Good team comraderie and some pre-game relaxation is always in order, as MONTE, TAFF and LMF illustrate.

Not to be outdone by TAFF, BILBO positions himself as a thorn between two roses.

We play Showdown very hard and strenuously. Often it is good to get an energy boost before the game begins. SETI gives TAFF a hand.

In addition to the local media, we even had a cheering section for the big game.

10 minutes before the championship game, DD Eggelton from NTN Canada presented the team with the District Trophy and the $1000 Regional Championship prize. Accepting the awards on behalf of the team are QBERT and our general manager, GARYD.

The customary pose for the hord of photographers. Joining us is Mike, the manager of the Inglewood Pub.

The championship game for the title and $10,000 is underway! Note the intense concentration on QBERT's face - he didn't want to let the team down that night. We missed scoring full points on one Countdown question. But the tensest moment came in the Pyramid question, a question about a capital founded by the Swedes. None of us knew the answer, but three of us (QBERT included) guessed correctly.

With the posting of the scores, the celebrations began. In this photograph, the television monitor shows QBERT at 62,737, the 5th best score in North America. The monitor also shows fellow team mates H HOG at #1 and GRSHPR at #3.

Now the individual scores across North America are posted. #2 is DINGO from Catbirds in Houston and #4 is BROOON from the Opium Nite in Winnipeg. Although the Opium Nite is one of our competitors, their high score did not belong to their designated playmaker. The celebrations begin in earnest!

As is customary in sports, we all took turns drinking champaign from the Regional Cup we won two weeks earlier. The champaign and munchies were provided compliments of the Inglewood Pub. Here WYVERN sips from the cup while CONAN provides encouragement.

The party lasted long into the evening, and needless to say, we did not play any more NTN that night. A mood of euphoria prevailed after weeks of intense play. Among those appearing in this photograph are MONTE, CONAN, KRYTON, QBERT, LMF and BILBO.

MYCRFT takes a break from his conversation with DOOGIE to pose for the photographer. To his right, LMF celebrates with KRYTON.

On May 25, 1999 Jac Zylstra, the Alberta NTN Regional Manager, was on hand to present the national championship cheque for $10,000 to the Inglewood Team. Here Jac presents the cheque to QBERT and Mike, the manager of the Inglewood Pub.

In reality, the prize money was distributed equally among all the team members since it was a team effort. Here Jac presents QBERT with the "real" cheque containing his winning share. Jac also presented each team member with a certificate and an NTN polo shirt. MONTE then gave each member a cookie with our photograph coated on the top. Both gestures were appreciated by us all!

Several weeks later the team reassembled for a group photograph to be sent to NTN Canada. Although they started playing with us near the end of the tournament and do not appear in this photograph, we appreciated the assistance of CHICO, HILO, LABATT and TAYLOR.

David Staples from the Edmonton Journal was present on May 11 for the championship game. A feature story written by him appeared in our local newspaper on Monday May 17.

[Back to QBERT's NTN Photo Album]

October 26, 1999