Alex: The Final Jeopardy category is...
J-Dawg's Crazy Uncle: Bet it all! Bet it all!
Alex: Presidential Vetoes
J-Dawg's Crazy Uncle: BET IT ALL!
So yeah, I won on Jeopardy tonight. I had been in third place by about $4000, and well, the category broke my way. The other contestants' bets broke my way.
I watched the show at home with a bunch of friends and family. It's the closest thing to an out of body experience I've ever had. I usually watch the show for the questions and the answers. I'd seen all of those for this episode, so I just watched people's reactions.
I don't think Andrea realized that she hadn't bet enough to beat me until Alex said as much. According to all of the betting strategies, I SHOULD NOT have bet everything. And she bet accordingly. As soon as I saw the category, I KNEW to bet everything. How did I know? I was a geek as a kid. I was the 1984, 1986 and 1988 national champion in an academic game called... Mr. President. I knew the correct response for FJ when I was 11 years old. (I have no idea how it stayed rattling around up there for the past 23 years though.)
Of course, I almost managed to screw it up anyhow. As soon as they give you the FJ category, they tell to you write down your wager and write down "Who is" This way, you won't forget to phrase it as a question. I however just bet everything and wrote "Who" If you watch the tape, you'll see that I write down "Johnson" immediately. Then I look again and see that I've written "Who Johnson?" That's not even English, William! So I put in an upcarat and put in "was" Now I remember there are TWO President Johnsons. I jam an "A." in the middle there and now have a horrible mess of an answer that I pray that Alex can decipher. Thank God it makes sense to the Big A. You can see all of this panic in my face as while the music plays.
Geez, I show everything on my face. I'm like some sort of stylized kabuki dancer up there.
Thanks to the entire Jeopardy staff for giving me a chance to play. Thanks to Tricia and Andrea, you were great players and I was very lucky to win. Thanks to everyone out there who rooted for me. Thanks to all of you: my family, my friends, my co-workers, the people who sort of know me from this blog, the people who know Jen from her boards and had to explain to their significant others exactly how they kinda sorta know me. Watch again tomorrow.
2 comments:
I couldn't believe the Final Jeopardy round.
First, I don't understand why, being in last place, you wouldn't bet your current value - 1, JUST in case the other two do the same. What's the logic in NOT betting it all when you're last?
Second, they let HER get away with just "Johnson" when they screwed you on the PRONUNCIATION of "Dvořák"? WTF? The ONLY thing I can think of is that there's only one 19th century Johnson, but so what?
Third, she didn't calculate that you might go for it all?!?! I mean, come on...that's rule one to protect, isn't it?
I just have to say that I almost died when I saw Crazy Uncle's email. I could absolutely, without a doubt picture the scene going down EXACTLY as written. Thanks for the deepest belly laugh I've had in a while, Uncle Nutjob! :)
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