You might've guessed the outcome of the 10th annual Computer Bowl trivia contest from the entrances of the opposing teams, East and West.
The contingent from the left coast swaggered onto the stage of Boston's Park Plaza Castle in black, wide-brim cowboy hats and ankle-length dusters, looking very much like five Garth Brooks wannabes. In unison, they doffed their coats to reveal black T-shirts.
The home team bounded out from backstage in tri-cornered Paul Revere hats and flouncy, ruffled shirts. Compared to the desperadoes across the stage, they looked like auditioners for roles in "1776: The Musical."
Hosted by John Ratzenberger, who played postman Cliff Clavin on "Cheers," and Stewart Cheifet from PBS' "Computer Chronicles," the Bowl raises money for the Computer Museum in Boston and Silicon Valley. Organizer John Marchiony said his goal for this year's event was US$1 million. The nine previous competitions raised a total of $4.3 million to support the museum's education and preservation efforts.
Just before Friday's competition began (at 9 p.m. local time), rumors swirled through the cavernous Castle that the East had swiped the West's cowboy hats from their dressing room. But by the time the West appeared onstage to extend its winning streak to three years, the hats had been recovered.
Intuit CEO Scott Cook established an early lead for the West, nailing two answers right out of the gate. (Example: "What was the largest number of computer-generated actors onscreen in Titanic at any one time?" One thousand.) The East never caught up. Netscape cofounder Marc Andreessen proved to be a whiz at arcane tech terms, rattling off the meanings of acronyms like MIME and TCP ("multipurpose Internet mail extensions" and "transmission control protocol," of course).
The West, led by team captain and New York Times columnist Denise Caruso, also pursued a curious strategy of bashing Microsoft whenever they couldn't correctly answer a question. (No one from Microsoft was represented at the Bowl, although chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold was last year's MVP for the West.) When Ratzenberger asked the teams what champion videogamer Dennis "Thresh" Fong won last year, in addition to cash, Caruso buzzed in.
"Windows 98?" she guessed.
Nope, said Ratzenberger. Fong won a Ferrari.
"They're equally reliable," quipped Michael Slade, Caruso's teammate and the CEO of Starwave Corporation. "And about the same price," another Westerner added.
Later, when Andreessen couldn't explain what "Veronica" (an early Internet search engine) was an acronym for, his response was, "I don't know, but it's bundled with Windows 98." (The correct answer: very easy rodent-oriented net-wide index to computerized archives.)
Even co-host Ratzenberger didn't stand up for Gates & Co. "I'm a Mac guy," he said.
While the East mounted a half-hearted comeback late in the game, they couldn't overcome Andreessen's quick trigger finger, and the silver Computer Bowl cup was headed West again. Final score: West 230, East 70. Andreessen was named MVP. Yoyodyne founder Seth Godin, and Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg shared that distinction for the East.
The event, viewed by about 400 people in Boston, was also simulcast to Moffett Field in Mountain View, California, where the Computer Museum History Center is located. PBS' Computer Chronicles will broadcast the Bowl in two parts on May 5 and May 12.
