Thursday, February 22, 2018 Game Recap and Discussion [SPOILERS]

[MarkBarrett]

I didn’t want to see Rob go but if he had to I’m glad our new champ looks just as entertaining if not more so. *switches “Go Rob!” giant novelty foam finger for “Go Alan!” giant novelty foam finger.

Maybe I missed it but I think Rob had an absurdly high number of lock games (I’d say at least 4 of his six wins). Anyone have the stats and if there is anyone that had more percentage wise? I’d like to see where Rob’s lock percentage puts him in Mark’s TOC pool.

I have Rob as:
$133,900
12,029 Coryat Avg.
FJ: 4/7
DD: 9/9
L+1+2+L+1+L+3

Only looking at the last TOC:
Pranjal had four locks in his 6 wins.
Austin had a bunch of course in more games.
Seth needed 12 games to get 4 locks.
Jason Sterlacci was LT+L+1+L

For Rob I would find the 2 and the 3 more troubling than the 3 runaways necessitating overly high praise. Taking into account the low Coryat (the epidemic of unfinished board-itis of course played a part) I find Rob is clearly silver. He's top dog for now with many more tournament slots to fill. Rob has a lot of time to look back at his game play for what worked and what did not. A guy that had the foresight to prepare for the March movie's release was a great wrinkle in the ways of preparation.

Today's bad game was troubling in a lot of ways although Finals game 1 would be the best place to have one of those. Play like that earlier and it's $5,000 or $10,000 and goodbye.

[LucarioSnooperVixey]

30 R
DD: 3/3
FJ:
LT: Mary Leakey, Irene Curie, Vaclav Havel, Egypt, (Sotheby's and Christie's)

Ran Theater of the Absurd. 4/4 in Places to "C" and Mom Genes. 0/5 in Socks.

Lucky guess on Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Cindy Crawford.

My Mom and sister are die hard Oscar fans. They probably would have gotten this final.

[Rackme32]

I knew I had no chance as soon as the FJ! category was revealed... I pay even less attention to current/recent pop-culture than TPH does to sports.

Viola Davis... Um, yeah, I have heard the name, I think... Have kindasorta heard of "Fences", I think. But even if they had gone with one of those super-easy clue-filled question they used to use in the old Jack Barry version of Joker's Wild, something like:

"This African-American actress is famous for her roles in "Fences" and "The Help", and won an Oscar in 2017 for her role in the former. Her name is... Viola _____"

I would have missed it.

Used Wiki to write that question, and while there looked at photos... Nope, never seen her before that I know of. Didn't even know she was African American until I looked at the photo.

To tell you the truth, I am proud of this level of ignorance concerning Oscars and all... Haven't watched that self-serving back-slap-fest in at least 20 years.

[Linear Gnome]

So let's imagine:
Alan 16200
Rob 10200
Catherine 7600

I suppose I would've bet 10199 again. (I had no concern for 2nd vs 3rd place - in fact I'd prefer 3rd, Catherine was super nice so send her home with twice as much...)

And it would have definitely still been a triple stumper.

With less than 2/3 of the leader's total, you need to get it right to win so you might as well bet big.

Seven games in two days is a lot--I've heard that the game right after lunch can be problematic under those circumstances. You were really fun to watch, and I look forward to seeing you in the ToC!

I did not get FJ!. I considered people such as Helen Mirren or Judi Dench, without much confidence. If you spotted me The Help or How to Get Away with Murder, I'd have had about a 50-50 chance.

[Elijah Baley]

I knew I had no chance as soon as the FJ! category was revealed... I pay even less attention to current/recent pop-culture than TPH does to sports.

Viola Davis... Um, yeah, I have heard the name, I think... Have kindasorta heard of "Fences", I think. But even if they had gone with one of those super-easy clue-filled question they used to use in the old Jack Barry version of Joker's Wild, something like:

"This African-American actress is famous for her roles in "Fences" and "The Help", and won an Oscar in 2017 for her role in the former. Her name is... Viola _____"

I would have missed it.

Used Wiki to write that question, and while there looked at photos... Nope, never seen her before that I know of. Didn't even know she was African American until I looked at the photo.

To tell you the truth, I am proud of this level of ignorance concerning Oscars and all... Haven't watched that self-serving back-slap-fest in at least 20 years.

Yes, why on earth would you be interested in a category that is so popular on Jeopardy?

[alietr]

STTNG All Good Things.jpg (11.28 KiB) Viewed 4363 times

[RobW]

Great run, Rob. I was hoping you'd get a hold of one of those DDs (so that we'd see some actual money wagered on them...), but it was not to be. See you in the TOC!

Yep, the first game I didn't get a single one of those magic squares. I was expecting a loss by my own sword sooner or later.

And just to continue the What If game one step further... I would've had no trouble with Ginsberg (and we all know much I would've bet, and what I would NOT have said while doing it ) or the auction houses, but I would have also missed Soweto.

[davey]

I knew I had no chance as soon as the FJ! category was revealed... I pay even less attention to current/recent pop-culture than TPH does to sports.

Viola Davis... Um, yeah, I have heard the name, I think... Have kindasorta heard of "Fences", I think. But even if they had gone with one of those super-easy clue-filled question they used to use in the old Jack Barry version of Joker's Wild, something like:

"This African-American actress is famous for her roles in "Fences" and "The Help", and won an Oscar in 2017 for her role in the former. Her name is... Viola _____"

I would have missed it.

Used Wiki to write that question, and while there looked at photos... Nope, never seen her before that I know of. Didn't even know she was African American until I looked at the photo.

To tell you the truth, I am proud of this level of ignorance concerning Oscars and all... Haven't watched that self-serving back-slap-fest in at least 20 years.

Yes, why on earth would you be interested in a category that is so popular on Jeopardy?

Anyway, I wouldn't conflate memorizing awards lists with knowing the major actors of our day...I had a pretty good chance in an Actresses category - since it turned out to be an Oscars category, I had very little, since I can't keep the awards in my head and have made no effort to memorize them. This despite the fact that I do watch them and try to see the nominated films....

[clt013]

Anyone else get FJ! right on a complete WAG?

Nope! My response was the same as Catherine. Didn't even know where to start,

I remembered that Emma Stone won Best Actress last year, but she obviously wasn't the right answer so then I spent the rest of the time trying to recall who won Best Supporting - and it took me until after Rob's response had been revealed to finally get to Viola Davis.

[Elijah Baley]

I knew I had no chance as soon as the FJ! category was revealed... I pay even less attention to current/recent pop-culture than TPH does to sports.

Viola Davis... Um, yeah, I have heard the name, I think... Have kindasorta heard of "Fences", I think. But even if they had gone with one of those super-easy clue-filled question they used to use in the old Jack Barry version of Joker's Wild, something like:

"This African-American actress is famous for her roles in "Fences" and "The Help", and won an Oscar in 2017 for her role in the former. Her name is... Viola _____"

I would have missed it.

Used Wiki to write that question, and while there looked at photos... Nope, never seen her before that I know of. Didn't even know she was African American until I looked at the photo.

To tell you the truth, I am proud of this level of ignorance concerning Oscars and all... Haven't watched that self-serving back-slap-fest in at least 20 years.

Yes, why on earth would you be interested in a category that is so popular on Jeopardy?

Anyway, I wouldn't conflate memorizing awards lists with knowing the major actors of our day...I had a pretty good chance in an Actresses category - since it turned out to be an Oscars category, I had very little, since I can't keep the awards in my head and have made no effort to memorize them. This despite the fact that I do watch them and try to see the nominated films....

Movies/Oscars is a popular category, I think, because there is a lot of material for them to us. I'd think it would be helpful to memorize the Best Picture and acting categories going back to 1970, at least.

Part of the problem, of course, is that Oscars and popular movies have been going through a divorce for at least 20 years. Fences made less than $60 million in the US. Add in that the Best Picture category can have up to 10 movies and it's just a lot of try to take in. I'm a movie fan but couldn't pull this one up either.

[RobW]

I do have to wonder if going through nearly a full day of taping was taking a toll. This should be the 4th game of the taping day, so fatigue could have been a factor.

I don't recall ever feeling tired - I was loose enough, and having so much fun, that I never once had an urge to sit down and "take a breather."

This does bring to mind one piece of advice that I would offer to any other lucky boardies that are planning their tape date trip:

The initial paperwork suggests that you "book your return flight for sometime after 6pm that day" - but I think that should be sometime after 7pm, if not the day after.

Following those instructions (and I chatted with my contact, to be sure...) I booked a 6:15pm flight home out of LAX.

But once I won the Wednesday game I asked the staff about that 6:15pm flight time and they said, "Hmm, you MIGHT be ok - assuming no production problems and depending on the traffic." I text my wife over lunch, and we settle on the plan that IF I win the Thursday game she'll Lyft to the airport without me. She is one of those "less than 2hours early to the airport is LATE" people - plus getting home a day later would've been a big imposition on the people who were helping us with the child/dog/house-sitting logistics. I would hustle after her when done, and take a redeye home if I miss the 6:15.

I tried not to fret about this during my 7th game, but who knows maybe my subconscious sabotaged my "Biblical prophet" answer just to be sure I'd catch that flight.

I also noticed that all three players were getting in to the "start in the middle" strategy. Perhaps watching Rob's success with that in the previous three games influenced them a bit.

I suspect Alan might have arrived with that strategy already in hand. I say that because during our green room orientation that morning it was clear to me that Alan was not only energetic and confident, but he was a fellow student of the game. When Maggie reached the point of her spiel where she says, "Has anyone heard of the Forrest Bounce, and why we call it that?" Alan was quick to pipe up with all of the details.

And even if Catherine wasn't as strategic coming in, she was clearly a quick study. And oh man that Ron Swanson quilt! I think that was my favorite contestant story I witnessed firsthand. Catherine sent me the link to her album about it, which is public so I think she won't mind me sharing it here.

[xxaaaxx]

When Maggie reached the point of her spiel where she says, "Has anyone heard of the Forrest Bounce, and why we call it that?" Alan was quick to pipe up with all of the details.

Now I'm quite curious about this 'spiel' of hers. Why would the Forrest Bounce even come up?

[squarekara]

And oh man that Ron Swanson quilt! I think that was my favorite contestant story I witnessed firsthand. Catherine sent me the link to her album about it, which is public so I think she won't mind me sharing it here.

Thank you! They should've put up a pic during Catherine's interview!

[OSXpert]

I think I could have gotten to Viola Davis is 2 or 3 minutes, but at the end of 25 seconds I was able to remember that Fences had been based on a play, but not pull the Actor's name.

[squarekara]

When Maggie reached the point of her spiel where she says, "Has anyone heard of the Forrest Bounce, and why we call it that?" Alan was quick to pipe up with all of the details.

Now I'm quite curious about this 'spiel' of hers. Why would the Forrest Bounce even come up?

She basically says, whatever strategy you have up your sleeve, go ahead and play it, but if it's not working for you, be flexible enough to let it go. Some folks find that they can't handle the Bounce.

[tiwonge]

I watched Fences, and I read that the adult actors in the movie were replaying their Broadway roles, so I knew what it was talking about. But I am bad with actors, so I couldn't get her name, even though I knew it was an African-American actress in the movie Fences. (Well, everybody in that movie is.)

Truth is, knowing I am bad with actors, I didn't try hard to remember her name. I was satisfied with just knowing who the clue was referring to.

[Bamaman]

There was one white guy in the movie. He was working at City Hall when Denzel Washington’s character went down there to get a job driving the garbage truck.

But despite seeing the movie, I was clueless on this one.

Sorry to see you go, Rob. At least you lost to a solid player who was also fun to watch. And he is an older guy, which always gives me hope.

[Peter the accountant]

The initial paperwork suggests that you "book your return flight for sometime after 6pm that day" - but I think that should be sometime after 7pm, if not the day after.

Following those instructions (and I chatted with my contact, to be sure...) I booked a 6:15pm flight home out of LAX.

But once I won the Wednesday game I asked the staff about that 6:15pm flight time and they said, "Hmm, you MIGHT be ok - assuming no production problems and depending on the traffic." I text my wife over lunch, and we settle on the plan that IF I win the Thursday game she'll Lyft to the airport without me. She is one of those "less than 2hours early to the airport is LATE" people - plus getting home a day later would've been a big imposition on the people who were helping us with the child/dog/house-sitting logistics. I would hustle after her when done, and take a redeye home if I miss the 6:15.

I tried not to fret about this during my 7th game, but who knows maybe my subconscious sabotaged my "Biblical prophet" answer just to be sure I'd catch that flight.

Thanks for the additional insights. I find these "behind the scenes" bits fascinating. And they are certainly helpful to anyone traveling to a taping.

[seaborgium]

I watched Fences, and I read that the adult actors in the movie were replaying their Broadway roles, so I knew what it was talking about. But I am bad with actors, so I couldn't get her name, even though I knew it was an African-American actress in the movie Fences. (Well, everybody in that movie is.)

I got this right, but the main thing I noticed about Fences during its Oscar season was that Denzel Washington used August Wilson's adapted screenplay, and it got nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. Wilson died in 2005, so of all posthumous Oscar nominations, his is in second place for longest after the nominee's death. (Charlie Chaplin shared his 1972 Oscar for the Limelight score with Raymond Rasch and Larry Russell, who had died in 1964 and 1954 respectively, so Russell holds the record. Rasch is in fourth place behind Albert Lamorisse, who died in a helicopter crash in 1970 while making the documentary The Lovers' Wind, which was released in 1978 after his wife and son followed his production notes to complete it, and nominated for Best Documentary Feature with him as the only credited director.)

[silverscreentest]

Although we usually see this on Deadspin, other web sites engage in,"Let's laugh at these Jeopardy contestants who know nothing about our wheelhouse":

Apparently There Are 3 People Who Haven’t Listened to Kendrick Lamar’s Award-Winning Album DAMN., and They Were All on Jeopardy! Last Night