GAMES/QUIZZO

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! When you hear that announcer scream the Sabbath Day in triplicate, you know something's up. But this time, dude's not talking about a monster truck rally—he's hyping an event of gladiatorial magnitude, an event that truly separates the trivia masters from the merely trivial.

It's the brain-draining, beer-stained, urban barfly tradition known as quizzo. This Sunday, Johnny Goodtimes will host Quizzo Bowl II, the sequel to last January's inaugural event. QBI was a smarts-slinging success, with seasoned squad There's Johnny? taking top honors ($300 cash).

In August, Goodtimes held Beat the Champs, an open call to anyone who wished to challenge the masters of minutiae. Every competing team received a 10-point handicap; Johnny came in fifth. Who was first? Ivy League upstarts Sofa Kingdom, an energetic clique that met as undergrads at Penn. Still the only team to record a perfect score at a Goodtimes event, Kingdom will be the titleholder's main competition this year.

Johnny's Robert Schiller isn't looking to exact revenge—that's below him. "[Goodtimes] knows how I feel," says Schiller, who works in real estate when he's not talking shit. "To say we're avenging a loss makes it seem like we thought it was legitimate. We're still the champs."

Kingdom's Eric Swansom, a research specialist at Penn's neuropathology division, is undaunted by his enemy's intimidation tactics. "Even without the handicap, they still didn't have enough points to beat us," he says. (It's true: Kingdom won with 137, while Johnny tallied 121). "They'll need a lot more than excuses if they want to bring us down at QBII."

What's Johnny's game plan? Come up with new psych-outs. For Beat the Champs, the death squad entered to "We Are the Champions," and Schiller displayed some masterful gamesmanship: He grabbed food off competing teams' plates as he walked. "Just wanted to save some money," he says, with a faux sincerity that could force Eddie Haskell to pray the rosary.

If this spirited back-and-forth is any indication, QBII should be one hell of a battle. Johnny teammate Rick Ames has a simple message for the young bucks: "Enjoy second place."

Quizzo Bowl II, Sun., Jan. 29, 6 p.m., $10-$13, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, www.johnnygoodtimes.com.