Off-campus, On-campus Teams Successfully Defend Trivia Titles in Contest’s 41st Edition

The Holy Brogan Empire captured its sixth straight Lawrence University Great Midwest
Trivia Contest off-campus title over the weekend in the 41st edition of the annual salute to the insignificant. It was the team’s eighth title in the past 10 years.

The Empire racked up 1,120 points out of a possible 1,800 in the 50-hour, 324-question trivia marathon that ended Sunday night at midnight. The team received a broom that was set on fire as a first-place prize. What’s the Frequency, Lawrence? finished second with 1,015 points, while Radio-Free Iowans finished third for the second straight year with 967 points.

Bucky’s successfully defended their on-campus team title with 1,127 points, while Coalition of the Awexome finished second with 1,021 points, edging I Hate Patrick Ehlers and His Big Dumb Face, which placed third with 987 points. Bucky’s was awarded a painting of a clown that had been spray painted in orange graffiti.

A total of 62 off-campus teams and 11 on-campus teams participated in this year’s contest, which was conducted with an all Internet webcast format rather than an over-the-air broadcast for the first time in its history.

No team was able to answer the contest’s final “Super Garruda” question: Spike O’Dell, the WGN radio personality, has a cup museum in Door County, Wis., that features cups signed by celebrities that have been on Spike’s show. What did comedian Tracey Ullman write on her cup?

While no one came up with the correct response (“To Spike, I don’t have herpes — love Tracey Ullman”), one team drew the wrath of O’Dell by tracking him down on the phone to ask him.