STRICTLY QUIZZING AND THE FIRST DANCE
The 261st Quizzer’s entry popped into my inbox at 2.14 p.m. precisely, one minute before kick off in Rome and so set an unbreakable record for cutting it fine.261 you say; down from 267 in 2020 despite heroic efforts from such ace recruiters as Chris Matthews and Brian Daley!
No disappointment in Quiz HQ but a little sadness at our new world. The fall(and more)is due to the disappearance of two big workforce leagues. With so much home working, so few chances for coffee break banter, quizzing must be the last thing on the agenda as we juggle Zoom calls, Amazon and Waitrose deliveries(no Iceland for us quizzers surely) and home schooling.
No disappointment, rather tearful gratitude for the generosity of you 261 quizzers. Macmillan have already received £700 and the final donation will certainly be
more than £1800.
My eyes popped, I checked the figures several times, I felt faint. Our finance department will let me know the final total once I get my paper March bank statement via snail mail.
(Be fair about our arcane methods, most Quiz HQ numbers are calculated on an abacus.)
You should all have received a thank you note. If not heads will roll for, like Boris, the buck never stops here.
Your prizes
GOLD £235
SILVER £120
BRONZE £78
OLYMPICS £40
(If cancelled, some other sneaky method of rewarding the 4th best pundit)
Perhaps you are competing in family rivalry with the reward of teasing your twin sister(yes, I’m talking about you ,Mrs Shaw and Mrs Whitfield.)You can set up your own mini league, courtesy of Webmaster Henry, at www.snedsquiz.net . I have for example set up a league called The Debutants’ Ball for all the first timers or quizzers returning after a break.The Casterbridge Crew is for the Dorset quizzers with the Mayor of Bridport among them.If you are feeling really sad,you could set up a one man league and be certain of victory.(No,don’t) If I can do it, surely you computer savants can. Might be an idea if you had a league in 2020 to give it a different name.
PREDICTION ONE
Some quizzers agonize over the 45 predictions, study Quiz Tips, find obscure websites on the world’s top women steeplechasers. The majority I suspect groan DO I HAVE TO? and write down random numbers from 1 to 10 and SPAIN when a word is required. Whatever your style, there is always a deluded moment when we study the completed form and say “I might just have all 45 spot on.”There was only one quizzer whose delusions survived the first hurdle.
HILARY MORGAN was alone in foreseeing the dire English performance which barely hinted at one try, let alone the avalanche most predicted. Hilary was born in Scotland but to English parents and now lives in Liverpool, a proud Scot still with surely the right pedigree for a balanced view. Nigel Anderton looked at England and wondered if Mourinho had taken over coaching. Thank goodness the pubs were shut-so much public grief and anger spared; we could cry alone.
Fred Huish suggests a rules amendment-any quizzer who scores a solo success like Hilary should get bonus points. Maybe but it’s harder to get a decision through Quiz HQ than the US Senate.
PREDICTION TWO
Hilary’s brother Neil has decamped to Texas to work as Quiz HQ’s American correspondent.(There may be some other reason which I have forgotten)Here is his view of the Super Bowl which disappointed those 167 quizzers who said” Dunno. I’ll put the same as last year.”
“Super Bowl LV saw two of the sport’s most familiar faces matching up for the famous Lombardi Trophy. Patrick Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs into back-to-back Super Bowls. Evergreen Tom Brady pulled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers up to his level and through a remarkable post-season to contest the show-piece in their own stadium, the first time that has happened.
After the tradition of America the Beautiful and the Star-Spangled Banner and the coin toss the Chiefs kicked us off. The first three possessions all resulted in punts before the Chiefs worked themselves down the field with 3 first downs and got the scoreboard moving with a 49-yard field goal to make it 0-3. On the next possession the tried and tested former New England duo of Brady and Rob Gronkowski bore fruit once again, resulting in their 13th postseason touchdown; the most quarterback – receiver duo of all-time. More surprisingly it was Brady’s first touchdown drive in a Super Bowl 1st quarter in his tenth appearance.
The first quarter ended 7-3 to the Bucs. They extended their advantage through the 2nd quarter. Although the Chiefs defensive put up a great stop on their own 1-yard line they could only punt on their next possession, Mahomes struggling with only 2 of 11 completions at this point; not the Mahomes that we are used to seeing. Brady and Gronkowski connected again on the Bucs next drive but only after the Chiefs shot themselves in the foot conceding a 5-yard penalty,giving the Bucs a fresh set of downs. Instead of a 10-3 game, the Bucs lead 14-3.The Chiefs managed to reduce this to 14-6 with a 34-yard field goal on their next possession, collecting four first downs on the way. That momentum was short lived however. Again, the Chiefs were twice the architects of their own downfall. First they were penalized for pass interference on Bucs wide receiver..Then more critically a second call of pass interference, this time in the end zone to put the ball on the 1-yard line with 10 seconds to play. Brady connected this time with Antonio Brown, albeit while Brown was running the wrong route for the play call. When it’s your night it’s your night!! At half-time the Bucs lead 21-6 with Brady well on his way to being named the game’s MVP.
At the start of the regular season the wisdom of Brady’s choice to swap the repeated unrelenting success he had achieved with Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; a team who had finished bottom of the NFC South more times than not since its inception in 2002.
Half-time brought us a respite from the Bucs’ march towards their first Super Bowl since 2002 with a performance by The Weeknd; in the build-up to the Super Bowl Blinding Lights had featured heavily across the Pepsi adverts, a song I did recognize. In a pleasant turn-up my wife and I were surprised by the amount of his other songs we knew (kind of).
Spoiler -we did turn to each other at the start of every song to say, “Did you know he sang this?”
The 3rd quarter started positively for the Chiefs making their longest offensive of the night, a rush of 26 yards. Again they could not get close to end zone and had to settle for a 52 yard field goal to make it 21-9. On the Bucs next possession, they turned the screw further, Fournette bulldozing in for a touchdown and with the extra point converted it became a 3-score game at 28-9.
The Chiefs needed a spark, but unlike last year’s Super Bowl, it never happened..Mahomes followed the Bucs touchdown possession with an interception giving Brady a short field to pile on the misery. The Bucs settled for a 52 yard field goal after a high snap had Brady scrambling to recover the football. That made the score 31-9 and after the Chiefs turned it over on downs to the Bucs on their next possession it was game over. To be fair it had been over as a contest for a while but there was always the hope that the Chiefs could mount a comeback as they had done repeatedly in the post season last year. The final indignity was when Mahomes was picked off again, this time in the endzone, allowing Brady to take a knee for victory on home soil.
The win for the Bucs handed Brady his 7th Super Bowl victory, putting him beyond the most successful franchises in Super Bowl history. On the flipside the defeat for the Chiefs handed Mahomes his first double digit loss since his time as a Red Raider at Texas Tech in 2016; no doubt he’ll be back (the Chiefs have $500 million invested to make it so).There’s a very good chance he may have to wait a few more years to get his 2nd ring if Brady continues to flourish during what was thought to be his Florida retirement. “
Leave a Reply