From the Portage County Gazette April 12, 2002:

Trivia buffs will soon overrun Point

By CHRIS RANDAZZO
of  The Gazette

Soon they'll be everywhere. Staying at our hotels, eating at our
restaurants and even swarming our streets. Trivia 33 is set for
Friday through Sunday, April 19-21, so this quiet little city will
be overrun with trivia buffs from across the country.

Jim "The Oz" Oliva, the man who has been writing the trivia
questions since 1979 (with the help of John Eckendorf for the
last 14 years), said he expects to have between 10,000-12,000
participants in the contest this year.

Oliva warned that this year's contest would be even wilder than
usual. "This year John and I have decided to put the pedal to the
medal. All weekend the throttle is going to be pulled all the way
out," said Oliva.

The theme for this year's contest is "All in the Contest" and was
chosen as a tribute to Carol O' Connor of "All in the Family"
fame. 

The contest itself starts at 6 p.m. on Friday and ends at midnight
on Sunday after 54-straight hours of trivia. However, a couple
of events are planned as warm ups for the contest.

At midnight on Friday and Saturday, April 12-13, the Trivia
Kickoff Movie, "Amelie," will be shown at Rogers Campus
Cinema. Doors open at 11:15 p.m. Each year a number of the
trivia questions come from the movie.

Oliva said that initially the Trivia Movie was going to be
"Brotherhood of the Wolf," but that he changed it at the last
minute because it was too violent and not appropriate for the
whole family. Oliva said the mix-up was the result of someone
unfamiliar with Trivia at the theater picking the movie. They
acted quickly when they found out about the problem he said.
"They went way above and beyond to help us."

Both of the movies are in French with English subtitles. Oliva
said that he stuck with a subtitled movie because people who he
had told about his original choice told him "Gosh, I've only got
two weeks to learn to read" and he didn't want their hard work
to be a waste of time.

He said that "Amelie" is a light-hearted romantic comedy that
will "give all the guys in the contest a chance to get in touch with
their feminine side."

In addition to the movie, a kickoff parade will take place at 4
p.m. on Friday, April 19. The parade runs through the
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point campus to Goerke Park. 

"Come and see the parade, it's the most fun you'll have before
the contest," Oliva said.

In order to participate in the event, a team member must register
at the 90 FM WWSP studio, which is located on Reserve
Street on the UW-SP campus, Monday through April 15-18,
from 3 to 7 p.m. Registration is $30 per team. Those interested
in participating in the Trivia parade can register during those
same hours.

During registration, and during the contest itself, a variety of
Trivia merchandise, including sweatshirts, T-shirts, mugs, caps
and Christmas Ornaments will be available. All proceeds from
Trivia go to the general maintenance of 90 FM WWSP.

In addition to being broadcast on 90 FM, the contest will be
televised on Student Television channel 10 in the Stevens Point
area, on cable access channel 3 in Wisconsin Rapids and, for
the first time, on the cable access in Wausau.

Oliva said that he and Eckendorf have been working on the
trivia questions, which number more than 400, every Saturday
night since the first week of January, and only finished up a of
couple weeks ago. He said he has no real idea where they get
their inspiration from "It's one of those things that just happen,"
he said.

He said that coming up with the questions is harder than most
people think, pointing out that he'll usually take pages of notes
from a movie before making a question based on it. "It's not like
we're only watching two or three minutes of something and
making up a question," he said.

He added that they were working hard to take the advantage
away from those who are Internet savvy by picking questions
that aren't likely to show up on Web sites. "Trivia's not about
sitting at a computer and typing in question after question," he
said.

Oliva said he's not sure why Trivia has attracted such a
following. "I don't know, it's like asking 'what's the meaning of
life.'" 

He did hazard a few guesses though. He said that some do it as
a family activity and for others it may be the only time that they
make a point to get together every year.

He said, for some, it may be the music, pointing out that during
Trivia 90FM plays around 1,600 songs, while most commercial
radio stations only play 400-600 songs in a week. "Nobody
plays a lot of the music we use, especially the '50s stuff and the
swing from the '40s," he said.

One thing Oliva was sure about was that he plans to keep doing
this for a long time. Has he ever thought of giving it up? "Hell no.
I'm waiting until I get old," he said. "I gravitate toward being
wacky and this is a great outlet for it. The closest thing to it
would be teaching junior high, which I did for ten years." 

More information on the contest is available at Oliva's Web site,
www.90fmtrivia.org.