I don't know if anyone's been following University Challenge recently? If you'll recall, our very own intellectual powerhouse, Liverpool Norman gave a very good account of himself on there last year. Last night was the final, with Manchester lining up against Corpus Christi, Oxford and loosing quite comprehensively.
There's been an unusual amount of media attention for Corpus Christi's team captain, Gail Trimble. When I first saw her, a few rounds back I thought she was pretty damned good. Looking at the stats (yes, some people follow University Challenge that closely) she's the greatest University Challenge contestant ever.
In Corpus Christi's run up to the final, she scored more points than her three team-mates combined. In their semi-final, Corpus Christi defeated St John's College, Cambridge, 260-150. Trimble's personal haul was 185. In the quarter-finals, Trimble racked up a record 15 starters-for-10 as Corpus Christi raced to 350 points. Opponents Exeter University limped to 15 points, the equivalent of one correct starter and bonus. It was the lowest score since 1971 and only five points more than the worst of all time.
She slaughtered the opposition and just for once, left Paxo almost speechless. Oh - and she's
hawt.
This last fact has ensured that the daily papers, as well as the blogosphere, have been full of opinions about her. The Sun hated her and tried to smear her by pointing at her "condescending manner" towards her team mates in congratulating them when they got one right. They even got her to agree to answering their pop quiz and surprise, surprise, she didn't get any right. What would she know about Big Brother, FFS? She got a first in Latin and is studying for her PhD in Latin Literature!
She gets a mention in all sorts of places on the web - from The Times Online to
a Long Hair Fetish forum.What tickled me pink is that a men's magazine approached her brother via Facebook to ask if they could arrange a "tasteful" photo session with her. Apparently, he sent them an answer saying, 'seriously mate would you give your sister's contact details to Nuts?'
Following in the University Challenge footsteps of past contestants like Clive James, Stephen Fry and Miriam Margolyes, I reckon we're going to see more of Corpus Christi Trimble.
Which is nice