Clever clogs
I really need to be more proactive in my blogging. I always try to watch University Challenge and was transfixed by Gail Trimble (above) from the first show she appeared on. Now of course she has at least temporarily been elevated to the position of celebrity, especially after her almost hustler-like performance in Monday’s final in which she only managed one (incorrect) answer in 20 minutes, but then proceeded to correctly buzz in on what seemed like 20 starter questions in a row to steer her Corpus Christi, Oxford team to victory. If I’d have written about her back when I first saw her (and if this blog had a readership, obviously), I might have actually been at the forefront of the debate rather than flailing around in its wake. Hey ho.
The reactions to Ms Trimble have been decidedly mixed. For all the deserved praise she’s received in some quarters for her quite incredible knowledge and powers of recall, there has also been some pretty vicious sniping at her perceived aloofness and privileged background.
I have to admit that my feelings towards Gail oscillated wildly during the course of her UC appearances, and could roughly be summarised as follows:
The reactions to Ms Trimble have been decidedly mixed. For all the deserved praise she’s received in some quarters for her quite incredible knowledge and powers of recall, there has also been some pretty vicious sniping at her perceived aloofness and privileged background.
I have to admit that my feelings towards Gail oscillated wildly during the course of her UC appearances, and could roughly be summarised as follows:
- Absolute awe (She’s almost single-handedly carrying this team! And how quickly does she nail those starters for ten?)
- Lust (Obviously. I am male.)
- Uncontrollable jealousy (I’m pretty good at quizzes, but this bitch is a million times cleverer than me!)
- Sympathy/kinship (Aww, the way she flicks her hair after every correct answer is so sweet! And she seems so pleased! Bet she’s a lovely, quiet person, just like me. Sigh.)
- Intense hatred (Look at the way she haughtily tosses her head back, and that grin is soooo smug! The toffee-nosed cow.)
Jealousy is a powerful mistress, and once it started to take hold all rational thought went out of the window. Her friends say she’s lovely and self-effacing in person, and why should I disbelieve them?
Besides envy, another excuse for all that negativity on my part is that her shows weren’t remotely exciting to watch. Hugh McIlvanny once wrote a piece in the Sunday Times saying that sport is only truly pleasurable when you’re watching someone at the peak of their chosen game. Personally, I would have to say that watching Tiger Woods win a major by a wide margin or Lance Armstrong blowing away the rest of the field on a climb is nowhere near as satisfying as watching a neck-and-neck contest between two evenly matched sides. When the stars align and both those things combine, you get something like the Federer-Nadal Wimbledon final from last year - true sporting nirvana.
Gail Trimble was simply streets ahead of the competition, and it made for seriously boring viewing. However, she entered the contest to win, just like everybody else. If her opponents weren’t good enough to make a proper game of it then whose fault is that?
Gail, don’t do the Nuts shoot (I don’t think there’s much danger of that, to be fair). And so what if the Sun showed up your lack of pop cultural smarts? I hope you enjoy your dalliance with mainstream culture. For your formidable knowledge, I salute you.
Besides envy, another excuse for all that negativity on my part is that her shows weren’t remotely exciting to watch. Hugh McIlvanny once wrote a piece in the Sunday Times saying that sport is only truly pleasurable when you’re watching someone at the peak of their chosen game. Personally, I would have to say that watching Tiger Woods win a major by a wide margin or Lance Armstrong blowing away the rest of the field on a climb is nowhere near as satisfying as watching a neck-and-neck contest between two evenly matched sides. When the stars align and both those things combine, you get something like the Federer-Nadal Wimbledon final from last year - true sporting nirvana.
Gail Trimble was simply streets ahead of the competition, and it made for seriously boring viewing. However, she entered the contest to win, just like everybody else. If her opponents weren’t good enough to make a proper game of it then whose fault is that?
Gail, don’t do the Nuts shoot (I don’t think there’s much danger of that, to be fair). And so what if the Sun showed up your lack of pop cultural smarts? I hope you enjoy your dalliance with mainstream culture. For your formidable knowledge, I salute you.
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