Personally I detest quiz nights at bars.



Being the career booze hound that I am, I can’t understand why people don’t just go out and drink, instead of looking for excuses to drink like trivia nights. I’m also not that happy with sitting in one place for that long. What’s more, quizzes of that nature typically make me feel stupid (I’ve missed out on much of mainstream or pop culture because my parents didn’t believe in cable television, and neither did I during most of college), and I like to think that I’m a pretty smart gal.



But I realized some time ago that I live in a crossword puzzle kind of world, and I have a long list of friends who are complete pub quiz junkies who have all kinds of worthless knowledge in their heads, which comes in very handy during quiz nights (note: Ian, Kevin and Colin are some of my favorite pub quiz geeks).



While you’ll never find me at any of these types of gatherings, I do indeed understand why they exist, and succeed.



Pub quizzes help you people get out of the house and into the arms of some of Tacoma’s best establishments. They help you to stay a little longer, spend a little more money, and enjoy the camaraderie of your friends who form as a team, and hopefully have the right kind of knowledge in their noggins to put your crew in the W category. And the prizes for each night are pretty darn cool.



I know there are several trivia nights that happen in this fair city, but I’m only going to report on two because I happen to think that they’re the best:



Knowledge Night at Doyle’s Public House and the Pub Quiz at Paddy Coyne’s.

All kinds of people show up for these events that happen during the week (typically slower nights for bars).



The Pub Quiz at Paddy Coyne’s happens on Tuesday nights with huddled masses of people who really get into the intellectual groove of the gig. They start at 7 p.m.



Knowledge Night at Doyle’s happens on Wednesday, much to my protest, because so many of my friends would rather take in this trivia than hang out with me. These brainiac festivities start at 8 p.m.



So, as I said, I really can’t understand why anyone needs an excuse to drink, but for those who do, trivia nights at the aforementioned establishments are really the way to go.



Now that you’ve got Tuesday and Wednesday covered, maybe you can make a week of it by finding other trivia nights in this city.



Having put that thought down, I’m smelling a city-wide pub quiz challenge and championship in the air.



May the best bar and trivia champions win.



[Paddy Coyne’s, 7 p.m. Tuesdays, 815 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.6963]

[Doyle’s Public House, 8 p.m. Wednesdays, 208 Saint Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.7468]



Tell me where you like to party at sceneofthecrime@hotmail.com.