Fraters Libertas

Score A Couple of Points Tonight

From the land that brought you Jeffery Dahmer and Ed Gein, comes something a little less freaky:

This year's trivia contest features the theme "Trivia 36: Keep on Trivia" in a tribute to Robert Crumb, a cartoonist famous for the comic book Zap Comix that introduced popular icons such as Mr. Natural, Fritz the Cat and Mr. Snoid.

Nearly 500 teams with about 12,000 players, some traveling from across the nation to Stevens Point, a central Wisconsin city of 24,400 people, are expected to compete.

The contest involves eight questions read every hour on WWSP, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point radio station. Contestants search books, the Internet, movies and other sources for answers to obscure questions.

This year's event will even feature the appearance of a very special guest:

A millionaire game show whiz joins thousands of competitors this weekend at the 36th annual self-proclaimed world's largest trivia contest.

Ken Jennings, who won nearly $2.5 million during a 74-game winning streak playing "Jeopardy," will visit the contest 30 miles south of here in Stevens Point to witness the competition in his research for a new book about trivia.

Book about trivia? Do tell.

His book, due for publication in 2006, will explore the history of trivia, the various kinds of trivia and the cultures of the people who play it, he said.

"I am real interested by a lot of what I have read about this contest, because it does seem to be an unusually tight knit-community that loves the social side of what they do just as much as answering the questions. So I am very interested to see these sort of unusual players at work in their native environment," he said.

Ken baby, we need to talk. Your people, my people--that whole thing. You want to see some unusual players at work in their native environment? Keegan's on a Thursday night my man.

Just not this Thursday though. While Keegan's is a great place for trivia, fine food, and quality brews, a sports bar it ain't. With the Gophers and Sioux facing off in the Frozen Four tonight at 6pm, we will be forced to find a venue more suitable for hockey viewing.