Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

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dhkendall
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Re: Final Jeopardy! Round

Post by dhkendall »

theFJguy wrote:Philosophers

His last name means a type of burial place & in 1855 that's where he went.
Spoiler
Who is Kirerkegaard? Matt had no response; Alex wrote "Thanks to everyone who works on the world's greatest game show!"
Kerry Greene: $3,200+$1,500=$4,700+$3,400 yesterday=$8,100 -> $50,000

Matt Jackson: $7,200-$0=$7,200+$3,000 yesterday=$10,200 -> $100,000

Alex Jacob: $18,700-$0=$18,700+$29,600 yesterday=$48,300 -> $250,000
Note that your original post had a + for Alex Jacob. While "Thanks to everyone who works on the world's greatest game show!" is indeed the correct response to any question asked, shockingly they didn't count it as such, so I changed it to a -. (Of course it had no bearing on the math.)
hbomb1947 wrote:
Winchell Factor wrote:So, I understand about recency bias, and I acknowledge that I have a vested interest in saying this, but:

I don't think there's any doubt that Alex is one of the 10 best players of the last decade. Maybe pretty high up in that list; I haven't really tried to figure it out.
Respectfully, only saying "one of the top 10," IMO, understates how great a player Alex is. I sure would like to see him in a matchup against Roger Craig, as well as seeing if he could hang with Rutter and Jennings. I would say Alex is indeed high up on the list (and after all, he does have the same number of regular-season victories as Roger).

For those who are familiar with the sabermetric concept of "similarity scores," if there were a way to compute those for J! contestants, I would guess that Roger would be the most similar player to Alex.
Personally, until we manage to clone Brad Rutter, I'd say Alex is our best chance of finally having Brad lose to a human.
hbomb1947 wrote:I was extremely disappointed that the writers used the sanitized version of the the Snakes on a Plane quote (the one that SyFy had used when they cablecast that film) on the Samuel L. Jackson clue. :D
Uhh, that was kind of the point of the category. (Precalled that one.)
Winchell Factor wrote:I don't see a lot of disrespect for Matt on JBoard, either. Facebook? Hell, yeah, and I've been over there trying to set the record straight on Matt, whom I'm truly proud to count as a friend, as often as I can. But not so much here, I don't think. Yes, there was some speculation about Matt's persona when he played before, but after something of a brouhaha over whether that was appropriate, it stopped.

Yes, the Board tilts toward Alex over Matt in this Tournament. Alex has posted here (albeit off and on) longer than I have and longer than Kerry has. (I think Kristin first registered--in 2011, was it? Before my time, anyway.) Now, when I was first playing last December (and I was a new arrival under the terms of Slam's Rule), grindcore said in a comment on the December 29 game:
Plus, our guy won. Good job, our guy.
I think that's what we're seeing here. The JBoard, in general, likes to root for its own. Why is that surprising? I don't think there are a lot of New Yorkers rooting for the Astros, or Montrealers cheering for the Bruins. Boardies who make it on the show are our home team. That's why we keep and update a thread listing their initial appearances. (BTW, I don't actually do that. Thanks to the people who actually do that.) Why is there anything wrong in rooting for our guy or gal?
This. Overall this board is a very friendly place, and I often come here after reading the J! Facebook page for a palate cleanser.

Personally, my rooting interest hierarchy is:

Friends and family
Boardies I've had significant interaction with
Boardies
LLamas
People I auditioned with (if I can remember who they are. :( )
Locals
Other Canadians
Someone who has something in common with me, revealed during player interviews
The returning champ
Everyone else
Me.

Plus, I would definitely say objectively that Alex was a hell of a player, clearly the best of the three once the game got underway. I'll admit, I didn't know who would take it out of Matt or Alex because I've never seen them play together, but having watched them, it was obvious who the better one was, and he deserved al the accolades he got.
MarkBarrett wrote:As time was almost done I went for the "humor" and wrote Hume. Like exhume?
This is an ex-Hume.
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by harrumph »

All three finalists were admirable as people - Kerry for her charity work, Matt for his deep appreciation for his teachers, and Alex for his composure and humility. And Alex gave us not only one of the top all time performances but one of the show's funniest ever moments with the Aleve FJ response.
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The time of the PUN far

Post by Sage on the Hudson »

Cat Hammarskjold wrote:If you call Matt's daily double celebrations unsportsmanlike, than you also have to call Alex's stalling unsportsmanlike.
Matt's histrionics weren't unsportsmanlike because they were clearly spontaneous and not calculated, or done with any strategic gain in mind. That said, they were somewhat juvenile, though I must confess to being prejudiced against such demonstrations for the logical reason that I believe Mr Spock would be the greatest Jeopardy! champion of all time (as long as there were no FJ's about the Kobayashi Maru Scenario).
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by danspartan »

Blue Lion wrote:
hbomb1947 wrote:I was extremely disappointed that the writers used the sanitized version of the the Snakes on a Plane quote (the one that SyFy had used when they cablecast that film) on the Samuel L. Jackson clue. :D
"M**********r" was not just one of George Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" (which led to the FCC fining broadcasters for indecency), but Carlin said it and "c********r" were the two worst because they were "busy words" with "lots of syllables."
Sadly I could do this whole routine from the Class Clown album by age 10. Much older brothers.
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by 9021amyers »

dinghammer wrote:At least I got the Indy 500 DD -- aside from a probably-longer-than-the-average-American's list of Formula 1 driver names I have memorized thanks to Pointless, the number of laps in the Indy 500 is one of the very few things I know about auto racing.
Quick correction: the DD was about the Daytona 500, not the Indy 500. That said, the answer would have been the same either way (500 miles / 200 laps = 2.5 miles each lap).
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by zdude69closedrofl »

I know I don't post here often, and my opinion will be a little overlooked, but I will say as someone who posts here casually that this place is actually very friendly. I haven't had any problems with any of the users here, and generally get really positive vibes here. I admire the amount of respect everyone has for each other and the people on the show here. It's a breath of fresh air to read after running into a lot of these blisteringly negative comments all over social media, which are extremely off-putting. As someone who's been watching since mid-2004, when Ken Jennings was circulating and I was only 7 and a half years old, I grew really attached to all the competitors who take this game very seriously and earn a fortune doing it. It's a thrill to me to see people so smart and work so hard come out with amazing success stories; it's even more admirable to see a lot of those people speak for themselves on here and make friends with a lot of the community. I personally was rooting for Alex Jacob to win, but I was just as happy to see Matt Jackson cruise to a second-place finish, and Kerry Greene to a third-place finish. I didn't expect Kerry to make it as far as she did, but was impressed nonetheless and proud. Low-key, I actually wanted Michael Bilow to face off against Matt and Alex in the finals, but I was drastically off. In the end, it's just a game show with real people that we only have the slightest increment of a hint about, and no one should judge them so harshly.
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by flemmingfan »

After perusing the comments, I have decided to post my 3 cents.
All of the contestants are intelligent and personable to a certain degree, so I guess my point here is the factor of luck and "what ifs".
An aside; "if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, everyday would be Christmas".
If Alex J had missed his first all-in DD and if Matt had answered his correctly ( between the two games), the outcome might be different. So who gets the DDs and when is a matter of luck.
I imagine a lot of TOC caliber players have been knocked out in their first regular play games because of this. Moving on.
I also concur that Alex J had an inordinate amount of time to respond to his DDs or so it seemed. Correct me if I'm mistaken AJ, but it also seemed that you knew the answers but dragged out your response for whatever reason, especially that 2&1/2 mile reply.
Finally let me say I like Matt's style of play and his emotion, particularly when he credited his teachers. If he was "somewhat juvenile", that could be due to his refreshing youth!
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by Golf »

flemmingfan wrote: If Alex J had missed his first all-in DD and if Matt had answered his correctly ( between the two games), the outcome might be different. So who gets the DDs and when is a matter of luck.
Matt and Alex searched feverishly for DD's, Kerry (and most other contestants) do not. Therefore they find more DD's and it's not because of luck.

Alex understands game theory and knows how to wager on DD's, 99%+ of contestants do not. Therefore he benefits more from DD's and it's not because of luck.

Alex answers correctly on the DD's and then controls the game. Once again, it's not because of luck.


Yes, luck plays some role in the game. But those who play the game properly make luck as small an influence as they can. Others just meander through the game hoping to get lucky. There is a huge difference.
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by bpmod »

Golf wrote:Alex answers correctly on the DD's and then controls the game. Once again, it's not because of luck.
You really should stick to facts if you want anybody to agree with you.

The post you responded to was comparing, specifically, Matt's luck to Alex's. Coming into this tournament, Matt was the one who "answers correctly on the DD's". Alex was, what, 75% or something?

Brian
...but the senator, while insisting he was not intoxicated, could not explain his nudity.

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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by The Talking Mime »

I said Kant for FJ, although I wish I thought of Hume in the sense that Mark did. :lol:

If Alex's ToC performance isn't the best of all-time, then it's certainly one of them, especially since he's come out on top in an impressive field. Congrats to Alex for a fantastic tournament and to Matt and Kerry for their performances as well.

Also, looking through the Archive, it appears that Alex Jacob is the first person to win the ToC without getting any FJ clues correct during the tournament.
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by John Boy »

econgator wrote:Congrats to all three, but especially Alex. Well done, sir!
Second the motion. Heckuva tournament, heckuva victory. Well deserved.
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by StevenH »

The Talking Mime wrote:Also, looking through the Archive, it appears that Alex Jacob is the first person to win the ToC without getting any FJ clues correct during the tournament.
I know that it ended up not mattering, but I have to wonder how many of the 4 FJs that he faced that Alex did know.
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by John Boy »

I kept trying to decipher Alex's facial expression, especially after Matt's TDD fail pretty much wrapped things up. Alex didn't look (I thought) gleeful or excited or exultant or any of the other things I might expect. Right up to the last it was something else. I finally realized (maybe it's just me) that he seemed more like Bob Beamon right after he jumped right out of the long jump pit in the Mexico City Olympics and into sports legend. It was a look like, "No. Just no. I. Seriously. Did. Not. Just. Do. That."

He may have gone into the tournament believing he could do well, or that he could even win. But I believe he was as stunned as the rest of us were at how he did it. Maybe he'll have to go back and look at the games, or hold the trophy and check in his hand, or something, for it all to sink in.

But it was real, and it was awesome. Congrats, man.
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by hbomb1947 »

StevenH wrote:
The Talking Mime wrote:Also, looking through the Archive, it appears that Alex Jacob is the first person to win the ToC without getting any FJ clues correct during the tournament.
I know that it ended up not mattering, but I have to wonder how many of the 4 FJs that he faced that Alex did know.
My guess is four, maybe three. Alex has the most misleading 2-9 career FJ record (including his regular play games) in J! history. He simply had no incentive to write down the correct response to any of his FJ's in the tournament, so he decided to have fun with them instead.
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by hbomb1947 »

bpmod wrote:
Golf wrote:Alex answers correctly on the DD's and then controls the game. Once again, it's not because of luck.
You really should stick to facts if you want anybody to agree with you.

The post you responded to was comparing, specifically, Matt's luck to Alex's. Coming into this tournament, Matt was the one who "answers correctly on the DD's". Alex was, what, 75% or something?

Brian
This is true. Last night's DD was only the 3rd one that Matt had gotten wrong in 35 opportunities. It was bad luck that his very rare miss was so ill-timed -- and that the DD he landed on was a little neg-baity (if you take more time to think about it, you realize that the "D" in FDA implies health, which leads to HHS); but under the time pressure, I can see slipping up and going for USDA).

None of this, nor the acknowledgment that luck in fact plays a huge role in J! (remember how KJ almost lost his first-ever game?) is to take away from the utter dominance that Alex displayed throughout the tournament.
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by brick »

goatman wrote:Fantastic win in style with a very humble and charismatic TOC champ. The wife likes AJ; "He's such a nice boy, I'm so glad he beat that uppity little whippersnapper!"

44R for goats with some difficulty did tease out the FJ, redeeming my fail to get Edmond Dantes in Thursday's match.
LT: economizer, beef stroganoff; get on Missed DD: "Health and Human Svcs" for FDA agency cabinet.

IMHO expecting folks without a physics degree to get curium + calcium -> Livermorium (AN 116) was quite a stretch!
TPTB could've easily smithed this very interesting topic into a clue that ordinary humans could respond to, e.g.:
Bombarding this element, named for it's discoverer, the first woman to receive Nobel prizes in both Physics and Chemistry, with Calcium ions yielded the new element, Livermorium.


Or some such. O well! Great game, super TOC! All the players were competitive and entertaining! :D

"uppity"? Huh.
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by TheSunWillComeOut »

brick wrote:
goatman wrote:Fantastic win in style with a very humble and charismatic TOC champ. The wife likes AJ; "He's such a nice boy, I'm so glad he beat that uppity little whippersnapper!"

44R for goats with some difficulty did tease out the FJ, redeeming my fail to get Edmond Dantes in Thursday's match.
LT: economizer, beef stroganoff; get on Missed DD: "Health and Human Svcs" for FDA agency cabinet.

IMHO expecting folks without a physics degree to get curium + calcium -> Livermorium (AN 116) was quite a stretch!
TPTB could've easily smithed this very interesting topic into a clue that ordinary humans could respond to, e.g.:
Bombarding this element, named for it's discoverer, the first woman to receive Nobel prizes in both Physics and Chemistry, with Calcium ions yielded the new element, Livermorium.


Or some such. O well! Great game, super TOC! All the players were competitive and entertaining! :D

"uppity"? Huh.
goatman, type "uppity" into Google and scroll through a few pages.
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by Robert K S »

Congrats to Alex! A fine set of games and a big on-air compliment from Trebek at the end. My initial thought was that Matt's comparative youth could give him a buzzer advantage, but it turned out not to be the case--guess the toilet paper roll holder did the trick!
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by TheSunWillComeOut »

I've been rambling all over Twitter about the last two weeks of games, but let me just say here: The coolest thing about omgwheelhouse's epic performance is knowing how much work it took. He would have been a fearsome player even at his regular level of play, but since then, he's taken it to a stratospheric level of skill. He's clearly used the last few months very, very wisely.

For those who are still trying to get on the show, if you're truly ambitious, if your dream isn't just to get on Jeopardy! but to become a Jeopardy! champ, to potentially become one of the greats, know that your J! talent is something that you have the power within you to improve. Read as much as you can, play as much trivia as you can, write trivia questions to get a feel for what it's like from the writers' side. You can say, "Well, I don't want to get crazy about it," but know that the obsessives who love it, breathe it, live it, will always have the advantage.
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Re: Friday, November 20, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by Blue Lion »

harrumph wrote:All three finalists were admirable as people - Kerry for her charity work, Matt for his deep appreciation for his teachers, and Alex for his composure and humility. And Alex gave us not only one of the top all time performances but one of the show's funniest ever moments with the Aleve FJ response.
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