Posts
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| Chris Hauck |
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| Sam Meyer |
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| Tim Kuehn (Doesn't he look like he's from Venice, California?) |
Sam's troubles continued when he found the Daily Double in Just Chute Me. By that time he had 4000 again, which is good. Tim had 1800 and Chris had 1600. Sam wagered 3000 on this clue: "In 1797, Andre Garnerin became the first to use a parachute without a rigid frame when he jumped from one of these." I thought this was a toughie. Sam said "mountaintop," which was like my guess of "cliff." (Did anybody get that right?) Consequently (maybe), Sam trailed with 2600 at the break, while Tim had 4600 and Chris had 3600. I swept "Kick"ing and Assets (Yes, those were next to each other on the board.) I only missed this one in The 90s: "In 1793 this Irish college allowed Catholics to study for degrees for the first time."
I was sweeping Around the Body when Chris found the Daily Double there as the second-to-last clue. She had 15200, Tim had 11000, and Sam had 9000. Now, I have to wonder if she realized that the last clue was the other Daily Double. In any case, on this one she wagered 2000 in a category in which she'd gotten two right. This was the clue, read by Jimmy of the Clue Crew: "When an injury like a cut is sustained, these blood cells change shape, become sticky, build up on the wound, and form a plug." Chris answered very quickly, even before Jimmy was off the screen, but I'm giving myself credit because I truly believe I'd have gotten it, too.
So, the next clue, the other Daily Double, in They Give Us Gas. Let's review the scores, shall we? Chris: 17200. Tim: 11000. Sam: 9000. Chris said, "Sorry, guys," to her opponents when she found the clue. You'd think that means, "I'm about to put this game out of reach." But no. I mean, it would've been so easy to do that. Say she wagered 5000, or even 4801. She'd still have the lead even if she'd missed. It seems that even Mr. Trebek noticed. Here was the clue: "The 'Our History' section of this gas giant's site shows its path from an 'Anglo-Persian oil company to global energy group.'" Side note: Would you believe my mom read me a Trivial Pursuit question over the phone about this very clue last night? And I'd missed it! I tell you, I didn't miss it this time, and neither did Chris. My frustration turned to peace in an instant. Studying is such a beautiful thing. I think it's true that the harder you work, the luckier you get.
The Final Jeopardy category was The Movies. Here was the clue: "Lt. Col. A.P. Clark played a key role in the elaborate breakout from Stalag Luft III that inspired this 1963 movie." Props to Sam and Tim. They got it right. All I could manage was "Papillon." Chris missed it. She'd have still won with a decent wager in Double Jeopardy. Not even two, just one. On the Final, she wagered 199, which puzzles me, too. Was she trying to lock up second place in case Sam doubled? It reminds me of a lesson I've mentioned before in Brad Gilbert's great I've Got Your Back: Coaching Top Performers from Center Court to the Corner Office: (I'm paraphrasing) Don't play not to lose. That is, play to win. (I love Brad Gilbert.) I hope Chris will find this blog and comment on her wagering strategy.
So, Sam wagered 8765, and Tim wagered 7201, enough to win today. I like him. We'll see him tomorrow. My Coryat score today was 29800. A good day for me. I need more like these. Sam's Coryat was 12000, Tim's was 11000, and Chris's was 19200.
15 comments:
I thought the Final was going to be easy. Instead, it was hard. I thought of The African Queen, and then thought of Black Hawk Down. How far (in years) was I wrong?
Hi. Thanks for the little quiz. I went to imdb.com for this. "The African Queen" is from 1951, "Black Hawk Down" is from 2001, "The Great Escape" is from 1963. "Papillon," which at least starred Steve McQueen, is from 1973.
I was in the audience for this episode, and Chris' wagering for the two daily doubles was absolutely heartbreaking. Me and the other vanquished contestants were stunned when she didn't wager for the lock--the lock should've been on her mind once she saw that she had control of the board, that there were only 2 clues left, and that no daily doubles were yet revealed during double jeopardy. But, good judgment often flies out the window when the lights are hot and the cameras are on.
When i saw FJ i thought '"Great Escape"--fairly easy--unless that 'stalag' in the clue throws someone off the scent towards "Stalag 17"'. And it did for the leader. I was really hoping Chris would get the win, just to erase what happened in double jeopardy. She played a great game and knew some really obscure stuff, I hope this loss didn't haunt her too much. And congrats to Tim on a nice win; he was a kind dude from Venice Beach, very gregarious and easygoing.
The Playstation Network, one of the centerpieces of Sony's strategy in the console gaming space, was down for a month after they were hacked earlier this year; I would be sad but unsurprised if the J! boards are down for at leaat that long.
FJ! was a near-instaget, but thanks to my dad, the WWII nut, I'd seen the movie at least twice before my tenth birthday.
Tonight Mary Anna (mam613, if I'm remembering the numbers correctly, from the boards) plays; I'm looking forward to seeing the game again, and I'll let her know that we'll be talking about it over here.
Yes, I did get the hot-air balloon DD in the first round. But it was really just a guess. The timeframe mentioned just made me think of balloons. Zilched on Taking Names, but I swept Body, Gas, and Words in South American Countries in DJ. No clue on FJ.
I was very frustrated to see Chris lose because of her overly cautious betting on the two DDs. With both being in categories that she seemed comfortable with, I can't imagine why she didn't go for the lock. I was screaming at the TV by the end of the round!!
A great game, and a 25,000 Coryat for me. Argh, you beat me again, Jeanie!! :)
Another fun game to watch... I got FJ on this one - dithered between "The Great Escape", and "Stalag 17" for a second, but picked correctly - I was pretty sure Stalag 17 was earlier. (I'd seen The Great Escape about 6 months ago, and have been humming the theme song ever since...)
And I'm so excited... my episode is next!
Jericho, thanks for your insight! Congratulations on your big wins.
Josh, I missed all of them in Taking Names except for the $200 one about Martin Sheen. I missed Brazil and Suriname in Words in South American Countries. Thanks for sharing your Coryat again!
Mary Anna, did you happen to play Ben Sack? (I guess I'll find out tonight.) I see his name and picture on the Jeopardy! website. He sent me a link to his website about a month ago. He's developed a way to practice on the Jeopardy! signalling device: http://www.thejeopardyfan.com/2011/05/holy-grail-at-last.html
I can neither confirm nor deny the playing of Ben Sack. (But, as you say, you'll find out tonight.) And that's cool! I saw your post on that, but didn't connect that with Ben... I'd forgotten his last name.
Yeah, I didn't realize that thing was from Ben, either! Ben's a good guy; I spent a fair bit of time talking to him while we were both in the pool.
(The contestant pool, that is, not one with water.)
Tim reminded me of Christian Bale. I got the hot air balloon one, for some reason.
The best book of advice on how to succeed remains Machiavelli's The Prince. He said it is better to be bold than cautious, because bold usually wins. He said on rare occasions it turns out it would have been better to be cautious, but he couldn't recommend it.
Congrats on getting BP. I read "gas giant" and got sidetracked to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune--Jupiter Petroleum didn't seem right. I didn't even make it to Anglo-Persian to get back on track. If I had, I probably would have said Imperial Chemical, still under the sway of the Roman gods.
Ursula, the contestant coordinators agreed with you about Tim looking like Christian Bale. He seemed a bit surprised by the comparison.
I've never seen "The Great Escape," but I somehow pulled it out easily for FJ. Yet another case this week where random pop culture knowledge helps me out...I like this. :)
(Also, add me to the chorus of people disappointed with Chris' lowballing on her wagers. Especially with the two DDs at the end of DJ thing being an incredibly rare opportunity, which she ended up kind of squandering.)