NN11 Chairman's Quiz Time 5: The Aftermath

It has, indeed, taken a full week to recover from that―the most intense, exuberant, wonderfully out-of-control Pub Quiz in Netroots Nation history.  

My thanks to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the judges (kath25, shayera and captainlaser), the sponsors of the prizes (including Sens. Franken and Feingold, NARAL Pro-Choice America and Bubble Genius), and all of you for making it happen.

Julie Gulden of the winning MinnesONOZ team has posted some photos, plus there's a bunch on Flickr. We'll get to the video in a minute.  First off, round one of the questions:

And Now A Word For Our Sponsors
State legislators, state legislatures, state capitols and state capitals. (1pt each)

1.  What city is the capital of Minnesota?
2.   Prior to Barack Obama, who was the most recent President of the United States to have served as a state legislator?
3. What former President served in both chambers of his state’s legislature, as both lieutenant governor and governor, and mayor of the town of Northampton?
4. Which state’s legislature has the fewest Republicans, combined, between its two chambers?
5. Which state’s legislature has the fewest Democrats, combined, between its two chambers?
6. Who is the most recently confirmed Supreme Court justice to have served in a state legislature?
7.   What state legislative chamber has 400 seats?
8.   What Constitutional amendment took away from state legislatures the power to select U.S. Senators?
9.  In what city is this state capitol building?

10.  According to Google Maps, if you wanted to drive from one state capital to another, these two cities on the East Coast are the closest together.
11. What’s the only state capital named for a foreign ruler?
12. Johnson City, TN, is closer to five other state’s capitals than it is to the capital of Tennessee.  Name those other five state capital cities. (1 pt each, up to 5 pts).

The defending champions, Sea Org, ran the table in this round. Frightening, indeed.  But what was in their hearts and souls? The first intermezzo round would reveal that -- teams were invited to write a limerick which involved at least one Minnesota athlete or sports entertainer, past or present.  Top five, as determined by the judges and audience applause, received 3-2-1-1-1 points.  Kirby Puckett and Brett Favre were invoked frequently.  

Onto round two:

Your Friend in the Woodchipper
Minnesota in Popular Culture (2 pts each)

1. In what fictional town are all the women strong, the men good-looking, and the children above-average?
2. Rocky and Bullwinkle hail from what fictional Minnesota town?
3. What Minneapolis club was the setting for the concert scenes in Purple Rain?
4. OEOEO, it’s time to name the person on the right of this picture.

5. In “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” what does Minnesota’s Bob Dylan say you should do instead of follow leaders?
6. For what song did Bob Dylan win an Oscar for Best Original Song?
7. At some point during this conference, you might just make it after all to the corner of of 7th Street and Nicollet Mall where you'll find a statue of what iconic tv actress?
8. In what Minnesota town does the kidnapping at the heart of Fargo take place? *
9. What Coen Brothers film includes the following disclaimer in its end credits: "No Jews were harmed in the making of this motion picture."
10. Deriving its name from the Norwegian translation for “Do you remember?”, this Minnesota band’s lead singer left the music industry in the late 1990s to start a new career as a professional wrestling booker.
11. On the Replacements album Let It Be, there are songs about the medical conditions being suffered by Gary and Tommy.  Name them. (1pt each) ^^
12. On the first season of The West Wing, what was the name of the fictional Minnesota Senator who held an all-night filibuster to ensure proper funding for autism research?

* The intended answer here was Brainerd. Savvy minds recalled, however, that it was the murder of the state trooper that took place in Brainerd while the kidnapping was in the Twin Cities.  Proper credit was awarded.  Would that this had been the only controversy.

^^ Nathaniel Charny insisted the Gary answer did not reflect a "medical condition," but rather a gift from God.  Repeatedly.

The second intermezzo was straightforward.  "There are eight living former United States Senators from the state of Minnesota.  One point for each; you have five minutes.  Provide no more than eight names."

[Team Amateur Left nailed all eight; I believe that's because of Populista.]

And then my troubles began. Round 3.

3M
Each answer in this round will involve three M's. (3 pts each.)

1. What are the three M’s that 3M stands for?
2. What Pennsylvania congresswoman cast the deciding vote for Bill Clinton’s successful 1993 economic plan, nevertheless leading to her defeat in the 1994 wave?
3. In 1997, this catchy debut hit from an Oklahoma trio topped the pop charts in 27 countries.
4. This National Park contains the longest cave system known in the world. (2 pts for the park, and 1 pt for the state in which it is located.)
5. Name the three largest US cities in population, based on 2010 Census (note: not metro areas), starting with the letter M?
6. What gland in the human body has three M’s?
7. Who are the three least-senior U.S. Senators whose last names begin with the letter M? (1 pt each)
8. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, these three blonde actresses were referred to in the press as “the three M’s.” (1 pt each)
9.  The highest-grossing “three M” movie of all time is this 2001 Brendan Fraser sequel.
10. The three most populous nations on earth which start with the letter ‘M,’ each of which is on a different continent. (1 pt each)
11. Major League Baseball’s three all-time strikeout leaders among those pitchers whose last names start with the letter M. (1 pt each)
12. Pronounced my-KROME-meed-uhr, it’s a device used to measure small units of electrical resistance. Spell it.

So, okay.  When it came to question 10, I relied on Wikipedia to confirm the answer and thought that was enough. Apparently, referring to a certain Southeast Asian nation as "Myanmar" is subject to dispute:

And, indeed, according to the State Department (but not the United Nations, which recognizes Myanmar):

The Union of Burma is ruled by a military body called the "State Peace and Development Council" (SPDC). The SPDC changed the name of the country to "Myanmar," but some members of the democratic opposition and other political activists do not recognize the name change and continue to use the name "Burma." Out of support for the democratic opposition, the U.S. Government likewise uses "Burma."

Teams answering with "Malaysia," then, received full credit.

Your new champions -- by ONE point -- are the MinnesONOZ team, consisting of:

cskendrick
Puzzled
Sharoney
Mr. Sharoney
Occams hatchet
Dave Weigel
RLMiller
The Hon. Brad Miller (departed early)
Jesse Opoin
Anne Schupach
Julie Gulden
Honorary: Trashablanca

Here's the scoresheet. Half points were awarded for things like writing down "Oklahoma" instead of "Oklahoma City" on Q1.9.  The decisions of the judges are final and correct.

It's worth noting that I shared a cab back to the airport on Sunday with Markos and Elisa, and he is not happy with Sea Org's performance. Explicitly referencing George Steinbrenner, he insisted that changes would happen and he will buy up whatever talent he needs before next year's competition in Providence.

Make no mistake: this isn't over. Not for Markos, and not for me either.