Brain Game (North Carolina)
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Brain Game is a weekly quizbowl-type show for ninth and tenth graders that airs on WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina. It currently airs at 11:30 am on Saturdays, and the current host is former WRAL traffic reporter Mark Roberts.
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[edit] Rules
Each Brain Game show is contested by three teams of three players each. Teams may buzz in and attempt to answer at any time while the question is being read. Team members may confer with one another prior to answering. Academic-based questions in the games come from the standard North Carolina curriculum for ninth and tenth graders.
At the end of the season, the teams with the nine best scores advance to a playoff of three semifinal games, with the winners advancing to a championship game. It should be noted that teams can advance to the semifinals without winning their regular season games - only the score accumulated during the regular season game determines the playoff teams.
[edit] Differences from most quizbowl games
Brain Game is significantly different from most quizbowl formats in several ways:
- Brain Game allows three players to compete at a time, whereas most formats permit four players
- Regardless of who buzzes in on a team, anyone on the team may answer the question
- Three teams compete at a time, whereas most formats have two teams compete at a time
- Some questions are accompanied by an audio or visual clue by means of a screen located on the set
[edit] Format and Segments
Brain Game shows consist of the following segments:
- Pop-Up Culture
- 10 questions about pop culture, worth ten points up or down
- Headliners
- 10 questions about current events, worth ten points up or down
- Word Power
- teams buzz in to fill in a crossword puzzle based on clues, worth ten points up or down
- Connections
- ten questions about civics, literature, and world history, worth twenty points up or down
- Name Game
- each team gets thirty seconds to answer five questions (directed to one team at a time), worth ten points up or down
- Crunching Numbers
- ten math questions, worth twenty points up or down
- Rocket Science
- ten questions about science, worth twenty points up or down
- Globetrotting
- ten questions about an area of the world that varies from show to show, worth twenty points up or down
- America Coast to Coast
- ten questions about an area of America that varies from show to show, worth twenty points up or down
- Note that the players know beforehand what areas of the world and of the United States will be covered in the Globetrotting and America Coast to Coast rounds.
[edit] Participants and Winners
Most teams that participate in Brain Game come from the WRAL-TV viewing area, though Jay M. Robinson High School from the Charlotte area now competes regularly.
[edit] Recent Champions
| Season | Winner | Location |
| Fall 2004 | Enloe | Raleigh |
| Spring 2005 | Leesville Road | Raleigh |
| Fall 2005 | Terry Sanford | Fayetteville |
| Spring 2006 | Terry Sanford | Fayetteville |
| Fall 2006 | Grimsley | Greensboro |
| Spring 2007 | Enloe | Raleigh |
| Fall 2007 | Raleigh Charter | Raleigh |
