First Place: Steak Em Up 106

T-2nd Place: My Name is Buck 95

T-2nd Place: Duane’s World 95

Despite my best intentions, Steak Em Up was still able to emerge victorious at the JGT Summer Invitational. A wild card round unlike any I had ever hosted, in which teams had to smell and determine spices, did not do the damage I had hoped to the Steak, and they cruised to a 106-95-95 win over Duane’s World and My Name Is Buck. It was an interesting quiz, complete with crossword puzzles, strange smells, and the super smooth stylings of the Crowd Pleasers. And congrats to the Inglorious Barristers, who won the big drawing. All of the scores are below. I’ll have more of the questions and such later in the day Monday or early Tuesday…I have to get my wisdom teeth removed Monday morning, and plan on spending my day Monday in a codeine induced haze. I do have a few spice sniffing photos posted over on facebook. If you got any photos from the event, please post them there! And I had a couple of teams already ask me if we could do this again in the winter, so I think it was a pretty big hit. Here’s the scores.

1. STEAK EM UP 106
2. DUANE’S WORLD 95
3. MY NAME IS BUCK AND I’M HERE TO PARTY 95
4. UNUSUAL SUSPECTS 89
5. SHOWING OUR YOUTH 88
6. TOOTH WIND AND FIRE 86
7. I SLEEP IN A BIG BED W/ MY WIFE 84
8. L. RON HUBBARD’S DIABETICS 82
9. CLAUDIA KISHI FAN CLUB 78
10. LOOK UP LOOK DOWN 77
11. MAGNUS VER MAGNUSSON 73
12. INGLORIOUS BARRISTERS 72
13. CRAZED SEX POODLES 67
14. INSERT TOPICAL TEAM NAME 61
15. JEWS FOR TOM CRUISE 52
16. PORK FRIED RICE 51
17. THE FOUR CS 50

Here they are folks, our scores through 6 weeks (not including the latest physical challenges). With one week left to go, things are getting very interesting. A couple of things to note: first of all, word on the street is that the Jams will not be able to make it. That means that at least one team will move into the Top 10 who is not there now. Inglorious Barristers, My Name is Buck, and Big Bed With My Wife may want to really start thinking about some physical challenges. Doing a single physical challenge could be worth $200.

Meanwhile, I know that Narcotyzing also cannot make it (and I haven’t seen Newman’s own in weeks). That means that all of those teams right below the 25 slot have a chance to move up. In other words, even if you haven’t played yet, you are probably one win away from qualifying. This final week will be huge.

Here are the updated scores (heading into last night at the Westbury that is). And with two weeks left to go, man are things getting interesting. A couple of things that jump right out. First of all, the Physical Challenges are starting to have a HUGE impact on the standings.  Insert Topical Team Name Here has a mere two 3rd Place finishes to their name, and yet are now in the Top 10 and if the Invitations were sent out today would be in the running for the extra $200 prize. My Name is Buck and Look Up Look Down have also taken total advantage of the opportunity to land spots in the top 12 despite no first place finishes. There is a new physical challenge posted, and there will be another posted by the end of the week. With the 25th spot in the contest being held by 5 teams with a mere two points each, you could make the cut simply by doing a physical challenge. It looks like the fight for those last few spots in the Top 10 is going to be extremely intense. The difference between 8th place and 15th place is a mere 4 points. As for teams who haven’t scored yet or who haven’t played yet, you are still in the hunt. My team pulled a huge upset at Westbury, and while I don’t score any points, my teammates scored 5. That means, despite zero wins until this week, they are now almost certainly going to get an invite. All it takes is one win in the next two weeks, or really just a few physical challenges, and you too could be competing for a $600 purse.

Alright hombres, so we’re over halfway through the JGT Summer Invitational, and a few things to note. First of all, this thing is far from over. The next three weeks will be the most important. In addition to earning points at quizzo, I have offered up several opportunities to score points on facebook. It is extremely easy to score up to 4 points in the next 24 hours, and I will be offering new opportunities to score almost daily from now until the end of the contest.  Also, next week offers a grand opportunity to get right back in the mix, even if you haven’t even played yet. Details to come on Monday.

As for this week, well quite frankly things have been a little slower than in weeks past. What does this mean? It means that tonight could be a great chance to score some points. I think everyone went on vacation this week, so now’s your shot to make  a move. Ugly American at 8 p.m. Bards at 10:15 p.m. See ya tonight!

Here they are folks.  Steak Em Up has a comfortable lead, but then things get interesting. Mostly usual suspects at the top, but there are a number of teams just outside the Top 10 (actually 11) looking in. And with a several more wrinkles in the weeks to come, I think we could see a lot of movement in the Top 10 of this leaderboard.