Stump the Schwab

Gameplay

Round 1: Leading Off

Round 2

• Lineup Card: A team that won a championship in a certain year had its starting lineup displayed on a screen. Not all members of the starting lineup were on-screen, so each contestant had to fill in the other players not listed. Usually, three lists were given to each contestant; the first list had three spaces to be filled in within 15 seconds; the second, four spaces in 20 seconds; and the third, 5 spaces in 25 seconds. Contestants took turns trying to fill in players, and a contestant "stole" any missing answers that the other was not able to give. One point was given for each correct player named or stolen.
• Who Am I?: "The Schwab" held a card with the name of an athlete or a coach on it, he would give the contestants various hints about that player or coach, given a specific category before the first hint came for that player or coach. Hints ranged from 7 points to one point, with a 7-point hint being the hardest, and a one-point hint the easiest. "The Schwab" gave the first contestant the 7-point hint, and then questions decreased in point value one-by-one. If a player did not wish to answer the question, he passed. If a contestant got a wrong answer, they were eliminated for the remainder of the topic.
• Name That: Similar to "Who Am I?", but contestants bidded for the right to answer a question in the fewest clues, with a lower number of clues being worth more points along the same scheme as "Who Am I?". In the most recent seasons, that style of trivia game had been used more often than "Who Am I?"
• Lights, Camera, Schwab: This game involved questions about sports movies. There were four categories of questions, with each category containing a 1, 2, and 3 point question. Only 1-point questions were available at first, and higher value questions for each category could not be heard until the lower value questions had been asked. Contestants had to buzz in to answer the question. Whichever contestant had correctly answered a question last chose the category for the next question.
• Schwab's Family Album: Contestants had to buzz in and identify the famous sports figure in a photograph even though the person's face was obscured with that of "The Schwab". Each correct answer was worth 1 point. Photographs were usually of famous sports moments and occasions. Most of the photos elicited a laugh from the crowd.
• Alma Matters: Contestants identified where current and former players on a specific team went to college. Generally speaking, each player was presented two lists of eight players and 30 seconds to fill each one in, and missing answers were "stolen" by the other contestant. Each correct answer was worth 1 point. The lists followed themes, such as all famous players from a certain team, or all famous players of a certain position.
• Odd Man Out: A contestant was presented with 4 similar athletes on the board. Three of them had something in common, and a question was asked where the contestant had to determine who did not fit into the criteria of the question. After the first athlete was eliminated, there was another question about the three remaining, and so on until only one athlete was left on the board. A question about the remaining player was then asked. One point was awarded for each odd man out identified. Typically, each contestant had two rounds of Odd Man Out, so 8 was the maximum possible score.
• Coaching Ladder: Contestants tried to buzz in to correctly identify coaches and managers based on the clue given. The game featured a graphical "coaching ladder" the contestants climbed, indicating how many points they had earned. There were usually two or three rounds. In the two first rounds, each correct response was worth 1 point. In the final round, each correct response was worth 2 points, but an incorrect response took away a point.
• Dodge the Schwab: At the beginning of the game, twelve categories were presented, each about a famous sports figure. Contestants alternated choosing categories to answer. Most categories had questions that were deemed of average difficulty, but some contained hidden "diabolical" Schwab questions that were much more difficult, having been devised by the Schwab himself. If a contestant happened to choose a category that had a Schwab question, they chose to "dodge" it and passed it to the opponent before hearing the question, rather than answering it themselves. Regular questions were worth one point, while Schwab questions were worth 2 points. However, if a contestant got a Schwab question wrong, they lost a point.
• Journey Men: Contestants were given an athlete and an unordered list of teams he had played for. The contestant had to put the teams in chronological order. Each contestant was given a total of 3 lists, alternating back and forth. They were given 15 seconds for each of the first two lists, and 20 seconds for the third list. Contestants were provided a paper and pen to assist themselves. A point was awarded for each team correctly put in each spot. During the time the contestant wrote down his answers, "The Schwab" made a description of the athlete.
• Stop the Presses: A contestant was given a paragraph of copy that contained one factual error. One point was awarded for identifying the error, and another point for correcting the error. However, if either part of a contestant's answer was wrong, the opponent attempted to steal points by giving the correct answer. An example of a paragraph given was "In January 2005, in the Seattle Seahawks' regular-season finale against the Patriots, Shaun Alexander watched from the sideline as time ran out, and he fell one yard short of Curtis Martin for the NFL rushing title." In this case, the incorrect part was the team "Patriots", which was the Falcons. Usually 3 paragraphs in total were given to each contestant.
• Who's Got More?: A contestant was given a choice of two related statistical categories and then was given up to 15 pairs of sports figures and had to name which of the two had achieved more of that category for as many pairs as they could in 40 seconds. Their opponent was then given another 15 pairs of athletes for the other category. In round one, each correct answer was worth 1 point. In round two, each correct answer was worth 2 points.
• Remember When: Contestants alternated having to guess the year that an event from the world of sports took place. Each contestant started with 100 points. For every year off, the contestant lost a point. If the exact year was guessed, the contestant gained a point. The final question given to each contestant was called the "Ultimate Year" and point values were doubled. Whichever player had less points going into the "Ultimate Year" questions was given a choice of two categories for their Ultimate Year question, followed by the opponent having to answer the question from the other category. Typically, there were 5 rounds of questions before the "Ultimate Year" questions.
• Over/Under: This was similar to the usual way "Over/Under" style games were played. A contestant was asked a statistical question and the Schwab told the contestant if they were right or wrong. If he was right, they were awarded 2 points. If they were wrong, the opponent tried to guess if the correct figure was over or under what was said. If the opponent guessed correctly, they were awarded a point, and if they then stated the correct figure they were given an additional point. "The Schwab" had openly stated that this was the easiest game for contestants and had to be eliminated as they could easily guess.
• On the Record: Contestants were presented with a series of famous sports-related quotes. They had to buzz in if they could identify the author of the quote. However, they had to wait until the entire quote was read before attempting to buzz in. There were two rounds. In the first round, correct answers were worth one point. In the second round, they were worth two points, but an incorrect answer cost a point.

Round 3: The Schwab Showdown

Broadcast history

Records

Contestants who have "stumped the Schwab"