“Most people miss the point when discussing the value of memorizing trivia. The trained ability to store and
later retrieve isolated bits of information largely devoid of interest is worth far more than the memory
content itself.”

- John Anglin

I believe this trivia contest should be called, “The year of Raygor.” Not because this was the first year he
ever showed up, nor to patronize him for being half Mexican, but because it was the year that Raygor outted
himself to a possibly national television audience. Indeed the story of faking the big one with Rainy has
become a timeless classic, and I often look forward to hearing in retold, to pick out the little idiosyncrasies
of the story, and naturally to find that new detail that he always works its way in for dramatic flair. He
knows full well, since it has also been a point of discussion, that no female audience of his during this “love
story” will ever be able to contemplate a sexual relationship with him. So when the trivia documentary camera
crew showed up, he noticed that bored look upon their faces, and decided to spice things up, regardless of the
cost to himself. People laughed, people cried, and for a moment I don’t think anyone realized we were even
playing trivia. Good deal belly laughs like that are few and far between these days. To be honest, I was
concerned when this crew showed up that the night would be uneventful and boring, but perhaps Raygor read that
Russell Hammond look in my eye, “Just make us look cool.” Certainly he followed through with that, but I think
everyone did a good job of making us ‘look cool’. However, for his devotion to the trivia cause and his
martyrdom on the sexual front, Raygor truly is an American hero.

We first caught up with the trivia film crew back on the parade route. We had put in some long hours on the
float this year. It is true that when Dan came to me and proposed we construct a Viking sailing ship, I was
skeptical and thought it would be just as easy to construct a working model of an attack helicopter. Dan
pushed his idea on through, and it turned out quite nice. We might have had the most fun with the float when
we decided to chop off the top of the omni. I thought Wayne was looking at a bridge or a concrete grading plan
from the size of wood he popped sawzalling the top off of that car. The sides were constructed of cheapo
paneling and a new elevated floor was installed, with only a small section cut out where the driver could fit
down into his seat. Perhaps one of its most striking features, the Viking sail, was made by Dan and his sister
from a bed sheet. Everyone pitched in painting it up, slapping on a nice wood brown coat of paint, and then
spray painting black spots to give the appearance of aged wood. Although a cut out of a mermaid was in the
plans for the front, a lack of artistic talent and time forced us to go with the wood curly Q thing on front
and back. The icing on the cake was the girls, in their usual trivia parade splendor, donning capes and Viking
hats. I think even Iverson wanted to get in on the float this year, although his responsibilities at StudsNOC
prevented it. Meaple and Alec rigged us up some float tunes, and then we were off to the parade grounds, late
as usual.

We must be getting better at quickly throwing together our float, because it seemed we were actually ready to
go and waiting for the parade to start, a weird emotion I had never experienced before. Alec did his best to
emotionally topple over other teams players (j mo), and then like Tany’s prom dress, we were off. Although we
did not have contact lens cases or razor sharp corner spiked free cds to throw this year, the parade watchers
were surely captivated by our spectacular display careening before them. That was all until the clutch died.
Yes, our parade float stopped working right by the fire station. Even an attempt to push the float to the
finish line was fruitless when we realized one of the wheels had actually locked up, making it very difficult
to move.

It didn’t take long for the trivia film crew to catch up with us. They filmed us leaving the parade parking
lot at that beginning and then wondered why we did not appear at the end. “Your float was our favorite,” one
of them pronounced. Be that as it may, that wasn’t going to help us finish the parade and collect our well
deserved Portessi Pizzas. After getting some good trivia float team disappointment footage, they asked us a
few questions, got our team address, and vowed to stop by for some 3am brats.

An often forgot about portion of trivia, well by me at least, happens back at trivia HQ during the parade.
Jeremy and his bro, along with whoever else is there to help are busily setting up the infrastructure at
StudsNOC (Studs Network Operations Center). This year Ivy invested $150, with meaple’s help, into new banquet
tables to set up in the trivia room. These 8 foot gems were well worth the money, and makes playing on foot
stools and broken card tables barbaric. These tables will be there to play on for years to come. Also, we
cannot go without mentioning Ivy’s trivia database. It revolutionized the way trivia was played. The question
was typed in on a certain computer, then it was instantly displayed on everyone else’s computer screen in the
room. There was no shouting for clarification of the question and it also made the recording of questions and
answers, as well as scoring, simple. I hope to continue using, and even improve this system to a v3.0.

We had a number of visitors this year. Tyler kept us entertained for hours with his infamous school bus
driving antics. Holz stopped by for ten minutes to show off her Harley drivin’ boytoy and their matching
Harley apparel. Wayne and Raygor showed up late Friday evening

Flogemo and I tackled the running questions on Saturday and Sunday mornings. You can’t beat the big mob of
smelly nerds rushing towards the two people handing out papers. As if there isn’t enough time! The trivia
stone went all right this year too, naturally we missed a couple clues, but that all can be solved by driving
around recklessly until you spot a long chain of cars :). I wish to especially thank those people who are
specifically devoted to these parts of the contest. They often can go overlooked, but we’ve found out in the
past how important these points are to our score in the end.

The 3am brats were a hit as usual, and the rest of the cuisine wasn’t that bad. I’m not sure if we’ll do subs
again next year, as there usually is enough food laying around the house to tide most people over, and it just
seemed to be added cost. I’d like to know if you’d have any input on these matters, so feel free to email me.

Speaking of cost though, most of us are big boys and girls, and money probably isn’t as tight as it was in
those college days. So please, give if you can. We all made donations to the cause and none of it is
squandered. It goes to needy and important causes like the float, work surfaces, good food, and of course half
clothing the girls. It is pretty impressive actually what you can do when you throw a couple hundred dollars
at a float, or walmart for T shirts. Those team T shirts were made again last year by Alec and Dan, at a $70
deficit on their part.

Sunday morning over tired highs and those Saturday afternoon long lulls, combined with the last 6 power hours,
make trivia one of the most exciting times of year for many of us. So here’s to you, Studs and Studettes, for
another trivia well done!

Trivia 2004 Team Awards

Exit 108B Award for having traveled from farthest away to come to trivia

Dan Smith coming from Las Vegas, NV

My Spanish Teacher is a Stripper Award for “half cracking” the most cans of soda

Raygor “Bones” Raygor the only real ‘half-cracker.’

New Mom and New Dad Award for those showing most likeliness to have a child

Not given this year.

Libby Hacker Hoeller Award for having hacked and being banned on StudsNet

Buddha for being the least discrete hacker I know.

Norwigan Studs Most Valued Player

Jeremy Iverson for his work developing the studs Q & A database.

and the coveted ERIMMA (Eric Richar Iverson Memorial Mono Award) given to the player who is most devoted to
sleeping all trivia instead of actually playing

Eric Iverson may he rest in peace.

Thank you all for indulging me in reading these 1500 words, and I will see you all at Trivia 2005! Remember,
each single female you bring doubles your odds at MVP!

See you soon.

Ben Adams :)