Pentathanerd: This is the end; Mario Kart & Closing Ceremonies
Sports fans, so far Inside The Nerdery’s exclusive Pentathanerd coverage (more action-packed video below) has largely focused on the individual feats of competitors in the arenas of chess, foosball, Rubix Cube and Boggle. Today we’re reminded that it’s about Team.
However, it’s worth noting that Jessica carried the last day in a big way. For starters, she created a must-see Mario Kart-themed snack table setting; this sent a clear message to opponents that she’d done her homework, and it had to have earned her points with even the casual fans. Then, stepping out of the kitchen and into the driver’s seat, this Danica Patrick of Mario Kart clearly had a capacity crowd on her side as she drove her way to Gold – and gave her Maranerded Chicken team just enough points to overtake The Elder Statesman and win the 2009 Pentathanerd in a photo finish.
2009 Pentathanerd final standings:
Gold Medal – Maranerded Chicken: Chris Black; Kai Esbensen; Jessica Mogen
Silver Medal – The Elder Statesmen: Jeff Klawiter; Luke Bucklin; Mark Seemann
Bronze Medal* – The Perfectonists: Nick LeGuillou; Gillian Reynolds; Justin Hendrickson
Honorable Mention – The Velociraptors: Jansen Price; Matt Tonak; Sai Xiong
Fail Whale Award – Blackberry Fools: Andrew Watson; Jon Rexeisen; Dan Krueger
Most are in agreement with these final standings, but pockets of denial remain as I overhear snippets of Monday-morning quarterbacking and legalese at the Red Bull cooler. Bogglegate was a relatively short-lived controversy that Webster’s dictionary laid to rest just moments after our last dispatch, but Rubixgate remained a sore subject even during Pentathanerd’s otherwise stirring and emotionally gratifying closing ceremony.
Watch and wonder how they did it:
Mario/Pentathanerd Closing Ceremony from The Nerdery on Vimeo.
Not enough credit can be given to Pentathanerd Founder Mark Seemann for having the idea and seeing it through. This morning he pinged me with this fun fact: “Among the Pentathanerd 15 competitors, there were 12 developers and three non-developers; note, two non-developers (Kai and Jessica) were on the winning team, and the other non-developer (Luke) was on the second place team…Maybe next time I should set a limit on at ‘most’ one non-developer per team.”
Yes, Pentathanerd fans, he more than hinted at a “next time.” This, too, echoes from his closing remarks: “Just wait until the Winter Games.”
If you someday see such Tomfoolery, you’ll see it right here. Keep watching Inside The Nerdery.
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
* (contested)
