Stoned Empire Monkeys, Big Ass Pork Products, Alumni Trash, Smoking Schlongs 2 The Second Coming.

These are but a few of the teams that competed in the KaleidoQuiz this year. I had the honor of being an insider during the mayhem. It is not just the participants who test their sanity for the 26-hour brain bash. Thursday night we had to convert the game room in Friley hall into KQ Central.

Sheets of plywood across two pool tables. Phone cords and duct tape everywhere. Making sure everything works the way it is supposed to.

Friday morning, I went to my classes as usual and stopped by the KURE office to get some work done. Casey, the KQ director, looked like one of the Living Dead.

He had barely slept and was busy getting last-minute tasks accomplished. Less than five hours until the mayhem began.

That afternoon, with an hour until showtime, Matt and Casey were making sure everything was ready. The DJ had to know when to play that beeping sound and how to read off each question. Phone operators needed to be familiar with their gig as well.

At 3 p.m., it all was underway. A rather mellow beginning, with few surprises. What a difference a few hours could make.

As the quiz drove forward into the night, things got far more interesting. Questions became more entertaining, and the voices on the other end of the phone were becoming all too familiar.

Scavenger hunts, music montages, everything seemed to come out of nowhere. Hours seemed to fly by without notice.

One of the most interesting stories of the evening came when Matt returned from the round of Centipede over at the MU. The player from Alumni Trash was like some female version of Tommy, playing Centipede like a prodigy. We assumed there was about as much to do at ISU in the early 80s as there is today.

As late night became early morning, those of us still at the phones prayed for replacements to rear their ugly heads. Our prayers went unanswered until after 10 a.m. Those familiar voices on the other side of the phone were getting rather irritating as they awoke from a two-hour nap with revived energy.

As the hours of KQ began dwindling, the challenges by contestants increased. Whatever had to be done to get those points and overtake the closest competitors.

Those of us answering the phones became a bit more rambunctious as well. Might have had something to do with KURE General Manager Matt Baker yelling across the table as everyone answered the phones. Matt’s energy got all of us a bit more excited for those last few hours.

Due to weather conditions, some plans had to be altered. A re-enactment of those Surge commercials with people hurtling couches and old ladies had to be changed for safety. The replacement was not much different, as people played an evil variation of the shell game using grocery boxes and pop cans. Punches flew and bodies tumbled for those few extra points.

I only got about 1 1/2 hours of sleep during the whole thing, but it was a lot of fun. I want to extend a thank you to all the participants, as well as those who helped us on the KURE side of things, either answering the phones, DJ-ing etc.

I also want to congratulate Casey Houston and Matt Borene for putting together a pretty damn good KQ; hopefully, we will see them again next year.

After they catch up on lost sleep and write some 200 more questions.

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Andrew Seitz is a junior in art and design from Dyersville.