The Results

Charabancs of Fire fought a tense match at the SoM just keeping their noses in front against TMTCH - Damian writes:

"A game of fits and starts with the Hangmen getting into their stride by Round 6, reducing a deficit of 11 points to 5 by the end of Round 7. It was all to play for in the last two Rounds making for a really exciting finish."

...whilst TMTCH Dave chips in:

"Our greatest ever defeat - so to speak. To be in sniffing distance of the runners up elect halfway through the final round was a massive tonic to TMTCH.  If only the world famous Keswick pencil museum hadn't mysteriously relocated from Southey Works, Main Street to Kendal ..... if only I'd gone with my initial reaction of Ukraine for two instead of settling on Georgia for nothing.... if only SPW had used lyrics by The Stranglers or Hazel O'Connor instead of Poxy Music ... if only ... if only ...if only.  For those curious to know, but too polite or frightened to ask, it was a mixture of naked fear and acute embarrassment with just a hint of unalloyed ambition.

Albert continued their recent good form, winning at home against Snoopy's Friends

Getaways slumped to a heavy home defeat against Ethel Rodin

Opsimaths fought the closest, and the highest scoring, battle of the evening just falling at the last against the ever-improving History Men

X-Pats lost the game but picked up plenty of plaudits from their victorious opponents, Electric Pigs - Andrew wrote of "a most enjoyable evening with excellent cheap beer and good company"

Question Paper - The Verdict

This week the questions were set by SPW.

Since I was away on Wednesday evening I haven't got first hand experience of how the paper played.  The aggregate score (64.4) was well down on SPW's generous first paper of the season back in November (74.0).  However the comments were pretty positive - apart from some grumbles about the mysterious relocation of Keswick's Pencil Museum to Kendal.

Ivor writes in:

"A game that swung from side to side like an orang utan's breasts and was finally decided on the last 2 questions. Plenty to interest (how dull would a day in Southport have to be to make you go to a lawnmower museum?), to cause panic attacks (memories of 4th year maths), to induce blurts (worst one: 'Turin is capital of Picardie') and a bit of controversy (how many towns in the North West have a pencil museum?).  Who would have thought that the Jeux Sans Frontières trophy would ever see the light of day again in glorious colour?  And, finally, we're glad to report that Anne's youth was not wasted by knowing early Roxy Music lyrics."

From the SoM Damian comments:

"I noted only 3 unanswered questions which is usually a  sure indication that there was something for everybody.

As a keen historian, however, I do have a moan concerning the question about what politically united the years 1832,1867 and 1884.  My answer was that in each of these years, the right to vote was extended.  But this was rejected because the answer given was that they were each years in which Reform Acts were passed.  True, but the reforms were to suffrage!  I quote from a website (www.victorianweb.org/history/hist2.htm):

'The three Reform Acts, of 1832, 1867, and 1884, all extended voting rights to previously disfranchised citizens'

'Question of the Week'

This week the nomination comes from TMTCH and goes to Round 5 Question 1:

Which film was advertised with the tagline 'A tale of lust, greed, revenge and seafood'?

For the answer to this and all the week's questions click here.

Chatterbox

As you will see on the Fixtures page I have added the fixtures for this season's Cup and Plate competitions.  With Gary's agreement I have stuck to last year's formula i.e. 'short and sweet' with plenty of bias towards the lower-placed league teams.

I will ask one of the bottom 5 teams to set the paper for the first week of the Cup (April 8th).  As to the setters for the Finals (April 29th) you will see the mysterious name "Knocked Out United" (I wish).  You may have noticed that Gerry C has put forward a rather ingenious idea on the message board.  He proposes that all 11 teams prepare and submit one round (any format - bingo, themed, paired, pictures, etc) and one pair for this Final paper.  An editor from one of the non-finalist teams would be appointed the week before to collect these questions from the 7 knocked out teams.  The Final paper would thus consist of a round from each of these teams (published anonymously) plus a Round 8 consisting of 4 pairs chosen from the 7 pairs submitted by these same knocked out teams.  On the evening of the Finals the competing teams would vote for the best round (of Rounds 1 to 7) and we would present a prize to the team that set the most popular round on Presentation evening.

Seems a good idea so let's do it!!  I suggest team captains discuss this with their troops over the next 2/3 weeks and get the requisite 'Round & a Pair' on file ready to submit.

The date for the WIST Final, and therefore for the Presentation evening a week later, has yet to be agreed with the powers that be in Stockport, but could well be May 6th and 13th respectively.  I'll let you know as soon as we've sorted them out.

Megson's Pulpit

Again this week I give you a blast from the past Megson files.  This item was published on the website on February 8th 2003 the week after a somewhat contentious History Men v Brains of Oak encounter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Chara,

To give notice of our appeal against defeat by The History Men on 29/01/03 on the following beach-like grounds:

1. An overweight brain was fielded by Ivor. This is a bantam-brained league and middle-heavyweight brains simply cannot be tolerated.

2. They infringed the foreign player limitation rule by fielding 3 Sassenachs.  This rule must be enforced rigidly or before you know it hordes of highly-opinionated Czech ladies already massing on our easternmost borders (according to my satellite) will muscle their way in drinking our hard-earned beer and taking all the plum QM jobs which are our children's heritage (if we are sober enough to have any of course).

3. The barman was biased.  He supplied the home team with mind-enhancing drugs but the stuff he sold us made us lapse into a mental torpor of half-remembrance and self-recrimination (the butterflies were pretty, though).  Now I know how poor Mr Bosnich feels all of the time.

4. One of their players (male) threw a lascivious glance in the direction of Roisin's left ankle which was undergoing treatment for cramp at the time (West Mercian Police file attached).  If this had gone off in an over-priced pub at a time when firemen's hoses were lying intermittently flaccid due to industrial inaction we could all have been engulfed in a toxic conflagration of testosterone and I just hate it when that happens.

5. There were leaves on our table.

See you at the Tribunal with The Chief Electric Pig presiding.

Disgruntled of Ballyboke