“Yesssss!!!”

I do not mind a bit of celebration. There is nothing wrong with reacting positively to a perceived success. Except this was in Bangor at a student pub quiz and the quiz master had just confirmed that in golf an ‘Eagle’ is in fact the same as ‘two under par’. If you are celebrating this, then you have clearly set your expectations at the low end of the spectrum.

Just moments before I had corrected the quiz master by explaining that it was Rodney King, not Rowan, who was beaten on camera by the LA police. He was genuinely surprised, and blamed his wife’s handwriting. I do not know if the guy who celebrated his Eagle answer knew the answer to this question or not.

I sat at the bar reading Peter Kaye’s autobiography, killing time until it was time to go to bed, as the quiz continued around me.

“In what year was Shergar kidnapped? 1983, 1985 or 1987?” asked the quiz master in the numbers round.

Yes, strictly speaking the answer is a number, but I would suggest this was more History or even Sport. The girl next to me at the bar said, “How am I supposed to know that, I was even born in 1987″.

I have never felt more old in my entire life. We had exchanged smiles just seconds before, and now I felt like a dirty old man. A dirty old man that knew the answer was 1983, but a dirty old man nonetheless.

As more and more questions were asked, I could not help but notice that the dumbing down of University education that I have read so much about appeared to have spread to pub-based entertainment. “Water contains two hydrogen atoms, and one atom of what?”, and “Who is the current Chancellor of the Exchequer” were just two examples of the questions that led me to believe that the scores were going to be very high indeed.

Eventually the results were announced.

“And so to the scores, firstly in third place, and winning 6 cans of lager, is the Rude Girls with 34 points!”. I had counted 8 rounds, most with 10 questions, so conservatively I thought there had been 60 quesions. And 34 had earned a place on the podium. Unbelievable.

“In second place, with 38 points, and winning 8 cans of lager are the Norfolk Enchants!”

“And the winners, with a commendable total of 40, are Kate’s Bush, who win a £10 bar voucher and a bottle of wine!”

I honestly feel I could have won that quiz on my own, and probably would have done if it hadn’t been for Peter Kaye.

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