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2012 Prognostication Quiz: Question 6, Olympics

Question 6. Olympics

Who will win the most gold medals?
a. China (51)
b. United States (36)
c. Russia (23)
d. Any other country (192)

The USA whalloped the competition, crushing China in the gold medal tally:

United States 46
China 38
Great Britain 29
Russia 24
Korea 13

means that the answer to Question 6 of the 2012 Prognostication Quiz is B. United States. Most entrants were pessimistic about the US, as 29 people picked China to repeat as top gold garnerer. But they were whalloped by the 19 who picked the United States to re-emerge victorious.

USA! USA!

Keila
Megan
Mary
Ryan
Grant
Marcus
Michael
Ekrem
Nadir
Sarah T.
Janet
Jason
Miriam
Craig
Ben
Hannah
Peter B.
Beth
Liz

Question 13-15. Death

(a) Yitzhak Shamir

This early Zionist and later two-time prime minister of Israel was the oldest person on our list. That made him a very popular pick.

The Stern Gang

Stacey
Kevin
Cameron
Megan
Mary
Keila
Cherie
Matthew
Michael
Leanne
Zoe
Marcus
Russell
Pete C.
Missy
Ted
Rachel
Nadir
Ryan

(d) Ernest Borgnine

Perhaps best known for his Oscar-winning role in Marty in 1955, Borgnine had an active career in film and television, even nominated recently for an Emmy for a 2009 appearance on ER.

McHale's Navy:

Gloria
Ellen
Jan
Todd
Ryan
Pete C.
Leanne
Cameron
Jason
Collette
Larry

(g) Phyllis Diller

The author of such memorable one-liners as "My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor" or "Housework can't kill you, but why take a chance?" passed on recently, but no one in the quiz cared at all. No one thought she would die this year. Ekrem, Lorraine, Katie, and I picked her to kick the bucket last year. We are bitter that she held on so long.

(q) Sun Myung Moon

Everyone's favorite cult leader and multi-millionaire remained active in his dotage, presiding over mass weddings as recently as 2009 (for 45,000 people). It's hard work being a messiah. I have not yet heard any news about his resurrection.

Only two Moonies:

Peter B.
Chris C.

Leaderboard

Congratulations to the four topping our new leaderboard! Keila and Megan are on a roll with correct guesses on the last three questions (Pulitzers, Olympics, and GOP nomination) along with one death. Cameron and Mary each guessed two of the three recent questions along with two deaths.

5 Keila
5 Megan
5 Cameron
5 Mary
4 Ryan
4 Ellen
4 Cherie
4 Grant
4 Matthew
4 Marcus
4 Kevin
4 Peter M.
4 Michael
4 Stacey
4 Gloria
4 Todd
4 Leanne
4 Pete C.
4 Ekrem
3 Sarah T.
3 Peter B.
3 Sarah M.
3 Tom
3 Nadir
3 Miriam
3 Russell
3 Zoe
3 Janet
3 Jason
3 Craig
3 Ben
3 Hannah
2 Chris M.
2 Collette
2 Chris C.
2 Rachel
2 Katie
2 Jeff
2 Adrian
2 Dave
2 Beth
2 Ted
2 Eric
2 Jan
2 Zhiqi
2 Missy
2 Liz
1 Larry
1 Paul
1 Valerie
1 Tina

Question 8 Update:

I strongly suspect that Keila and Megan were sitting together when they were filling out their entry sheets. Their answers matched an incredible 11 out of 15 answers. They differed on questions 1, 3, 4, and 11. That means they will finish in a tie unless Cuba is removed from the state sponsors of terrorism list or Ben Bernake steps down as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Yes, Keila and Megan even picked the same three deaths: (a) Yitzhak Shamir, (e) Zsa Zsa Gabor, and (x) Prince Philip. I'm not sure who was answering and who was cribbing, but the whole thing seems awfully suspicious now that they're both at the top of the leaderboard.

Megan/Keila picked (b) "Rights" for Question 8 (on the wording of Nobel Peace Prize), while Cameron picked (c) any geographical region and Mary picked (a) "Democracy". A whopping 15 entrants are just one point back and ready to step up. If the answer is (d) "International," Ryan, Leanne, and myself would pull into a tie at the top. If the answer is (e) "Peaceful," Ellen, Cherie, and Pete C. would do the same. If the answer is (f) none of the above, Matthew and Ekrem would advance. The announcement will take place Friday morning, October 12.

Comments

  1. Anonymous2:43 PM

    Did anyone not pick Romney to be nominated for question 7? (also, I kick myself now for moving off of my tried-and-true death formula of oldest three males, as I swapped in Gabor for Borgnine...)

    -marcus

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. J. Michael Andresen3:20 PM

      Some people did not pick Romney, but that was covered in the last post (when he locked the nomination, even in advance of the official announcement at the convention).

      Delete
  2. Keila6:21 PM

    I can not believe this....after being on the bottom of the list last year...I'm on the first spot! Unbelievable! Oh, I'm so copying Meghan again next year! ;o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. J. Michael Andresen3:21 PM

      I suppose I should have suspected you were the cribber given how awful you were last year. It all makes sense now.

      Delete

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