2011-13 Tournament of Champions Standings (enter at your own risk)

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seaborgium
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Re: 2011-13 Tournament of Champions Standings (enter at your own risk)

Post by seaborgium »

It had Cubbage, but not Nosek.
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opusthepenguin
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Re: 2011-13 Tournament of Champions Standings (enter at your own risk)

Post by opusthepenguin »

Roadgeek Adam wrote:Site's up:

http://www.jeopardy.com/minisites/tourn ... pions-s29/
...
Also, I love the video for the TOC with all the former TOC winners (Tom, Rachael, Mike, Dan, Michael, Celeste, Dan, Vijay and Roger.)
That's a great group for another Tournament of TOC Champions. I'd love to see that.

But even more, I would like to see a Tournament of Losers. There are just so many times I've winced on a player's behalf, knowing that but for one stupid mistake or bit of horrible luck, they'd have won. TOL contestants would all have lost their first and only Jeopardy game in some memorable way. Former players who meet one or more of the following criteria might be good candidates for inclusion:

- Would have won if Ken Jennings had just missed FJ. (So many of his games were runaways that just being in contention for FJ was an accomplishment. Several contestants might have had brilliant Jeopardy! careers if not for Ken. Was there anyone who was actually ahead of Ken going into FJ?)

- Pulled a Clavin or similar. Bet too much when they had a lock. Also includes people like that guy who recently let Sara win by uncovering a DD on the final clue and betting so much that he fell into second place going into FJ.

- Pulled an anti-Clavin. Bet too conservatively from first, got FJ right, but had an opponent overtake them.

- Made a wagering miscalculation. Forgot to carry the one and bet $100 too little or something.

- Had the right response for FJ ... CROSSED OUT in favor of the wrong one.

- Bejamin Franklin

- Contestants who threw the game away because they didn't know how to bet from 2nd or 3rd place would also be considered, provided they submitted a written explanation of their mistake. If they still don't get why their bet was stupid, forget it. Why give them a chance to do it again? If they're sadder but wiser, I'm more open to giving them a second chance. (For their initial TOL games, I'd make sure these contestants faced each other, which would really jack up the wagering strategy. :twisted: )

I think I'd make one exception to the rule that the contestant must have lost his or her only game. Julia Lazarus won a single game before she played Ken Jennings. She had $18600 to his $20000 going into FJ, which is darned impressive. Ken's reply of "Who is Jones?" was judged correct, but it needn't have been. He could easily have been a candidate for my Tournament of Losers--the guy who knew Marion Jones' first name but didn't bother to write it down. Instead, he became the guy we all learned to know and love and hate and get bored with and get fascinated by, not necessarily in that order. And Julia Lazarus got sent home as a one-time champion on a truly edge-case judgment call. Give her another shot.

For this tournament, I think they should replace the think music with an instrumental version of Weird Al's "I Lost on Jeopardy!" (Yes, I know the tune is from the Greg Kihn Band, but that's not what everyone will be hearing in their heads.) And the contestants should introduce themselves like at an AA meeting: "Hi, my name is Bob, and I'm a loser." (HI BOB!!!)

Also, each contestant's initial game would include a category that has the very clue responsible for their previous loss.

What other sorts of losers should be considered? Who specifically might be good in this tournament?

I'm given to understand that every single one of these contestants have been kicking themselves non-stop, knowing that they'll never get another chance. Why don't we surprise them? Oh, and the winner of the final gets to play a two-day game against Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.
seaborgium
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Re: 2011-13 Tournament of Champions Standings (enter at your own risk)

Post by seaborgium »

opusthepenguin wrote:I think I'd make one exception to the rule that the contestant must have lost his or her only game. Julia Lazarus won a single game before she played Ken Jennings. She had $18600 to his $20000 going into FJ, which is darned impressive. Ken's reply of "Who is Jones?" was judged correct, but it needn't have been. He could easily have been a candidate for my Tournament of Losers--the guy who knew Marion Jones' first name but didn't bother to write it down. Instead, he became the guy we all learned to know and love and hate and get bored with and get fascinated by, not necessarily in that order. And Julia Lazarus got sent home as a one-time champion on a truly edge-case judgment call. Give her another shot.
Jerry Harvey was the returning champ in Ken's first game.

Also, Ken led going into FJ in all 75 of his regular games. Only twice did he miss FJ from a non-lock: in game 5 and game 75. We all know what happened in 75, but in game 5 Ken led $32,400 to $17,500 after a late near-TDD from one of his opponents. Ken got FJ wrong, presumably in a failed coin flip, while neither challenger flipped that coin, so Ken survived in a triple stumper.

Edit: just for fun, here are the close calls Ken mentions in Brainiac.
1. Julia Lazarus would have won if "Who is Jones?" had been deemed insufficient.
5. As mentioned above, Paula Filson wins if she guesses the right island.
12. Ken gets the first clue in DJ and selects $400 then $800 then $1,200 in "LITTLE" LIT. Deirdre Basile gets $1,200 and switches back to the first category chosen. Ken gets that, jumps back to the $1,600 "little" clue, and hits an easy DD. Ken eventually gets a lock, and Deirdre has a sole get on FJ. If Deirdre had stuck with the category and been willing to bet big, and then bet big enough on the final DD (which she did hit, so no need to alter the past in that regard), the lock would have been broken.
18. Michael Cudahy makes a late TDD to get within striking distance of Ken, and gets $200 below him on the next clue, with a $1,600, a $2,000, and a $400 clue remaining. Ken gets the $1,600, and beats Michael to the $2,000, and third place gets the $400. Ken leads by $3,800, and FJ is a triple get. If Michael had grabbed the last $2,000 clue, he leads and wins. (Alternatively, if Michael hadn't made $3,600 in negs before his TDD, he'd have won.)
23. Among Ken's worse performances. He eked out a lock, and Mary Ann Eitler got an FJ he missed. She had hit a DD, wagered $3,000 of $5,800, and gotten it right; then trailed Ken $6,800 to $18,800 entering FJ. A TDD would have earned her the upset. ($5,200 in negs didn't help her either.)

And one not in the book:
2. Chad Kaihe misses two TDDs, and Ken has a sole miss on FJ from a lock. Chad lost $6,600; getting those two DDs right at the wagers he made, he'd have had $15,600 to Ken's $31,000 (assuming Ken still would have wagered himself up to $15,000 on his one DD; I think he would have), and won when Ken missed.
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