ivia: Not so trivial after al
Question-and-answer craze spreads
from reading to all-night recreation
The word
trivia is becom
ing a contradic
tion of itself.
Trivia is
defined as
something of
very little im
portance, but
suddenly it is
moving in and
taking over peo
ple’s lives.
Several years
ago, trivia buffs
began multiplying; the number of books,
encyclopedias and guides satisfying their
hunger for little-known facts of interest
also grew.
Then came Trivial Pursuit.
Now trivia buffs and game lovers alike
will sacrifice food and rest to finish a
marathon session of this question-and
answer game. Then they begin another
ope without pause.
As if that’s not enough, game and toy
stores soon will have to build more
shelves to house Trivial Pursuit and its
many “copycats.” To the producers of
these popular pastimes, the business of
trivia is anything but trivial; some gross as
much as $45 per sale.
Take, for instance, Kenny Rogers’ The
Record Game, the highest priced trivia
game at Eugene’s Endgames on the
downtown mall. Few people probably
know how much Rogers makes off the
game, but he doesn’t even chime in on the
enclosed record giving game instructions.
At least that’s what the store’s co
manager, Diane Loos, said.
At Endgames, Rogers’ price is the only
one to top Trivial Pursuit, which sells for
$34.95, about $5 more than at stores like
Payless and J.C. Penney. Loos said End
games’ price is higher because it has to
pay a separate freight charge to the New
York distributor
But apparently, the high cost of trivia
isn’t scaring anyone away. Endgames
generally sells an order of 1,000 Trivial
Pursuit games in one week, Loos said. In
fact, the store was out of the game that
day.
Other offerings may be equally enter
taining or educational, Loos said, but they
just don’t sell as fast because they are
copycats.
"It’s amazing that some of these games
are real good, but no matter what we say
about them or how we try to sell them,
people shake their heads and say, ‘It’s not
Trivial Pursuit,’ ” she said.
Loos’ favorite is Time magazine’s The
Game, which sells for $29.95 at most
stores. “It’s not so heavy-duty trivia,’’ she
said. "There’s three different levels (of
skill) and there’s more to do on the
board.”
In addition, the questions are more
educational and informational, not as
"corny” as Trivial Pursuit's, she said.
Regardless, Trivial Pursuit remains at
the top of the list — not only at Endgames,
but at another local specialty game shop in
the Fifth Street Public Market.
Parlour Games sells its Trivial Pursuit
orders in less than a week (for $29.95
each) and was out of the game from July
until early September, co-owner Frances
Krumdieck said.
Krumdieck seemed a little irritated by
all of the versions modeled after Trivial
Pursuit. "They’re killing it, really,” she
said. “It’s such a good game. But people
are hanging in there waiting for Trivial
Pursuit.”
Parlour Games also has sold a lot of
Time’s game, and customers have return
ed to the store to praise the game’s
current-events focus, Krumdieck said.
Two other
popular preoc
cupations at
Endgames and
Parlour Games
are Avalon
Hill’s Trivia
Game and Isaac
Asimov’s Super
Quiz and Super
Quiz II.
The Avalon
Hill version
sounds perfect
for college
students, as players question-and-answer
their way through “trivia tech," advanc
ing from freshman through senior status
with a declared major and minor. And it
sells for less than the cost of tuition, only
$34,50 at Endgames.
The Super Quiz editions, which sell for
$30 at Parlour Games, are popular with
trivia lovers who aren’t so fond of board
games, Krumdieck said. They offer
players pure trivia — no board.
On the op
posite end of
the scale, some
games em
phasize the
board and go
light on the
trivia. And '
there are
countless
games in bet
ween. Travel
Trivia. Teen
Trivia. Biblical
Trivia. Celebri
ty Trivia. They’re even getting smart
enough now to sell sets of cards that “Can
be used with other trivia boards.”
The craze is so widespread now, even
bookstores are getting in on it. Walden
books, in Valley River Center, carries a
full section of trivia games to go with its
trivia books
At that store. People magazine offers
“The Trivia Game with Personality from
Parker Brothers” for $24.95 and the televi
sion show Entertainment Tonight has its
own product for $19.95.
Needless to say, Trivial Pursuit is there,
too, along with the books “Winning at
Trivial Pursuit” and “Questions: The
Perfect Companion to Your Trivia
Games,” both for $3.95.
Super-serious competitors can spend as
much as $9.95 at Waldenbooks for up to
798 pages of trivial advice. Sorry, trivia
advice.
Story by Michele Matassa
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New Location
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One block north of Eugene Planing Mill
485-2252
I How do you spell
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A) “Sabbath Eve”: A weekly soup/
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B) “Enter the Story...”: Our fall
term retreat theme.
C) “Peacemaking”: Practical
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Anyone can get in on the game
For those real hard-core trivia experts
who’ve already mastered every trivia game on
the market, here is a list of University trivia
sure to occupy time until the new game models
reach the shelves.
If the questions become too difficult, look
for the answers in this section. Readers who
know when the Romanovs were killed will find
the answers fastest.
SPORTS:
1. When did the Duck football team last
play in a bowl game? Which game?
2. Name three Duck basketball
letter-winners who played
on a 1984 Olympic team.
3, Did world-class runner
Mary Decker attend the
University?
4. Which football lineman
of the early 1940s today .
occupies a high state office?
5. Renowned author Ken Kesey
was a star athlete at the
University during the 1950s.
Name his sport.
6. What do these three women have
in common: Heidi Eakin, Lisa Gemoya,
Sue Harbour?
7. What is the oldest women’s inter
collegiate sport at the University?
8. What University background does
NBC-TV sports commentator Ahmad Rashad
have?
9. This 1979 Oregon AAA basketball All
Tournament pick from Corvallis went on to na
tional and world-wide athletic fame while at the
University — but not in basketball. Name her
and her sports.
10. Which former University shot putter now
enjoys fame in another sport?
BUILDINGS:
1. What do these former University deans have
in common: Elizabeth DeCou, Colin Dyment,
George Rebec, Edwin Robbins, Henry Sheldon?
2. Is Fred Friendly, former president of CBS
News, a direct descendant of the man for whom
Friendly Hall is named?
3. How old is Autzen Stadium?
4. Why does the University have Franklin D.
Roosevelt to thank, in a way, for Chapman and
Esslinger halls?
5. What are the University’s two oldest campus
buildings?
6. How old is McArthur Court?
7. Who was Donald Erb, for whom the Erb
Memorial Union is named?
8. Was the Bookstore located on the second
floor of Condon Hall before being moved to its
current site?
9. Where was the library located before it was
moved to its present building?
10. Where did University football teams play
Eugene home games prior to construction of
Hayward Field?
PEOPLE:
1. Which 1962-63 ASUO president became a
member of Pres. Jimmy Carter’s cabinet?
2. Who was John Wesley Johnson?
3. How was the late Sen. Wayne Morse impor
tant to the University?
4. Was Oregon attorney general Dave
Frohnmayer a member of the University law
school faculty before entering politics?
5. Which of these recent Oregon governors did
not attend the University: Paul Patterson, Robert
Holmes, Mark Hatfield, Tom McCall?
6. A University administrator and a faculty
member were part of the Manhattan Project,
which developed the first atomic bomb. Name
them.
7. Was Sandra Good, a member of mass killer
Charles Manson’s “family,” a University
graduate?
8. What actor attended the University and later
won fame with his portrayal of a disc jockey on
a recent popular television series?
9. A one-time University student won hearts in
the early 1960s with his portrayal of a crotchety
old uncle on another CBS-TV sitcom. Who was
he? (Hint: it wasn’t Uncle Charlie. . .}
10. Bonus question (for the over-21 set only):
Who is Irene?
FOLKLORE:
1. What was the traditional method of painting
the ‘O’ on Skinner’s Butte?
2. Where did old-time graduating seniors toss
pennies for good luck?
3. Explain the “Dry Zone.”
4. What was meant by “pigging”?
5. What campus site is known world-wide as a
horse’s death chamber?
6. What was a popular form of freshman
punishment for breaches of tradition?
7. Who was Puddles?
8. Which students were allowed to smoke on
campus before the 1930s?
9. What campus building was known as the
“Igloo”?
10. What area often is regarded as the “old
campus”?
Compiled by Mike Sims
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