Gail Cline Allemand
November 10, 2011
Landry and Boustany agree on region’s needs
November 14, 2011
How many trivia groups exist in the world? Why does recalling data ranging from football statistics to historic settlements, or details about scientific micro-facts and religious traditions carry such interest among so many people? Where might one prepare to recall data and when do you know that the game is on the line? What is the meaning of all this and who thought of it anyway?
Dedicated trivia players are hard pressed to answer these questions, and on occasion other questions as well, but that is part of the entertainment factor.
Just ask the 30 or so participants that show up at the Terrebonne Parish Public Library on the second Sunday afternoon of every month to match wits, memory and even on occasion skill in friendly competition.
Presented as part of the Friends of the Library program, the trivia group, members are puzzled about not having an answer to not having a name, was initiated several years ago by retired Terrebonne High School English teacher Ken Royston.
Royston and his wife, Mary, who is known for the snacks she provides, function as hosts and facilitators.
“We started out as an activity with the old Downtown on the Bayou festival in Houma,” Royston said. “It was successful for a while then it got mixed up with a hurricane or two and they dropped it. They don’t do it anymore.”
Royston said the trivia group began meeting on a monthly schedule at the Coffee Zone Cafe. “Then we started having it here [at the library],” he said.
Retired salesman Michael Servantes is among the former New Orleans evacuees that were displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and made Houma their new residence. Not long after arrival, he found the trivia group.
“I don’t remember when I first heard about it,” Servantes said. “I just showed up one Sunday. They are such a nice bunch of people that I have been coming ever since.”
The library trivia group has what is referred to as regular play during their monthly meetings, but in May and October they up the competition with individual as well as team challenges in a triple-elimination contest.
By charging a minimal participation fee, prizes are purchased for game winners. Servantes said the May and October event team winners among this group will, “receive $1 million. They receive 10, $100,000 Grand bars. Then the second place received $500,000 and third place gets $300,000 [in correspondingly marked chocolate].”
Prizes also include gift certificates that may be used at Friends of the Library book sales.
Royston said that while none of their current participants have advanced to national audience competition, two former players had individually been on “Jeopardy” and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” before becoming part of this group.
While there are trivia clubs and leagues in various states, this gathering of competitors remains independent and plays just for fun.
“Most of our players do go to [competitive events] that draw around 600 people with six-person teams,” Royston said. “The ones from here come out consistently in the top four or five.”
Basic trivia competition involves general knowledge questions on a wide range of topics. “Not everybody in knowledgeable in all fields,” Royston said. “Some of them on occasion will find the questions impossible for them. We don’t make an effort to come up with questions we know they cannot answer.”
Servantes said that he has always enjoyed trivia and is surprised at times with his recall skills. He and Royston said that while there are those players that attempt research before a game, many do better relying on their memory.
“One thing we both do is read,” Royston said. “You can pick up a lot of information that way.”
Participants in the library trivia group are divided into teams (generally of four people each) who are given questions to answer by the facilitator.
From movies, to music, to sports, to mythology, to history, language and about any other topic available becomes subject to the minds of participants. While some players have areas of expertise, the teams of players generally pool their know how on reaching an answer.
The challenge itself offers satisfaction when it comes to trivia.
Unrepentantly stating a correct answer adds to the entertainment factor. Realizing you know something you were unsure about offers satisfaction after incorrectly addressing a question with what you thought for sure was the answer.
“It is an opportunity to exercise the brain and have a little challenge,” Servantes said. “Nobody takes it, well not quite nobody, but almost nobody takes it too seriously. It’s a lot of fun.”
Trivia players might say they simply do it for fun, but on occasion their serious loyalty is revealed. “I watch ‘Jeopardy’ religiously every day,” Servantes said. “In a sense you could say that is studying for trivia. There have been several times that questions have come up in our trivia games that have been on Jeopardy.”
Trivia-related games have been common for an uncertain amount of time. With the arrival of television a large segment of programs, ranging from the “$64,000 Question” to being smarter than a 5th grader, involve asking and answering questions.
Now dozens of trivia and quiz-related websites offer challenge and entertainment.
“In my case I’m always pleased and surprised when I drag something out of the back of my mind that didn’t even know I knew,” Servantes said. “There is a lot of satisfaction in that.”
Participants in the Terrebonne Parish Library trivia group, like trivia players everywhere, represent a wide range of ages and backgrounds that bring what they know, what they think they know and what the wish they knew. They contend that there are several correct answers as to why they participate.
“Trivia is timeless,” a statement from triviagroup.com said. “[It is] cross-cultural and enjoys a broad demographic appeal.
“Content is never outdated and can be re-proposed for multiple uses.”
Hmmmm.
We still might not know how many people play trivia, but answers to the related questions do seem a little more obvious.
Preparing for trivia competition is not as much about doing research as it is about observation say Ken Royston (left) and Michael Servantes as they brush up their general knowledge with a little reading at the Terrebonne Parish Public Library. MIKE NIXON
