a monitor for the laptop with the questions on it. Now instead of pestering Bradley fifteen million times a weekend for "What was the question?" or "How do you spell that?" we simply needed to glance at the TV. The prize was a map of the United States divided into regions with culturally insensitive labels.

2009: I Kissed an Iowan and I Liked it!

Points: 1290
Place: 4th

Answered a mini garuda and were still out of 3rd place by 125 points. The 5th-place team was 135 points behind us, so we were in a large point "island" without any other teams to provide us company. Again, the year seems to be a blur. I remember foosball and pool challenges after the end...with beer involved...