Power Up

Storm Amy whacked our power out for two days last weekend. Which means that for once I have a good excuse for not getting round to writing my review of Imperial vs Churchill. Of course, I could have written it before the power went out, but I didn't realise that we were going to be sent back to the dark ages for quite so long.

The Internet and phone signal were also down before you go saying that I could have tethered my phone to my laptop and written it that way. Not that my phone would have had enough charge to do that, because I was not expecting to be without power for two full days.

We went round to a neighbours house for a playwriting workshop, which was supposed to be in a community building, and then made a fire in the evening. It was a charming weekend, other than the fact that everything in the freezer had to be used as soon as the power came back on. And even that was alright because it ensured that we meal prepped.

My Bad

I've just realised that the storm was after my last post but before the airing of the Imperial/Churchhill match, so I've mislead you. Sorry. But I'm not going to rewrite the intro. Instead, I'll give you a second excuse - this weekend I was embroiled in a battle with my friend to climb the most Munros by the end of the year. He was in my neck of the woods, so I had to match his walks for the weekend lest I'd fall further behind.

But that's enough rambling - here's your first (of two firsts) starter for ten.

Imperial are the winning-est team in UC history, taking on Churchill, the winning-est former Prime Minister in polls ranking the British public's favourite ever Prime Ministers, after whom they are named.

Skipper O'Flanagan kicks things off for Imperial, but they struggle desperately with a bonus set on video games, a subject on which lots of teams often struggle desperately.

A neg from O'Flanagan lets Churchill in through Seshan, who knows about the proposed capital city of Equatorial Guinea. Starters from Keung and Tong give Imperial the lead, with Seshan derided for hesitation on the picture round, which is on national flags, a topic I would have thought UC would have exhausted by now.

Another for O'Flanagan and it looks like Imperial are running away with it, but a neg from Tong allows Seshan in to steal the points, and Churchill use the momentum to go on a run of their own.

They can't bridge the gap, however, and Imperial are able to stretch their lead back to fifty-five.

Churchill aren't done yet (we will fight them on the starters, we will fight them on the bonuses), and Hasler helps out Seshan with a couple of ten-pointers. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie gives them the lead, but Keung grabs it back immediately for Imperial with lossless.

Yet another for Seshan ties the game again, and Webber gives Churchill only a second lead of the night with swahili. Things are heating up. Rajan is racing through the questions, and the teams are racing through the answers. A supreme buzz from Seshan puts Churchill forty-five clear, but O'Flanagan isn't done yet, taking a starter and then nominating his teammates on the bonuses with an incredible level of intensity. He smashes the next starter with an early buzz and tries to do the same again, but they don't manage to get them all right this time.

One question to go, five points separating them.

Hasler is quickest with zeitgeist. Churchill win.

Imperial 160 - 175 Churchill

I'm all hyped now from watching that exciting finish for the second time, so let's plow straight on with the next episode! Here we go, its Magdalen vs Robinson!

Magdalen are the equal second-winningest team in UC history, with four titles (level with Manchester), while Robinson have a single quarter-final appearance to their name.

The first starter goes to Robinson's Cronin with jungle, and the eagle-eyed viewer will have noticed a smirk from Rajan.

An unlikely guess of Constantine gives them five points on the bonuses, and another starter, this time from Temmink, gives them a 30-point lead. Another unlikely guess of parsnip as an ingredient in gin doesn't fall their way, but its not as bizarre an answer as it first seems. James May apparently has a parsnip-flavoured gin...

Walker gets Magdalen off the mark with Godel, and they don't look back. Walker also takes the picture round, before an early buzz of To Pimp A Butterfly from Woo puts them clear in front. Rajan then says he reckons that Kendrick Lamar watches University Challenge, which I don't think is true.

Shipman has a eureka moment with Archimedes on the next starter, but Robinson aren't able to tie the game. Shipman then loses five points with a guess of trifle on the next starter, allowing Sharkey to steal the points with Charlotte. When the correct answer is Charlotte, it makes trifle seem, well, a trifle silly, but at the point he buzzed in it seemed more reasonable.

Horrors and The Stooges from Costa-Ferreira put Magdalen in control. The Stooges was the music starter, with one of the bonuses, on songs with dog in the title, being written by Cat Stevens.

Walker and Sharkey add to Magdalen's lead, and Sharkey celebrates wildly at hearing a bonus set will be on Napoleon. They only took two. I think if you're going to pump your fist as wildly as he did then you should be pretty confident of getting a hat-trick. Not that it matters much to Magdalen's bottom line - they are winning by more than a hundred points by now.

Finally, Temmink gets Robinson going again with Chen on the picture starter and she tries to keep it up with an early buzz on the next starter, about gymnastics, but she picks the wrong event (floor rather than vault). She grabs the follow-up up though, before negging again on the next one. She's giving it a go, which is what Robinson needed to do, but unfortunately, she couldn't stick the landing.

Magdalen don't let up, but Robinson manage to sneak into a respectable three figures before the gong sounds.

Magdalen 245 - 105 Robinson

A huge performance from Magdalen that, with a solid effort from Robinson to rack up a decent score at the end.

Having failed to post on time, we now know that Imperial will be joining Sheffield, SOAS and New, Ox in the repechage, which starts next week. Let's hope the power doesn't cut out before then.

In the meantime, why don't you subscribe so you don't miss my next review when I post it on a random Thursday evening?