21st Feb Cup Semi Final

 

The blog this week is filled with deep sorrow and a terrible sense of loss – Lemmings team member Matt Rogers passed away suddenly last Friday. His comments on this blog made it a much more interesting read and his analysis of the week’s questions and scores showed great insight.

Matt previously played for the Robin Hood in Rainow and when the Lemmings were desperately looking for a replacement at the beginning of the season they decided to approach the Robin Hood as they had strength in depth. Nick mentioned this to Matt and with the agreement of his team mates he became a Lemming - pretty much as Nick had hoped. Throughout the season he has consistently scored over 30 and was the B League’s top individual scorer; he was a team player and a warm and humorous personality and will be sadly missed. Our thoughts reach out to his family at this terrible time.

The Lemmings faced the Royal Oak in the semi final of the Cup who had generously offered to postpone the game but we felt the game should go ahead; the question master Glyn from the Park Timers also showed himself to be flexible and understanding – our appreciation to both team and Glynn.

Sunil stepped in to make up the team numbers, but we did keep an empty chair at the table …

The questions  were pretty good only one causing some discussion – the wording of Q32.

It was a close-fought game with each round swinging one way or the other – the Lemmings took the lead with 19/17 in round one, lost it in round 2 14/20, lost again in round 3 11/14 then made up some ground in round 4 19/15 before slipping back again with 15/17 – still only 5 to make up. But then disaster struck – in the final round while the visitors picked up 20 points the Lemmings scored 0 – certainly a first for the Lemmings and it must be very rare throughout all Leagues – final score 103/78 to the Royal Oak. We wish them well in the final.

Matt’s funeral is on Monday 6th March 12 o’clock at Holy Trinity Church Rainow and Laura will be happy to see people from the quiz community there.And thank you to all the teams who have sent their condolences.

14th Feb - A Valentine from the Bowling Club?

 

It was a pleasure to walk into the Pack Horse Bowling Club as there had been rumours of it closing down; apart from the bowling greens there are two large bars/meeting rooms with a well stocked bar and a warm welcoming atmosphere. There are many activities catered for and they do an excellent job raising money for the East Cheshire Hospice.

The quiz team we have known for many years and it was good to see them again. The questions were varied and produced some surprises – who knew the name of the river flowing through Middlewich for instance (in fact there are three)  and to link Sheffield and Lisbon with the fact that both are built on seven hills required a big leap in imagination. The History was unusual in that it was a picture round that went down well.

The Sport round however did not play to the Lemmings’ strengths and the home team leapt ahead and by the end of the Specialist rounds the Bowling Club led with 66 to 54.

Not particularly bothered the Lemmings have made up bigger deficits in the past and entered the General Knowledge with equanimity. These questions were perhaps a little top-heavy with sport (the Lemmings having already been humiliated) and inconsistent (the Heinz empire started not with beans but horseradish sauce!!) but playing with discipline the deficit was slowly eaten up – Matt in particular put in a splendid performance  with Tomo close behind - but it was not to be! The Specialist finished with the Lemmings just a nose ahead with 78 to 76 – but still 10 points adrift – final score 142 to 132.

Individual scores were Bob 6/12, Matt 15/24, Nick 3/9 and Tomo 15/15 conferred points were 10/10 with 5/8 pass-overs. The home team collected 6/3 pass-overs.

The evening was rounded off with a very tasty selection of sandwiches and for what was definitely a first for the Lemmings – cheese-filled oatcakes!!

Many thanks to the management team, to the quiz team and to Heather who kept a light hand on the proceedings as question master for a pleasant evening – but no valentines!

7th Feb Away to the Nags Head

 

The Lemmings were welcomed to the Nags Head, a lovely old market pub featured in many of the historical photographs of the town. The landlady has taken advantage of the many rooms formerly used by shepherds and cowherds who brought their beasts to town for the market; the quiz therefore took place in an upstairs room isolated from whatever was happening downstairs.

The Dizzy Blonde once again proved itself to be the best of Robinsons offerings and perhaps contributed to the friendly and jocular atmosphere in which the quiz took place. This was best exemplified after the Science Inventions Q6 about Percy Shaw and Bob started to tell a joke and the home team finished the punch line for him – perhaps they’d heard it before.

The questions we thought were very good, there were no armadillos, no Wikipedia warriors (love that phrase) good balance and varied; Matt found his form again and the Lemmings slipped ahead in the Specialist with 58 to 41. This was maintained in the General Knowledge winning with 79 67 – final score 137 to 108.

Individual scores Bob12/21, Matt 12/18, Nick 6/6 Tomo 12/9 Conferred 9/12, Pass-overs 7/13 the Nags collected 4/6 pass-overs.

Nick surprised most players including himself when after his sanctimonious comments about conferrals last week he gave a ridiculous answer to a question loaded with clues (Q30 GK) with an answer from another book!! Blame the Dizzy Blonde I think.

The evening was rounded off with sausage butties – a welcome treat on a very cold night – thank you to the landlord, to Dave Partington for being a patient and fair question master and to the Nags Head team for a very pleasant evening

31 Jan Home to the Cock-A-2

 

The Lemmings welcomed the Cock-A-2 on a damp, cold night the pain of which was eased with a roaring fire and an excellent selection of ales including a winter porter.

Although there was competition in the form of a ladies’ darts match unusually it did not cause much of a disturbance – it was teams from two other pubs in a knockout competition playing a “neutral board”  although whatever advantage that gives escapes me.

The questions were quite difficult (evidenced by the comparatively low scores against other weeks) but well balanced and fair and brought some very interesting snippets; for instance the song “Miss Otis Regrets” (A&E Q6) that we all knew was a rather pleasant song popularised by many of the best singers including Ella is actually about a woman who in the past 24 hours has been betrayed, shot her seducer, been tried and found guilty and is about to be hanged!! I’ll never listen in the same way again. On a lighter note GK 26 answer was discus but as the visitors pointed out add an s and the whole thing changes,

At the end of the Specialist rounds the Lemmings were trailing with 51 to the visitors’ 58 and although the scores were low there were only five questions unanswered. The Cock-A2 continued with a strong showing into the General Knowledge which they won with 86 to 79 – final score 144 to 130 – well done!!

Individual scores were Bob 15/6, Matt 3/15, Nick 6/15 and Tomo 9/15; conferred points were 8/9 with 10/9 pass-overs whilst the victors collected 11/6 pass-overs.

A couple of personal observations not necessarily shared by the rest of the team – too often timing is too casual and can be used to advantage, and as a great believer in conferring I’d like to point out that if only half of the visitors’ pass-overs had been conferred successfully by the Lemmings they would have won with 138 to 136 – ah well!!