I know folks aren't reading this blog as a travelogue, so I'll be brief about how we spent Friday.
My son and I had made reservations to play golf at a desert course located on a Native American reservation. I figured it would be a unique experience. It was. Neither of us are great golfers, but we are NOT as bad (make that terrible) as we were in Nevada. There were two big problems. One was the wind, whipping across the desert at about 30 miles per hour with stronger gusts. I grew up on the coast of Florida and have never played in such wind. The wind was blowing so hard the course was handing out "Wind Checks" - no good for us as we would not have the opportunity to return. The second problem was related to the first - because of the wind the easy 18 we had booked was closed (there are 2 18-hole courses), so we were "upgraded" to the championship course. Ha!
That meant playing a course with single-file fairways (ok, a little exaggeration) lined with desert. We spent a lot of time in the desert.
Here's the bottom line on the golf experience - we quit keeping score after 2 holes and quit altogether after 9. But, we agreed we were glad we'd had the experience and got some great pictures and saw a roadrunner and other native animals.
While my son and I were struggling on the golf course, my wife and daughter joined my sisters (who had flown in for the TOC) for a wonderful day of shopping and touring some of the finest Vegas hotels. Good for them!
We met back up in the afternoon, my daughter had a dip in the pool, and we met some friends for dinner. Then it was back to the hotel for an early night because the next day I'd be playing Jeopardy!
(That brief enough for you?)
Friday, March 20, 2009
A SITUATION BEYOND MY CONTROL
After my game, the third of five semifinals, it was dinnertime. Not by the clock - it was after 10 by now - but by union contract, apparently. The nine of us that had played were herded into a large tent set up in the parking lot with a catered spread for the crew. I was too nervous to eat much - all I wanted to know was where my score stood. I found out during dinner that I was second of the non-winners so far. So, as long as no more than two of the four remaining non-winners had more than 13,000, I'd be playing on Saturday.
The dynamics of dinner were interesting. The three winners were quite talkative. The mood of the three second-place players, who still might advance, and the three third-placers, much less likely to advance, was quieter.
Before long, we headed back to the set to watch the last two semi-finals. It was late getting on to early (close to midnight). I really felt bad for the remaining players, especially those from the eastern time zone. I admit there was a part of me that acknowledged that this might be an advantage for me, as more tired players were less likely to top my score.
That brings me to the strange experience of sitting there watching people I had genuinely enjoyed spending time with and hoping that at least two of them in each game didn't do as well as I had done. I wasn't exactly rooting against anyone - it really didn't matter who won. But I was hoping for a dominating game from someone, which meant I was sort of rooting against whoever was trailing. Human nature is a devilish thing.
I'm thankful that this situation only lasted for one game. In that fourth semifinal, Aaron won and as soon as second-place-Donna's incorrect Final Jeopardy response was revealed, I knew that she would score less than I had (as, obviously, had the 3rd place finisher) so I was IN THE FINALS no matter what happened in the last semi. I did a little celebration dance in my chair, then settled back to watch the fifth game.
I had, with some help, achieved my goal for the tournament. I WAS GOING TO PLAY ON SATURDAY!
The rest of the evening was a blur - returning on the little bus to the hotel and finally eating some real food (a turkey sandwich) and downing a celebratory Bass Ale. I had a day off to look forward to and then I'd get to play that game I enjoyed so much at least one more time!
Woo hoo!
To the Next Post - OFF DAY
The dynamics of dinner were interesting. The three winners were quite talkative. The mood of the three second-place players, who still might advance, and the three third-placers, much less likely to advance, was quieter.
Before long, we headed back to the set to watch the last two semi-finals. It was late getting on to early (close to midnight). I really felt bad for the remaining players, especially those from the eastern time zone. I admit there was a part of me that acknowledged that this might be an advantage for me, as more tired players were less likely to top my score.
That brings me to the strange experience of sitting there watching people I had genuinely enjoyed spending time with and hoping that at least two of them in each game didn't do as well as I had done. I wasn't exactly rooting against anyone - it really didn't matter who won. But I was hoping for a dominating game from someone, which meant I was sort of rooting against whoever was trailing. Human nature is a devilish thing.
I'm thankful that this situation only lasted for one game. In that fourth semifinal, Aaron won and as soon as second-place-Donna's incorrect Final Jeopardy response was revealed, I knew that she would score less than I had (as, obviously, had the 3rd place finisher) so I was IN THE FINALS no matter what happened in the last semi. I did a little celebration dance in my chair, then settled back to watch the fifth game.
I had, with some help, achieved my goal for the tournament. I WAS GOING TO PLAY ON SATURDAY!
The rest of the evening was a blur - returning on the little bus to the hotel and finally eating some real food (a turkey sandwich) and downing a celebratory Bass Ale. I had a day off to look forward to and then I'd get to play that game I enjoyed so much at least one more time!
Woo hoo!
To the Next Post - OFF DAY
Monday, March 16, 2009
HOW TO READ THIS BLOG
As this is a blog, the newest posts are first so it ends up in reverse chronological order.
To save a lot of scrolling, if you are interested in reading about only the Tournament of Champions experience, click HERE for the first of those posts.
If you want to read about my experience on regular Jeopardy! show, click HERE for the oldest post.
Friday, March 13, 2009
TOC QUARTERFINAL - Friday, March 13, 2009
Velma and Roxie had teamed up, and Chicago was ending in the Green Room. I was hoping not to get to watch the next movie. There would be one more game before the "dinner" break - it was at least 10 o'clock Las Vegas time, so at home it was 1 a.m. or later. I am usually a night person, but not so much an early-the-next-morning person.
Soon the list of the next three competitors was read - Ben, Lisa, and . . . Dave. I grabbed an peanut butter energy bar and took my place in the makeup chair for the pre-game touch-up. One more trip to the bathroom later, we were miked up and on our way to the set.
Many folks who saw my run on the regular show asked if I was nervous. I could honestly say I was never nervous on the set - I was too happy just to be there and the game was so engrossing there wasn't really time to be nervous.
Why then now, as I took my place at podium #3 for my sixth Jeopardy! game, did I feel so nervous? Partly I guess it was the competition - I had watched these folks play and I knew how good they were. Partly it was because I had never gotten comfortable with the buzzer in practice, while in the practice sessions before my regular games I had pretty much dominated. And partly it was because I had been anticipating this for so long - I had known since June that there was a good chance I'd be in the TOC; I had gotten the call for the regular games about three weeks before the taping. Because it had been over 20 months since the audition, I had pretty much put getting a call to be on the show out of my mind.
Perhaps the primary reason for my nervousness was that everyone I knew expected me to go to Las Vegas and win. There had been no such pressure when I went on the show the first time - everyone, including me, was just happy that I was going to be on. But, after seeing me win four times, I wasn't just the guy who was on Jeopardy!, I was the guy who had won.
As we waited for the game to begin, I adjusted my "stance," trying to rest my right arm comfortably on the podium. It just wasn't happening. I couldn't get the buzzer comfortable in my hand, either. It was like playing golf with unfamiliar clubs (which I would do the next day - more on that in a later post). My physical discomfort was messing with my mind more than anything.
The music started and I heard Johnny Gilbert's introduction. "Smile dummy," I said to myself. Watching last night, that's exactly what I looked like - a smiling dummy. My friend Mike said, "I've known you for 25 years and I've never seen that expression." Thanks for that.
I have to say, though, that my red clergy shirt looked good - or, as one of my students said in class today (I teach Christian Education in the middle school affiliated with my church), the shirt "popped." Why a red shirt? No theological reason - my wife told me to wear it (actually, she said I should wear it, but for me it's the same thing, as I have no taste at all of my own about things like clothes).
And why a clergy shirt? I had waited until my second game to wear one before because I wanted to make sure I embarrassed only myself if my J! experience turned out to be a disaster. But, in the TOC, I wanted to be as up-front as possible about my profession and especially my faith. I hope that in some small way my appearance would say that all Christians aren't the dummies they are portrayed as in the media sometimes (often through the fault not of the media, but of those Christians that speak the loudest, but that's a whole 'nother blog).
There was Alex Trebek stepping onto the new set and away we went. Some random thoughts about the game:
Here were the scores - Ben 14,000, Me 11,800, and Lisa 4000. The first consideration was making sure I stayed ahead of Lisa. That meant I wasn't going to wager more than 3799 (so as not to fall behind her possible doubled score of 8000). Second, if Ben made the usual shut-out wager (9001), there was no way I could catch him. If this was a regular show, I probably would've wagered 2200 or 2201 to cover a possible 0 bet by Ben and to assure I would still have enough to beat him if he missed.
But, this was not a regular show. Not only was the winner going to advance, but either of the losers could advance as a wildcard if they were in the top four scores of non-winners of the five quarterfinal games. So, I didn't want to wager so much that I would knock myself out of wildcard contention if I lost. I had researched the previous TOC's and found that the average wildcard cutoff was around 10500. So, I didn't want to fall below there.
My 1200 wager seemed to make sense. I'd be left with at least 10600, I could win if I made it or missed it and Ben missed with a usual shut-out bet. AND the game would be shown on Friday the 13th and I'd have 13000 if I got it. Yes, it made sense.
The category was "World Money." (For those of you not familiar with the J! process, you only know the category, NOT the clue, when you make your wager). Not a good category for me - I hadn't studied currencies of the world so if I needed to know what they call money in Burkina-Faso I was going to be out of luck. But as soon as the clue was revealed I knew the correct response - I had traveled to India about 15 years ago and I still had some Rupees in my desk drawer at home. So I knew I was ok - the only question was whether Ben would know it. If he missed, I figured I would win.
I was heartened somewhat when Lisa missed (sorry Lisa). So India wasn't obvious to everyone - maybe not to Ben as well. I was impatient during the revealing of my response and wager - "Let's see what Ben did!" But, Ben was smiling. Ben got it. Ben won.
Congrats Ben. It was a well-deserved victory!
One more note about my wager. Ben only wagered 1004. Even so, if he had missed, I would've won, 13,000 to 12,996.
I don't remember a THING about the post-game conversation with Alex. All I was thinking was, "Is it enough? Is 13,000 going to be enough?"
To the Next Post - A SITUATION BEYOND MY CONTROL
Soon the list of the next three competitors was read - Ben, Lisa, and . . . Dave. I grabbed an peanut butter energy bar and took my place in the makeup chair for the pre-game touch-up. One more trip to the bathroom later, we were miked up and on our way to the set.
Many folks who saw my run on the regular show asked if I was nervous. I could honestly say I was never nervous on the set - I was too happy just to be there and the game was so engrossing there wasn't really time to be nervous.
Why then now, as I took my place at podium #3 for my sixth Jeopardy! game, did I feel so nervous? Partly I guess it was the competition - I had watched these folks play and I knew how good they were. Partly it was because I had never gotten comfortable with the buzzer in practice, while in the practice sessions before my regular games I had pretty much dominated. And partly it was because I had been anticipating this for so long - I had known since June that there was a good chance I'd be in the TOC; I had gotten the call for the regular games about three weeks before the taping. Because it had been over 20 months since the audition, I had pretty much put getting a call to be on the show out of my mind.
Perhaps the primary reason for my nervousness was that everyone I knew expected me to go to Las Vegas and win. There had been no such pressure when I went on the show the first time - everyone, including me, was just happy that I was going to be on. But, after seeing me win four times, I wasn't just the guy who was on Jeopardy!, I was the guy who had won.
As we waited for the game to begin, I adjusted my "stance," trying to rest my right arm comfortably on the podium. It just wasn't happening. I couldn't get the buzzer comfortable in my hand, either. It was like playing golf with unfamiliar clubs (which I would do the next day - more on that in a later post). My physical discomfort was messing with my mind more than anything.
The music started and I heard Johnny Gilbert's introduction. "Smile dummy," I said to myself. Watching last night, that's exactly what I looked like - a smiling dummy. My friend Mike said, "I've known you for 25 years and I've never seen that expression." Thanks for that.
I have to say, though, that my red clergy shirt looked good - or, as one of my students said in class today (I teach Christian Education in the middle school affiliated with my church), the shirt "popped." Why a red shirt? No theological reason - my wife told me to wear it (actually, she said I should wear it, but for me it's the same thing, as I have no taste at all of my own about things like clothes).
And why a clergy shirt? I had waited until my second game to wear one before because I wanted to make sure I embarrassed only myself if my J! experience turned out to be a disaster. But, in the TOC, I wanted to be as up-front as possible about my profession and especially my faith. I hope that in some small way my appearance would say that all Christians aren't the dummies they are portrayed as in the media sometimes (often through the fault not of the media, but of those Christians that speak the loudest, but that's a whole 'nother blog).
There was Alex Trebek stepping onto the new set and away we went. Some random thoughts about the game:
- The main thing I remembered about this game was frustration. Frustration at not being able to ring in most of the time thanks to Ben's incredible timing. Frustration at the two negs on high-value clues in the J! round, especially reciting the first lines of "The New Colossus" when I knew good and well that the name of the poem wasn't there. (To make that worse, Ben told me later that he hadn't known what the poem was until he heard my impromptu recitation.)
- I should have been much quicker to get "Eiffel" on the J! DD, but completely missed the big old TOM ("Tease out Metric" or the clue within the clue) of "TOWERING." Glad Alex gave me the time to get the right answer back, or I would've really been in the hole.
- I planned to hunt for the DD's in the DJ round, but couldn't get control away from Ben long enough to do any hunting. He found them both very quickly. That could've been very bad or very good for me - I knew the Harlem/Haarlem one, but did not know the other one. His missing both kept me in the game.
- I can remember feeling like I needed to step it up or this was going to be the last time I ever got to play the game. Fortunately, I did find some timing toward the end of DJ and especially due to "13-letter words" I was able to get to a respectable score.
- In that category, Alex made fun of me because I drew out the pronunciation of "contaminnnnnaaaaation." That's because my first thought was "contaminate," and I realized that couldn't possibly have 13 letters.
Here were the scores - Ben 14,000, Me 11,800, and Lisa 4000. The first consideration was making sure I stayed ahead of Lisa. That meant I wasn't going to wager more than 3799 (so as not to fall behind her possible doubled score of 8000). Second, if Ben made the usual shut-out wager (9001), there was no way I could catch him. If this was a regular show, I probably would've wagered 2200 or 2201 to cover a possible 0 bet by Ben and to assure I would still have enough to beat him if he missed.
But, this was not a regular show. Not only was the winner going to advance, but either of the losers could advance as a wildcard if they were in the top four scores of non-winners of the five quarterfinal games. So, I didn't want to wager so much that I would knock myself out of wildcard contention if I lost. I had researched the previous TOC's and found that the average wildcard cutoff was around 10500. So, I didn't want to fall below there.
My 1200 wager seemed to make sense. I'd be left with at least 10600, I could win if I made it or missed it and Ben missed with a usual shut-out bet. AND the game would be shown on Friday the 13th and I'd have 13000 if I got it. Yes, it made sense.
The category was "World Money." (For those of you not familiar with the J! process, you only know the category, NOT the clue, when you make your wager). Not a good category for me - I hadn't studied currencies of the world so if I needed to know what they call money in Burkina-Faso I was going to be out of luck. But as soon as the clue was revealed I knew the correct response - I had traveled to India about 15 years ago and I still had some Rupees in my desk drawer at home. So I knew I was ok - the only question was whether Ben would know it. If he missed, I figured I would win.
I was heartened somewhat when Lisa missed (sorry Lisa). So India wasn't obvious to everyone - maybe not to Ben as well. I was impatient during the revealing of my response and wager - "Let's see what Ben did!" But, Ben was smiling. Ben got it. Ben won.
Congrats Ben. It was a well-deserved victory!
One more note about my wager. Ben only wagered 1004. Even so, if he had missed, I would've won, 13,000 to 12,996.
I don't remember a THING about the post-game conversation with Alex. All I was thinking was, "Is it enough? Is 13,000 going to be enough?"
To the Next Post - A SITUATION BEYOND MY CONTROL
TOC FORMAT
For those who do not follow Jeopardy! regularly, here is how the TOC works:
There are 15 competitors, chosen on the basis of who has won the most games since the last TOC (usually about 18 months). One of the players is usually the College Champion, but not this year.
There are FIVE QUARTERFINAL games. The FIVE WINNERS of those games, plus FOUR WILDCARDS, advance to the next round. Wild cards are the non-winners with the highest scores. So . . . nine of fifteen players advance.
Those nine play in THREE SEMIFINAL games. The THREE WINNERS advance to the finals.
The FINALS are played as two separate games over two days - the WINNER is the player with the highest combined score.
Prize Money is as follows . . .
There are 15 competitors, chosen on the basis of who has won the most games since the last TOC (usually about 18 months). One of the players is usually the College Champion, but not this year.
There are FIVE QUARTERFINAL games. The FIVE WINNERS of those games, plus FOUR WILDCARDS, advance to the next round. Wild cards are the non-winners with the highest scores. So . . . nine of fifteen players advance.
Those nine play in THREE SEMIFINAL games. The THREE WINNERS advance to the finals.
The FINALS are played as two separate games over two days - the WINNER is the player with the highest combined score.
Prize Money is as follows . . .
- Six players eliminated in the Quarterfinals - $5000 each
- Six players eliminated in the Semifinals - $10,000 each
- Third place finalist - $50,000
- Second place finalist - $100,000
- First place finalist - $250,000
QUARTERFINAL PREGAME
Seeing Maggie again was like seeing an old friend - hugs and hellos. She even remembered my wife and daughter (my son hadn't gone with us to California).
Seeing the other champs was surreal. I'd seen them all on my television set, and had been impressed by every one. Here they were in person. And I would get to play against some of them. Again let me use a golf analogy (as I did in an earlier post). Imagine watching the PGA tour on television, and really admiring the winners of the tournaments. Then, imagine going to a tournament where YOU WERE GOING TO BE PLAYING AGAINST THEM. Yikes. The difference, of course, was that SOMEHOW, I was one of them!
It was great to see Glenn and Robert and Tony again as well. They are such an incredibly professional team, and set a friendly, relaxed tone that really helps when the stakes are so high.
Speaking of friendly . . . one of the fifteen of us contestants were going to win $250,000. Fourteen of us would not. You might expect some cut-throat one-upsmanship. But there was none at all. At least none of which I was aware. What a great group of folks!
We were herded into a little bus for the short drive to the Las Vegas Convention Center. We entered through a back door and were herded into a room that was far from the excitement of the Consumer Electronics Show going on elsewhere in the complex, and, as we would find out, a couple of counties over from the actual Jeopardy! set (ok, that's a slight exaggeration).
It was only about 2:30, taping was at 7, so we had LOTS of time to fill out the forms and get to know each other a little bit. There was a spread of coldcuts and fruit but I stayed away from any kind of food after my Grilled Cheese Sandwich Experience in California. I did drink many bottles of water, which necessitated a new rule - any time there's a chance to go to the bathroom, take it. There was no bathroom attached to the Las Vegas Green Room as there is in California, so the Contestant Coordinators had to organize bathroom treks periodically. They were serious about making sure there was no collusion - there were TWO guards posted outside our door and we were reminded "Don't talk to ANYBODY" before we entered the bathrooms.
Maggie went over a greatly abbreviated presentation of the rules - "You have done this before." Most of the time was spent on TOC specific rules - how ties would be broken and such. (Ties for game winners would be broken with a sudden-death clue. Ties for wildcards would be broken by whomever had the most money going into Final Jeopardy). One interesting factoid - you can't win a game with zero or negative money. If all three players in a semifinal were in that situation, there would be an additional wildcard that would advance.
As the afternoon dragged on, we each had a turn in the makeup chair. I asked if they had remembered to pack extra anti-shine for my head, and was glad to hear that they had (I learned during my initial run that not only is the anti-shine packed on during the initial session, but it needs touching up during commercial breaks as well).
Finally, it was time to see the new set. By now you've seen it on TV. My first impression was that it was very . . . blue. My second was some disorientation - it contained all the same elements of the original set, but things were different colors and in different places. Then there was the floor - mostly clear but with these perpendicular black stripes that made judging the steps very tricky. One contestant had a pretty bad fall on one of the steps - this person recovered nicely but for a moment there one had to wonder if the alternate was going to play.
A word about the alternate. What a thankless job. Meredith was the 16th qualifier, and that meant she got to fly to Las Vegas and sit in the Green Room all day and through most of the evening, and never get to play. Then she was flown back the next day (Friday) instead of staying until Sunday like the rest of us.
Back to the set. First up were contestant interviews. We had been given a sheet of about 15 questions in the Green Room and were asked to come up with answers to them. There really wasn't time, and almost as soon as we got onto the set we began to be called up for interviews. They asked random questions from the list - I seemed to get the worst of them. I mean, asking a guy wearing a clerical collar if being in Vegas would make any difference in his wagering strategy? (You can see my interview in all its pathetic-ness at the TOC website HERE).
Then came the fun part - the practice game. We got to try out the new buzzers on the new set. My turn came and I immediately noticed that the podiums (podia?) are several inches shorter than their California cousins. They are also constructed differently, so I couldn't comfortably rest my arm as I had done before. I never really got comfortable before my time was up. I was very concerned about being able to get into a rhythm once the game started.
It was also strange practicing because just beyond the boundary of the makeshift studio, there were CES attendees milling around. It was very loud at times - we could see why they didn't tape until after the show had closed for the day.
After the practice game, it was time to return to the Green Room and . . . wait.
One cool thing that did happen was that Alex Trebek stopped by the Green Room to say "Hi." It was very unexpected - he had been kept far away from contestants during our regular games. He seemed to be excited about the TOC. It was another surreal experience, seeing him away from the set.
No one knew who was playing whom until right before time to start. I looked around the room, trying to determine who I'd like to play. My answer - none of these people!
Then the first three names were called . . . and none of them were mine.
FYI - The pairings are NOT random as they are on the regular shows. In Maggie's words, "The producers and I match you up to give what we think are going to be the best games." Or something like that.
Because it would have given an advantage to those who play later (because of the wild cards), those of us not playing could not watch. We voted on which DVD to watch ("Chicago") - all of the options had been cleared by the producers to make sure they wouldn't show up in any of the clues.
About the time John C. Reilly finished singing "Mr. Cellophane" on the movie, Glenn arrived to call the next three victims. I mean players. It had been a long wait - apparently there had been some technical problems with the set. As you probably know, I was not in that next group of three either.
I would get to finish watching "Chicago." But then, it was SHOWTIME . . .
To the next installment - TOC FORMAT
Seeing the other champs was surreal. I'd seen them all on my television set, and had been impressed by every one. Here they were in person. And I would get to play against some of them. Again let me use a golf analogy (as I did in an earlier post). Imagine watching the PGA tour on television, and really admiring the winners of the tournaments. Then, imagine going to a tournament where YOU WERE GOING TO BE PLAYING AGAINST THEM. Yikes. The difference, of course, was that SOMEHOW, I was one of them!
It was great to see Glenn and Robert and Tony again as well. They are such an incredibly professional team, and set a friendly, relaxed tone that really helps when the stakes are so high.
Speaking of friendly . . . one of the fifteen of us contestants were going to win $250,000. Fourteen of us would not. You might expect some cut-throat one-upsmanship. But there was none at all. At least none of which I was aware. What a great group of folks!
We were herded into a little bus for the short drive to the Las Vegas Convention Center. We entered through a back door and were herded into a room that was far from the excitement of the Consumer Electronics Show going on elsewhere in the complex, and, as we would find out, a couple of counties over from the actual Jeopardy! set (ok, that's a slight exaggeration).
It was only about 2:30, taping was at 7, so we had LOTS of time to fill out the forms and get to know each other a little bit. There was a spread of coldcuts and fruit but I stayed away from any kind of food after my Grilled Cheese Sandwich Experience in California. I did drink many bottles of water, which necessitated a new rule - any time there's a chance to go to the bathroom, take it. There was no bathroom attached to the Las Vegas Green Room as there is in California, so the Contestant Coordinators had to organize bathroom treks periodically. They were serious about making sure there was no collusion - there were TWO guards posted outside our door and we were reminded "Don't talk to ANYBODY" before we entered the bathrooms.
Maggie went over a greatly abbreviated presentation of the rules - "You have done this before." Most of the time was spent on TOC specific rules - how ties would be broken and such. (Ties for game winners would be broken with a sudden-death clue. Ties for wildcards would be broken by whomever had the most money going into Final Jeopardy). One interesting factoid - you can't win a game with zero or negative money. If all three players in a semifinal were in that situation, there would be an additional wildcard that would advance.
As the afternoon dragged on, we each had a turn in the makeup chair. I asked if they had remembered to pack extra anti-shine for my head, and was glad to hear that they had (I learned during my initial run that not only is the anti-shine packed on during the initial session, but it needs touching up during commercial breaks as well).
Finally, it was time to see the new set. By now you've seen it on TV. My first impression was that it was very . . . blue. My second was some disorientation - it contained all the same elements of the original set, but things were different colors and in different places. Then there was the floor - mostly clear but with these perpendicular black stripes that made judging the steps very tricky. One contestant had a pretty bad fall on one of the steps - this person recovered nicely but for a moment there one had to wonder if the alternate was going to play.
A word about the alternate. What a thankless job. Meredith was the 16th qualifier, and that meant she got to fly to Las Vegas and sit in the Green Room all day and through most of the evening, and never get to play. Then she was flown back the next day (Friday) instead of staying until Sunday like the rest of us.
Back to the set. First up were contestant interviews. We had been given a sheet of about 15 questions in the Green Room and were asked to come up with answers to them. There really wasn't time, and almost as soon as we got onto the set we began to be called up for interviews. They asked random questions from the list - I seemed to get the worst of them. I mean, asking a guy wearing a clerical collar if being in Vegas would make any difference in his wagering strategy? (You can see my interview in all its pathetic-ness at the TOC website HERE).
Then came the fun part - the practice game. We got to try out the new buzzers on the new set. My turn came and I immediately noticed that the podiums (podia?) are several inches shorter than their California cousins. They are also constructed differently, so I couldn't comfortably rest my arm as I had done before. I never really got comfortable before my time was up. I was very concerned about being able to get into a rhythm once the game started.
It was also strange practicing because just beyond the boundary of the makeshift studio, there were CES attendees milling around. It was very loud at times - we could see why they didn't tape until after the show had closed for the day.
After the practice game, it was time to return to the Green Room and . . . wait.
One cool thing that did happen was that Alex Trebek stopped by the Green Room to say "Hi." It was very unexpected - he had been kept far away from contestants during our regular games. He seemed to be excited about the TOC. It was another surreal experience, seeing him away from the set.
No one knew who was playing whom until right before time to start. I looked around the room, trying to determine who I'd like to play. My answer - none of these people!
Then the first three names were called . . . and none of them were mine.
FYI - The pairings are NOT random as they are on the regular shows. In Maggie's words, "The producers and I match you up to give what we think are going to be the best games." Or something like that.
Because it would have given an advantage to those who play later (because of the wild cards), those of us not playing could not watch. We voted on which DVD to watch ("Chicago") - all of the options had been cleared by the producers to make sure they wouldn't show up in any of the clues.
About the time John C. Reilly finished singing "Mr. Cellophane" on the movie, Glenn arrived to call the next three victims. I mean players. It had been a long wait - apparently there had been some technical problems with the set. As you probably know, I was not in that next group of three either.
I would get to finish watching "Chicago." But then, it was SHOWTIME . . .
To the next installment - TOC FORMAT
TO LAS VEGAS
According to the letter, J! would fly me out to Las Vegas and put me up at the Hilton Grand Vacations Resort on the Las Vegas Strip (that's really the name of the place - good thing they have big signs in Vegas). We had decided early on that we'd go as a family, so while J! made my plane reservation, I was able to get my wife and two kids on the same plane.
Things worked out really well - I always take the week after Christmas off to visit my family in Florida, so I'd have extra time to prepare the week prior to the tourney. I had a week of vacation left from 2008 that I was allowed to carry over for the tourney week.
In my occupation, the time before Christmas is the busiest time of year (except maybe Lent). After all the waiting to see if I was going to qualify, time accelerated. I was learning more stuff every day and doing better against Ken Jennings on those GSN reruns, but I had also seen all of the other TOC competitors play. They were GOOD. And most of them had won more than me - I ended up 12th on the list out of 15 qualifiers (15 qualified instead of 14 because the College Champion was unable to compete due to Air Force commitments - which I really think is a lousy decision by the Air Force because what better publicity could they get?).
Besides the letter and the multi-page contract thing you have to sign (one clause waived my rights to my likeness on Jeopardy! "throughout the universe"!), there was also a description of the tournament format, which I'll put in a post of its own because I know there is confusion among non-Jeopardy! obsessives.
Before I was ready, January 6 was here and we were dropping our dogs at the vet for boarding and we were on our way to the airport, also for boarding.
We were on our way to Vegas, baby!
To the next installment - QUARTERFINAL PREGAME
Things worked out really well - I always take the week after Christmas off to visit my family in Florida, so I'd have extra time to prepare the week prior to the tourney. I had a week of vacation left from 2008 that I was allowed to carry over for the tourney week.
In my occupation, the time before Christmas is the busiest time of year (except maybe Lent). After all the waiting to see if I was going to qualify, time accelerated. I was learning more stuff every day and doing better against Ken Jennings on those GSN reruns, but I had also seen all of the other TOC competitors play. They were GOOD. And most of them had won more than me - I ended up 12th on the list out of 15 qualifiers (15 qualified instead of 14 because the College Champion was unable to compete due to Air Force commitments - which I really think is a lousy decision by the Air Force because what better publicity could they get?).
Besides the letter and the multi-page contract thing you have to sign (one clause waived my rights to my likeness on Jeopardy! "throughout the universe"!), there was also a description of the tournament format, which I'll put in a post of its own because I know there is confusion among non-Jeopardy! obsessives.
Before I was ready, January 6 was here and we were dropping our dogs at the vet for boarding and we were on our way to the airport, also for boarding.
We were on our way to Vegas, baby!
To the next installment - QUARTERFINAL PREGAME
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
It's the Monday before Thanksgiving, November 24. I come home in a car that smells like chili (that's what I brought to our staff Thanksgiving luncheon that day). I pull into my driveway, and notice the Fed Ex envelope leaning against the front door. Blue and orange are my new favorite colors.
I run up the walk and, sure enough, the return address on the envelope is Culver City! I rip open the envelope, and read . . .
"Congratulations! You are invited to play in the upcoming Jeopardy Tournament of Champions."
How about that? If you've read the rest of this blog, you know that I had auditioned in May, 2006 (yes, 2006) after taking the online test that February. I had gotten the Call to be on the show in February, 2008, and taped in June. After waiting all that time, I was ecstatic just to get on the show, and just hoped I wouldn't embarrass myself. Maybe I could even win one game.
But now, almost two years after that online test that started it all, I'd be flying to Las Vegas to compete in the Tournament of Champions! Wow.
I needed to study.
To the next installment - TO LAS VEGAS
I run up the walk and, sure enough, the return address on the envelope is Culver City! I rip open the envelope, and read . . .
"Congratulations! You are invited to play in the upcoming Jeopardy Tournament of Champions."
How about that? If you've read the rest of this blog, you know that I had auditioned in May, 2006 (yes, 2006) after taking the online test that February. I had gotten the Call to be on the show in February, 2008, and taped in June. After waiting all that time, I was ecstatic just to get on the show, and just hoped I wouldn't embarrass myself. Maybe I could even win one game.
But now, almost two years after that online test that started it all, I'd be flying to Las Vegas to compete in the Tournament of Champions! Wow.
I needed to study.
To the next installment - TO LAS VEGAS
THE ALMOST, WELL SORT OF, TOC CALL
Friday, November 14. I checked messages on the downstairs phone. Karen was upstairs. The first message went something like this:
"It's Tony from Jeopardy!"
Upstairs, she made a similar sound.
I called back and found out that although it wasn't for sure yet as they had a couple more weeks of shows to tape, the odds were very good that I would be in the TOC. Tony asked me if I could clear my calendar January 6-11. The shows would be taped in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show January 8 and 10, but I'd be flown out on the 6th and fly back on the 10th. I told him no way could I go then, I would just be too busy.
Not really.
I told him of course I could go. AND WHEN WOULD I KNOW FOR SURE?
Tony said I should get a packet in early December if I had indeed made the cut.
I hung up. The TOC was getting closer to being a reality.
I needed to study.
To the next installment - HAPPY THANKSGIVING
- Hello, Dave, this is Tony Pandolfo of the television game show Jeopardy! Please call me back to talk about the Tournament of Champs. (Phone numbers.)
"It's Tony from Jeopardy!"
Upstairs, she made a similar sound.
I called back and found out that although it wasn't for sure yet as they had a couple more weeks of shows to tape, the odds were very good that I would be in the TOC. Tony asked me if I could clear my calendar January 6-11. The shows would be taped in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show January 8 and 10, but I'd be flown out on the 6th and fly back on the 10th. I told him no way could I go then, I would just be too busy.
Not really.
I told him of course I could go. AND WHEN WOULD I KNOW FOR SURE?
Tony said I should get a packet in early December if I had indeed made the cut.
I hung up. The TOC was getting closer to being a reality.
I needed to study.
To the next installment - HAPPY THANKSGIVING
PREPARATION J (or, The Big Wait)
When we last left this saga, the viewing parties were over and the world had returned to normal. Well, most of the world.
I knew I was in the running for the Tournament of Champions, but that my standing was tenuous at best. The Tournament would be taped in January, 2009, and the top 14 winners since the last TOC would be invited (plus the College Tournament Champion). At the time my shows were aired in late June, I was #6 on the list. So, I just had to hope there weren't any more than 8 bigger winners than me over the next 7 months.
So, for months I was in a strange kind of purgatory. There was absolutely nothing I could do to improve my situation. All I could do was watch Jeopardy! every night and root for the returning champion to lose. And root even harder for two time returning champions to lose. And so on.
To all those I rooted against, I apologize. It wasn't personal.
When Jeopardy! wasn't on, while I was supposed to be doing other things (like writing a sermon), I did calculations using the J Archive. Like . . . in the average Jeopardy month, going back 10 years (but not including Ken Jenning's run), there were .8 champs who did better than me. In the number of shows between mine and the TOC, the average was 4.6. So . . . I should be ok - in about 11th place.
But . .. back in Season 17 there had been an average of 7.6 bigger winners in that time.
Uh oh.
These calculations were revised every week or so based on how many shows were left and how many bigger winners there had been. YES, it was sort of obsessive, but in a way it gave an illusion of control to something over which I really didn't have any control.
I also studied. Not so much at first, then in every spare moment starting in early November. I made electronic flash cards of every fact listed in the back of Mike Dupee's "How to Get on Jeopardy and Win" book, as well as for world capitals and other lists. I carried a small spiral notebook and tried to jot down any fact I came across that might be J-worthy. Those facts also became flash cards. I also tracked which flash cards I studied, and what percentage I was getting right (the program I use does the figuring for you).
I also TIVO'd the GSN and current Jeopardy! broadcasts each day, and "played" them using the pause button on the remote as my buzzer. I tracked my Coryat score to see my improvement. During that time, GSN re-ran Ken Jennings' streak so I "played" against him. Some days my Coryat was even a little higher than his!
Yes, it was a lot of studying and preparing for something that might not happen (although the likelihood increased as time passed). But, here's what I figured . . .
Or not.
Little did I know that I wouldn't have to wait that long . . .
To the Next Installment - THE ALMOST, WELL SORT OF, TOC CALL
I knew I was in the running for the Tournament of Champions, but that my standing was tenuous at best. The Tournament would be taped in January, 2009, and the top 14 winners since the last TOC would be invited (plus the College Tournament Champion). At the time my shows were aired in late June, I was #6 on the list. So, I just had to hope there weren't any more than 8 bigger winners than me over the next 7 months.
So, for months I was in a strange kind of purgatory. There was absolutely nothing I could do to improve my situation. All I could do was watch Jeopardy! every night and root for the returning champion to lose. And root even harder for two time returning champions to lose. And so on.
To all those I rooted against, I apologize. It wasn't personal.
When Jeopardy! wasn't on, while I was supposed to be doing other things (like writing a sermon), I did calculations using the J Archive. Like . . . in the average Jeopardy month, going back 10 years (but not including Ken Jenning's run), there were .8 champs who did better than me. In the number of shows between mine and the TOC, the average was 4.6. So . . . I should be ok - in about 11th place.
But . .. back in Season 17 there had been an average of 7.6 bigger winners in that time.
Uh oh.
These calculations were revised every week or so based on how many shows were left and how many bigger winners there had been. YES, it was sort of obsessive, but in a way it gave an illusion of control to something over which I really didn't have any control.
I also studied. Not so much at first, then in every spare moment starting in early November. I made electronic flash cards of every fact listed in the back of Mike Dupee's "How to Get on Jeopardy and Win" book, as well as for world capitals and other lists. I carried a small spiral notebook and tried to jot down any fact I came across that might be J-worthy. Those facts also became flash cards. I also tracked which flash cards I studied, and what percentage I was getting right (the program I use does the figuring for you).
I also TIVO'd the GSN and current Jeopardy! broadcasts each day, and "played" them using the pause button on the remote as my buzzer. I tracked my Coryat score to see my improvement. During that time, GSN re-ran Ken Jennings' streak so I "played" against him. Some days my Coryat was even a little higher than his!
Yes, it was a lot of studying and preparing for something that might not happen (although the likelihood increased as time passed). But, here's what I figured . . .
- If I did make the TOC, I wanted to be as prepared as possible. Not so much to "win" - too many variables (i.e. categories, buzzer speed, etc) for that, but so that if I did not do as well as I hoped then I would not regret having not taken time to prepare. And . .
- It was something to DO besides sit and wait and wonder if i would make the cut.
Or not.
Little did I know that I wouldn't have to wait that long . . .
To the Next Installment - THE ALMOST, WELL SORT OF, TOC CALL
Monday, February 16, 2009
COMING SOON!
In the next couple of weeks, I'll be starting the account of the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions experience. For those who do not know, I did qualify for the TOC and went to Las Vegas in early January to tape. The tournament will be broadcast from March 11 through 24; you'll see me on March 13 (and possibly later depending upon the outcome).
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