From the Pointer Alumnus, Spring, 2009:

40 years of Trivia madness

The Pointer Alumnus Staff • Spring, 2009

In November 1969, 16 teams gathered to listen to 90FM, UWSP’s campus radio station, for 16 hours and answer five trivia questions each hour.

That weekend was the beginning of the iconic Stevens Point pastime simply known as “Trivia.”

Jim "the Oz" Oliva on the air in 1987

Forty years later on April 17-19, 2009, nearly 500 teams and 12,000 players – about 3,000 of them UWSP alumni - gathered to listen to 90FM for 54 hours straight, answering eight questions an hour on everything from TV sitcoms to laundry soap as part of the station’s fundraiser.

The source of all this trivial information is Jim “The Oz” Oliva, a CAP Services information technology director who was a 90FM DJ in 1979 when he took over writing the questions as well as the name “The Oz” from his predecessor, Steve Hamilton. He and his friend and local radio personality John Eckendorf have been co-writing the contest since 1989.

The two begin writing the first weekend in January, and continue every Saturday and Sunday night until they have 432 questions, 22 clues for the Trivia Stone, 2 running questions, 24 music snippets and 24 pictures for the New Trivia Times.

“John is the one with young kids, but I write all the children’s questions because I watch all the cartoons and the shows on the Disney Channel,” said Oliva.

Being the trivia “Oz” has its hazards. “People follow me around, looking for clues,” says Oliva, “especially this time of year.”

One year he bought 10 cans of Spam from a local grocery store as giveaways for a Trivia kickoff party. By the next day, not one can of Spam could be found in area stores. “More Spam sold in Portage County that year than in the whole state,” he said, all because the Trivia teams figured he had written a question about it. “I learned my lesson, and now I’m careful about what I buy.”

Technology has changed Trivia over the last 40 years. This year, more than 20 teams signed up to play exclusively through a live streaming Internet broadcast, including one in Rome and ‘Live from Afghanistan,’ a U.S. Army team that includes Stevens Point native Joe Anderson for whom Oliva waived the entrance fee.

1981 Trivia Champs

When use of the World Wide Web first became widespread, Oliva and Eckendorf tried to write questions that couldn’t be found on search engines. Now they just rephrase questions differently to make it harder to search for them, and they make the music sound bites shorter so recognition software can’t be used.

“But if we have a really good question that can be searched and found easily, we still use it,” Oliva said.

Trivia “went green” four years ago when 90FM teamed up with the Wisconsin Public Service Corporation to power the contest using NatureWise electricity. The station also recently upgraded their transmitter and broadcast pattern and now reaches teams in a wider radius.

Trivia has become a Point tradition because of the people who play it, says Oliva. “People tell me ‘This is my family,’ ” he said. Teams spend so much time together, with little sleep, that they can’t help become friends, he added.

His favorite memories are the fun times shared with the UWSP students who make up the 90FM staff, and the stories and expressions created before and during the contests.

Oliva says he’ll be organizing Trivia until he drops, or at least until it stops being a game for him. “It's an honor and a joy to know I can entertain these people for a weekend. Some people snowmobile, or go bowling. I write Trivia.” he said. “It consumes you. It is the thing I’m most proud of, but it is just a thing.”

Oliva has been recognized for his years of dedication to Trivia, as he won the Alumni Service Award in 2008.

What does the next 40 years hold? Oliva says he would like to see Trivia grow even further.

“I’d really like to have 20,000 players,” he said. “I wish it would really explode because it’s such a good time.”

History of Trivia

90FM Trivia began in November 1969, with 16 teams writing questions for each other and participating over 16 hours. The contest changed in 1970 when 90FM staff took over the question writing and again in 1974 when it became a 56-hour contest. In 1975 it became a 54-hour contest with eight questions an hour, and it has remained that way ever since.

A running question was instituted in 1973, offering players a scavenger hunt of sorts. In 1979 Jim Oliva, a local computer store owner and former teacher, took over writing the questions. He began naming the contest that year, and in 1980 created the trivia stone questions as a way to incorporate more Stevens Point trivia. Oliva continues to write the contest with his friend and local radio personality John Eckendorf.

The contest was legitimized when the station began requiring pre-registration, and team numbers have increased ever since. Players come from all over the United States and Europe to participate, and Trivia is listed in Chase’s calendar of annual events as the largest of its kind. Trivia has received media attention from USA Today, Voice of America Radio Network, Chicago Tribune and the BBC as well as mentions on the Tonight Show, the game show Jeopardy and the Associated Press.

Trivia themes through the years (1979-present)

1979       The Contest
1980       The Second Date (Year of the Robert Redford/Provo, Utah controversy)
1981       Year 12
1982       The Contest Continues (single call format adopted)
1983       E.T.: The Extra-Trivial
1984       The Year is Here
1985       Sweet Sixteen
1986       Welcome Back Trivia Comet
1987       Short and Sweet (53 hours due to daylight savings time)
1988       A Taxing Contest (Last year using point values assigned by question writers)
1989       The Anniversary Party (Trivia 20)
1990       Earth Games are Easy
1991       Year of the Palindrome
1992       Trivia or Dare: It’s Vogue (Almost 10,000 players on 454 registered teams)
1993       Trivia in Point (10,599 players, 483 teams. Scented cover of New Trivia Times)
1994       Trivia Park (11,836 players, 535 teams. Last year of Trivia Stone)
1995       The Six Million-Dollar Contest (Registration raised to $20. Music medley added)
1996       What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been (12,759 players, 563 teams)
1997       Mission: Trivia (Registration raised to $30)
1998       On the Road (Trivia stone reintroduced)
1999       Trivia like its 1999 (Trivia 30)
2000       Y2K: The Bug Strikes
2001       Trivia 32: Old Days
2002       Trivia 33: All in the Contest (11,300 players, 462 teams)
2003       Trivia 34: Survivor
2004       Trivia 35: Thanks for the Contest
2005       Trivia 36: Keep On Trivia
2006       Trivia 37: The Odd Contest
2007       Trivia 38: Trivia Returns
2008       Trivia 39: Trivia Invasion
2009       Trivia 40: Here’s Looking at You, Kid