Friday, May 16, 2014 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Placeholder for J! Round

[Archivists]

Placeholder for DJ! Round

[WarEagle]

New here...is it kosher to discuss the final game yet?

[jeff6286]

Secretaries of State
Serving 160 years apart, these 2 Secretaries of State are the only ones who never married.

Spoiler

Who are Condoleeza Rice and James Buchanan? Ken said Buchanan and Albright.

Today's Scores
Ken Jennings: 13,600-$13,001=$599
Brad Rutter: $11,800+$0=$11,800
Roger Craig: $2,000+$2,000=$4,000


Day 1 Scores
Brad Rutter: $14,000-$4,000=$10,000
Ken Jennings: $12,000-$5,000=$7,000
Roger Craig: (-$800)


Total Scores
Brad Rutter: $10,000+$11,800=$21,800...wins $1 million for 1st place
Ken Jennings: $7,000+$599=$7,599...wins $100,000 for 2nd place
Roger Craig: $0+$4,000=$4,000...wins $50,000 for 3rd place

[dhkendall]

New here...is it kosher to discuss the final game yet?

Yes, that's what the thread is for! It hasn't aired in most markets when you posted it, but the thread is marked "SPOILERS" so for those who haven't seen the show they know to stay away anyways.

So, let us know what you thought!

[WarEagle]

That certainly lived up to the hype. Although Roger is my favorite J! contestant, I really wasn't expecting him to hang with Brad and Ken after struggling a bit in the earlier rounds and seeming nervous. I just knew he was going to get that DD since he knows every geography question imaginable, but Canada thwarts him again. I'm happy that Roger not only showed up, but was arguably the best player. I was in complete shock that Ken missed FJ. Brad is certainly an incredible champion, but I'm left wanting. I'd like to see Brad v Ken v Roger about 3-4 times a season. I thought Brad MAY have mispronounced 'atlatl', but I think it was only a 200 or 400 question so it didn't really matter. Just an incredible tournament...thanks to all the contestants.

[MinnesotaMyron]

It is better to be talented than to be lucky, but if you happen to be both, you are blessed indeed.

Congrats, Brad. And thanks Roger and Ken. That was incredible.

[tomwaitsrox]

So, what the final totals?

[Bamaman]

What a great finish. Tough break for Roger going for broke on a DD again. Roger, did you just misread the clue or were you stumped and just spit out some Canadian name?

Brad may have made bad bets before, but he made the right one in this game. He had the lead going into FJ, but Ken could pass him by having more money today. So he needed Ken to miss, which he did.

I missed FJ. I thought Kissinger had never married, so I went searching for someone who served in the 1810s, which got me nowhere. The only Civil War era one I could think of was Seward, but I knew he had children. Then I remembered Buchanan was a Secretary of State, but by then it was too late to try to think of modern ones.

Thanks to all three, and by extension all 45, for a very enjoyable tournament and trip down memory lane.

[dhkendall]

Well, Roger has shown me that apparently I don't post as much around here as I thought I did, if he wasn't familiar with Winnipeg. Guess I'll have to post way more often, thanks for the hint, Roger!

(To be honest, it took me a few seconds, I immediately went up north (since none of the Great Lakes are entirely within Canada) for the two "Great" Lakes up there, then I realized a) neither are named after cities and b) neither are in a province. I then thought of the largest lake I could think of in a province, and got it - interestingly, I didn't insta-solve it due to being a local (and having been to the lake several times - by the way, if any of you ever do get to go up this way, first give me a ring I'd love to meet you and secondly, you should visit Grand Beach on Lake Winnipeg (if it's the summertime), the beach there is often touted as one of the world's best from what I read (I know that Playboy magazine listed it as one of the top 10 in the world, the white sands are a must-experience. (I'm not a beach person at all, so I probably won't accompany you, but my wife very much is, she might go with you.))

For FJ, I was *very* surprised two wild guesses on my part paid off, I thought of Buchanan, since one of the things he's best known for is being a bachelor, and could conceivably have been SoS at one point, I had him, then thought I had to go more recent, and couldn't think of a plausible modern one that fit the clue (other than that Hillary Clinton was out), so I WAGged Rice, not being aware of any spouse (although, as I said, to be honest, I don't know who John Kerry or Madeline Albright (two other modern SoSes that I considered) are married to either.) I even put down a "0" on my tally sheet (indicating a miss on FJ) while the think music was going, convinced I was wrong. I was pleased to change it.

(Oh, and I promised my daughter I'd mention on the board that she piped up "Frozen" (before Roger said it) when she heard that clue, despite being what I thought was fully engrossed in what she was doing on the laptop computer in another part of the room. She loves that movie.)

It was a fantastic game, loved seeing Roger going TDD again (it was even explained on the show that it was the only logical thing he could have done the first time, so it was expected this time), although considering the answer, I will tease him about it [mbclev]for the rest of his life[/mbclev]. Oh also wanted to mention I also loved how Ken did the same move he did (slapping his hands on the podium? can't really describe it) when he lost game 75, if Roger's "signature move" is TDDing, that is what I associate with Ken. Brad's I guess is winning like a mother----er.) I wonder if Brad's jaw has returned from being dropped on the floor since his victory was announced?

[Bamaman]

I got Lake Winnipeg, even though I'm not sure I've even ever heard of it. Should I be embarrassed to admit part of the reason I picked Winnipeg is because David is from there as no other lakes named for Canadian cities came to mind? I did eliminate Montreal and Toronto since I figured I might have heard of a lake named for one of them.

[Tygor]

Essentially a million dollar question. I feel a little bad for Ken because I imagine that this was one of the last times he'll be on the big stage with Brad and had a fantastic chance to beat him. I figured Brad won the tournament by following his twitter feed over the past few weeks, but I would say that Roger made the biggest statement of all three the last two days. Roger is a fantastic player who could have pretty easily won this thing. One of the best finals I think I've watched, especially given the magnitude of the moment.

Do we need to wait another 10 years for this type of magic again??

[tomwaitsrox]

I don't understand. If Brad was leading going into FJ, why would have needed Ken to miss? Did he not bet enough, or did he get FJ wrong too? And is it against the rules to post the final amounts? Thanks.

[dhkendall]

I don't understand. If Brad was leading going into FJ, why would have needed Ken to miss? Did he not bet enough, or did he get FJ wrong too? And is it against the rules to post the final amounts? Thanks.

Nope not against the rules to post the final amounts, jeff6286 almost always does (this is what the post right at the beginning that just has a in it is for, he edits that to display the amounts after the show airs where he lives), but you're more than welcome to post them as well (especially since jeff hasn't yet)

As to the math of needing Ken to miss, math gives me headaches, I'll have others explain it.

[tomwaitsrox]

I haven't seen it yet, but according to the Wikipedia page, the final totals for Round 2 were Brad 11800, Ken 599, and Roger 4000. That seems to suggest they all got FJ wrong. If Brad got it right, I can't see any way he would need Ken to miss it, unless he blew the math.

[TheyCallMeMrKid]

That was a great game, and agree with Alex about this being my favorite tournament. It seems like with more of these events, the camraderie among the contestants increases, which, for me, makes it more enjoyable to watch. Also, social media has allowed the rest of us to feel like we know all of you a little bit, which again, makes the games more fun to watch.

I was literally standing up in the living room cheering and clapping as Roger started piling up the points in the J round, thinking about what a great finish it would make. Felt so bad for him when he couldn't come up with Lake Winnipeg; overall, he seemed to play the best, but ran into bad luck on the DDs both yesterday and today. Again, I think TDD was the right strategy because he needed to try to put himself in a position to win at the end, and he was starting the day 10k/7k in the hole. I wonder if Ken or Brad would have gone TDD on both days in the two situations Roger faced?

The FJ wagering situation was interesting. Ken takes his fate into his own hands by wagering >13k: if he gets it right, he wins no matter what Brad does; if he gets it wrong, he loses no matter what Brad does or how much he bets. Brad I'm sure assumes that Ken will probably do such, and wagers $0, which guards against a (less likely) Ken $0 wager. This means that Ken has to get it right with at least a $1201 wager.

I came up with Rice as a guess on FJ just because didn't remember hearing about a husband, but didn't have another name. Buchanan obviously a good logical guess even if you were not sure he was ever SoS, just because he's known as the bachelor president.

I've seen Roger post this week, but don't know if Brad and Ken are lurking, but I would just say to all of them: congratulations, and thanks for a great show.

[WarEagle]

I don't remember the exact totals, but Ken had ~13k I believe and Brad had maybe 11.1k

Edit: if Brad had 11.8 Ken must've been closer to 14.

[dhkendall]

I haven't seen it yet, but according to the Wikipedia page, the final totals for Round 2 were Brad 11800, Ken 599, and Roger 4000. That seems to suggest they all got FJ wrong. If Brad got it right, I can't see any way he would need Ken to miss it, unless he blew the math.

I think those are just Day 2 scores, not the totals of Days 1 and 2 combined.

[dhkendall]

Lake Winnepeg

Winnipeg. Pet peeve that I often see it misspelled this way, even by (American) media outlets. I mean, you never see "Minnisota" or "Tennissee" do you?

[TheyCallMeMrKid]

I don't remember the exact totals, but Ken had ~13k I believe and Brad had maybe 11.1k

I know someone else will do it up at the top, but here it is:

Day 1:
Brad: 10,000
Ken: 7,000
Roger: 0

Day 2: (score heading into FJ, wager, final Day 2, final overall)

Brad: 11800, 0 (got it right), 11800, 21800
Ken: 13600, 13001 (got it wrong), 599, 7599
Roger: 2000, 2000 (got it right), 4000,4000