Ottawa Trivia League: scores and stats

Ottawa Trivia League: sponsored by the law firm of Burke-Robertson LLP

In the Ottawa Trivia League, the same game is played in every location, with the scores compared against one another. Each week, the top team anywhere in Ottawa gets 10 pts, the next highest gets 9 pts, then 8, and so on. (These are raw scores, without handicaps). Every bar's winner gets at least 1 pt. After 10 weeks, we determine a winner and start again!

We can let you know about pub trivia news, such as cancellations, score changes, new locations and other trivia events around town. when new games come up.

TOP SCORES: Latest Scores (week ending Aug 29)

  1. 41.5 Idiot Savants/Mow, Elephants in the Room/Bank
  2. 41.0 Wirecrats/Wellington, Weiner Takes It All/Pump, I Lost on Jeopardy/Canal
  3. 40.0 Nerd Alert/Canal, BTFark/Canal, Average Schmoes/Glebe
  4. 39.5 Overqualified/Pump, Centretown Clubbers/Pump
  5. 39.0 Atlanticanadians/Wellington
  6. 38.5 That's What She Said/Wellington, Pour Sports/Sandy Hill, Friends of Doug/Loon, Exiles/Loon
  7. 38.0 Terry Hayward Fan Club/Pump, Backbenchers/Pump
  8. 37.5 Prairie Fyre/Wellington, Small People of Confederation/Bank
  9. 37.0 Who Dat Ninja/Woodys, One Third of a Bakers Dozen/Sandy Hill, Snobburn Egos/Bank, Team Car Ramrod/Glebe
  10. 36.5 Pylons/Mow, Banana Stands/Mow, Magnificent Bastards/Mow, Pimps and Hos/Woodys, Floor Crossers/Woodys, Invisible Pink Unicorn/Bank
  11. 00.0 n/a [1 pt minimum for winning the bar]

Sixteenth Season Results: Week Five

  1. 34 Nerd Alert/Canal
  2. 31 Idiot Savants/Mow, Presidents Choice/Bank
  3. 28 Small People of Confederation/Bank
  4. 26 Cheese and Apples/Pump
  5. 25 I Lost on Jeopardy/Canal
  6. 21 Elephants in the Room/Bank
  7. 20 SMRT/Mow
  8. 19 Who Dat Ninja/Woody's, Poor Sports/Sandy Hill, Wirecrats/Woody's
  9. 18 Backbenchers/Pump
  10. 14 Atlanticanadians/Wellington, Griffindorks/Loon
  11. 13 Overqualified/Pump, Dr Penfield I Smell Burnt Toast/Loon
  12. 10 Weiner Takes It All/Pump
  13. 9 Average Schmoes/Glebe, Tenured and Untenured Radicals/Glebe,
  14. 8 BTFark/Canal, Invisible Pink Unicorn/Bank
  15. 7 Snobburn Egos/Loon, Centretown Clubbers/Pump, Gordon Rioters/Pump, John Tesh Experience/Loon, Spoiler Alert/Bank, Manhole Covers/Loon
  16. 6 Simple Minds/Wellington, Streetcars/Mow, [xxx] This Bitch/Pump
  17. 5 Friends of Doug/Loon, That's What She Said/Wellington, Just the Facts/Mow, Optimistic Shark Attack/Bank, Exiles/Loon
  18. 4 Terry Hayward Fan Club/Pump, Nautically Themed Afghan Pashmina/Bank, Trebeks Illegitimate Children/Sandy Hill, Friends of Doug/Loon, Magnificent Bastards/Mow
  19. 3 Prairie Fyre/Wellington, Pear-Tree of Knowledge/Wellington, Fruitcakes and Bicurious/Woody's, So You Think You Can Guess/Sandy Hill, Polymaths/Glebe, Costanza/Loon, Magnificent Bastards/Mow
  20. 2 Pi-lons/Mow, One Third of a Bakers Dozen/Sandy Hill, Undecided/Sandy Hill, Dr Penfield/Loon, Streetcars/Mow, Purple/Glebe, Team Car Ramrod/Glebe
  21. 1 Banana Stands/Mow, Pimps and Hos/Woodys, Floor Crossers/Woodys, Gant Status/Woodys, More Cowbell/Glebe, Most Interesting Trivia Team in the World/Bank

Previous Winners

  1. 2010, Season 15: Nerd Alert (Canal Oak)
  2. 2010, Season 14: Small People of Confederation (Centretown Oak)
  3. 2010, Season 13: Streetcars (Barley Mow)
  4. 2009, Season 12: Small People of Confederation (Centretown Oak)
  5. 2009, Season 11: I Lost On Jeopardy (Canal Oak)
  6. 2009, Season 10: Wirecrats (Wellington Oak)
  7. 2009, Season 9: Wirecrats (Wellington Oak)
  8. 2009, Season 8: I Lost On Jeopardy (Canal Oak)
  9. 2008, Season 7: Magnificent Bastards (Barley Mow)
  10. 2008, Season 6: Wirecrats (Wellington Oak)
  11. 2008, Season 5: I Lost On Jeopardy (Canal Oak)
  12. 2008, Season 4: I Lost On Jeopardy (Canal Oak)
  13. 2008, Season 3: Pan Troglodytes (Centretown Oak)
  14. 2007, Season 2: Wirecrats (Barley Mow)
  15. 2007, Season 1: Magnificent Bastards (Barley Mow)

Best Showings

  1. [xxx] This, Bitch/Bank(S13: #20)
  2. Adam's Mom/Sandy Hill Oak (S09: #12)
  3. Alex Trebek's Illegitimate Children/Sandy Hill (S13: #17)
  4. Almost Competent/Arrow and Loon (S13: #17)
  5. Amazing Superpups/Canal (S11: #22)
  6. Atlanticanadians/Wellington Oak (S12: #17)
  7. Autoerotic Wrecking Club/Wellington (S10: #13)
  8. Average Schmoes/Glebe (S05: #8)
  9. Backbenchers/Woody's (S14: #2)
  10. Banana Stands/Mow (S04: #4)
  11. Bayblab/Canal (S02: #8)
  12. Bonecrusher and the Jets/Sandy Hill (S13: #18)
  13. Brain Cramps/Wellington (S12: #14)
  14. Bushwhackers/Glebe (S12: #9)
  15. CarLoBro/Pump (S14: #17)
  16. Cheese and Apples/Canal (S14: #4)
  17. Closet Sophists (formerly Z-Stacks) (S11: #14)
  18. Coin Stars/Woody's (S12: #15)
  19. Cooler Heads/Woody's (S12: #14)
  20. Costanza/Canal (S06: #4)
  21. Crash Test Dummies/Arrow and Loon (S13: #19)
  22. Dead Parrots/Mow (S02: #9)
  23. Delta Force/Bank (S08: #18)
  24. Dr Penfield I Smell Burnt Toast/Arrow and Loon (S14: #9)
  25. Elephants in the Room/Bank (S09: #7)
  26. Eleven Days Until the Emperor's Parade/Bank (S10: #8)
  27. Exiles/Bank (S05: #2)
  28. Evolution's Dead (ex Sunday Bacon/Centretown Oak (S12: #16)
  29. Fruitcakes & Bicurious/Woody's (S14: #8)
  30. Gant Stacks/Woodys (S15: #18)
  31. Giggitty Giggitties/Canal (S06: #8)
  32. Go Green/Glebe (S08: #15)
  33. Gordon Rioters/Pump (formerly Team IV) (S13: #13)
  34. Griffindorks/Loon (S15: #17)
  35. Heidi's Heroes/Bank (S02: #9)
  36. Here for the Beer/Bank (S06: #12)
  37. Hot Buttered Elves/Mow (S03: #10)
  38. I Lost On Jeopardy/Canal (S05: #1)
  39. Idiot Savants/Mow (S05: #4)
  40. Invisible Pink Unicorn/Bank (S05: #3)
  41. John Goodman Experience/Sandy Hill (S08: #16)
  42. John Tesh Experience (ex Pan Troglodytes)/Bank (S03: #1)
  43. Leon Carls/Bank (S04: #8)
  44. Legen...wait for it...dary/Wellington (S15, #16)
  45. Llewellyn/Sandy Hill Oak (S10: #16)
  46. Lucy and the Rascal Cats/Wellington (S09: #19)
  47. Magnificent Bastards/Mow (S01: #1)
  48. Manhole Covers/Arrow and Loon (S14: #23)
  49. Me and the Idiots/Mow (S10: #18)
  50. Metcalfe Mafia/Woody's (S08: #18)
  51. Midvale School for the Gifted/Wellington Oak (S12: #16)
  52. Mighty Eagle Book Club/Bank (S03: #5)
  53. The Most Interesting Trivia Team in the World/Bank (S15, #13)
  54. Nerd Alert/Canal (S15: #1)
  55. Neighbourhood Nuts/Wellington (S08: #14)
  56. Noobs/Bank (S12: #14)
  57. Nortel Porn Stars (ex Live Poets Society)/Mow (S03: #5)
  58. North Bay Rugby/Bank (S04: #4)
  59. Overqualified/Woody's (S12: #3)
  60. Paranoid Androids/Canal (S13: #7)
  61. Pecan Sandy (ex Real World Ottawa)/Woody's (S11: #14)
  62. Pi-lons/Barley Mow (S12: #12)
  63. Poodles/Canal (S02: #4)
  64. Polyawesome/Sandy Hill (S14: #19)
  65. Pour Sports/Sandy Hill (S12: #8)
  66. Polymaths/Sandy Hill (S13: #19)
  67. Prairie Fyre/Wellington (S14: #20)
  68. President's Choice/Bank (S14: #3)
  69. Purple/Glebe (S06: #11)
  70. Quiz in My Pants/Woody's (S12: #18)
  71. Sackvillians/Sandy Hill (S15: #14)
  72. Sex Panthers/Sandy Hill (S08: #20)
  73. Simple Minds/Wellington (S14: #21)
  74. Small People of Confederation/Bank (S12: #1)
  75. Smokin' Hot Lambos/Mow (S14: #16)
  76. Snappy Synapses/Mow (S03: #9)
  77. Snobburn Egos/Bank (S06: #11)
  78. So Think You Can Guess/Sandy Hill (S11: #7)
  79. SMRT/Mow (S03: #3)
  80. Spoiler Alert (ex Secret Seven)/Centretown (S05: #6)
  81. Streetcars/Mow (S13: #1)
  82. Suck It Trebeks/Centretown Oak (S14: #23)
  83. Supa Team/Bank (S08: #19)
  84. Sweetness/Sandy Hill (S10: #11)
  85. Team Awesome/Glebe (S09: #17)
  86. Team Car Ramrod/Glebe (S08: #15)
  87. Team Discovery Channel/Arrow and Loon (S15: #18)
  88. Team Huge/Wellington (S15: #17)
  89. Team Optimistic Shark Attack/Bank (S05: #8)
  90. Tenured and Untenured Radicals/Glebe (S12: #9)
  91. Titty Breakfast/Woody's (S12: #16)
  92. Turkey's Dream/Arrow & Loon (S12: #14)
  93. Trivids/Barley Mow (S09: #17)
  94. Undecided/Sandy Hill Oak (S13: #11)
  95. Unexplained Pineapple/Canal (S15: #17)
  96. We Love Weiners/Pump (S14: #23)
  97. Who Dat Ninja/Woody's (S12: #6)
  98. Wirecrats/Wellington (S02: #1)
  99. Z Stacks/Canal (S11: #14)

House rules:

  • A "country" or "nation" is any UN member, plus the Vatican, Taiwan and Kosovo.
  • If we ask for a pope or a monarch, we also want either the regnal number (Richard II) or the sobriquet (Richard the Lion-hearted). An answer of just "Richard" is assumed to be Richard I. (Exception: Elizabeth can refer to either one.)
  • We're indifferent to Junior, Senior and so forth. We won't penalize you if you say John Jacob Astor IV when it's John Jacob Astor III.
  • We usually use gender-neutral terms, so "actor" might mean a female actor, unless its the Oscar for "Best (Supporting) Actor."

    • Teams We Miss

    1. Barley Mow: Mooseheads, Bengals, Bagger Vances, Barley Yobs, Special Edz, Groundhogs, James' Posse, Unsocialbles, T42, Jora, Salty Dogs, Dandelions, Repeates, Ladies in Waiting, Order of Evil Monkeys, Paul Paquet Fan Club, Hot Buttered Elves, Trivids
    2. Centretown Oak: Venon and Spice to the Maxx, Otherwise It Would Just Be Dodgeball, Eleven Days Until the Emperor's Parade, Leon Carls, North Bay Rugby

    Special guests: In the Photo Gallery, we have some shots of the Mow, including images of the nights that Ed Broadbent and Global News came over, as well as shots of me and some of the teams. Don Newman also shows up from time to time.

    First game: The very game at the Barley Mow was on September 7, 1998, although there were two games before that in the Kanata location. We've done it at other bars since, but nobody else has had the patience (or the business savvy) to keep it running and make it a success, save for the Royal Oak, which began in September 2006, and then Woody's and the Arrow & Loon, which followed in January 2009. The Pump started January 2010, as did the Saturday game at the Loon.

    Highest score: This depends on how you look at it.

    • The Unsocialbles are the only team to ever register a perfect score, doing so in 2000 when the maximum possible score was 35.
    • In 2002, we started a 50-pt game. The highest ever score was registered by Fran Mahovlich (sic) who got 49, missing only the number question.
    • In 2007, we started league play and a 55-pt game: the record so far is 52 by 11 Days Until the Emperor's Parade at the Centretown Oak. Other teams scoring at least 51 are I Lost on Jeopardy, Magnificent Bastards, SMRT and the Wirecrats.
    • Since we started the 55 pt game, the highest number of points "per capita" is 44, a record shared by Isaac, playing on his own as Team VI at the Arrow and Loon. He also had the highest score in the league that week.

    Biggest handicap: The Wirecrats hold this record, at -15, set at the Wellington Oak, beating the record they had set at the Mow.