When the lovely Jan was up a few weeks back we watched one of the semi-finals of University Challenge. This was won by Manchester University who looked a good bet for winning the whole thing.
One of my colleagues had the Sun in the office and as I perused it I found an article about the final and Corpus Christi Wondergirl Gail Trimble. Apparently Ms Trimble had scored a higher percentage of her teams points than anyone in the shows history. The Sun asked her a series of questions of which she knew none (I don't remember the name of that 12 year old kid who became a dad either).
Anyway I turned the final on with exactly 4 minutes to go and Manchester were winning 175-150. Apparently Ms Trimble had been quite quiet up until this point and then suddenly bang! It was almost like she decided she ought to answer questions and they ended up winning by about 70 points.
Curiously Ms Trimble has received a lot of criticism in blogs for being smart and smug! You what? I don't think she came across as smug, if I'd have won some like that I'd have had an earsplitting grin! Indeed in this interview she seemed a quite pleasant person.
There does seem a tendancy in this country to laud people who are stupid. God forbid you actually can be bothered to be learn something. I also wonder if we'd have seen quite the same level of interest if she had been male? The captain of the 1998 winning team was an attractive young woman called Sarah Fitzpatrick who was made a offer to pose topless - she refused.
By the way it does mean she is "the cleverest woman in the country"? Uh no! It mean she has a good memory and is quick. Have a good general knowledge doesn't make you clever. I bet she a bit bright though!
2 comments:
Well said, Pete. I was cheering at the top of my voice as Gail Trimble powered her team to victory.
There's a sub-culture that labels all clever people as 'smart arses';my theory is that it's just a smoke screen to obscure their own negative IQ.
Being even a little bit clever and female can have it's amusing moments, mind you. I love the look of incredulity of some guys when I admit to understanding even something as simple as a spreadsheet!
Having seen the subsequent publicity that Gail Trimble's getting I feel quite sorry for her. However, she can obviously hold her own, and seems very surprised by all the attention she's getting; and justifiably, asking - why all the fuss? A bright young lady indeed when all's said and done!
Post a Comment