Back in the good old days of black and white TV there was a weekly show, the College Bowl, that pitted two panels of trivia experts from US colleges and universities head to head against each other. Forty years ago I was a sparring partner for the University of Wisconsin team that won five in a row against such intellectual powerhouses as Clarkson. There was some thought that I should have been on the UW team, but there was that awkward matter of academic probation. I learned the hard way that there are consequences associated with blasting off to San Francisco and cutting final exams. Kids: don’t do it. A 1.6 GPA limits your high end possibilities.
Still, I’m glad I went, even if my televised team mates did go on to become university presidents and law school deans and all I got was the stinking t-shirt. I digress…
Checking into the hotel we were overrun by intellectual adolescents here for the 2005 National Academic Quiz Tournament high school championship. This is too cool. I’ll have to watch the final rounds!
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It is amazing how many flashbacks bloggers have provided for me. Yes, yes, yes, The College Bowl, back when even the scoreboards were mechanical not electronic and the world could truly be seen in black and white.
One of my outstanding childhood memories consists of one Sunday evening when my family went to a LIVE studio airing of College Bowl.
I was maybe 8 or 9 years old. Back in those days it was a true honor to be studious, jam-packed with knowledge, and College Bowl turned great schools into future goals for slews of children.
This was so long ago that most of the adult men in the audience wore a jacket and tie. After all , this was live TV, and who knows who –across the country!– might be tuned in?!
And back then, a long distance call cost something like a dollar a minute.
Gee, thinking all the way that far back is causing parts of me to ache and wish for pain relievers!!!!! Oh, never mind, not to worry, it is just my brain.