There it is, in all it’s chew-toy glory, THE BELMONT STEAK!

The season-long competition to be named The Belmont Inn’s top Pub Quiz team came to a holly-jolly conclusion with the holiday-themed Pub Quiz last night. The team earning the top honors in the 13-week competition garnered themselves some great perks:

• First, and most important, the top team will have its name inscribed on the trophy above.
• The trophy will be used to reserve the table of their choosing every week over the next season.
• The winning team also gets to select a tribute song, which we will play to honor their overall awesomeness as time allows over the next season of the Belmont Steak.
• And they walked off with a bunch of great Belmont Inn t-shirts and gift certificates.

Before I proceed, though the trophy is branded pretty heavily, I have to point out and thank our sponsors, Widmer Brothers Brewery. They stepped up and donated this great trophy, and as such, I raise my glass — and Pub Quiz pencil — to them. Be sure to support them in supporting us, by ordering a Widmer the next time you play.

Now for the wrap-up… “Beige Food” pretty much had the Steak in the bag last night before we started, but there was still an outside chance that the “No Mouth Monkeys” (or, as they aptly went by last night, the “Die Hard Monkeys”) could pull off an upset. And in the spirit of competition, the other teams who rolled into the Belmont Inn last night were determined to play the spoiler.

In Round One, the Monkeys showed that they came to kick some ass. They outscored everyone in the Bingo Round AND came up with the Bingo Bonus. But Round Two was all Beige Food, or should I say it was Kurty-time. They tied with earstwhile competitiors “Coffee Shits” for the top points in the second round by sending their trivia troubadour up to sing for maximum points each time we went through our special Question or Carol round. But then, Beige Food stumbled a bit on their handouts, opening the door for an upset as the Monkeys maintained their lead. Still, it wasn’t enough to knock Beige Food out of the Challenge Round, and as a result, they took home the title by “de-fault”, which according to Homer J. Simpson are the two greatest words in the English language.

But still, to truly earn their victory, “Beige Food” had to take home the night’s top prize. Because really, there’s nothing worse than backing into a championship. The Challenge Round question was a doozie, however, and between them, “Coffee Shits” and the “Die Hard Monkeys,” no one came up with it. (What were the exact 12 words that Ralphie said he wanted from Santa before sliding down the slide in A Christmas Story?) Beige Food wagered wisest, besting the second place Monkeys and the also-ran Shits.

CONGRATULATIONS TO BEIGE FOOD! You guys really muscled your way to the Steak!

And as for everyone else, you made this a great competition. Come on back next week and every week and try to wrestle this trophy away from this dynamic duo. And if you need some inspiration, say a photo to tape to your mirror while you’re off training in the mountains of Russia for the next season of The Belmont Steak, here it is: