The farther back we go, the fuzzier the history gets, but we'll try to give an accurate account.
The farther back we go, the fuzzier the history gets, but we'll try to give an accurate account.
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Fossil Fuel started in 1984. The first year the team played under
a different name, however the team's founder, Mother Superior (Aunt
Pat),
feels it is too "gross" to reveal, and no other team members know
it.
The name Fossil Fuel developed from the foul odor in the trivia room
towards
the end of the contest and, it is now revealed, because of the all the
old farts who play on the team. Fossil Fuel officially began in
the
team's
second year. The original members, mostly teenagers, didn't get
all
that interested, but Aunt Pat was hooked, as was her son Pete. So
Aunt Pat enlisted the aid of her family. She called her brother
John
and his family, wife Nell, and daughters Jennifer, Sarah, and
Melissa.
Originally John refused not thinking he would ever enjoy it. The
compromise was for the family to come for only one hour. They
stayed
a bit longer. When John called from home later in the contest
with
"Orion Samuelson," host of the national farm report, the family was
hooked.
This family has become the "hub" of the trivia wheel. Fossil Fuel began playing in Stevens Point at Aunt Pat and Uncle Paul's house. When they moved to a new house at the end of 1988, Fossil Fuel moved with them. The solarium ended up being the ideal trivia room. We had fresh air and sunshine and the rest of the house could be used for sleeping. And the kitchen was used for food, plenty of food. There are a few memorable moments from those years. "What is the third ingredient in Tootsie Rolls?" Aunt Pat remembered that her children had Tootsie Roll banks, and the banks listed the ingredients. On the Friday of trivia, Aunt Pat bought a Life magazine. On Sunday the question "What was Wilt Chamberlain's high school basketball number?" There was a picture in the magazine-#44. During one contest, teenage Paul Jr. invited his girlfriend and her parents. The next morning, Aunt Pat couldn't find her anywhere, so she went to Paul Jr.'s bedroom door. "Paul, where is [the girlfriend]?" to which Paul Jr. replied, "She went with her parents, Ma, you're paranoid!" Uncle Milt and Aunt Marilyn came for a few years. Rich and Jean and their kids Kristy and Richie joined in the early years. Their first year they were supposed to come for a few hours, but - the secret is out - Rich called in sick to keep playing trivia. Al and Judy and their kids Heidi and Jason started some time in here too. Judy kept us well fed for many years, eventually allowing us to play in her house.. Al and Sue and their daughter Kristin played for a number of years during this era. Brian joined the team when he started dating Jennifer in 1990 for "Earth Games are Easy." Brian's parents, Ivan and Jackie, came up to Point from Wisconsin Rapids a number of times and continued playing when Trivia moved to Rapids.. |
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| This was the last year in Point at Aunt Pat and Uncle Paul's house. They moved to Milwaukee and trivia moved to Rapids. |
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| This was the first year at Al and Judy's house. Jason and Timmy D., Brian's friend's came for the first time. Timmy walks in and says, "You got this one?" We didn't. "It's Naked Lunch." Straight to the point, and right. He was welcome ever after. |
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| Sarah and Jennifer had to pick up Brian at the airport in Minneapolis. He flew in from Kansas City where he nearly missed his flight. |
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| Help us out! What happened? Any good stories? Team members, email us |
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| Frank and his son Dawson came (is this the right year?). Dawson knew that Dennis Rodman's Juicy Fruit gum was a good luch charm and remembers an animal in a Hardee's commercial where the boy walks across the United States. Frank and Dawson were hooked. |
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| This was the first year we used an Internet computer and the first year at Rich and Jean's house in Wisconsin Rapids. It was also our best year, finishing in 48th place. We think this was the last year people didn't really use the Internet because the next year we fell right back where we usually finished. This is Megan's first year, at 7 weeks old. Oddly enough, Trivia weekend was the first time she slept through the night. |
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This was the year Sarah and Brian were out finishing stone clues early
Sunday morning when "the bug struck." We were so tired, we didn't
realize it was a joke. We panicked in Point! "What
the...?!?!
All the other stations are coming in!" We raced home and were
quite
awake for a few hours afterwards. Thanks Oz. This was the first year Frank and Dawson and the family lived Kansas. The Kansas Connection used the Internet and fellow classmates to help find answers. |
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| Timmy D. makes another appearance, this time with Tony. Timmy knew Metropolis, but we couldn't get through on the phones. It was a 500 pointer. Tony earns his keep by quickly identifying Nadia Comanecci and Paul Westerberg in the New Trivia Times. |
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Year #1 in John and Nell's house. Still using only one computer
on
the Internet on a phone line. It's been enough in past years to
maintain
position, and this year we finish our second best ever - 54th.
Pete nails a 125 pointer knowing the name of a Beatles instrumental song, "Cry for a Shadow." Jen was proud that she bought the Asteroids, which got 65 points. We also got 170 for Miss Daisy's car - the one she had before she drove into the neighbor's yard. Unbelievably, we didn't recognize the Toyota Echo question even though Brian and Jen's Echo was sitting in the driveway. Megan loved her new "Unkie Bunker" shirt. Matt, the new kid, fit right in. When putting on pants over a pair of shorts, he stopped to look in a book for an answer and let the pants drop. John, the owner of the trivia house, had just woken up, walked around the corner and saw this site, to which he said something along the lines of, "the kid's into trivia." Team members vow to each bring one recruit for next year. Gotta have more than 3 playing, which happened at times... Anything I missed? Email us! |
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In 2004 we stayed consistant, finishing 54th for the second year
straight
year. We did score 65 more points, however. It seemed that
last year we were much steadier on hitting the 5-30 pointers.
This
year we missed too many of those, but made up for it by hitting some
big
ones here and there. Maybe next year we do both and try for the
35th
place trophy! This has to be the year of the new recruits. All the neophytes were hitting big ones. Kate gets "Baxter's Place" for 185. Jack gets "Racers" for 105. Bonnie and John (Mom and Dad) get in on the act knowing a music clue to the tune of 85. Ruth, who didn't even know she was on our team, knew "Mood Indigo" while listening over the phone for 80! Rebekah gets 145 for "Lehigh," which she remembered off the top of her head. Impressive, all. What can we say about Jake? Nothing. See for yourself. We'll have to get together and rehash the stories from Trivia 34. There are some good ones! Team members, let me know what should go here! |
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Last year was the year of the big fall. After finishing 54th two
years running we fell to 111th. Funny thing is, after the
contest, we decided that this was one of the most enjoyable contests in
recent memory. Why? Food was good. Company was
good. Faster than sheep. More computers (however equaling
less points. Huh, go figure). Great weather. It was
an all around good time. Specific memories? Can't say I
remember any what with Trivia 35 being 53 weeks ago and all. |
| 2005: Keep on Trivia |
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It's hour 48 right now, the scores are being read, and we are updating
while everyone is here to tell me what to write! First and
foremost, kudos to Kelsey, new 9 year-old player, who showed up knowing
Lucinda Ziggles for 100 points. Later she knew the question about
Bob Par, and his drink on the plane, but it was tossed. The Jake,
in his sleepiest moments again, informed us that we should wake him if
we won the "garbage bag." Sarah and Rachel continued a Fossil
Fuel tradition of forgetting the official New Trivia Times for
receiving a Trivia Stone Stamp. Brian drove and met them at the
pick up spot - not a big deal except we play in Vesper, and it's a
60-some mile round trip. Aunt Pat's German potato salad and
Pete's turkey also made their yearly appearance. The weather
again was incredible! |
| 2006: The Odd Contest |
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We were in 31st place. That is our hightest placing ever!
Of course, it was at the end of Hour 2, and it was thanks to a 50
pointer
(B.J. Surhoff) early, but what the heck! WE WERE 5 POINTS OUT OF
THE TOP 20!!! Impossible stone group B clue #1 never was found,
however, after an hour of randomly searching for clue #2, all of a
sudden, there was "what size are you?" Everything else fell into
place, and we were back on track. Pete flat out knew a 145
pointer
- Veronica Lake - and Sarah found an 85 pointer -
Dynamic. Then there was a bit of a dry spell. But Brian
pulled
Mary Tyler Moore out of thin air for 60. The overnight
Saturday/Sunday treated us real well, moving up 20 spots with multiple
questions over 50. On the way home from the stone clues, Brian, Brian, and Sarah stopped to talk with John and Nell, on their way to the running clues. They had left the house with a 6 foot party sub on the top of their van, but it was still sitting on the van. (It had been put in the garage to keep cool.) While it's cool doing Stone clues with a in-dash GPS navigation system that tells you the names of each road you cross, GPS does not identify the church, rooster, or flashing red light. Just saying. Kelsey came through again with Nigel, a 65 pointer! One highlite (at least for me) was being totally lost on the first stone clue. Totally. (No, that's not the highlite.) We were driving aimlessly, randomly cursing Oz and discussing giving up when I looked up and saw the "What size are you?" billboard. All the other clues fell into place and we were back on track. QUOTES: Megan (age 7): I'm staying up for the whole contest! Rachel: For all 52 hours? Aunt Pat: Whatever you did, Sarah, I'm all for it. Sarah: Did they ask any more questions while I was asleep? Sarah (after a song and a half looking for "canine"): Oh! They're dogs! |
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