I'll post some final reflections on this tournament when I get things wrapped up for the semester, but for now, just a few notes. I hope you all watched the whole finals of the Battle of the Decades...it was three really great, really smart players showing just how good they are (and having a lot of fun in the process).
However, if you missed it, you may watch me chew on a Sharpie while watching the abridged version embedded below. Congrats to Brad Rutter, on a hard-earned victory; congrats to Ken Jennings and Roger Craig for equally impressive perfomances, and most of all, thanks to Jeopardy! for putting on this tournament and letting me be a part of it!
Monday, May 19, 2014
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Because it's the Cup
The finals are now set. After my defeat, I got to watch from the audience as Brad Rutter had a really impressive performance, mowing down Leszek and Tom. And the third semifinal was a great match between Roger Craig, Colby Burnett, and Pam Mueller, with each of them getting a "True Daily Double" and Roger struggling at times but ending up in the lead going into the final. This final was tough but gettable: Cartier explored eastern Canada and I started off with St. Lawrence but wasn't happy with it, and eventually got to PEI with a few seconds left (just maybe enough time to write it down if I had tried to do so.)
Not much time to write anything more now, but the finals do not disappoint. Here's the preview from us semifinalists (I appear near the very end):
Enjoy!
Not much time to write anything more now, but the finals do not disappoint. Here's the preview from us semifinalists (I appear near the very end):
Enjoy!
Monday, May 12, 2014
Stuck in the middle
I guess if you're going to get run out of the gym on Jeopardy!, there's probably no shame in having Ken Jennings and Chuck Forrest be the people you're playing against. (Seriously, I played in a game, in the semifinals, in a tournament, against Ken Jennings and Chuck Forrest. That this happened is still kind of hard to believe.)
And what a game it was! I was really only a passive participant, but it was fun to be standing up there watching these two masters plying their craft. Ken's buzzer timing is truly incredible. I know what it feels like to be able to ring in whenever you want to -- in my original run of shows, I had been really, really good on the buzzer, mainly from lots of practice beforehand. I got in that zone during the ToC finals as well. But I had no chance against Ken. I'm not really sure whether I was a little early or a little late; probably a matter of picoseconds (cough, cough). I now know what it must've felt like for the people I defeated in my original run of shows (or any of the 150+ people who had to play Ken previously)...it is really frustrating to know stuff and not be able to get in.
During this game, a whole lot of what Ken got, I knew, but couldn't get in (except for anagrams...I hate anagrams and he's so good at those kinds of categories). Pretty much everything Chuck got was stuff I didn't know.
After the first round, Chuck and I were a bit in shock that Ken had run up such a big lead. But, as Alex said, there's lots of money available in the DJ round, and I was very impressed when Chuck got that Daily Double and worked his way back in the game. And then Ken finds the Daily Double, bets big, and misses...things are getting interesting! (The "spy novel" category was not loved by any of us.) Chuck even managed to take the lead briefly, though it didn't last long. All I was able to do was purloin a letter and yet again forget the category on a video clue (I actually said something like "Russ, look at the category!" after that but I guess they edited it out). At least I could commiserate with Ralph (but I didn't beat the smart kids this time):
Major congrats to Chuck and Ken on an epic game!
Finally, in case you missed these:
And what a game it was! I was really only a passive participant, but it was fun to be standing up there watching these two masters plying their craft. Ken's buzzer timing is truly incredible. I know what it feels like to be able to ring in whenever you want to -- in my original run of shows, I had been really, really good on the buzzer, mainly from lots of practice beforehand. I got in that zone during the ToC finals as well. But I had no chance against Ken. I'm not really sure whether I was a little early or a little late; probably a matter of picoseconds (cough, cough). I now know what it must've felt like for the people I defeated in my original run of shows (or any of the 150+ people who had to play Ken previously)...it is really frustrating to know stuff and not be able to get in.
During this game, a whole lot of what Ken got, I knew, but couldn't get in (except for anagrams...I hate anagrams and he's so good at those kinds of categories). Pretty much everything Chuck got was stuff I didn't know.
After the first round, Chuck and I were a bit in shock that Ken had run up such a big lead. But, as Alex said, there's lots of money available in the DJ round, and I was very impressed when Chuck got that Daily Double and worked his way back in the game. And then Ken finds the Daily Double, bets big, and misses...things are getting interesting! (The "spy novel" category was not loved by any of us.) Chuck even managed to take the lead briefly, though it didn't last long. All I was able to do was purloin a letter and yet again forget the category on a video clue (I actually said something like "Russ, look at the category!" after that but I guess they edited it out). At least I could commiserate with Ralph (but I didn't beat the smart kids this time):
Mostly I just wanted to quote Ralph Wiggum on #Jeopardy #missionaccomplished (more serious thoughts soon) pic.twitter.com/xJ8FUo1Vm3
— Russ Schumacher (@russ_schumacher) May 13, 2014
That final is one I very likely would've figured out while sitting on the couch at home -- I knew that poem came from Kipling in regards to the Philippines. But it didn't come to me right away, and I saw Ken and Chuck both start writing before Alex was even finished reading the clue and I knew I was done and the brain turned off. (Note to future contestants, if you're ever in a situation where it doesn't matter if you get the final right, like if you bet $0 or made a small bet from a close 2nd place, consider starting to write a response down immediately. It has a major psychological effect, or at least it did for me. Same thing happened in my "spam" game...Mike and Elana started writing it down immediately, it didn't come right to me, and I couldn't think straight after that.)Major congrats to Chuck and Ken on an epic game!
It was an honor to be a bystander to the two legends! Congrats to Ken and retro good luck tomorrow Brad! @bradrutter @KenJennings @Jeopardy
— Russ Schumacher (@russ_schumacher) May 13, 2014
I'll post some more thoughts about the entire tournament and the experience when it's done. I feel so lucky to have been a part of it, to have made it this far into a tournament with such incredible players (and really great people). And to have had a chance to share the experience with so many friends and family and supporters.Finally, in case you missed these:
Heads up @KenJennings I think he's talking about #Jeopardy but he's a baby so we can't be sure. pic.twitter.com/HeteSzUc2r
— Russ Schumacher (@russ_schumacher) May 12, 2014
(The backstory here is that they made all of the 2000s contestants say this when filming the promotional videos for the tournament. We all thought it a little bit silly but it was a great topic for our son's onesie to commemorate the day.)
Also this. My wife is the best. pic.twitter.com/htbQn3publ
— Russ Schumacher (@russ_schumacher) May 12, 2014
Saturday, May 10, 2014
The semifinals are set
After a fantastic game to wrap up the quarterfinal round between three outstanding players (most impressive to me was the classical music category, which is probably one of my strongest J!
categories, but I was struggling with those clues while the players swept
them right up.), the semifinal field is set. Chuck Forrest secured the last automatic spot in the semis with his win, and Colby Burnett grabbed the last wild-card spot with his conservative FJ wager. My Tuesday opponent, Pam Mueller, saw her score hold up for one of the wild cards as well.
The semifinal matchups are:
So I find myself playing against two true legends of the game: Chuck Forrest, the first truly great champion in the show's history and originator of the "Forrest Bounce"; and Ken Jennings (maybe you've heard of him?)
(If you're wondering, nobody really knows how they select the semifinal matchups in these tournaments. We can make educated guesses, but they often are somewhat puzzling. In this case they surely wanted to keep Ken and Brad in different games so that they could potentially face off in the finals.)
How will I fare against these two greats? Tune in on Monday!
The semifinal matchups are:
So I find myself playing against two true legends of the game: Chuck Forrest, the first truly great champion in the show's history and originator of the "Forrest Bounce"; and Ken Jennings (maybe you've heard of him?)
(If you're wondering, nobody really knows how they select the semifinal matchups in these tournaments. We can make educated guesses, but they often are somewhat puzzling. In this case they surely wanted to keep Ken and Brad in different games so that they could potentially face off in the finals.)
How will I fare against these two greats? Tune in on Monday!
Friday, May 9, 2014
Ken's good too
After Brad's impressive performance in quarterfinal game 3, we witnessed another dominant win in game 4 (unsurprisingly, I suppose) from Ken Jennings. The speed with which he mowed through the Roman numerals category was one of the most impressive things I've ever seen on the show. I would've come up with most of these with maybe 5 seconds to think about it, but Ken seemed to figure them out in about half a second. (These wordplay kinds of categories are one of his many great strengths.)
That said, I still can't figure out how he knew the "Humpty Dance" but not "Sabotage" in the "90s rap songs" category (and at least he owned up to it):
Brad and I had to pile on a little bit:
Even with Ken's domination, Tom and Rachael were able to build up decent scores going into FJ, and a relatively easy final brought them up to good positions: Tom secured a wild-card spot (and Leszek now also has one locked up) and Rachael made her way into the 4th spot with one game to play...
Current wild-card standings:
Tom C $19,500
Leszek $15,000
Pam $14,798
Rachael $7,600
The last quarterfinal game features Chuck Forrest, probably the first truly famous and great player in the show's history; Mark Dawson, who had one of the most impressive performances in the preliminary round; and Colby Burnett, who's still never lost a game. This game will set the field for the semifinals next week!
That said, I still can't figure out how he knew the "Humpty Dance" but not "Sabotage" in the "90s rap songs" category (and at least he owned up to it):
Lots of people asking how I missed the Beasties & "Sabotage" on Jeopardy. I HAVE NO EXCUSE.
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) May 9, 2014
Brad and I had to pile on a little bit:
http://t.co/VfOcPLb2uk @bradrutter @KenJennings @TLCoolJ
— Russ Schumacher (@russ_schumacher) May 9, 2014
Even with Ken's domination, Tom and Rachael were able to build up decent scores going into FJ, and a relatively easy final brought them up to good positions: Tom secured a wild-card spot (and Leszek now also has one locked up) and Rachael made her way into the 4th spot with one game to play...
Current wild-card standings:
Tom C $19,500
Leszek $15,000
Pam $14,798
Rachael $7,600
The last quarterfinal game features Chuck Forrest, probably the first truly famous and great player in the show's history; Mark Dawson, who had one of the most impressive performances in the preliminary round; and Colby Burnett, who's still never lost a game. This game will set the field for the semifinals next week!
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Ruttered
Well, this photo from Jeopardy!'s facebook feed pretty much sums up the 3rd quarterfinal:
Seems that Brad is pretty good at this game. I felt bad for Dan...when he and I talked prior to the taping, we guessed that either he or I was going to have to play Brad, and he drew that straw. (Not literally...I don't really know how they choose the matchups, but it doesn't involve drawing straws! But we figured that they wouldn't put Ken or Roger or Colby against him in the first round, so that left us.) Dan gave a valiant effort, and if just one of those Daily Doubles had gone a different way, the outcome could've been quite different. [Dan's the person I spent the most time hanging out with at these tapings, and he's just a great guy all-around, funny and sharp.] But there's also a reason that Brad's never lost (to a human).
Dan is still technically in the running for a wild-card spot, though, and stranger things have happened before!
Current wild-card standings:
Leszek $15,000
Pam $14,798
Tom N $2,400
Dan $399
The fourth quarterfinal features the other player that everybody knows: 74-time champion and twitter gadfly Ken Jennings. He faces off against Tom Cubbage, the only player ever to win both the College Championship and the Tournament of Champions (and, as I found out at the taping, we're fraternity brothers), and Rachael Schwartz, winner of the 1994 ToC. Will Ken dominate as he always seems to, or will one of the others pull off the upset?
Seems that Brad is pretty good at this game. I felt bad for Dan...when he and I talked prior to the taping, we guessed that either he or I was going to have to play Brad, and he drew that straw. (Not literally...I don't really know how they choose the matchups, but it doesn't involve drawing straws! But we figured that they wouldn't put Ken or Roger or Colby against him in the first round, so that left us.) Dan gave a valiant effort, and if just one of those Daily Doubles had gone a different way, the outcome could've been quite different. [Dan's the person I spent the most time hanging out with at these tapings, and he's just a great guy all-around, funny and sharp.] But there's also a reason that Brad's never lost (to a human).
Dan is still technically in the running for a wild-card spot, though, and stranger things have happened before!
Current wild-card standings:
Leszek $15,000
Pam $14,798
Tom N $2,400
Dan $399
The fourth quarterfinal features the other player that everybody knows: 74-time champion and twitter gadfly Ken Jennings. He faces off against Tom Cubbage, the only player ever to win both the College Championship and the Tournament of Champions (and, as I found out at the taping, we're fraternity brothers), and Rachael Schwartz, winner of the 1994 ToC. Will Ken dominate as he always seems to, or will one of the others pull off the upset?
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
WEATHER
I guess I'm establishing a tradition of starting off very slowly and coming back at the end. Sorry for any heart attacks that were induced during this game. :)
Having Alex call Pam, Tom and I "impressive" at the end of the game was a great compliment. And it makes watching a tournament like this so much fun: you know that all the contestants are excellent and so they aren't going to leave too many dollars on the board, even with difficult material.
I think Pam and I felt like we were going to be primarily battling each other on the buzzer in this game, but Tom jumped out to a really quick start and was consistently getting in first. He mowed through those "on the map" clues, got the DD on the Apollo 11 astronauts, and found himself with a big lead at the end of the first round. (What is it with video clues where they show a map and point out one country in GIANT LETTERS and your brain just wants to make an association with those GIANT LETTERS? Clearly the star was located at Caracas, but COLOMBIA was all I could focus on.)
Fortunately I know some TV and was able to build a little bit of cash at the end of the first round. "Major Dad" was a favorite show of mine as a kid and I recalled that Gerald McRaney had also been in "Simon & Simon." I hadn't seen this prior to the show, but my sensai Bill Schantz alerted me to it and it's amazing:
Just like in my preliminary round game, I was keeping in mind that there's a lot more money available on the board in the DJ round, and hoping for some good categories there. And there it comes: "WEATHER." (Flags and music are pretty good for me too.) I actually wasn't all that thrilled to see the weather category pop up: I can only imagine the consequences if I crashed and burned on some clues there! Plus, I'm very prone to overthinking in categories that I have deep knowledge in (see also: CALCULUS in my ToC finals.)
I didn't want to start right in on the weather category, so we went through some music and flags first (hopefully Big Audio Dynamite makes up for missing Devo last time). Pam got the big DD in French Poets (translation: French novelists and philosophers who wrote a poem or two), which is a strong category for her, and she jumped into the lead. Pam held a narrow lead through most of the round despite missing a really tough DD, and then we eventually came to WEATHER. The clues ended up being pretty straightforward, including one on radiosondes/weather balloons! (I spend a fair bit of my time working with data from radiosondes, and was involved in a field experiment last summer where we launched a lot of them.) Fortunately I got in first on the buzzer on that one, or I wouldn't have ever lived it down. I grabbed the lead very briefly but Pam quickly took it back, and went into the final with a $2000 lead.
With three 5-digit scores and the wild-card spots in play, the wagering strategy here wasn't that clear. (Even Keith seemed puzzled as to what to do.) Pam and Tom clearly had the idea that the wild-card cutoff might be in the $20K range, but I didn't anticipate that it would be that high. My $1300 wager was essentially a balance between staying above $14K if I missed (which I thought was a good target) and getting at least a little bit of a boost if I got it. (I was tempted to bet $2001 to go ahead of Pam if she wagered zero and I was correct, but I decided it wasn't worth risking going below $14K.)
It's probably some kind of cliche to say that I listen to quite a bit of NPR, and they've been running all kinds of stories about the rise in the North Dakota economy due to oil and gas exploration and the problems associated with the boom. So that came to mind very quickly...I also considered other smallish oil/gas states like Wyoming but figured North Dakota was the most likely to fit the clue. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was the only one to get it, and even more pleasantly surprised that I won the game as result. I figured that with our scores, if Pam or I didn't win we'd have a good shot at a wild card, but it was certainly nice to be able to relax and watch the rest of the quarterfinal games knowing that I'd advanced. I sat next to Pam for most of the rest of the day, and she was rather nervous about whether her score would hold up. Will it? You'll have to watch the rest of the week to see!
Current wild-card standings:
Leszek $15,000
Pam $14,798
Tom N $2,400
Robin $0 [yes, people have advanced with $0 in the past! It's very unusual though.]
The third quarterfinal game is another powerhouse matchup. There's Brad Rutter, the all-time winningest player in the show's history. And Mark Lowenthal, who wrote the book "Secrets of the Jeopardy! Champions" (along with Chuck Forrest, who will appear Friday). And my 2000s group pal Dan Pawson, 2009 ToC winner, who nicely summarizes the thoughts of the entire field going into today's match:
Having Alex call Pam, Tom and I "impressive" at the end of the game was a great compliment. And it makes watching a tournament like this so much fun: you know that all the contestants are excellent and so they aren't going to leave too many dollars on the board, even with difficult material.
I think Pam and I felt like we were going to be primarily battling each other on the buzzer in this game, but Tom jumped out to a really quick start and was consistently getting in first. He mowed through those "on the map" clues, got the DD on the Apollo 11 astronauts, and found himself with a big lead at the end of the first round. (What is it with video clues where they show a map and point out one country in GIANT LETTERS and your brain just wants to make an association with those GIANT LETTERS? Clearly the star was located at Caracas, but COLOMBIA was all I could focus on.)
Fortunately I know some TV and was able to build a little bit of cash at the end of the first round. "Major Dad" was a favorite show of mine as a kid and I recalled that Gerald McRaney had also been in "Simon & Simon." I hadn't seen this prior to the show, but my sensai Bill Schantz alerted me to it and it's amazing:
Just like in my preliminary round game, I was keeping in mind that there's a lot more money available on the board in the DJ round, and hoping for some good categories there. And there it comes: "WEATHER." (Flags and music are pretty good for me too.) I actually wasn't all that thrilled to see the weather category pop up: I can only imagine the consequences if I crashed and burned on some clues there! Plus, I'm very prone to overthinking in categories that I have deep knowledge in (see also: CALCULUS in my ToC finals.)
I didn't want to start right in on the weather category, so we went through some music and flags first (hopefully Big Audio Dynamite makes up for missing Devo last time). Pam got the big DD in French Poets (translation: French novelists and philosophers who wrote a poem or two), which is a strong category for her, and she jumped into the lead. Pam held a narrow lead through most of the round despite missing a really tough DD, and then we eventually came to WEATHER. The clues ended up being pretty straightforward, including one on radiosondes/weather balloons! (I spend a fair bit of my time working with data from radiosondes, and was involved in a field experiment last summer where we launched a lot of them.) Fortunately I got in first on the buzzer on that one, or I wouldn't have ever lived it down. I grabbed the lead very briefly but Pam quickly took it back, and went into the final with a $2000 lead.
With three 5-digit scores and the wild-card spots in play, the wagering strategy here wasn't that clear. (Even Keith seemed puzzled as to what to do.) Pam and Tom clearly had the idea that the wild-card cutoff might be in the $20K range, but I didn't anticipate that it would be that high. My $1300 wager was essentially a balance between staying above $14K if I missed (which I thought was a good target) and getting at least a little bit of a boost if I got it. (I was tempted to bet $2001 to go ahead of Pam if she wagered zero and I was correct, but I decided it wasn't worth risking going below $14K.)
It's probably some kind of cliche to say that I listen to quite a bit of NPR, and they've been running all kinds of stories about the rise in the North Dakota economy due to oil and gas exploration and the problems associated with the boom. So that came to mind very quickly...I also considered other smallish oil/gas states like Wyoming but figured North Dakota was the most likely to fit the clue. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was the only one to get it, and even more pleasantly surprised that I won the game as result. I figured that with our scores, if Pam or I didn't win we'd have a good shot at a wild card, but it was certainly nice to be able to relax and watch the rest of the quarterfinal games knowing that I'd advanced. I sat next to Pam for most of the rest of the day, and she was rather nervous about whether her score would hold up. Will it? You'll have to watch the rest of the week to see!
Current wild-card standings:
Leszek $15,000
Pam $14,798
Tom N $2,400
Robin $0 [yes, people have advanced with $0 in the past! It's very unusual though.]
 |
| Our little man's special quarterfinals onesie (even though I didn't actually find any DDs) |
 | ||
| Panoramic of my students launching a weather balloon in May 2013 |
The third quarterfinal game is another powerhouse matchup. There's Brad Rutter, the all-time winningest player in the show's history. And Mark Lowenthal, who wrote the book "Secrets of the Jeopardy! Champions" (along with Chuck Forrest, who will appear Friday). And my 2000s group pal Dan Pawson, 2009 ToC winner, who nicely summarizes the thoughts of the entire field going into today's match:
Today's the day: up against Mark Lowenthal, who literally wrote the book on Jeopardy, and @bradrutter. Can I keep up? pic.twitter.com/MBteKY7LY7
— Dan Pawson (@Daniel_Pawson) May 7, 2014
Enjoy!
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
The quarterfinals - it's time!
The Battle of the Decades got off to a swift start last night with a great game between Roger Craig, Robin Carroll, and Leszek Pawlowicz. Leszek jumped out to a big lead, but Roger worked his way back in typical Roger fashion with a couple big Daily Double bets. He earned the first semifinal spot, but Leszek's $15K is also a strong total for a potential wild card. Robin played very well also, but she was just getting outbuzzed by the other two. It was fun to see three greats play the game at such a high level!
When the contestant coordinator (the wonderful Robert James) comes back into the green room to announce the players in the next game, it's a feeling of both eager anticipation and dread -- you both want him and really don't want him to call your name for that name. He asks everyone to play a drum roll on the couches and tables and shouts out the players, and this time it was: Tom Nosek, Pam Mueller, and Russ Schumacher! So, into the makeup chair for a touch-up, get some caffeine in the system, and off we go...
You already know that Pam and Tom are incredible Jeopardy! players, so I'll share a couple non-J! tidbits about them. Tom has spent a long career in the aerospace industry, and it turns out that he worked on some weather/climate satellite missions. Specifically, he had a role in the Aqua satellite, which I don't use directly in my research but I work with many people who do.
Pam has been involved a little bit of everything: law, choreography, political campaigns, and now she's getting her PhD in psychology. Just recently, she received some attention for a really interesting article showing that people tend to retain more information from a lecture or presentation when they take notes with pen/paper than when they take notes on an iPad or laptop. (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/take-notes-by-hand-for-better-long-term-comprehension.html) Something important for me to consider in the classroom! Really, the best part of the whole Jeopardy! experience has been meeting such friendly, interesting, and smart people, and Tom and Pam are no exception.
The show's on at 6 pm on channel 7 here in Colorado; check your local listings elsewhere, and enjoy the show. And since I know you've been anxiously wondering what I look like whilst carrying a suit through a hotel lobby...(hi Dan and Colby!):
When the contestant coordinator (the wonderful Robert James) comes back into the green room to announce the players in the next game, it's a feeling of both eager anticipation and dread -- you both want him and really don't want him to call your name for that name. He asks everyone to play a drum roll on the couches and tables and shouts out the players, and this time it was: Tom Nosek, Pam Mueller, and Russ Schumacher! So, into the makeup chair for a touch-up, get some caffeine in the system, and off we go...
The 2nd day of #BattleoftheDecades quarter-finals pits 3 great #Jeopardy! minds against each other. Who will move on? pic.twitter.com/vQICOJkzQp
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) May 6, 2014
You already know that Pam and Tom are incredible Jeopardy! players, so I'll share a couple non-J! tidbits about them. Tom has spent a long career in the aerospace industry, and it turns out that he worked on some weather/climate satellite missions. Specifically, he had a role in the Aqua satellite, which I don't use directly in my research but I work with many people who do.
Pam has been involved a little bit of everything: law, choreography, political campaigns, and now she's getting her PhD in psychology. Just recently, she received some attention for a really interesting article showing that people tend to retain more information from a lecture or presentation when they take notes with pen/paper than when they take notes on an iPad or laptop. (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/take-notes-by-hand-for-better-long-term-comprehension.html) Something important for me to consider in the classroom! Really, the best part of the whole Jeopardy! experience has been meeting such friendly, interesting, and smart people, and Tom and Pam are no exception.
The show's on at 6 pm on channel 7 here in Colorado; check your local listings elsewhere, and enjoy the show. And since I know you've been anxiously wondering what I look like whilst carrying a suit through a hotel lobby...(hi Dan and Colby!):
Russ, Dan & Colby make their way to the #Jeopardy! set. They might look relaxed, but in a few hours, it's game on. pic.twitter.com/PQcEc0abuB
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) May 5, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
Battle of the Decades tournament: preview
This post is primarily going to point you to a few items that will get you into a good, informed mood for watching the Battle of the Decades the next two weeks.
First, if for some reason you weren't able to see my first-round game, the SportsCenter highlights version is included in this video, along with an interview they did after I won:
I'm glad Keith Williams started his site "The Final Wager," as it saves me some explaining. He has a nice summary of how Jeopardy!'s tournament structure works, so if you haven't followed one of the tournaments before, check it out: http://thefinalwager.co/2013/11/07/jeopardy-tournaments-structure-and-wild-cards/
The most important thing to keep in mind for this quarterfinal round is that you don't have to win to move on: there are also 4 wild card spots.
Also, as Keith notes, the contestants aren't allowed to watch the games prior to the one they play in, so are sequestered in the green room. During my ToC, I was in there until the Thursday game, and it wasn't all that much fun just sitting back there being nervous. This time I was fortunate to get called for the Tuesday game, so I only had to watch the first 45 minutes or so of "Sixteen Candles." (They give a small selection of DVDs to watch, and I don't recall why we chose this movie...I think I voted for "Raiders of the Lost Ark" but this won.)
I had conducted a similar analysis of the wild-card cutoffs prior to this tournament, but I was only considering ToCs (since the final clues seem to often be much easier in the college and teen tournaments, and especially the teen tournament) and I only considered the post-doubled dollar value era. The median cutoff in these tournaments was $9900 and the max was $13000. In contrast, the Million Dollar Masters tournament in 2002 (probably the closest analog to this one) had a cutoff of $17,400. These are numbers I certainly had in mind going into the tournament, but there's a lot of variation in where the cut falls that can be affected by a single really hard (or really easy) FJ.
You can check out the matchups for the quarterfinal round here: http://www.jeopardy.com/minisites/battleofthedecades/finals/. Going along with the "Battle of the Decades" theme, each game has one representative from each of the three decades.
Keith has some predictions for the quarterfinal round on his site as well: http://thefinalwager.co/2014/05/04/jeopardy-battle-of-the-decades-quarterfinal-match-ups/ We'll see soon enough how good they were! As you can see, my opponents are Tom Nosek and Pam Mueller -- more about them on Tuesday. And as you can also see, there are no easy matchups in this tournament: what an incredible collection of the best J! players in the show's history.
During the taping of the tournament, there were other camera-people following us around almost all the time: in the hotel lobby, on the bus ride to the studio, in the green room, and so forth. We all wondered what the result of all that filming might be, and it turned out to be this documentary-style YouTube video, which is really, really cool. I feel very lucky and honored to have been a part of this!
(A little even-farther-behind-the-scenes tidbit: I lost badly in that poker game in the green room. Fortunately we weren't playing for real money.)
The first game in the quarterfinals features Leszek Pawlowicz (80s), Robin Carroll (90s), and Roger Craig (00s). Three ToC winners. Leszek was once referred to as the "Michael Jordan of game shows". Robin won the International Championship in addition to the ToC. And Roger holds the one-day winnings record and the record for highest average winnings per game. I haven't seen this game (I was watching "Sixteen Candles," you'll recall) and am really looking forward to watching it!
First, if for some reason you weren't able to see my first-round game, the SportsCenter highlights version is included in this video, along with an interview they did after I won:
I'm glad Keith Williams started his site "The Final Wager," as it saves me some explaining. He has a nice summary of how Jeopardy!'s tournament structure works, so if you haven't followed one of the tournaments before, check it out: http://thefinalwager.co/2013/11/07/jeopardy-tournaments-structure-and-wild-cards/
The most important thing to keep in mind for this quarterfinal round is that you don't have to win to move on: there are also 4 wild card spots.
Also, as Keith notes, the contestants aren't allowed to watch the games prior to the one they play in, so are sequestered in the green room. During my ToC, I was in there until the Thursday game, and it wasn't all that much fun just sitting back there being nervous. This time I was fortunate to get called for the Tuesday game, so I only had to watch the first 45 minutes or so of "Sixteen Candles." (They give a small selection of DVDs to watch, and I don't recall why we chose this movie...I think I voted for "Raiders of the Lost Ark" but this won.)
I had conducted a similar analysis of the wild-card cutoffs prior to this tournament, but I was only considering ToCs (since the final clues seem to often be much easier in the college and teen tournaments, and especially the teen tournament) and I only considered the post-doubled dollar value era. The median cutoff in these tournaments was $9900 and the max was $13000. In contrast, the Million Dollar Masters tournament in 2002 (probably the closest analog to this one) had a cutoff of $17,400. These are numbers I certainly had in mind going into the tournament, but there's a lot of variation in where the cut falls that can be affected by a single really hard (or really easy) FJ.
You can check out the matchups for the quarterfinal round here: http://www.jeopardy.com/minisites/battleofthedecades/finals/. Going along with the "Battle of the Decades" theme, each game has one representative from each of the three decades.
Keith has some predictions for the quarterfinal round on his site as well: http://thefinalwager.co/2014/05/04/jeopardy-battle-of-the-decades-quarterfinal-match-ups/ We'll see soon enough how good they were! As you can see, my opponents are Tom Nosek and Pam Mueller -- more about them on Tuesday. And as you can also see, there are no easy matchups in this tournament: what an incredible collection of the best J! players in the show's history.
During the taping of the tournament, there were other camera-people following us around almost all the time: in the hotel lobby, on the bus ride to the studio, in the green room, and so forth. We all wondered what the result of all that filming might be, and it turned out to be this documentary-style YouTube video, which is really, really cool. I feel very lucky and honored to have been a part of this!
(A little even-farther-behind-the-scenes tidbit: I lost badly in that poker game in the green room. Fortunately we weren't playing for real money.)
The first game in the quarterfinals features Leszek Pawlowicz (80s), Robin Carroll (90s), and Roger Craig (00s). Three ToC winners. Leszek was once referred to as the "Michael Jordan of game shows". Robin won the International Championship in addition to the ToC. And Roger holds the one-day winnings record and the record for highest average winnings per game. I haven't seen this game (I was watching "Sixteen Candles," you'll recall) and am really looking forward to watching it!
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