And so it was on Canada Day, July 1, about 20 years ago or so, that our country club held a social couples’ golf tournament—with a bit of a twist. Each grouping consisted of four couples who played a best-ball format, alternating shots between spouses. At the first tee, we were handed a sheet of paper with 18 questions, one to be answered at the completion of each hole.
When the tournament concluded, all participants were ushered into the dining room for dinner. During the meal, the Master of Ceremonies read out the questions, soliciting an answer from each of the participating groups. A prize would be awarded to the group with the greatest number of correct answers.
It was a warm and sunny day, and—believe it or not—everyone in our group hit the ball masterfully. If memory serves, I think we may have come in with the second- or third-low net score, but that was completely inconsequential. Our real objective was to blow away the competition when it came to answering the quiz questions.
At the end of the first hole, we read question one on our quiz sheet: What is the eighth-longest river in the world? Some of us couldn’t even name the longest river. One member of our group simply smiled and suggested that, collectively, we would work out the correct answer.
Each question on the quiz sheet was of a similar type. By the time we had completed four more holes, the questions continued to stump us—and, we presumed, most of the other participants as well. For example: Who was the fourth mayor of Hamilton, Ontario? How long was the typical Huron longhouse? Who was the last Viking king of England?
As the day went on, some of the questions became simpler, such as: How many wives did Henry VIII have? What was the name of the second person to step onto the moon? Who discovered Hudson’s Bay? As our team pondered each question—and sometimes even landed on the correct answer—the member of our group responsible for carrying the question sheet kept quietly smiling and reassuring the rest of us that we were definitely on our way to quiz victory. He seemed very confident that we would come out on top.
Finally, with the tournament just about over, it was time for our group to brainstorm and fill in the unanswered questions that had confounded us on the course. That was when we were formally introduced to…the BlackBerry. Our teammate with the sly smile posed several of our unanswered questions to his BlackBerry, and the answers were swiftly forthcoming. Our quiz sheet was completed, and we all trooped into the dining room, sworn to silence.
For those of you who are curious:
- The eighth-longest river in the world is the Paraná (in Brazil)
- Henry VIII had six wives
- The second person to set foot on the moon was Buzz Aldrin
- The last Viking king of England was Harold II, killed in the Battle of Hastings in 1066
The MC for the evening stepped up to the microphone and proceeded to ask, in proper sequence, for the answers to the questions. Table twelve—our table—was shouting out answers almost before the questions had been fully asked. After our fifth or sixth correct answer, we could see the MC becoming flushed and slightly disconcerted. After all, how was it possible that our group had the answers to all of these questions, some of which were fairly obscure?
By the time we had correctly answered about 15 questions, the MC was visibly sweating. He had clearly gone out of his way to find questions that would be difficult, if not impossible, to answer—and yet here was our group, laughingly responding correctly to each one, while the rest of the dining room grew quieter and quieter.
When the MC finally concluded with question 18—which we again answered correctly—he simply turned to our table and bowed, acknowledging to the room at large that he had never imagined, even in his wildest dreams, that all of the questions would be answered correctly, and all by the same group of eight people.
To this day, the secret has never been divulged. And despite the fact that BlackBerries are no longer in use, that afternoon proved to be a most magnificent triumph for RIM, the makers of the BlackBerry smartphone.
Allan Schwartz is a 79 year-old retired Canadian entrepreneur who spent decades owning and operating a successful manufacturing company specializing in stainless-steel food service, medical and laboratory equipment. After selling the business, he spent some 5 years as a Business Broker before shifting his attention to writing during the Covid years. Married for 56 years, he is the proud father of adult children and grandfather to five and continues to enjoy exploring new interests in his retirement.
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