2005 Mordecai Richler Memorial Trash Open

Round 5

Toss-Up Questions:

1. He signed a contract with owner Charles Weeghman of the Chicago Chi-Feds in 1914, but backed out of it before playing any games in the Federal League. In 1916 he lost 20 games, even though he had an ERA of only 1.89 that year. As a manager, he took over the Indians in 1933 after four seasons in charge of the team for which he played for twenty years. He was the Most Valuable Player of the American League in 1924, when he led his team to a World Series, and in 1913, when his 36 wins, 1.14 ERA, and 243 strikeouts earned him the Triple Crown. FTP, name this great pitcher, who retired in 1927 with the all-time strikeout record, the greatest player ever to wear a Washington Senators uniform.

Answer: Walter Johnson

2. Five years after their fourth album, Waiting for the Punchline, appeared, they released a greatest hits album entitled “An Accidental Collision of Atoms.” Their third album features the songs “Seven Sundays” and “Tragic Comic” and is divided into sections entitled “Yours,” “Mine,” and “The Truth,” which are the “three sides to every story” mentioned in the album’s title. They also went the high-concept road with their second album, which includes “Decadence Dance” and “Get the Funk Out” in its depiction of the quest for love in a fallen world. That album, Pornograffiti, features their two biggest hists, “More Than Words” and “Hole Hearted.” FTP, name this band led by guitar wizard Nuno Bettencourt, whose goal was to take hair metal to the limit.

Answer: Extreme

3. When he was only 21, he wrote and directed a documentary about the history of mining, Coaltown. In his most recent film, he played a man who discovers a plan to sell eggs laced with nicotine. That film, Mr. Accident, appeared in 2000, seven years after his second feature film, which starred him as a video store owner and bank robber. Reckless Kelly appeared five years after his best-known film, in which the title character finds a way to put bubbles in beer by splitting the beer atom. FTP, name this man who changed his name from Greg Pead before beginning his film career in Australia, the auteur behind Young Einstein who once unsuccessfully sued the Internet corporation Yahoo!

Answer: Yahoo Serious (accept Greg Pead before it is mentioned)

4. In one of his novels Congressman Evan Kendrick goes undercover to save a group of hostages in Muscat, a deed that is exploited by the secret society known as Inver Brass. In another novel, Michael Havelok learns that his lover Jenna Karats might not be dead, and in yet another, longtime enemies Brenand Scofield and Victor Taleniekov unite to take down the titular criminal organization. Those novels are The Icarus Agenda, The Parsifal Mosaic, and The Matarese Circle, but he’s now best-known for his trilogy about a different agent. FTP, name this author of numerous espionage novels, including three about superspy Jason Bourne.

Answer: Robert Ludlum


5. When his team retired his number he was the third player to wear it and the second offensive player, the other being defensive back Lem Barney. His brother was also a football player and had a 1000-yard season in 1988 as a running back at Northwestern. He was picked right behind Tony Mandarich in the draft but two spots ahead of Deion Sanders. This happened after his junior season, the first year he didn’t back up Thurman Thomas and the year in which he ran for 2,628 yards to win the Heisman. FTP, name this running back selected third in 1989 out of Oklahoma State, the NFL’s third all-time rusher after a 10-year career with the Detroit Lions.

Answer: Barry Sanders

6. Two versions of this song can be found on the debut record of the band that recorded it. On that album, track 2 is the “dirty” version which uses the word “fucking,” while track 13 is “clean.” An acoustic version of this song is the last track on the band’s EP My Iron Lung, which was released between Pablo Honey and the band’s first big album. This song’s title figure wants to have control, as well as wanting a perfect body and a perfect soul. He feels that he is less special than another figure, who is said to “float like a feather” in a “beautiful world.” After asking “What the hell am I doing here?” the title figure concludes that he doesn’t “belong here,” because he is a “weirdo.” FTP, name this song about a man with an inferiority complex by Radiohead.

Answer: “Creep”

7. He played Josh in a 2001 TV movie about a boy who fights a brain tumor, The Miracle of the Cards. Earlier, he starred as Jack Morgan in a TV movie about a man who leaves his fortune to his dog and his dog’s psychiatrist. In addition to You Lucky Dog, he appeared for three years on a WB sitcom in which he played an artist who has to care for his three siblings while his parents live in Europe. More recently, he has starred as Buck Williams in such films as Tribulation Force, World War III, and the original Left Behind, though his finest work probably came as Dexter Riley, who somehow acquires the knowledge of an entire encyclopedia, in The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. FTP, name this good Christian and mediocre actor, the step-brother of Valeri Bure who played the son of Jason and Maggie Seaver on Growing Pains.

Answer: Kirk Cameron

8. It begins with your character on a train and the first characters you encounter are Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge. Others you meet along the course of your journey include Professor Gast and Hojo, and you move through such locales as Nibelheim, Cosmo Canyon, and the Gold Saucer. The first character to join your party does so in Midgar, and after Barrett joins Aeris quickly follows. The game concludes with your final defeat of the Shinra and Sephiroth. FTP, name this game in which you control Cloud Strife, a member of Square Soft’s best-selling role-playing series.

Answer: Final Fantasy VII

9. In a scene deleted from this movie, we learn that the protagonist has contempt for Pomona and its Sage Hens. In a key early scene, one character is seen reading The Naked Ape in a crowd while flirting with the protagonist. The protagonist is unenthused about attending Cal State-Dominguez Hills, where her former boyfriend goes. The epic final scene takes place in Daytona, where the Rancho Carne Toros finish second to the Clovers. Ian Roberts’s performance as Sparky Polastri, the shifty choreographer, may be the finest work in this film, though as the Pantone siblings Jesse Bradford and Eliza Dushku also do a good job. FTP, name this film which stars Gabrielle Union and Kirsten Dunst as opposing captains of cheerleading squads.

Answer: Bring It On

10. Tourist attractions in this state include a ruined castle located in Ha Ha Tonka State Park near Camdenton. The Downing House commemorates Ella Ewing, who was known as this state’s “giantess” because she was 8 feet, 4 inches tall. Sumner calls itself the “Wild Goose Capital of the World,” while Laclede was the boyhood home of John Pershing. In Liberty, the Jesse James Bank Museum commemorates the nation’s first daytime bank robbery. The Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival is held annually at Sedalia, while a large western city is home to the Americna Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, as well as some notable barbecue. FTP, name this state which also features the International Bowling Hall of Fame, the Lake of the Ozarks and the Gateway Arch.

Answer: Missouri

11. She is the main spokesperson for Bimbo Bakeries, particularly its Orowheat brand of bread. In addition, she has recently launched Axcelerate, her own line of women’s active wear. She is now a student at the University of Arizona, having officially retired from competition. In August 2004 she unseated Kobe Bryant as the #1 searched for athlete on the web, just a few days after she surpassed Anne Poleska and Liesl Jones to achieve individual glory. She first came to fame for the teddy bear she brought with her to competitions in Atlanta in 1996 as a 14-year-old. FTP, name this American winner of seven Olympic medals, mostly in the breaststroke.

Answer: Amanda Beard

12. The U.K. version of their debut album featured a woman’s bare bottom and hip with a leather-gloved hand resting on it. The U.S. version featured an abstract design and replaced an earlier song with the planned B-side “When it Started.” Their lead singer is the son of the longtime chairman of the Elite Modeling Agency and his distinctive vocals can be heard on songs like “Soma” and “Barely Legal.” “Modern Girls and Old Fashioned Men” doesn’t appear on either of their albums unlike “12:51,” the headline single from their second album Room on Fire. FTP, name this modern rock band headed by Julian Casablancas, whose Is This It included the hit “Last Nite.”

Answer: The Strokes

13. The opening scene of the movie Live from Baghdad has Iraqis in a theater watching this movie, whose soundtrack includes “Drop Kick Me Jesus” and “It’s a Cowboy Lovin’ Night.” Its alternate title of Beneath Perfection is a reference to its setting of Perfection, Nevada, which is also referenced in the subtitle of the second of three sequels to this film. Finn Carter plays Rhonda, a graduate student who is investigating seismic anomalies, and true comedy is provided by Mr. and Mrs. Gummer, a pair of survivalists with a massive weapons arsenal who are played by Michael Gross and Reba McEntire. Fred Ward is one of the pair of heroes who must defeat a group of four “graboids.” FTP, name this 1990 comedy/monster flick starring Kevin Bacon and featuring some giant tunneling worms.

Answer: Tremors


14. It has been accused of being part of a Nazi plot to take over America because the font in which its name appears, “Blippo Black,” was derived from a Bauhaus font. In its uncarbonated form, it is allegedly an aphrodisiac for squirrels. It first appeared in 1972, and remained the same until 2001, when a “bolder” version of it was introduced with the name “Xtra.” This product, which begs that you “put it in your head,” was originally named “Peppo,” but after a lawsuit the name was changed. FTP, name this carbonated beverage made by Coca Cola, which has been described as the “poor man’s Dr. Pepper.”

Answer: Mr. PiBB

15. With one of its first round picks, Dallas selected Uwe Blab. Mario Elie was chosen by Milwaukee in the seventh round, well after diminutive future superstars Michael Adams and Spud Webb were selected. With its second round pick, Washington went for Bridgeport center Manute Bol, who had inexplicably been passed over in the first round in favor of such future luminaries as Alfredrick Hughes, Keith Lee, and Washington’s earlier pick, Kenny Green. It’s hard to say who made the stupidest selection this year: Atlanta made Jon Koncak the #5 pick, one spot ahead of Joe Kleine and well behind #2 pick Wayman Tisdale and #3 Benoit Benjamin. FTP, name this NBA draft in which Joe Dumars and Karl Malone were drafted after Big East stars Chris Mullin and Patrick Ewing.

Answer: the 1985 NBA draft

16. He is diagnosed with a problem after the doctor reads The Great Gatsby to him and he can’t answer any questions. He later ends up leading a band that opens for Phil Collins, but jealousy leads Phil to lie to Skyler and cause the band’s break up, leaving this character lead singer of the Lords of the Underworld no more. That same season he attempts to train a turkey named Gobbles, but fails miserably. He is disappointed when his former rival takes steroids to compete in the Special Olympics and tries to tell Mr. Mackey as much. FTP, name this character voiced by Trey Parker, a handicapped adolescent on South Park based on the University of Chicago’s own Mr. McElroy.

Answer: Timmy

17. After serving in a navy band in Hawaii, he joined the bands of King Kolax and Joe Webb, with whom he played the alto saxophone. He changed instruments to work with Eddie Vinson, but went back and forth before committing to the instrument for which he is best known as a member of Johnny Hodges’s group. He played in one session with Thelonious Monk’s quartet after being fired from a better-known quintet, which he had joined in 1955, displacing Sonny Rollins. In 1960, he would form his own group with such artists as Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner, with whom he made such albums as Selflessness and Impressions. FTP, name this great jazz saxophonist, whose other works include Giant Steps, A Love Supreme, and My Favorite Things.

Answer: John Coltrane

18. Armillaria is more commonly known as the “honey” or “oak” variety of this item. “Puffballs” are commonly referred to as the breakfast ones, while the Shaggy Parasol variety is known for its fragile gills, and the Fairy Ring for its sweet flavor. A peppery flavor characterizes Enoki ones and those with sea-derived names include the Lobster and Oyster varieties. Those popular in French cuisine include the Chanterelle and Morel, while the most popular Italian kind is the Porcini and Chinese cuisine often features the Shiitake. The Portobello is also a type of, FTP, what class of often-edible fleshy fungi?

Answer: mushrooms

19. The singer’s mother watches too much television – “All My Children in the daytime, Dallas at night” – such that he “Can’t even see the game at night or the Sugar Ray fight.” The singer’s son thinks it’d be cheaper if he just got a job and “learned to be a street sweeper” because he doesn’t want to go to school “cause the teacher’s a jerk . . . and all the kids smoke reefer.” Its first verse describes living conditions with the lines “Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice / Rats in the front room, roaches in the back” and the opening statement “Broken glass everywhere / People pissing on the stairs.” The famous chorus declares “It’s like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder / how I keep from going under.” FTP, name this groundbreaking social rap by Grandmaster Flash.