Thursday's game was just Ken Jennings being Ken Jennings: he clearly dominated the buzzer, hit a couple of big Daily Doubles, and ended up with an insurmountable lead going into the final. Michael had a chance to get back in the game with a true Daily Double, but a tough chemistry clue did him in.
To finish out the week, Friday's competitors are Dan Pawson, Maria Wenglinsky, and Keith Whitener. I didn't have any connections to any of them prior to the taping, and only Dan was in our subgroup on the day of the promo taping, so I didn't get as much chance to interact with Keith or Maria. I wrote a little bit about them below, but then I saw Stephanie Jass's preview which is much more compelling (especially if you're a Hunger Games fan), so you probably just want to check that out here: https://www.facebook.com/StephanieJassJeopardyChampion/posts/636352503102244
Dan was a big champ in 2008 (9 games) and won the Tournament of Champions in 2009 over Larissa Kelly. He's just an all-around strong player and nice guy, lives in New York, and does interesting and important work consulting for health-related global nonprofits. He's another one with a smart family...his wife Andrea also was a J! champion a few years ago.
Maria is a teacher who also lives in New York, she won 5 games in 2005 and was narrowly defeated by Michael Falk in the semifinals of the 2006 ToC. She has a great, very dry sense of humor that will come through during Friday's game.
Keith Whitener was one of the very recent players in the group, having won 7 games in 2012 (honestly, a time when I wasn't watching the show very regularly). He's a chemist who now lives in DC. He finished second to Colby in the 2013 ToC. Right after the day of taping, he and his wife headed straight to the airport for their honeymoon!
The games have been exciting all week, and I promise that this one won't disappoint either.
