In April 2020, Australia, along with much of the world, was in lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time in the league’s history, it opted to compete in a manner that did not involve the tossing, flinging or rolling of cods. Instead, the teams competed in an online game of Trivial Pursuit, and most commentators and players seem to agree that it went well.
After some initial resistance from a few players, there was widespread, though not universal, support for the interim arrangements. As one of the leading figures in sports administration in Australia, our president, Big Pineapple, appeared on the ABC’s Q&A programme to help to explain the initiative to the sporting public.
The Twitter feed that accompanied the broadcast showed just how important the great game is to the Australian sporting public:
WTF? I thought this show was called Q&A, not Q+A. It’s supposed to have an ampersand, not a freaking plus symbol. This is not some half-baked algebra lesson. This is not how I want my 8c per day spent. I demand the ampersand back.
Big Pineapple? What kind of a weird first name is “Big”? Were your parents always so cruel? Or is it some kind of sarcastic nickname because you’re actually challenged in some respect that we can’t see on TV?
Where’s that Jacquie Lambie? She’s got nice eyes.
Can you please tell Dyno Pizza in Launceston that we ordered our pizzas an hour ago and we’re getting real pissed off. Marty and Shaun. And garlic bread. They forgot the garlic bread last time. FFS hurry up!!!!!!!!!
As for the quiz itself, it went smoothly enough. All seven teams were represented and 12 players took part.
For the quiz, Rawalpindi Express convened a Zoom meeting, through which he showed a score sheet and the rules. He used an online die to randomise the selection of topics. There were two sets of questions, one with Reg and one with Serge, so no team had to ask itself a question.
SuperMario was formally cautioned twice by the stewards for removing items of clothing when his team got a question wrong.
In a close contest, the winning team was CWA, comprising Big Pineapple and Sir Justice Airwick UDL.
In his usual post-game interview, Serge was asked whether this format has a place in the AATBL and how the league would cope with temporary changes to the scoring and the ladder. Without missing a beat, he replied, “Well, look. It’s sort of like anything, really. I reckon we gotta, like, you know, hang in there and stuff. I mean, if we can’t, you know, get our shit together, I mean, what the fuck. I mean, like, you’ve got your bocce, and like there’s this coronavirus thing going down, so what are you supposed to do? So, yeah. Yeah. Thanks.”