GAME ONE - Monday, June 16

You can find the clues, correct responses, and results of the game here. (Thank you to the folks who maintain the J! Archive, an awesome source for fans and potential contestants of Jeopardy!.)

So, I was playing in the first game of the day even though I would have preferred to watch for a while. At least maybe I could get Podium #3. You see, in the practice rounds earlier in the day I had for some reason felt much more comfortable on the end than in the middle. I also like to sit on the aisle at movies and plays and ballgames.

Right before we went out, Sujit and I each drew a folded up paper from the hand of Contestant Coordinator Tony Pandolfo. We unfolded them - Sujit's paper had a big "3" on it. Mine had a "2." Things definitely weren't going as planned.

The rest of the first game is just a blur. As I watched at the viewing party last night (we had about 200 folks watch on the big screen in our former church building) lots of it seemed new to me. I didn't remember very many of the clues or even the categories.

I did remember that I began in the negative. My very first response was a, well, non-response. I rang in on "Celebrity Authors" for $400 about the author of a diet book. Then I watched the timing lights count down the five seconds while I struggled to remember Kirstie Alley (which wasn't the right response anyway). Nothing came. Wonderful start. The only good thing was that Lowell and Sujit responded incorrectly as well.

On that clue, I had not put into practice what I had read about playing Jeopardy!. To be most successful, you have to ignore Alex's reading of the question and read it for yourself from the game board. Then you have to decide whether you know it or not - whether to ring in or not. Then you have to formulate the answer. Ideally, you do all of that BEFORE Alex finishes his reading of the clue so you are ready to time the signaling device.

In a strange way, getting that initial negative was like a slap across the face that I needed to get into the game. Yes, I'm a pastor and all but I am extremely competitive. After that stumble, I focused. It was all about the game. People ask if I was nervous . . . not from that point on.

Last night I got to relive the roll I got on in the Jeopardy round. Almost running "Oh 'Boy'" and then running "American Revolution" was an incredible feeling. I can't describe it. It wasn't that I knew a lot more than Lowell and Sujit - I just got into a rhythm on the buzzer (I know that "signaling device" is proper term because they don't buzz, but "buzzer" is easier to type and read so that's what I'm using from now on). I really believe that playing video games (Madden football) with my son helped with the buzzer.

I don't feel great about my interview with Alex - I appear very wooden and he had to drag stuff out of me. The problem at that point wasn't nerves - I just wanted to get that part over with and get back to the game! (Told you I was focused.)

When the Jeopardy round ended the scores were 9000 (Me) - 1600 (Lowell) - 0 (Sujit). I spent the break drinking water (Contestant Coordinator Robert kept us supplied with bottles of water during breaks) and telling myself "Lots of money left on the board. You've seen people blow it ahead by more than this. Stay focused."

The Double Jeopardy categories were just awful for me. "Reality TV"??? There is some Pop Culture I'm good on - movies, older TV, music before 1990 (Yes I'm old) - but certainly not Reality TV. "Mythological Rhyme Time" wasn't confidence-inspiring - mythology is a major gap in my fundamentals of trivia knowledge. I kept meaning to study mythology in my preparation but never got to it. My trepidation turned out to be justified - I wouldn't get anything in either category.

There were only two categories I felt really good about: "Shakespeare" (I majored in literature in college) and "'G'-Countries" (I mean, how many countries start with "G?"). When I got control of the board, I went to Shakespeare first, and proceeded to embarrass myself and the English Professors at my college. In my defense, it has been 25 years since college. BUT, Shakespeare was something I specifically studied for the show. Missing the one clue by confusing Hamlet and MacBeth (you can see by my reaction I did realize it immediately after it was too late) and leaving a gimme Richard III clue lying there were not the highlights of the game.

What was worse was that Sujit had made a run in the Mythology category. He was closing the gap. So . . . I went to my other hopeful category - "'G'-Countries." I started with the 400, got that, then made a decision. I wasn't happy with the other remaining categories. I needed to get some distance from Sujit. I wanted to find a Daily Double.

I skipped the 800 clue - DD's are rarely in that row. The DD wasn't in the 1200, but I got it and maintained control. "'G'-Countries for 1600." Ding ding ding! Daily Double.

Here's where it was important not to think of the scores as money. I needed to wager big. There is no way I would ever bet $4000 on ANYTHING in "real life," but 4000 POINTS (that's how I thought about it) was what I risked on that clue.

Countries and capitals was a primary study area for me in preparation for the show. The clue had other stuff, but basically was "What country has Tbilisi as it's capital." What is Georgia! +4000!

That was one of two turning points of the game. The other was the 2000 clue in Colleges and Universities. It was late in the game, and Sujit had just more than half of my score. The clue was about a Baltimore college that has the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, a gift for someone who lives in Maryland (like me!). But Sujit rang in first and guessed University of Maryland. -2000. I rang in with the correct response. So that turned out to be another $4000 swing and was pretty much the game right there.

I spent the last few clues of the game determined not to ring in unless they asked me something like my dog's name - I wasn't going to risk losing a lock game (having more than double the 2nd place player going into Final Jeopardy) on something I thought I knew but didn't. Most of the last clues I really didn't know anyway because they were in "Reality TV."

At the end of Double Jeopardy, I looked up at the scores. I did indeed have a lock game. What a great feeling! I was going to be a Jeopardy! champion.

All that was left was to decide on a Final Jeopardy wager. I had 20,800, and decided I'd like to win at least $20,000 so I'd only risk $800. The final clue was a triple-get; everyone picked up on "Tiffany's" in the clue and got Truman Capote.

After the post-game discussion during the credits with Alex and the other contestants, CC Tony said, "Come on champ, you need to get changed."

"Champ." I kind of liked that!

I had 15 minutes to change clothes. No time to savor the victory - it was very soon time to play again. And . . . no more middle podium. I was going to get that end podium. Podium #1. Woo hoo!

To the Next Installment - GAME TWO