I have to start with an apology to my fellow alpacas. This is one of those quizzes with a meta theme, but hopefully, it is relatively accessible. I know that more than a few of you are current or former quizbowl players, so hopefully I will be forgiven for this.
This quiz is a special quiz dedicated to a friend. David Riley (1956-2015) is the late, great quizbowl coach from Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois. David was a great coach, and was the recipient of the Ben Cooper Award, the highest national honor for a coach in quizbowl. Among his many honors for his lifetime of work in working with young people, particularly in quizbowl, he was awarded an honorary commission as a Kentucky colonel (being that Kentucky was his home state).
David was also a teller of tales, and according to himself, he met a great many and diverse famous people in his life. Are these stories true? Maybe (I guess we will never know). In honor of my friend David (and he was friend to more than a few Llamas and Alpacas), here are 12 questions related to the stories we have collectively termed "Great Moments in Riley History".
| Rank | Player | Total | %ile | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
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| Money Value (% Incorrect): | 06 | 04 | 04 | 15 | 27 | 60 | 09 | 34 | 51 | 37 | 22 | 22 | |||
| 1 | MichaelT | 912 | 95 |
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| 1 | AdelmanM | 912 | 95 |
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| 1 | HallR | 912 | 95 |
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| 1 | chc | 912 | 95 |
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| 1 | BurgerM | 912 | 95 |
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| 6 | randalleng | 905 | 90 |
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| 7 | KelsoT | 898 | 88 |
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| 8 | SusannahBrooks | 888 | 86 |
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| 9 | StahlhutJ | 887 | 85 |
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| 10 | WeikleB | 856 | 83 |
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| 11 | usuiw | 839 | 81 |
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| 12 | gregariouschinchilla | 829 | 79 |
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| 13 | JeziorskiM | 820 | 78 |
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| 14 | KreitzerJ | 813 | 76 |
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| 15 | MarcotteM | 808 | 74 |
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| 16 | ChrisRosenberg | 766 | 72 |
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| 17 | RichmondJ | 761 | 69 |
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| 17 | ChernicoffS | 761 | 69 |
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| 17 | BradburnA | 761 | 69 |
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| 20 | BoyerA | 759 | 65 |
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| 21 | Sharpj | 758 | 64 |
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| 22 | ElendilPickle | 733 | 62 |
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| 23 | DohertyC | 728 | 60 |
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| 24 | elfm | 726 | 58 |
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| 25 | SpoeriJ | 725 | 57 |
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| 26 | StaleyO | 719 | 55 |
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| 27 | JordanG | 718 | 53 |
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| 28 | MattinglyD | 710 | 51 |
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| 29 | GrubbC | 705 | 50 |
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| 30 | AllenJ | 691 | 48 |
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| 31 | PruettC | 681 | 46 |
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| 32 | ConnorA | 678 | 44 |
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| 33 | GoldsteinB | 662 | 42 |
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| 34 | quarterrican | 653 | 41 |
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| 35 | FrankJ | 629 | 39 |
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| 36 | FrankensteinP | 614 | 37 |
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| 37 | GrahamJ | 591 | 35 |
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| 38 | BandoleroEl | 561 | 34 |
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| 39 | MangaserA | 546 | 32 |
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| 40 | DoyleE | 526 | 30 |
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| 41 | FarleyS | 517 | 28 |
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| 42 | CarterBurke | 509 | 27 |
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| 43 | FrostL | 505 | 25 |
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| 44 | DBrick | 503 | 23 |
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| 45 | RosenbergR | 491 | 21 |
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| 46 | musicguy595 | 475 | 20 |
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| 47 | WeaverL | 467 | 18 |
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| 48 | AdamK | 461 | 16 |
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| 49 | Vintsanity | 454 | 14 |
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| 50 | MilesTeg | 451 | 13 |
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| 51 | AmmermanA | 438 | 11 |
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| 52 | TaylorMA | 430 | 9 |
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| 53 | HoH | 429 | 7 |
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| 54 | BatchelderD | 415 | 6 |
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| 55 | HightB | 414 | 4 |
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| 56 | jefe | 400 | 2 |
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| 57 | dott888 | 384 | 1 |
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When David was a young man in Louisville, Kentucky, David claimed that he (maybe) and his brother once played catch with this man. In David's boyhood, this man was a relatively young and was playing baseball for the Local 9 across the river in Cincinnati. Name this man who eventually belted out over 4,000 career hits.
While living in New York, despite being a student and university librarian at NYU, David claimed to have lived in an apartment building with members of this baseball team. Presumably the building was staked out by DEA agents, and was not home to Gary Carter or Daryl Strawberry.
Back as a novice librarian in the Louisville public library, David claimed to have worked with the former Virginia Ray Davison, who on 18 July 1937, gave birth to this man. This man's 1970 article for Scanlan's Monthly entitled "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" is considered the first work of Gonzo Journalism. Identify this ne'er do well friend of John Kerry and Johnny Depp who wrote Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
While living in New York, David claimed that he was in a record store (back when record stores existed), when members of this band came wandering into the store for reasons. Members of this band have included Anthony Kiedis, Hillel Slovak, Jack Irons, and Michael Peter Balzary (though he is known by a shorter name). This band's hits include "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie", "Tell Me Baby", "My Friends", and "Give It Away".
David claimed that a highlight of his life (as it would be for any opera aficionado) was meeting this woman. In 1962, this woman became the first Australian to win the Grammy for outstanding classical performance by a vocal soloist. Luciano Pavarotti dubbed her the Voice of the Century. While she was likely an exceptional talent, she spent much of her later years complaining about young people and foreigners (Riley would complain about young people, but was no racist). Name this Australian opera singer who was not Dame Melba, was not related to an actor named Donald, but was nicknamed "La Stupenda".
While in New York, David once met this man, the proprietor of Grampa's at Bleecker and LeRoy Streets. This man is known very well in New York for his far, far left politics, this man managed over 50,000 votes as the Green Party candidate for New York governor in 1998. At age 64, Howard Stern had to stop him from repeatedly yelling "F@(& the FCC!" at a Howard Stern Freedom Rally in 1987. Identify this man of many talents, likely best remembered for his role as a vampiric Grandpa on the television series The Munsters.
David once claimed that, while window shopping in New York, he literally ran into this woman, almost knocking her over. In 1954, 13 years after retiring, she was given an honorary Oscar, but this notable recluse never came to the ceremony. A noted art collector in later life, this Swedish born actress made her American debut in the 1926 silent film Torrent. She was the star of the 1932 Best Picture Grand Hotel, and went on to play the title characters in Mata Hari (1931), Anna Karenina (1935), and Ninotchka (1939). Identify this actress who was able to jump from silent film to talkies, but preferred to be left alone in solitude.
David told the story of being on a road trip with friends when their car had engine trouble. When they went to the nearest house to ask to phone for help, this person opened the door. Her one-time partner and now wife, Jane Wagner, wrote this woman's Tony Award winning show, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. This woman received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2014, and her film debut in the film Nashville earned her an Oscar nomination. Name this woman who won the 2003 Mark Twain Award for American Comedy.
Riley once claimed that he was riding on a bus just in front of this actress and noted atheist. This actress essentially slowed her career after the 1940s when she grew tired of playing racial stereotypes. Born with the first name "Thelma", she later legally changed her first name to that of her given nickname, a nickname a lepidopterist would approve of, and one given for her performance of a particular ballet in a 1934 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Identify this actress whose best known role was as the maid Prissy in Gone With the Wind, a role in which she famously delivered the line "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!"
While David was at NYU, he once showed up for work at the Fales Library on a Saturday morning in sweat pants and a t-shirt, only to be mortified when actress Paulette Goddard showed up, asking to see part of her late-husband's literary collection that she had donated to the school. No, it wasn't Burgess Meredith or Charlie Chaplin (both of which were her ex-husbands), rather it was this guy whose works include The Dream Room and Three Comrades. Name this writer whose most famous work Im Westen nichts Neues is usually translated as All Quiet on the Western Front.
David claimed to have attended a tea where this man and his wife, Noor (the American born Lisa Halaby), were the guests of honor. In 1994, he became the first Arab leader to recognize Israel and not get assassinated. Identify this late former monarch of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, who reigned from 1952 to 1999.
Termed "The Ultimate Moment in Riley History" is the time David and some friends were hiking near Cavendish, Vermont, and came across this literary immortal out for a hike. Riley claimed that this man invited them back to his chalet for tea and conversation. Identify this 1970 Nobel Laureate in Literature who wrote The Gulag Archipelago.