COLT Round 4
Questions by Mike Bentley with contributions from Dave Letzler, Jerry Vinokurov and Jeremy Eaton
Tossups


1. The hero of this film blames “that Cobain pussy” for ruining music and declares “I hate the fuckin’ ‘90s”. The hero also spends time working at a job where he compares the freshness of egg salad to monkey’s breath. One scene in this film sees the protagonist oversleeping a dinner with his daughter after snorting cocaine in a bar bathroom the night before. The protagonist quits his job at an (*) Acme after yelling, “hey lady, you want some fucking cheese? Get your own fucking cheese!” and intentionally cutting his thumb on a meat saw. In one scene, Necro Butcher asks the hero if he’s okay being stapled. It concludes with the hero struggling to finish off The Ayatollah due to his bad heart. Its theme song asks, “Have you ever seen a one-trick pony in the field so happy and free?” and was recorded by Bruce Springsteen. For 10 points, name this film where Mickey Rourke is Randy “The Ram” Robinson.
ANSWER: The Wrestler
2. A vigilante alter-ego of Lester Buchinsky ran afoul of Batman by using this power to kill criminals. Beasts on the planet of Korbal bestowed control over this power to people like Ayla Ranzz. It’s not the power possessed by Sin, Cobra, or Viper, but the fourth member of the (*) Serpent Squad wears a suit that gives him mastery of this power. On the ‘90s Superman animated series, former radio talk show host Leslie Willis gained the power to manipulate this phenomenon. The alter-ego of Elias Wirtham uses his heart to control this power, doing so under the guise of Cardiac. A Teen Titan with powers over this phenomenon is the alter-ego of the Ghana-born Virgil Hawkins, aka Static. For 10 points, name this power possessed by comic characters like Eel, Livewire and ZAP!
ANSWER: Electricity [or Lightning or Electric Shocks or Electromagnetism or equivalents]
3. Andy Katz once wrote an ESPN article titled, “Who is Frank Matrisciano and why is he trying to kill [this player]?” USC forward Leonard Washington was once ejected for hitting this player below-the-belt. In his final college season, he fell one short of David Robinson’s record for double-doubles on the season, and Utah’s (*) Luka Drca was once suspended for two games for flagrantly tripping him. His older brother now plays for Belgacom Liège but was once a college teammate of his. He put up 33 points in his team’s victory over Michigan in the second round of the 2009 NCAA tournament. He was both a college and professional teammate of guard Willie Warren. This man was drafted ahead of players like James Harden and Hasheem Thabeet, and he played for two seasons under coach Jeff Capel at Oklahoma. For 10 points, name this 1st Overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft, a star for the Clippers.
ANSWER: Blake Griffin
4. The original version of this song begins with the singer, “humpin’ my bluey” and was popularized by a man who’d get in trouble for having sex with Cherly Holdridge, a 16 year old Mouseketeer. A version of this song used in advertisements for the Choice Hotel group has the actor “seeing clients face to face” and “[getting] a flashy rental car”. The intro to this song describes the narrator hitchhiking until “along came a (*) semi with a high canvas load” whose driver “asked me if I’d seen a road with so much dust and sand”. The original version was a hit for Lucky Starr and had lyrics mentioning Tullamore and Seymour in Australia. The final verse in the American version ends with the words, “Dodge City”. Popularized by artists like Lynn Anderson, Hank Snow and Johnny Cash, for 10 points, name this song that chronicles the singer’s travels to places like Reno, Chicago and Fargo.
ANSWER: “I’ve Been Everywhere”
5. In this actor’s most famous TV role, he fires a kid who lied about receiving an award in the same episode a doctor tells him he has cancer. In another episode, this actor has trouble sleeping because of a bird while his co-workers deal with Charlie Hume’s daughter being trapped on a plane with bad landing gear. He played an ex-cop named Walter Kovatch on the second season of The Trials of Rosie O’Neill. Alongside Billy Bob Thornton, he had a supporting role as the father of Markie Post’s political reporter on the ‘90s sitcom, Hearts Afire. A recurring (*) Leno bit asks the question, “Does This Impress [This Actor]?” Earlier, he played the superior of people like Murray Slaughter and Ted Baxter at WJM-TV before getting his own spin-off working as editor of the Los Angeles Tribune. For 10 points, name this actor who played Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and voiced Carl in Up.
ANSWER: Edward “Ed” Asner
6. Note: Event and either its number or the teams playing in the event are required. One interception for a touchdown in this game was nullified when Keith Hamilton was called on a weak holding penalty. The winning quarterback in this game sat for a few snaps after suffering a broken finger in the third quarter. Although the losing team defeated their opponent 41-0 in their previous playoff game, in this game they punted a (*) record 11 times and only twice crossed the 50 yard line. After beating cornerback Jason Sehorn, Patrick Johnson dropped a touchdown pass on his team’s second possession. Near the end of the first half, a throw intended for Ike Hilliard was picked off. Roy Woodson declared his desire to make this game a shutout, and its MVP was not given a chance to appear in the annual “I’m Going to Disney World” commercial, so QB Trent Dilfer got to record the spot instead. For 10 points, name this Super Bowl between teams led by Kerry Collins and Ray Lewis.
ANSWER: Super Bowl XXXV [35] [or the Super Bowl between the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants; “Super Bowl” not needed after mentioned]
7. This man played a father who, after being released from a mental institution, enlists Evan Rachel Wood to help him dig up gold beneath a suburban California neighborhood in one film. He teamed up with Hal Holbrook and other judges to personally punish criminals the legal system failed to prosecute as Steven Hardin in The Star Chamber. Robert Downey Jr. played a literary agent interested in a novel written by his student, played by (*) Tobey Maguire, in Wonder Boys. In another film, he falls for Sydney Ellen Wade, a lobbyist played by Annette Benning who tries to get him to pass a climate bill. His best known character attacks the CEO of Teldar Paper for making America a second-rate country. This actor starred as Andrew Shepherd in the Aaron Sorkin-written film The American President. For 10 points, name this man who played Gordon Gekko in Wall Street.
ANSWER: Michael (Kirk) Douglas
8. One videogame entry in this franchise sees Kiko help the protagonist breach the Phoenix International headquarters and features a multiplayer level in Drake’s Castle. Another game in this franchise contained an original song by Mya and centered on a nuclear waste eating nanobot developed by a character voiced by Heidi Klum. That game allowed the protagonist to use his namesake sense to stop time and was the successor to (*) Nightfire. The most popular game based on this franchise featured a bonus mission at the Aztec Complex and saw the protagonist jumping off a dam in the first level. That game also included weapons like the Klobb and PP7. Including entries like Agent Under Fire, for 10 points, name this franchise, whose most popular game got a spiritual successor in Perfect Dark and was an adaptation of the film Goldeneye.
ANSWER: James Bond 007 [accept either underlined answer]
9. The singer imagines renting a room in a four-star hotel in an Of Montreal song about a honeymoon in this city. A street from this city titles a recent Michael Ondaatje novel about a poker player named Coop. Besides that novel, Divisadero, Rachel and Essence are relatives living in this city on UPN’s Half & Half. This city “[lets] no stranger wait outside your door” according to “your wandering one” in a theme song popularized by Judy Garland from a 1936 film. In 1967, (*) Scott McKenzie scored a #1 hit with a song titled for this city. The NFL franchise in this city was the first one at which George Seifert coached, and, in the Star Trek universe, this city is the home to Starfleet. Characters like Stephanie and DJ live with guys like Uncle Jesse on a show set in this city, Full House. For 10 points, name this city that you may want to put a flower in your hair when visiting.
ANSWER: San Francisco
10. A show titled for a woman with this surname saw that woman declare, “it smells like work” while working on the “slime line” and attempting to find enough gold to give her mother a present; that show also saw her bothered by pesky new neighbor Joe McGinniss. A woman with this surname guest-starred as Amy on “Which Way Did She Go”, an episode of a show centering on teens like Ricky Underwood and Amy Juergens. A cross-over episode of one program saw (*) Kate Gosselin and her kids go camping with a family with this surname. A woman with this surname lost to people like Kyle Massey and Jennifer Grey and was partnered with Mark Ballas on one reality show. For 10 points, give this surname of a woman who finished 3rd on Season 11 of Dancing With the Stars and a woman who once went fishing with her daughter Piper on the “Mama Grizzly” episode of her namesake Alaska reality program.
ANSWER: Palin
11. The speaker on one of their early tracks declares, “them devils wish they could send me back to Mogadishu” and notes “I got the vocab”. On another track, one member compares herself to Nina Simone, defecating on your microphone, and notes, “You can’t run away from these styles I got”. The first verse of one their hits describes how “Blackula comes to the ghetto, jacks an Acura / Stevie Wonder sees crack babies becoming enemies”. They’re best known for a cover that describes a man who (*) “sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair / and then he looked right through me as if I wasn’t there”. One group member had solo-success with “Ghetto Superstar” and is named Pras Michel. This group was briefly reunited to play at Dave Chappelle’s Block Party. For 10 points, name this group behind “Killing Me Softly With His Song”, comprised of Wycleaf Jean and Lauryn Hill.
ANSWER: The Fugees
12. David Denby criticized the pointless constant rain in this film, postulating that it was to obscure the special effects. Roger Ebert, who called watching this movie at Cannes “like attending a satanic ritual in St. Peter’s Basilica”, was disappointed that the mayor and his aide, named for himself and Gene Siskel, were not killed off. A (*) cameraman nicknamed Animal is almost crushed to death while filming in this flick. Early on in this movie, a fisherman runs for his life after the title character starts destroying the pier he’s standing on. Co-starring Hank Azaria, the hero begins this film studying the growth of earthworms near Chernobyl and eventually meets back up with a TV reporter played by Maria Pitillo. The title character is seemingly killed by a torpedo from a nuclear submarine, but had laid eggs in Madison Square Garden. For 10 points, name this 1998 film starring Matthew Broderick and a famed Japanese monster.
ANSWER: Godzilla
13. On Oscar Night, two Chilean documentary directors discuss their lives in one of these restaurants in a work from Shorts by Alberto Fuguet. This chain expanded in Florida by purchasing many Sambo’s restaurants and also purchased the Winchell’s Donuts chain in the ‘70s. Tetsuya meets Mari, the younger sister of a girl in an especially deep sleep in one of these restaurants at the start of Haruki Murakami’s After Dark. David Koechner appears with guest-stars like Sarah Silverman in a series of webisodes promoting this chain titled (*) “Always Open”. This brand offers a “BBBLT” on its Baconalia menu and in the ‘90s paid out millions to settle a class-action lawsuit regarding discrimination against African Americans. Offering items like the Moons Over My Hammy and a 2-4-6-8 value menu, for 10 points, name this restaurant chain that gives out free Grand Slams on your birthday.
ANSWER: Denny’s Diner
14. One founding member of this band would release two solo albums with the title Skinny Boy and at one point joined Gerry Beckley and Carl Wilson to form the band, America. Their first hit states, “it’s just that the thought of us so happy / appears in my mind, as a beautifully mysterious thing”. Another early track by this band sees the singer “starring blindly into space / (*) getting up to splash my face”. Their resurgence in the ‘80s produced a hit where the singer says, “I want to have you hear me saying ‘No one needs you more than I need you’”. This group behind recorded a ballad where singer and bassist Peter Cetera begs “no baby please don’t go” since “you’ll take away the biggest part of me”. For 10 points, name this band, whose legion of hits include “Saturday in the Park”, “25 or 6 to 4”, “You’re the Inspiration” and “If You Leave Me Now”.
ANSWER: Chicago [or Chicago Transit Authority]
15. Pitching prospects in this team’s lower minors system include the recent Tommy-John subject John Lamb of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals and Jake Odorizzi, the latter of whom’s teammate Wil Myers is also considered a top-10 MLB prospect. Coming into this season, its AAA affiliate was widely considered the best minor league team in the country, and has succeeded despite the poor play of Mike Montgomery behind homegrown hitters like Lorenzo Cain and Clint Robinson; that team is the (*) Omaha Storm Chasers. Before their call-ups, Omaha also got help this season from Jeremy Jeffress--acquired in the trade where they ditched Yunieksy Betancourt for Alcides Escobar--as well as Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer. For 10 points, name this AL Central team whose minor-league talent belies its major league ineptitude, who traded Zack Greinke over the offseason and currently star Billy Butler.