GENE AUTRY'S NINJA WARRIORS
TRIVIA 2001 RECAP!

Here it is, folks, the long-awaited story of how GANW vaulted to it's record-breaking 
finish in Trivia 2001: "Old Days"...  Let your mind drift back now, to April 20th, 2001… 
A new HQ, new computer facilities, new players, and a bar well stocked with caffeine 
and lots (LOTS) of snacks…

HOUR 1, QUESTION 1: The usual Robert Redford question has already been answered by the 
time Mike Joy and Becky Ulland pull into the driveway, after driving maniacally across 
Wisconsin on Highway 29 (they had been delayed by construction).  When they arrive, 
they find the HQ already humming with activity-there was a sense that this would be an 
amazing year for the Ninjas!  And the first hour only confirmed that sense, as we 
answered 7 out of 8 questions-a feat we would repeat many times throughout the weekend!

HOUR 2: We answer EVERY question this hour!  By this time, our chat room was well 
stocked with CyberWarriors from all over the country, and the combination of their 
knowledge and our HQ resources made us unstoppable for most of the contest.

HOUR 3, QUESTION 3: "According to a TV promotion, on what month and day did the 
Comedy Broadcasting System hit the air?"  Yikes.  We all vaguely remember this CBS 
promotion from the previous fall, but no one wrote down the pertinent information.  
A check of our resources shows that many (but not all) CBS shows premiered on October 
2nd.  Oh well, we say-let's call it in as a guess.  The second song ends as we get 
our answer called in, which turns out to be correct!  Which turns out to be worth 105 
big points!  We answer 7 out of 8 this hour (including the 105 pointer) and are 
amazed to find ourselves somewhere in the top 12!

HOUR 6, QUESTION 3: "In the big screen hit 'The Untouchables' what was the product 
name on the side of a wooden box in the Canadian cabin?"  Hey, alright, we have that 
movie in the GANW permanent video library!  We taped it off a TV broadcast sometime 
in the late eighties... and... uh-oh... it's not a very clear picture, is it?  Hmmm... 
there's the right scene, there's the box, and... hmmm.  Can't really read that very 
well, can you?  Second song, boys.  Right, right, we're working on it.  WE'RE WORKING 
ON IT!  PAUSE IT!  SLOW MOTION!  ARGH!!!  NOT MUCH TIME!!! Song running out!  Wait, 
what's that?  Don Shenbarger is in the chat room and he has it on DVD?  He's looking 
for it?  What is it??? Kennedy's Biscuit?  Call it in!  Got it!  Correct for 90 points.  
Good grief... time for a Mountain Dew and some Chex Mix...

HOUR 9, QUESTION 2: "What is the performing name of multi-talented Vincent De John 
Purrett?"  Donn Mukensnable, one of our many valuable CyberWarriors, was online at 
this point (indeed, until about 6 a.m.!) and got this one for us. "Vinx" turned out 
to be worth 90 big points!  

HOUR 11, QUESTION 8: "What TV character was almost accidentally killed when he was 
buried under a paint-a-lanche?"  I just like this question, that's all.  We got it 
(Hal Wilkerson, from "Malcolm in the Middle") and it was worth 35 points.  
A "paint-a-lanche"???

HOUR 14: The Ninjas hit a bit of a "wall" (our only real "wall" of the contest, 
luckily!)... We only answer 2 out of 8 questions, and our numbers are low, as some 
members are sleeping and others are doing the running questions.  In our own defense, 
there are two zero point questions this hour, as well as a 500-pointer, so clearly 
this was a tough hour!

HOUR 15, QUESTION 3: "What is the name of the winner of the 2000 Stevie's Model 
Search?"  We rub our bleary eyes and start working, but we have no clue and no leads.  
Then, a phone call from the home of long-time Ninjas Mike and Linda Trzebiatowski.  
Someone over there-I'm not sure who-knows that the answer is Shayla Ann Bishop.  25 
big points!  We're lucky to have dedicated Warriors who ALWAYS have the contest on 
the radio, even when they're not at HQ!

HOURS 17 THROUGH 19: We break out of the dry spell in a big way, answering 22 out of
the 24 questions in these hours, including a 55 pointer.  Answers come from notes, 
internet, and the twisted brains of the Ninjas... In hours 21 through 23 we go 
19-for-22.  These are the "K" and "L" hours-all answers beginning with these letters.  
This was the beginning of a continuous fascination on the Oz's part with the alphabet, 
and GANW would exploit that obsession for big points over the course of the next 12 
hours or so...

***** HOUR 23 SCORE READING ***** : The Ninjas huddle anxiously around the various 
radios at our basement headquarters facility, and learn that as of hour 23 we are in 
27th place with 2235 points.  A few Warriors are a bit disappointed, since we had been 
as high as 8th or even higher, but others are optimistic, since historically we have 
come on strong in the last half of the contest.  And then there are a few of us--who 
remember when top 200 was a good finish for GANW--who say 27TH PLACE!!!! That's 
amazing!!!  And we settle in for a good long evening of Trivia...

HOUR 28, QUESTION 1: "What is the name of the company which promotes an alphanumeric 
phrase that corresponds with 1-800-746-3767?"  After consulting the entire GANW Trivia 
Library, all our online players, and our huge note files we decide to… call the phone 
number.  It turns out to be Sprint.  The amazing thing?  The question is worth TEN 
points-not five!  Huh???

HOUR 29, QUESTION 4: "What's the name of the athlete who recently gave away 3000 free 
gallons of gas at a Chevron station?"  We start the late-night hours with a bang, and 
with a classic case of GANW teamwork and educated guessing.  A thorough consulting of 
our resources gives us nothing, but a few of us remember having read about this event 
in the paper.  Why oh why didn't we write it down!?!?!  Andrew Ulland suggests a few 
possibilities, and we go with the one that sounds most familiar, although we're not 
too confident about it: Larry Hughes.  We just get the answer in before the second song 
is over, and hear that the answer is… Larry Hughes!  It turns out to be worth 155 
points, our biggest pointer of the contest, and the start of a great second half for 
the Ninjas!  

HOURS 29 THROUGH 34: The late-night shift comes on, the Stone hunters prepare to go out 
and get the second stone stamp (they would wind up getting all three, in fine fashion!).  
People crack open Dr. Peppers or this year's new caffeine source, RC Edge (includes 
ginseng!).  And folks, let me tell you, these six hours become the stuff of legend.  We 
get all eight cylinders going, we're lively, we're alert, and we answer 47 OUT OF 50 
QUESTIONS during this amazing early-morning stretch!!!  At one point we answer 31 straight 
questions!  We use all our resources, and we never feel like a question is out of our 
reach.  Most of these are low-to-medium pointers, but we do get an 80-pointer in the 
"complete-the-advertising-slogan" hour: "Tut, Tut, Nothing But _________."  Dennis Joy--
resting in an easy chair in the "calmer" part of our HQ--waits not even one second and 
gives us the answer: "Butternut Bread."  80 big points!  As we crack open yet another RC 
Edge, those of us who've been playing Trivia for awhile realize this is going to be a very 
special year...

HOUR 35, QUESTION 2: "What is the name of the fictional camp where Arthur Spooner was an 
archery instructor?"  Late-night gives way to early morning, our torrid streak has slowed 
a bit, but we're still fighting for every question.  We dig DEEP into our notes archive--
notes from three years ago!!!--and find the answer to the question ("Camp Wigwam").  Guess 
what-it's worth 80 points!

HOUR 43, QUESTION 4: "New Trivia Times picture #8 features a character staring at his 
stomach.  What does this design stand for?"  Oh great, another picture question.  By far 
our toughest category this year, we only wind up answering about 1/3 of the picture 
questions.  We've been looking at this guy for a number of days and still have no idea.  
Turns out, the answer is "Uncertain Stomach."  Actually kind of an appropriate answer, 
considering that we're on hour 43 of a snack-food and caffeine binge... More Chex Mix, 
please!

HOURS 46 AND 47: We make a great run-up to the hour 48 score-reading by answering 15 
out of 16, including a 55 pointer: "What's the place of higher learning where the faculty 
will teach you about Wisconsin cheese--its fantastic flavor and facts on nutrition?"  
We make a guess: Moo University--and it turns out to be worth 55 big ones!  Why didn't 
more teams guess this???

**** HOUR 48 SCORE READING ****: We know we've had a great 24 hours, so we're ready to 
jump for joy, and we do when we're listed in 21ST PLACE!!!  In our 15th year of Trivia, 
we are rocking and rolling toward a record-smashing performance.  All the Ninjas, all over 
the country, try to bear down for a mere six more hours... If we could just lock things up 
with one more big pointer... let's see...

HOUR 48, QUESTION 6: "What actor states "Death isn't the end of everything," in a 1976 
big-screen flick, which happened to be his last movie?"  Yours truly reaches back into 
the depths of his western movie-loving brain and remembers that Joel McCrea made his last 
movie right around then.  Checks and double-checks with our resources… hey, it's the right 
answer!  And HEY, it's worth 135 points!!!  Gotta love those cowboy movies!  Gotta love 
TRIVIA!!!

HOUR 52, QUESTION 2: "Call in and shout Buzz Lightyear's famous call."  And so, a 
sleep-deprived group of Warriors gathers bravely around the phone and shouts with gusto: 
TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!!!  Ah, Trivia... and we wonder why some people think it's weird...

THE BIG FINALE… Well, we answer 7 out of 8 in the last "real" hour (hour 53), and then 
there's that ol' bittersweet feeling as we make our way through hour 54.  We get the 
"classic" questions that are always asked during that hour, are baffled by the traditional 
two or three real toughies, and contemplate the books, magazines, notes, and snack food 
wrappers that have been our companions for the past two and a half days.  (Two and a half 
days!!!)  We're ready for the final question (about TV's "Survivor"--thanks, Oz...) but we 
don't get it, and the notes of "Born To Be Wild" signal the end of Trivia 2001.  

We're tired but excited, because we are pretty darn confident we've broken our old record 
(38th place), so we start cleaning up HQ, stacking up books, and listening to the Oz read 
down the scores (with occasional breaks for hilarious laughter at some of the team names).  
It's nearly 2 a.m. when the few, the truly CRAZY Ninjas are awake to hear our final TRIUMPHAL 
finish-20th place with 5695 points!!!  (As we get better, we have to stay up later and later 
on Monday morning to hear our final finish!)

And guess what, folks: we were crazy enough to IMMEDIATELY start chatting--those of us who 
were awake--about ways to keep on moving up the standings!  This was the first year we were 
able to watch the awards ceremony at the radio station, and let me tell you--we want to be 
there for a TOP 10 TROPHY!!!  C'mon Ninjas, let's do it!!!  You know the score--I'll be in 
touch--let's get our motors running and play Trivia the way it's played nowhere else!  
See you all at TRIVIA 2002!!!



				*** REMEMBER, NINJAS!!! ***

If you'd like even more info about our performance at this year's contest 
(questions/answers/category breakdowns/success rates/etc.) I've got a bunch of cool stuff I 
can send you--just let me know!  --Mike