As you folks know, there’s nothing I love more than a side hustle, and whoa boy do I have one now! I’ve been working my ass off for the past year for no money and a whole lotta heartburn, but NOW is when it (hopefully) pays off*. The 2022 season starts this weekend, and we’ve got a whole lot of fun in store. Let’s be honest, this will be the only time in pro sports history a doofus like me will ever be allowed this close to the gears of power, so I’m going to take it for all it’s worth. But we gotta succeed this season for me to wield by PT Barnum-inspired powers in the future. And this season starts on Saturday.

And I thought we should open the season at a grocery store. Well technically, we open in Boston, our watch party will be at a grocery store. And not just ANY grocery store, the kickass Giant on 23rd and Arch. Have you been there yet? It’s insane. 40 beers on tap that you pour yourself, a Mission Taqueria, sushi, wine, and a spectacular terrace where we’ll be watching the game! The weather looks great and we’re gonna have a blast. We’ll have a projector screen set up, and I’ll be hosting a special trivia faceoff at halftime. If you’re gonna try to make it out, be sure to go to our event page on Facebook and RSVP. See ya Saturday!

***I’ll bore you with all of the details of the crazy past year later, but in the meantime, you should sign up for my Insider Email. You should also be sure to follow us on Instagram.

Last week we learned that Zsa Zsa Gabor was married 9 times, that John Lennon sang backup on “Fame“, and that llamas can swim. What will we learn this week? Find out by coming out to the quiz. Times are below.

And remember, we’re always available for private events. Also be sure to sign up for the weekly newsletter to see what else we’re up to. See ya this week!

MONDAY

Loco Pez 7 PM

TUESDAY

Founding Fathers 8 PM

WEDNESDAY

Dock Street South 8 PM

THURSDAY

Deli at Dwell (with JGT) 7 PM

Birra (with Carl) 8 PM

In honor of one of the greatest Americans of all time, Jackie Robinson, we’ll be raising money this week at quizzo for the Anderson Monarchs with a 50-50 raffle during all of my quizzes. The Monarchs 12-and-under team is set to go to Cooperstown this summer to participate in a summer baseball camp with 40 teams from across the country, and we’re going to help raise the money to send them there. Then we’ll also be donating 30% of all sales from Thursday-Sunday at Shibe Vintage Sports to the Monarchs. So play some quizzo, buy some great gear, and support a great cause! Schedule is below.

MONDAY

• Loco Pez (Barring catastrophic ankle injury) 7 PM

TUESDAY

• Founding Fathers 8 PM

WEDNESDAY

• Dock Street South 8 PM

THURSDAY

• Deli at Dwell (I’ll be hosting) 7 PM
• Birra (with Carl) 8 PM

The third annual April Madness is here, and this year with a twist. Carl wanted to call it “April Mayhem” but that’s because, despite my ongoing efforts to teach him the importance of tradition and pageantry, he just can’t seem to get it through his head. This is the third annual April Madness! You can’t change the name of something when it gets to the third year! But he’s running the damn thing so in an effort to make labor peace maybe we’ll call it April Madness Mayhem. Or would it be April Mayhem Madness? Anyways, we’re masters at branding. Here are the details of whatever the hell it is:

8 games, starting the week of April 11th (NEXT week!), ending in early June.

All quizzes will be 4 rounds, in breakout room sessions only, on Tuesday & Wednesday nights (you play one night/week). This will be the same as JGT’s weekly quiz.

The first 5 weeks will be the “regular season” for seeding purposes. Then week 6 is when the MAYHEM begins…

Teams will be “PAIRED” with their inversely-seeded counterparts for a 3-week MAYHEM series. In other words, the top-seeded team will have their scores combined with the bottom-seeded team’s, the 2nd-seed’s with 2nd-to-last-seed’s, etc. The two teams with the highest combined score after those 3 games take the 1st place prize. No need for consolation brackets- literally every team will have a chance to win the championship!

REGISTER HERE. Please note that Venmo & PayPal payments should go to Carl now (Johnny got flagged as an oligarch).

SIGN UP FOR YOUR WEEKLY SESSIONS HERE. If it is truly impossible for your team to play on Tuesdays at 9 or Wednesdays at 7:45, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Carl, and he’ll try his best to work something out.

Hope to see you next week!

A first on Monday night as Carl was all set to fill in for me at Loco Pez…until he stepped in a pothole when he was a block away and sprained his ankle so badly he had to go to the hospital to have it X-rayed. We’ve never had a player miss a game due to injury…unless you count that January 2nd in like 2010 when my New Year’s hangover resulted in me not being able to get off of the couch and James Hesky needed to fill in at North Star. Anyways, Carl was able to hobble on crutches to the Founding Fathers last night to host there (I had a private gig at Chick’s). I will be back in action at Dock Street a 8 PM tonight (Wednesday). Taryn will be at Deli at Dwell on Thursday at 7, and Hopalong will host at Birra at 8 on Thursday. See ya this week!

Other News and Notes:

• This won’t be on the quiz, but here are 10 fascinating facts about potholes.
• I’m sending out an Insider email from the Phoenix later today. A fun opportunity to write some longform. Sign up here, you’ll enjoy it.
• I’ll catch up on our IG winners today. Be sure to follow us there.
• We’re having an A’s pep rally Happy Hour at Shibe on Thursday at 5:30, with drinks from Pennsylvania Libations!
• We’ll be tailgating in the Jetro Lot on Opening Day, with beer provided from our friends at Second District!
• April Madness is back! Click here to learn the details and get your team signed up.

Good week o’ quizzin’ last week; big upsets at Dock Street and Deli at Dwell, and all of the Savage Garden questions you could handle (one). You can see last week’s winners here. As for this week, here’s our lineup:

MONDAY

Loco Pez 7 PM

TUESDAY

Founding Fathers 8 PM

WEDNESDAY

Dock STreet South 8 PM

THURSDAY

Deli at Dwell (with Taryn) 7 PM

Birra (special guest host JGT) 8 PM

It’s back, and it’s badder than ever! And as always, totally free to enter. Some great prizes this year:

• 1st place – $100 gift card to Shibe Vintage Sports and two Pro Pack season tickets to the Philadelphia Phoenix. 
• 2nd place – $50 Founding Fathers Gift Card plus 2 free tickets to Phoenix game of choice
• 3rd place – $25 gift card to Founding Fathers Bar
• 50th place – $50 Shibe Gift Card
• 100th place – $25 Shibe gift card 
• All participants – Receive 25% off your next purchase at Shibe Vintage Sports

Wanna play? Just go here, sign up, and we’ll give ya the link. Best of luck!

A day late on this, but after a good night at Loco Pez last night, let’s get it rolling. Here’s our schedule for the week. No quiz at Birra this week, will return next week. Just to set the scene: Founding Fathers and Dock Street will probably both be packed, at Deli at Dwell there’s definitely room. Congrats to Bing Bong, who won last night at Loco Pez. See ya this week!

TUESDAY

Founding Fathers 8 PM

WEDNESDAY

Dock Street 8 PM

THURSDAY

Deli at Dwell (with Taryn) 7 PM

First of all, there’s just one quiz tonight. No quiz this week or next at Birra due to Restaurant Week. But there is still quizzo at Deli at Dwell with Taryn. That starts at 7. Other news:

• I was featured in an Inky piece about how the pandemic impacted quizzo yesterday.
• New Friday Five drops tomorrow. Be sure to sign up here.
• I wrote a piece in today’s Inquirer stating the case for not bringing back Center City Sips.
• I’ve started a once a month Insider newsletter for the Philadelphia Phoenix. You’ll enjoy it. Sign up here.
• I wrote a piece last week for Billy Penn shredding Major League Baseball owners.
• We’re starting to get new gear in for spring at Shibe Sports. And remember, you always get free shipping with the code “quizzo”.

I friggin’ love this stuff. The Winter Warz regular season is over and the playoffs start next week. You can check the final standings here. But more exciting to me than the final standings are the brackets. I love brackets. I think they’re sexy. I love some of these first round matchups, and I’m excited seeing some possibilities for Round Two. Some storylines to keep an eye on:

• A possible Sofa Kingdom vs Cool Cats and Kittens second round matchup? Sign me up.
• L. Ron has had a disappointing season, but we know what they’re capable of. Are they going to give Boyz II Menehune a fight in Round One?
• Defending Champs Sons of Sam only outscored their potential 2nd round opponents, Yacht Rock, by .34 points. Will they be able to get past them and into the Finals?
• Super Spreaders vs Quizteama Aguilera in the 2nd round has Instant Classic written all over it.
• In the first round, I’m damn intrigued by the battle of the clubs: Babysitter Fight Club vs Texas City Players Club.

Good luck to all of our teams! Looking forward to finding out who our Cinderellas are this coming week!