TOC SEMIFINAL - Tuesday, March 17, 2009

TOC SEMIFINAL - Tuesday, March 17, 2009

I still have the plain white sheet of paper that Maggie had given me after the Quarterfinals taping - scrawled in Sharpie it read "Meet in the hotel lobby at 3pm Saturday." It was my Golden Ticket to the Semi-finals.

I woke up early on Saturday, and couldn't go back to sleep. I didn't want to wake up Karen, so I started going over match-up scenarios in my head. E very match-up I constructed in my head that made sense based on how we did in the QF's, how we had done in our regular games, splitting up geography and occupations . . . featured me in the same game as Larissa. I knew everyone was great, but after watching Larissa's dominance in her run, I REALLY would rather not have to play her. Plus, my daughter LOVED Larissa - her divided loyalty if I played Larissa would hurt my feelings.

After everyone was up and we'd had breakfast at the IHOP, I repaired to the second bedroom of our suite for some studying. I went over as many of the e-flashcards as I could, hoping that MAYBE something would come up in my game. I have to admit I was a little testy with the rest of my family, but they were understanding - there'd be a big difference for all of us between $10,000 (which I'd won already) and a quarter million the winner would get. I had to remind myself how blessed I was just to be there at all.

It was finally time to get ready to go. I remember being in the shower and making a big decision. I was going to use the body wash instead of the bar soap. That's probably not the big decision that you're interested in. The other thing I decided was that no matter what the situation, if I got a Daily Double and wasn't in the lead, I would make it a True Daily Double. All 8 of the other players were excellent - I would have to take some chances to have a shot.

I don't have much to report about the pre-game. Another van ride to the Convention Center, another walk through the catacombs. One nice thing was that we were in a smaller room that was much closer to the studio, and we would be able to watch the other games without being sequestered. During practice on the set, Dan and I tried to figure out how we'd be matched up based on how we were called up to practice. I was never called to practice in a group with Larissa - that only solidified my certainty. So did not being called for the first game (and neither was Larissa).

I'm sure you've seen the games. It was sort of surreal being in the audience. I felt great for Dan when he won and secured a place in the finals. I was actually glad not to have played him in that particular game - there was a lot of knowledge overlap.

During Final Jeopardy, the victims - er, contestants - for the next SemiFinal were called - me, Cora, Larissa. It was on.

As you probably saw, I started TERRIBLY. But, Larissa was ON FIRE. At the first break, the scores were Larissa 7800, Cora -800, Dave 600. Was Larissa beating me to the buzzer or did she know more? Yes.

But, here's the funny thing. During the break, Maggie said to me, "You seem so much more relaxed than you did on Thursday." That was a wonderful thing to say, because it caused me to look inward a little bit and realize . . . I was. I answered, "I'm just having fun." And I was.

Things didn't go much better in the rest of the Jeopardy! round. Larissa finished with a HUGE 12000 to my 3400 and Cora's 200. But it was OK. I was still having fun (and I don't mean that sarcastically). If this was going to be the last game of Jeopardy! I was ever going to play, I was going to enjoy it, win or lose.

Of course the highlight (for me) of the Double Jeopardy! round was finding the Daily Double. I had built up 7000 by then, Larissa had missed a 1200 to drop to 10800, and Cora had picked up 1600. I was surprised when I watched the show that it was only the fifth clue of DJ.

I was of course hunting for a DD - it was the only way to get back into the game. When I found it at Crusades for 1200, I immediately remembered my shower promise. But did I have the, uh, guts to keep it? If I did and got it, I'd be in the lead and in great shape. If I missed, I'd probably be out of the game. But a promise in the shower is a promise in the shower. "I promised myself I would do this . . . but it's different here . . . let's make this a True Daily Double." That's what I heard myself say.

Then the reveal: "After this wife of Louis VII took part in the Second Crusade, the Church forbade women to join future crusades." You can see my head drop in response. I had NO idea. This was it - I was toast. Wait . . . woman . . . crusades . . . there was a woman, but she was English . . . didn't she come from France? . . . in that movie with Katherine Hepburn . . . OH, she was a correct response in my first regular game that Sujit got right . . . it couldn't be her again . . . I got nothing else and Alex is about to hit that "time's up" sound effect . . . "Who is . . . Eleanor of Aquitaine?"

That's when Alex went Regis on me. Remember on WWTBAM, Regis used to psych out contestants after they had said "Final Answer," he'd say in a real sad voice, "Sorry, YOU JUST WON XXX DOLLARS!" But Alex never did that. So when he started by saying, "Oh Dave" in a real sympathetic tone, I thought, "I'm done." But then he went on "You picked . . ." Again, usually that's what Alex says when there's a small universe of possibilities and someone chooses the wrong one. I KNEW I was done. But then he went on, "THE RIGHT ONE!"

You can see me stagger on the show. The crowd went as wild as crowds do at Jeopardy! (it ain't the Price is Right). As Mark Wales later posted on the Jeopardy! Message Board, I had "pulled Eleanor out of my Aquitaine!"

The rest of the game was a blur. I didn't do a whole lot until the very end - I think all my adrenaline was spent on that DD. Larissa missed her own DD (which I would NOT have known, BTW - good thing I didn't find that one first!) and the game ended.

Scores at the end of DJ: Larissa 18,000; Dave 14,400; Cora 5400.

What to wager? This is what is called in the Jeopardy! Archive/Message Board world the "Faith Love Scenario." TO BE CONTINUED . . .