Welcome to Fenwick's SB Hall of Shame!
Bad Answer: "N'Sync." Problem was, this actually was the answer to the question, and I had to admit knowing it in the first place.
Bad Question: "Who is the current governor of Iowa?" Mmm-KAY.. I could understand this if this tournament was held out in Sterling or some place relatively near the Iowa Border, but this was Fremd. PALATINE. NORTHWEST SUBURBAN CHICAGO. However, the blank stares were fun to look at in the whole room..however, it's etched in my memory.. Mr. Thomas Valsack. Eh, whatever.
Bad Answer: "Venus." Okay, this was me choking at the Regionals. Right before Regionals started, Mike SHOWED ME Botticelli's "Birth of Venus". She came out in a SHELL, you imbecile! The clue was "Twin Sister of Apollo in Roman mythology--". I buzz, and think, it's "Artemis".. then can't remember her Roman name. I get struck dumb, and this is what comes out.
Bad Answer: "Prima Donna." NO! Do NOT buzz in on a Latin question while Mike and Vijay are both in the game! The worst part about this bad answer was that this was my second choke on almost subsequent questions at Regionals. The clue was, "This Latin root from "God" defines the lead singer in an opera. Okay, I know "Dios" from Spanish... don't even ASK where prima donna came from. And a prima donna is an ACTRESS, I believe. This led me to believe that if we had lost, I would have been taken out in the back parking lot and beaten horribly.
Bad Answer: "Putting head on desk in disgust." I wasn't here to see this, but this is the first entry not of my own. This was Mike's response at Richards after hearing "Twas Brillig..." and then simply forgetting that it was Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" afterward. Happened to be prelude to a 60 point question, but didn't cost the match.
Bad Answer: "Do-si-do." This was actually the answer to the question. ::Screams and runs away::
Bad Answer: "Ivan the Peter the Great." My luck with Slavic history had run out at just at this point. I had attempted to answer the question just as I heard "...this Great Czar". I didn't figure out it was a dead giveaway until halfway done with my original answer. I had to let out a very large scream afterward in order to compensate.
Bad Answer: "The Dominicans." Okay, so I got this question in a short amount of time, but this one holds a special place in the HOS. I believe the main problem was that we actually had to think about the answer for a period of time. It's a bit sad because we're a DOMINICAN HIGH SCHOOL, and the clue was "The members of this order were known as Blackfriars." On top of being such a school, our mascot is also "Friars". What would Father Bob say?
Bad Question and Answer: "Q: This television show has the subtitle "The Ruler of the Free World". A: "Judge Judy." Have we let Western Civilization decline so much to acknowledge her as "The Ruler of the Free World"?
Bad Answer: "Koch." This was a nice little blunder of mine after hearing the clue "NYC Mayor elected in 1989.." I buzz, and I think, 80s NYC mayor.. it HAS to be Ed Koch, right? Of course, as soon as I get it wrong, the clue goes into "The only African-American mayor of NYC..." This was subsequently followed by my hand thwapping my forehead and making a loud sound. "How'm I doin'?"
Bad Answer: "Democrats." Tom K.'s first tournament appearance, and it had to be poached from me on a government question. The clue was "...this group opposed ratifying the Constitution" I stall, but I think, "It has to be anti-something, right?" Of course, Tom buzzes in right as I get it and comes with this. The answer was Anti-federalists, but he defended his answer by saying that they would later be known as Democrats. In actuality, the Federalists would become Democrats, and the Anti-federalists Republicans, thus earning a spot in the Hall.
Bad Question: "This city's Lake Shore Drive-" Come on, now.. they could have at least screened this question before using this in the tournament, considering how all the participants were Chicago-area teams.
Bad Answer: "Louis Pasteur." If the clue given is "This German-born scientist...", I believe Perry would have found it better to not at least guess the most French-sounding name possible.
Bad Answer: "Enya." No self-respecting teenage male should ever answer a question concerning Enya.
Bad Answer: "William Randolph Hearst." Well, Steph's going to hate me for this, but let us look upon this and laugh eventually. The proof of this is that overthinking in scholastic bowl is bad, too. The clue goes like this: "The plot line of the movie Citizen Kane includes a quest for Rosebud--" Of course, Citizen Kane + Rosebud = Sled, right? Sometimes when an answer seems to be incredibly easy, it is.
Bad Answer: "Enya." No self-respecting teenage male should ever answer a question concerning Enya.
Bad Answer: "Terminal Velocity." Another case of buzzing in too early and thinking too hard afterwards. The question starts out, "This is the name for the force one might feel after jumping out of a plane--". Steph buzzes in with this and I think the entire team made a collective thought of "What?" However, this one didn't cost us the match.
Bad Answer: "Dyslexia." This wouldn't have been such a bad guess had Steph not insisted that dyslexia was a hearing disorder.
Bad Answer: "The....... Kursk." This was a particularly great moment at Regionals in which I buzzed in as soon as I heard the quote "I am sorry that I could not bring your boys home" and then heard the clue "naval disaster". I buzz in, thinking that it was the US battleship taken out by a suicide bombing, but because I forgot the name of the boat, I fell back on this. I had no idea, of course, but it managed to work out.
Bad Answer: "Archipelago." The moderator said Ethiopian landmass, I heard "Indonesian landmass", and the rest is HOS history.
Bad Answer: "Idi Amin". See, I hear "African leader", I hear "deposed of in 1977", so I think it's him, right? However, I missed the part about being restored to power in 1935. Idi Amin was about four years old in 1935.
Bad Answer: "Fort Mead". This wasn't that bad an answer to begin with. Steph just went with the current fort near Baltimore after hearing the clue concerning that. However, it was near the end of the clue where I heard "bombardment", Perry and I know it, and buzz in a split second too late. Fort Mead hasn't exactly been bombarded by anything, but what can you do?