From the Stevens Point Journal March 5, 2007:

Excitement for Trivia 38 begins to build

It's never too soon to start thinking Trivia.

Even though Trivia 38 is still more than a month away, contest lovers can discuss, debate and enjoy everything trivia whenever the feeling strikes, thanks to a new forum posted online at the Trivia home page, www.90fmtrivia.org.

Contest writer Jim Oliva said this is the third and best attempt yet at having a trivia forum where players can post.

"This one's good," Oliva said. "There's some really cool things going on with it."

Photo: With Trivia 38 more than a month away, contest organizer Jim Oliva is busy preparing for the contest. Journal file photo

Oliva cites an e-mail sign-up and distribution system that is 800 subscribers strong, as well as his ability to operate and control the forum as two improvements from past years.

Despite his busy schedule co-writing the contest, set for April 20 to 22, and taking part in a musical, Oliva said he occasionally does find time to take a look at what people are saying.

"Instead of pushing bamboo shoots under my fingernails, yes, I read the posts," Oliva joked.

Contest fanatics currently are discussing everything from what the ideal trivia playing house would be like to how to handle and possibly convert your non-trivia-playing friends. Oliva said his favorite post was a conversation about whether the Grocery Bag Giveaway held at the top of every hour is rigged. Posters claim the answer to question one of hour 32 in last year's contest was Rufus Wainwright, the son of Loudon Wainwright III, who had a well-known Top-40 hit called "Dead Skunk." The winner of the giveaway just prior was a team called Dead Skunk, New Stinkhole. This was too much of a coincidence for some players.

"It's my favorite because it's so ridiculous," said Oliva, who confirms all winners are picked randomly by a computer.

Oliva said he's not surprised by the popularity of the forum, "because people don't have lives, just like me," he joked.

As trivia nears, Oliva, contest co-writer John Eckendorf, and WWSP-FM (89.9) radio staff members begin to busy themselves preparing for the "world's largest trivia contest."

"The closer trivia draws, the more the pressure comes on," said WWSP production director Shawn Connelly. "No other college radio station in the nation has this kind of opportunity to have this heavy of a listening audience.

"It's a time of reunion and just plain fun," Connelly said. "For many, it is the staple of their entire year, bigger than Christmas."

To say Trivia is a staple of Oliva's year is an understatement. He has given up skiing, seeing his parents at Easter and being with family on his birthday to write the contest. And even though he doesn't look it, at 61 years of age, Oliva has begun to contemplate retirement from the contest. He said he has picked an age to retire, and it is somewhere between 62 and 83 -- the age at which Bob Barker plans to retire from "The Price is Right." But he's not telling.

"I don't think I'll be on my deathbed saying, 'If only I could have written one more contest,'" Oliva said.

But for now, Trivia lovers can take solace in the fact that he's not going anywhere yet.

"It's a hobby I have, and I like doing it," he said. "I don't know what I'd do without it."