Some may say it was the women's synchronized diving on TV. Some may say it was the possibility of rain. Jim says it was because he was absent. Whatever you say, last night was a quiz for the regulars at Coops. An intimate, speedy affair on for the real quiz junkies. But with only six teams to compete against, no one stepped up to steal the glory from Research and Synchronized Drowning. It would take a return of Legion of Doom or Alpha Denim to tear down these champs, though On Your Markus, Get Set, Go! can and will beat them, just not tonight.

Here are the champs:

Check out the intimidation in the eyes of the SNL guy!

And here are the contenders.

Next week, folks. Next week.

But look! Look who landed in third! Nine times! Holy shit.

Three is twenty-seven.

Fornicating Leads to VD and Hoof Hearted (get it?) deserve honorable mentions.

Here are the standings:

Research and Synchronized Drowning   68
On Your Markus, Get Set, Go!         58
Nine Times                           51
Fornicating Leads to VD              47
Hoof Hearted                         44
Just the Two of Us, We Can't         44
     Make it if We Try
Fighting Mongooses                   34
Beer Me                              24

See you next week!

With no jokers at play until the eighth round, last night's quiz was a last-minute upset with last week's champs, Five Percent Nation of Lumps in My Oatmeal, losing their solid hold on first to the revived Research and Canadian Decapitation. Here they are, refreshed and returned:

Let's hope decapitation is never common.

Last night also saw the not-so-triumphant return of Tantor. And in second, we have a team I don't recognize, The Bucking Sham Wows!.

This has to be some Buckingham reference.

Tied for second, we have ay With Gavin. Wonder if they mean MacLeod.

And wrapping it up in third, there's Love and Cheddar.

So happy together.

Here are your scores:

Research and Canadian Decapitation           66
The Bucking Sham Wows                        64
Markus Ran Away With Gavin                   64
Love and Cheddar                             60
Five Percent Nation of 
     Lumps in My Oatmeal                     57
Please Spank Your Quizmasters                56
Nine Times                                   55
Fun and Failure Both Start the Same Way      52
Tantor Returns                               52                            
The Crackheads                               51
Idiots Savant                                51
The Anthrax Suicides                         47
Team VD                                      45
Cake or Death                                44
Beijing Air Quality                          35
Thing 1                                      31

There you have it, folks. See you next week.

Holy god atop the golden arches! We have a a brandie new winner from a team of newbies. And not only did they win, but they slaughtered with an 18 point spread. Embarrassing, regulars, embarrassing. You gonna sit there and let this team pounce you in your own house? Ladies and chumps, I give you, The 5 Percent Nation of Lumps in My Oatmeal:

Free beer next week to the first person (other than folks on the team) that can post the name reference in the blog.

Despite early ribbings for having the longest team name ever while they were lower ranked, Our Engaged Friends Registered for a $200 Gravy Boat ... Fuck That Shit! tied for second with only two players. Impressive.

You know, gravy boats ain't cheap, ladies.

Reseach and Da Vinci tied the ladies for second. Are they climbing back to first? Stay tuned.

There's lots of D's in the alphabet.

Last night also saw the return of East Coast Bias, though not very triumphant. TV REPORTER FROM EAST COAST BIAS WHO SAID HE KNEW OF A JOB OPENING AND WOULD EMAIL ME INFO LAST NIGHT. PLEASE EMAIL ME INFO! Thanks. Nine Times, however, are climbing to a win.

And scores:

The 5 Percent Nation of Lumps in My Oatmeal     74
Our Engaged Friends Registered for a 
$200 Gravy Boat ... Fuck That Shit!             56
Research and Da Vinci                           56
Markus Got Run Over by a Segway                 55
Nine Times                                      54
Team VD (Godmother Edition)                     54
The Mental Recession                            54
Laid Off Friday = Drinking on Sunday            52
Daddy's Soul Donut                              50
Fighting and Fornicating                        47
Smarty Pants Circle Jerks                       45
Team Ausgezeichnet                              39
Sweet Canadian Mullet                           37
East Coast Bias is Back                         35
Executive Decision                              19           `     

See y'all next week!

What a damn special quiz last night. Most supremely, we had an appearance by the unofficial Coops quiz mascot, Markus. Each week at least one team honors him in its name and last night the mighty one played under I Am Here. And while he was a great sport, he demanded free beer to be photographed with the winning team, which should be a prize for both Markus and the team!

Here are the winners, Alpha Denim Recruits.

Markus of course is to the far right. In the photo, that is.

Last night also saw the reformation/reunion of the original Frosties, last night as Frosted 12BBCC12 Commandos. Many were flashed. They "came" in second.

Not crossing but covering.

Third place went to somewhat of a Frosty spin-off, Taking the Little Guy up the Poudre.

Make sure the little guy wears a raincoat!

You'll notice in fourth we have Johnny Research and the Dialtones. What happened, R and D? This competitive team has been struggling as of late.

Last night also saw the return of Nine Times and The Crackheads. Great to have you.

Scores:

Alpha Denim Recruits                                    69
Frosted 12BBCC12 Commandos                              65
Taking the Little Guy up the Poudre                     63
Johnny REsearch and the Dialtones                       60
The Crackheads                                          57
Not Worth Mentioning                                    55
Nine Times                                              54
I Am Here                                               51
I'd Like to Twinkie Suzy Q's Ho-Ho with my Ding Dong    48
Why Isn't Markus on Our Team?                           47
Fuzzy Llama Fighters                                    37

See you next week!

Last night at Coops was all about Stephen King. Those that did well in this Round 4 landed at the top of the pile; those that did not, like the bottom five teams that all scored one point, ended up at digging a hole difficult to climb from. The best example of this is, sadly, Team VD. The troopers held first until King's round and never recovered. They're spin-off and apparent rivals, Fighting and Fornicating ranked to spots above.

Best team name of the night, 1st Degree Nerder, landed in second, while usual leaders Research and Djibooti got stuck in third, mostly for really blowing their jokered eighth round.

Another usually competitive team, the Markus team, tonight playing as Markus is Lonesome Tonight, totally bombed, landing in first place for least amount of points. But there were only two players.

The big winners were Alpha Denim Recruits. They deftly passed on their usual Round 2 joker and did so in the eighth round, where they scored 14 points, tied with Nerder.

Here're the weiners:

No, this photo was not hand painted. It was sent over a phone. But check out their hair!

Next week Jim will be back, I assume, and so will my camera. Till then, scores:

Alpha Denim Recruits               73
1st Degree Nerder                  69
Research and Djibooti              60
Fighting and Fornicating           54
We Love Toast                      52
Team VD                            51
Team Less-Than-Awesome             49
Drive-by Giraffe Punchers          48
Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem   44
Markus is Lonesome Tonight         43

Last night was the night of splintering teams but with no success. Team VD had a team playing with the proper name (uh, Team VD) and a splinter team, Fighting and Fornicating (Traitor VD Edition). As with TV spin-offs like "The Jeffersons" to "All in the Family," the original in this case was better than the spin-off.

But our other splinter groups, break-offs from the Markus team, were divided by gender lines. We had Markus Prefers Men's Pocky" staffed by the ladies. Markus Sausage-fest was, of course, made up of dudes. And these dudes took third, even with the ladies holding their Pocky.

Can you find the Men's Pocky?

Tied for second, and wearing homemade team pins, we find Research and Demolition Derby.

These guys are crafty.

R and D tied with a newly named team, George says: Fuck Dat Shit!. We're not sure who George is or what that shit is he wants fucked. But good luck with that!

Sorry so blurry, George, the camera was a bit tipsy. Fuck dat shit!

And finally, our new champions and best team name of the week, Don't Quiz on the Electric Fence.

This team has an arsenal of team names.

Here's how it all worked out:

Don't Quiz on the Electric Fence              62
George says: Fuck Dat Shit!                   61
Research and Demolition Derby                 61
Markus Sausage-fest                           58
Team VD                                       57
Too Hot to Frost BCC Cupcakes                 56
Fighting n Forncating (Traitor VD Edition)    56
I Don't Wanna Pick It                         55
Markus Prefers Men's Pocky                    53
Guilty as Charged                             46
Tom Selleck's Mustache                        44
Awesome                                       43

So, three Frosted ladies showed up as Too Hot to Frost BCC Cupcakes. They wouldn't explain what the BCC stands for, saying I should know. Does anybody else know? Can someone explain?

See you next week, when Jimbo won't be there!

As promised from the depths of the interwebs, a little about our Aussie friend Chopper:

Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read (born November 17, 1954), is an Australian former-criminal, author, and celebrity. Convicted of many crimes including armed robbery, firearm offenses, assault and kidnapping, Read spent a mere 13 months outside prison between the ages of 20 and 38, then went on to become a successful author of crime novels, selling in excess of 500,000 copies of his works. More recently, he has also found success as a recording artist.

Thanks, Wikipedia. Although, I’m kind of disappointed. I expected more from a ‘serial killer’ who gets the nickername Chopper.

Josh and James were off hippying it up at some big love fest this weekend, but I brought my own brand of love. Lovely single ladies. They might not be bridesmaids, but that doesn’t mean they're not in the mood for lovin. My matchmaking efforts inspired a winning name from team Markus is Single Too! who took the lead after round one and never looked back. This mythical Markus also inspired Research and Dan is with Markus who finished in a very respectable 4th place finish, boosted by their knowledge of 60s movies. Markus let this be a lesson to you, if you could tear yourself away from Match.com for 3 hours on Sunday night, the magic could happen. You missed your chance buddy. So sad. Maybe next time.

To the pictures!

Scores:

Markus is single too!                  67
Alpha Denim will pump you up           65
Turd Ferguson in a Big Hat             62
Research and Dan is with Markus        61
VD: No VD: Truffle Shuffle Edition     60
Were you surprised?  Twas surprised!   59
The Corndogs                           46  
We onomatapeia'd our pants             38
Rockin Freakapotomous                  35
From Away                              18
Accidental Pullout                     14 

The dog days of summer have started at Coops last night. Only the most serious quizers attended, some with their fathers. The fathers, however, were of little help to the teams, at least when all was said and done.

The big winners were, no surprise here, Research and Dangerfield: We don't get no respect!. Well, that's not true. With so many wins under their belt they command respect. Here they are:

These guys are serious. Seriously. Beat them, somebody.

In a semi-close second, we find Team VD (no edition edition, apparently). Do you guys even have the "V" anymore? And a VD member won the email bonus question.

In third, Markus Is My Baby Daddy. Will Markus ever come again? Can we get a picture of him? When are you due? Any use for seaweed?

Research and Dangerfield                      72
Team VD                                       66
Markus is My Baby Daddy                       63
Pull My Finger                                62
Alpha Denim Pancake Breakfast                 60
Double Tigers                                 54
Our Dads Don't Love Us Enough 
to Come to Quiz                               46
Spokespersons for the Humane Treatment 
of Inanimate Objects                          39

Spokespersons for the Humane Treatment of Inanimate Objects had the name of the week, clearly. And come back, Pull My Finger!

The Alpha Denim Recruits, now playing under their summer name Alpha Motherfuckers, dominated last night. A perfect, and jokered, Round 2 set them in the first-place slot early on and they ever wavered. Here's the team to beat:

No, really, they fuck mothers.

Research and Direct to DVD, an extraordinarily competitive team, really blew it for much of the quiz last night, only landing in third after a Round 8 joker that was too little too late. This team, however, has perhaps the best diversity of knowledge of any team playing at Coops. Look at this motley crew:

This is geek potpourri.

No, really, their choads are long and winding.

What the hell happened to the Markus team, this week Markis is in Vegas ... PLaying Chess? Jesus Christ, that's a Team VD score! And where the hell is Mmm...pants!?

Congrats to Hoosiers Daddy Mamma for showing up! ;)

FINAL SCORES

Alpha Motherfuckers                          83
The Long and Winding Choad                   78
Research and Direct to DVD                   73
Hosiers Daddy Mamma                          67
Team VD "The Outbreak Continues and 
We Have Candy" Edition                       67
Really, Really Ridiculously Long Team Name   63
Inappropriate                                63
Markus is in Vegas ... PLaying Chess         63
Team Brink                                   56

Geeks will return next week. Tell your friends.