Amongst the members, volunteers and friends of RBBG, there are several keen quiz-enthusiasts, (as you may have noticed). We were rather spoilt, recently, being invited to two events, on two consecutive days.

  On Friday, November 11th, the venue was at a Rainham School and was held on behalf of the charity, Hi-Kent, sponsored by Sainsbury’s. Our team comprised Norman W, Chris P, Patsy B, Ev and Hans F. There were between 25 and 30 teams taking part.

  After the first couple of rounds, we thought our score was well below par and estimated that we would be lucky to finish in the top half. However, after four rounds, it emerged that we were in 3rd place, which was welcome news. There were eight rounds, in all, and we became progressively confident of a good finish. The interval round promised a good score, as we felt that we had answered most, correctly.
At the end, the quizmaster announced the final scores of all the teams in ascending order ... we waited and waited, but did not hear RBBG? At last, David pronounced that there were two teams that had finished with a score of 80 points, us being one. There would be a tie-breaker, so we chose Ev. We could confer, but the chosen representative would have to call out the answer.

  “In what position did the Russian footballer, Lev Yashin, play?” Hans whispered the answer .Goalkeeper’, to Ev, but before she could call out, our rivals’ delegate chimed in with the same answer, thus winning the title, an individual prize for each member and – best of all, a cup presented by Sainsbury’s – well done, to the victors as well as to RBBG, the runners-up. Things could have been so different, had we not been railroaded into making ‘Food and Drink’ our Joker round – which cost us several precious points ... Thanks, Chris.

  The next evening, Saturday, November 12th, the five who had featured in the thrilling affair, on the previous day, were joined by Brian and Sandra M, at Chatham Bowls Club, where we had enjoyed victory, at our last two visits. There had been a possibility of Eddie, the quizmaster, not being able to run the quiz, as the club’s p.a. system had failed, but at the last minute, he had found a replacement.
There are always opportunities for cheerful banter and heckling, when Eddie is at the helm, and this was to be no exception. He works very hard to prepare quiz questions, but (either by chance or design) there were a handful of cases, bringing waves of laughter from all quarters. What we have to remember is that the man with the mike is always right – even when he is wrong. Even without help from the master of ceremonies, though, quiz teams find reasons to squabble about the occasional question or answer- as was the case on these particular evenings.

  Hans was so distraught at his team-mates refusal to accept his answer to one question (“Which is the hottest planet, in the solar system?”), especially when his offering was correct, that he threatened to pick up his football and go home. His little sulk returned when he was, once again, outvoted for the team’s choice of Joker round. He had opted for the round on ‘Science’, whilst the team chose ‘Words’. He felt vindicated, when RBBG scored a maximum on his preferred round, whilst managing only nine points on the majority choice.

  As it happened, these odd instances mattered for nought, as team RBBG slipped in to win – by a single point. Well done, team, and thanks again Eddie for a great evening. Finally, the answer was: Venus (and not Mercury).