Brain Game (Indiana)
Encyclopedia
The Brain Game is a weekly quiz bowl show for high school students that airs on NBC
-affiliate WTHR
-13 in Indianapolis
, Indiana
. It is currently broadcast at 7 pm on Saturdays, and the host is WTHR lead meteorologist Chris Wright. It is sponsored by Westfield Insurance
, which also sponsors four other high school quiz shows. The show is filmed at the WTHR studios on Meridian Street
in Indianapolis. Since 2008 Brain Game has been filmed in HD
.
Chris Wright has hosted the Brain Game since 2000, and Bob Gregory did so for 28 years from the show's start in 1972 until 2000. Until 2008 it was filmed at the Fairbanks Center at Butler University
.
The Brain Game was nominated for a Regional Emmy in 2001 for best On Camera Talent - Non News, in 2003 for best Children/Youth Program - Regularly Scheduled, in 2004 for best Children/Youth Program - Regularly Scheduled, and in 2007 for best Children/Youth Program.
. Dr. Phil Young from the University of Indianapolis was the judge from the early 1990s until his passing on January 7, 2009. Don Hanlin, founder of the White River Academic League and Indiana Quiz Bowl,http://www.inqbolts.org and Christine Guyonneau of UIndy were the interim judges.
The overall format of the show is a single-elimination tournament
with five rounds. The bracket involves 48 teams playing 47 matches in 31 episodes; episodes of the first round of the season consist of two fifteen-minute matches with the winner of the first match playing the bye
team in the second match. Games in the next four rounds of the tournament have two teams competing the entire thirty minutes.
Minute Quiz - The team in the lead going into the minute quiz selects either packet A or packet B. They are then given one minute (thirty seconds in the first round) to answer as many one-point questions as possible. Questions may be passed, but they will not be returned to. When time is up, the host will finish the last question and the team still has a chance to answer. The other team then has the remaining packet of questions. There is one minute quiz per match. Teammates may confer, and the captain must give all responses.
Face-off - Each episode has two face-off rounds, in which four questions all related to a single topic are asked. However, each question is given to only one player on each team.
Bonus Qualifier - There are usually four bonus qualifiers per episode. A general question, usually slightly harder than other questions, is asked, worth one point. The first team to correctly respond earns a more difficult bonus question that is worth two points, chosen from the categories of Social Studies
, Math & Science
, Language
& Literature
, and Miscellaneous, which only that team may answer. Teammates may confer, and the captain must give all responses.
Who am I? - The Who am I? is a three-part question that the host reads in first person. If a player can correctly identify the person after hearing only the first part of the question, he scores three points for the team, after the second part two points, and the third part one point. The Who am I? is not asked in the first round.
Three-point judge's question - The three-point judge's question is one part and is worth three points. It is generally one of the hardest questions of the game and is specially written by the judge. It is usually asked toward the end of the match. The three-point judge's question is not asked in the first round.
, the Chief of Staff
to Vice Presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden, was on the North Central High School team that won runner-up in the 1978-79 season.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-affiliate WTHR
WTHR
WTHR, channel 13, is a full-service television station serving the Indianapolis, Indiana metropolitan area. An affiliate of the NBC television network, its studios at 1000 N. Meridian Street anchor the south end of Indy's Television Row...
-13 in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. It is currently broadcast at 7 pm on Saturdays, and the host is WTHR lead meteorologist Chris Wright. It is sponsored by Westfield Insurance
Westfield Insurance
Westfield Insurance, the primary subsidiary of Westfield Group, is a multi-line provider of business property & liability insurance, personal lines insurance , agribusiness insurance, and surety bonds. Based in Westfield Center, Ohio, Westfield employs over 2,400 nationwide including 1,700 in their...
, which also sponsors four other high school quiz shows. The show is filmed at the WTHR studios on Meridian Street
Meridian Street (Indianapolis)
Meridian Street is the primary north-south street in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.Meridian Street was formerly aligned with US 31 for much of its length in the city of Indianapolis, before being re-routed to a segment of Interstate 465. The street delineates east addresses from west...
in Indianapolis. Since 2008 Brain Game has been filmed in HD
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
.
Chris Wright has hosted the Brain Game since 2000, and Bob Gregory did so for 28 years from the show's start in 1972 until 2000. Until 2008 it was filmed at the Fairbanks Center at Butler University
Butler University
Butler University is a private university located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university offers 60 degree programs to 4,400 students through six colleges: business, communication, education, liberal Arts and sciences, pharmacy and health...
.
The Brain Game was nominated for a Regional Emmy in 2001 for best On Camera Talent - Non News, in 2003 for best Children/Youth Program - Regularly Scheduled, in 2004 for best Children/Youth Program - Regularly Scheduled, and in 2007 for best Children/Youth Program.
Rules
Each Brain Game show is contested by two teams of four players each. Teams may buzz in and attempt to answer at any time while a question is being read. Team members may not confer with one another prior to answering. Questions are selected by the show's judge, David Wantz from the University of IndianapolisUniversity of Indianapolis
The University of Indianapolis is a university located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The shortened name it uses is UIndy...
. Dr. Phil Young from the University of Indianapolis was the judge from the early 1990s until his passing on January 7, 2009. Don Hanlin, founder of the White River Academic League and Indiana Quiz Bowl,http://www.inqbolts.org and Christine Guyonneau of UIndy were the interim judges.
The overall format of the show is a single-elimination tournament
Single-elimination tournament
A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match or bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...
with five rounds. The bracket involves 48 teams playing 47 matches in 31 episodes; episodes of the first round of the season consist of two fifteen-minute matches with the winner of the first match playing the bye
Bye (sports)
A bye, in sports and other competitive activities, most commonly refers to the practice of allowing a player or team to advance to the next round of a playoff tournament without playing...
team in the second match. Games in the next four rounds of the tournament have two teams competing the entire thirty minutes.
Format
The show's format consists of approximately 120 questions from many topics each worth one point. About 75 of these are general toss-ups for all players. Special questions are also asked throughout the show.Minute Quiz - The team in the lead going into the minute quiz selects either packet A or packet B. They are then given one minute (thirty seconds in the first round) to answer as many one-point questions as possible. Questions may be passed, but they will not be returned to. When time is up, the host will finish the last question and the team still has a chance to answer. The other team then has the remaining packet of questions. There is one minute quiz per match. Teammates may confer, and the captain must give all responses.
Face-off - Each episode has two face-off rounds, in which four questions all related to a single topic are asked. However, each question is given to only one player on each team.
Bonus Qualifier - There are usually four bonus qualifiers per episode. A general question, usually slightly harder than other questions, is asked, worth one point. The first team to correctly respond earns a more difficult bonus question that is worth two points, chosen from the categories of Social Studies
Social studies
Social studies is the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence," as defined by the American National Council for the Social Studies...
, Math & Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, Language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
& Literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, and Miscellaneous, which only that team may answer. Teammates may confer, and the captain must give all responses.
Who am I? - The Who am I? is a three-part question that the host reads in first person. If a player can correctly identify the person after hearing only the first part of the question, he scores three points for the team, after the second part two points, and the third part one point. The Who am I? is not asked in the first round.
Three-point judge's question - The three-point judge's question is one part and is worth three points. It is generally one of the hardest questions of the game and is specially written by the judge. It is usually asked toward the end of the match. The three-point judge's question is not asked in the first round.
Participants and Winners
Teams that participate in Brain Game come from the WTHR viewing area: central Indiana.Recent Champions
Years are listed based on when the school year started, e.g. 2006 for the 2006-2007 school year.| Year | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Cathedral High School Cathedral High School (Indianapolis) Cathedral High School is a private, Catholic institution in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. There are over 1,200 students in grades 9 to 12. It once was located within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis, and was run independently by the Brothers of Holy Cross... 72 |
Perry Meridian High School Perry Meridian High School Perry Meridian High School is a high school located at 400 W. Meridian School Road in Indianapolis, Indiana, 46217, on the far southside of the city. It is one of two public high schools serving grades nine through twelve in the Perry Township, along with Southport High School... 46 |
| 1996 | Southport High School Southport High School Southport High School is a high school located at 971 East Banta Road in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Located in Perry Township, on the south side of the city, Southport is a part of the Metropolitan School District of Perry Township.... 74 |
Cathedral 52 |
| 1997 | Park Tudor School Park Tudor School Park Tudor School is a private, coeducational, nondenominational school for grades junior kindergarten through 12 in the Meridian Hills neighborhood of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Park Tudor was created with the 1970 merger of Tudor Hall School for Girls and Park School... 68 |
Westfield High School 44 |
| 1998 | Perry Meridian 75 | Center Grove High School Center Grove High School Center Grove High School is a four star high school located in Greenwood, Indiana, United States. The mascot is a Trojan, as are the names of all of its sports teams... 62 |
| 1999 | Park Tudor 80 | North Central High School 64 |
| 2000 | Park Tudor 70 | Southport 38 |
| 2001 | Park Tudor 141 | Cathedral 59 |
| 2002 | Park Tudor 70 | Southport 38 |
| 2003 | Park Tudor | Pike |
| 2004 | Park Tudor 45 | Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School is a private college preparatory school founded by the Jesuits and located on the northwest side of Indianapolis. It is a part of the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus and geographically located within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis.Brebeuf... 42 |
| 2005 | Brebeuf Jesuit 70 | Warren Central High School Warren Central High School (Indiana) Warren Central High School is a public high school in Warren Township on the east side of Indianapolis. It has an enrollment of around 4,000... 40 |
| 2006 | Park Tudor 50 | Hamilton Southeastern High School Hamilton Southeastern High School Hamilton Southeastern High School is a four-star, Blue Ribbon public high school in Fishers, Indiana, a town north of Indianapolis. It is a part of the Hamilton Southeastern School District... 38 |
| 2007 | Pike High School Pike High School Pike High School is a public high school on the northwest side of Indianapolis, Indiana.-Academics:Pike High School serves students in grades 9–12 in the Metropolitan School District of Pike Township.... 45 |
Franklin Central High School Franklin Central High School Franklin Central High School is a four-year public high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. As of 2010, the high school's enrollment is 2,568 students in grades 9 through 12. It is the only high school under the responsibility of the Franklin Township Community School Corporation. Franklin... 38 |
| 2008 | Center Grove 47 | Franklin Central 43 |
| 2009 | Zionsville Community High School Zionsville Community High School Zionsville Community High School is a 4-year high school located in Boone County, Zionsville, Indiana, United States. The high school's current enrollment is 1,990 students as of the 2009-2010 school year.... 46 |
Hamilton Southeastern High School Hamilton Southeastern High School Hamilton Southeastern High School is a four-star, Blue Ribbon public high school in Fishers, Indiana, a town north of Indianapolis. It is a part of the Hamilton Southeastern School District... 42 |
| 2010 | Cardinal Ritter High School 47 | Hamilton Southeastern High School Hamilton Southeastern High School Hamilton Southeastern High School is a four-star, Blue Ribbon public high school in Fishers, Indiana, a town north of Indianapolis. It is a part of the Hamilton Southeastern School District... 44 |
Prizes
Westfield Insurance sponsors the Brain Game and provides cash prizes for the schools of the winning teams. The first-place team earns $7,000 for the school, and the runner-up earns $5,000. The two semifinalists each receive $2,000. The the four teams that lost in the quarterfinals, fifth place to eighth place, receive $1,000 each. This money is meant for the school's general academic fund. The championship team also receives the Bob Gregory Trophy and finalists receive plaques. All players in most rounds also receive small prizes for their participation, such as backpacks, hats, water bottles, USB drives, sweatshirts, or blankets that have the Brain Game or Westfield Insurance logo on them.Notable Players
Ron KlainRon Klain
Ronald A. "Ron" Klain is an American lawyer and political operative best known for serving as Chief of Staff to two Vice Presidents - Al Gore and Joseph Biden . He is an influential Democratic Party insider...
, the Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States
The Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States is the Chief of Staff position within the Office of the Vice President, part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States...
to Vice Presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden, was on the North Central High School team that won runner-up in the 1978-79 season.