Wednesday, January 25, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6298, 2012-01-25

CONTESTANTS
Christen Lee, a social enterprise lawyer from Richmond, California
Taylor Cope, a financial analyst from Chicago, Illinois
Kirby Burnett, a poker dealer from Prior Lake, Minnesota (whose 2-day cash winnings total $57,800)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny. So far, it beats dealing poker, I'm sure, for Kirby. He's a good player, so, Taylor and Christen, you're going to have to perform at your very best today to replace him as champion. Good luck to all three of you. Let's go to work in the Jeopardy! Round. Dollar figures popping in, and now we reveal the categories, which are...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
CHILD-REARING (5/5)
TV TO MOVIE ROLES (5/5)
MUSCLE CARS (5/5)
20th CENTURY WORDS & PHRASES (5/5)
BIRD BOOKS (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
EUROP"A" (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Christen: 12 R (including 1 DD), 1 W
Taylor: 10 R (including 1 rebound), 0 W
Kirby: 8 R, 1 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 0
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $0



SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Christen: $3,600
Taylor: $2,600
Kirby: $2,000

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Welcome back. Like me, Christen Lee has a subscription to "National Geographic" magazine. But before she can read any of those magazines, which arrive each month, something has to happen. What?

Christen: Yeah, somebody in the rest of the household has to actually go through and fold down all of the pages that have pictures of snakes, bugs, and creepy-crawlies so I can actually look through the--the magazines.

Alex: Did you have a bad experience when you were younger with a creepy-crawly thing?

Christen: I don't know. I grew up in San Diego, so there's a really big, very famous zoo, and we used to go to the reptile area, and I think that was where I started building up that fear of creepy-crawlies.

Alex: All right.




Alex: Taylor Cope, financial analyst from Illinois. Now think about this, folks--he was just--how old? 5 years old?

Taylor: 5 years old.

Alex: And his parents would quiz him at the dinner table, and they would make you respond...

Taylor: In the form of a question...

Alex: Of course.

Taylor: Of course. Train--train 'em early. That's child-rearing.

Alex: Did you try out as a teenager to appear as a contestant on "Jeopardy!"?

Taylor: No. In fact, my wife Erin--we were watching at home, and I was shouting the answers like everyone does, and she says, "you know, you should try out for the show." And I thought, "hmm."

Alex: Good idea.

Taylor: Great idea.

Alex: Thank Erin, particularly if you win.

Taylor [to Erin]: Thank you.




Alex: Kirby Burnett is a poker dealer from Minnesota. You have to explain something to me--that is, the casino's utter loathing of players at the blackjack table who count cards. Why is that such a bad thing if I can try to remember, you know, the cards that have gone before?

Kirby: The basic idea is that, uh, a good card counter can get an advantage, and...

Alex: As opposed to the house having the advantage?

Kirby: The house having the advantage.

Alex: That's okay, but not the player.

Kirby: And the philosophy is, we--you don't have to come here and bet against us, nor do we have to take your bet. So that's why they bar card counters.

Alex: Okay.

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Christen found the Daily Double on the 20th clue. Kirby had $2,400, Taylor had $2,600, and Christen was at $4,400. Christen wagered $2,400.

BIRD BOOKS $600: A 1993 raid in Mogadishu that left 18 American soldiers dead is chronicled in this book by journalist Mark Bowden

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Christen: $9,000
Taylor: $5,800
Kirby: $3,400

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
PLANT SCIENCE (4/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
THE BAND IS REALLY COOKING (5/5)
STARTS WITH "Z" (5/5)
IN THE MAGAZINE (5/5)
PRESIDENTIAL RE-ELECTIONS (5/5)
MORE 4 YEARS (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double) (Alex: And that results in...)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Christen: 10 R (including 1 DD), 0 W
Kirby: 9 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W
Taylor: 9 R (including 1 rebound), 2 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 1
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $2,000



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Taylor snagged the next Daily Double on the 14th clue. Kirby had $13,400, Taylor had $8,200, and Christen was at $9,400. Taylor wagered $2,200.

MORE 4 YEARS $1600: On Nov. 17, 1734 journalist John Peter Zenger was arrested for this; a landmark freedom of the press case ensued
(Taylor: What is blasphemy?)

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Christen who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 20th clue. Kirby had $14,600, Taylor had $6,000, and Christen was at $13,000. Christen wagered $6,000.

PLANT SCIENCE $800: This yellow flower of the genus Tagetes is often associated with, but probably not named for, the Virgin Mary

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
PLANT SCIENCE $2000: This term refers to plants that have flowers; it comes from 2 Greek words for "receptacle" & "seed"

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Christen: $23,400
Taylor: $14,000
Kirby: $13,800

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
INTERNATIONAL SPORTS STARS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Crush for first place.
Christen: Wager $4,601 to cover Taylor.
Taylor: You have the hope of surpassing Christen if you come up with the correct response. Bet at least $13,601 to force Christen to wager to win while also protecting your position from being usurped by Kirby.
Kirby: Your only hope of a win is that you're the only one to give a correct response, so bet $13,798 or so, leaving a few bucks behind in case someone wagers it all.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
In 2002 his No. 10 jersey from the 1970 World Cup finals sold at auction for a record $220,850

FINAL SCORES
Kirby: $13,800 + $13,800 = $27,600 (Who is Pele) (2nd place: $2,000)
Taylor: $14,000 + $14,000 = $28,000 (Who is Pele) (New champion: $28,000)
Christen: $23,400 - $4,601 = $18,799 (Who is Le Lemieux) (3rd place: $1,000)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $2,000

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Christen: $16,400, 22 R (including 2 DDs), 1 W
Taylor: $16,200, 19 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)
Kirby: $13,800, 17 R, 2 W
Combined Coryat: $46,400

BATTING AVERAGES
Christen: 22/60 = .367
Taylor: 20/59 = .339
Kirby: 18/58 = .310
Team: 60/63 = .952

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
TV TO MOVIE ROLES $800: This TV cop duo was played on the big screen by Ben Stiller & Owen Wilson
(Kirby: Uh... who are... uh...)
(Christen: Who are Turner & Hooch?)

PRESIDENTIAL RE-ELECTIONS $1600: This man's 87% of the vote in Mississippi couldn't stop LBJ from returning to the Oval Office
(Taylor: Who is Thurmond?)

STARTS WITH "Z" $2000: (Jimmy of the Clue Crew reports from Israel.) In the 1st century A.D., these Jews fiercely opposed Roman paganism, & many of them made their last stand here on Masada; today the word means anyone passionately committed

IN THE MAGAZINE $800: Spy vs. Spy,
Steal These Tweets!
(Kirby: Uh, what is, uh...)

PLANT SCIENCE $1200: This "colorful" house plant, Saintpaulia ionantha, is native to Kenya & Tanzania
(Alex: Yes, with a minute to go.)

THE BAND IS REALLY COOKING $1600: Booker T. & the MG's gave their tuna salad some color & flavor with this tune

CORRECT RESPONSES
Black Hawk Down
libel
marigold
angiosperm
Pelé
Starsky & Hutch
(Barry) Goldwater
a Zealot
Mad
a violet
"Green Onions"

[jeff6286]

International Sports Stars
In 2002 his no. 10 jersey from the 1970 World Cup Finals sold at auction for a record $220,850.

Spoiler

Who is Pele? Christen said Lemieux.

Christen Lee: $23,400-$4,601=$18,799
Taylor Cope: $14,000+$14,000=$28,000...now a 1-day champion with $28,000
Kirby Burnett: $13,800+$13,800=$27,600

[xxaaaxx]

and the Final Jeopardy category is...Int'l Sports Stars
Me: Who is Pelé!
Friend: Who is Beckham!
Me: yknow, it's a shame we assume that it'll be soccer-related just because it's international
Friend: plus even if it is, it won't be that easy.

:sigh:

Oh well, a get is a get, I won't complain too much. Gotta be 90%+ in the poll, right?

Insert nightly amazement that we finished both rounds here.

[heelsrule1988]

Turner & Hooch? (Mario) Lemieux? Christen, Christen, Christen...

I hate when sports FJs are of the Kids Week variety like this one was... it means you don't even have to be a sports nut like me to get it, which takes away from the whole excitement of having your wheelhouse category pop up.

and the Final Jeopardy category is...Int'l Sports Stars
Me: Who is Pele!
Friend: Who is Beckham!
Me: yknow, it's a shame we assume that it'll be soccer-related just because it's international
Friend: plus even if it is, it won't be that easy.

:sigh:

Oh well, a get is a get, I won't complain too much. Gotta be 90%+ in the poll, right?

I hate to say it, but I was afraid Christen would have a response similar to your friend's. Sadly, it was even worse.

[DWS]

FJ was an instaget before Alex was even one-third of the way through reading the clue. From her FJ response, I'm guessing the leader doesn't know sports.

[Bamaman]

International Sports Stars

In 2010 his number 10 jersey from the 1970 World Cup sold for a record $220,850.

Spoiler

Who is Pele? Christen said Lemieux

Wagers

Kirby $13,800+$13,800=$27,600
Taylor $14,000+$14,000=$28,000
Christen $23,400-$4,601=$18,799

It was so easy I had time to copy down the answer while watching. I had it almost completely written down before the music started.

I guess Kirby was pretty secure in his sports knowledge, based on his wager. But since he can't win on a TS, he might as well go all in and maximize his winnings. The extra thousand he risked by coming in third if he is wrong isn't that big a deal as he was a two day champ. Not sure if Taylor just didn't want to fool with the math or decided if he has to bet that much, he might as well go for it all.

As for Christen in FJ, at least she made the proper wager.

My only worry for FJ was that they'd throw some gymnast or figure skater I'd never heard of at me.

Nice late rally by Taylor to steal the win from Kirby.

That had to be the dumbest question asked in an interview.....Why do casinos ban card counters?

I said African violet for the flower.....judges?

[Frank Hardy]

Since tonight's game featured a clue about "Green Onions" by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, this might be a good time to ask this question. When Alex reads the clue and asks the contestants to listen, how quickly may they buzz in with the correct response? Do the famous lights come on immediately after Alex stops reading, or are several bars of music played before the lights come on and the contestants can respond?

[alietr]

Speaking of Green Onions, I noticed that the closed captioning said something like "Hammond organ playing". I was quite impressed by that, especially given the usual quality of closed captioning (sorry, Trainman).

[DBear]

At first I misread the clue, thinking it referred to Stanley Cup. Fortunately I reread it after about 20 seconds and got it easily. Reminds me of the 12/21 episode where JaneMarie was leading into FJ and got hit with a sports question.

[Austin Powers]

So, women and sports. Amirite?

[DBear]

Um, no, there was also the Blues Brothers reference from last week that the two women got.

[HugoZ]

and the Final Jeopardy category is...Int'l Sports Stars
Me: Who is Pelé!
Friend: Who is Beckham!

Here it was:

Friend: Who is Beckham?
Me: Who is Pelé?

[TenPoundHammer]

16/30, 13/30.

Four 4/5s for me today, resulting from blanking on Carrell, WAGging Big Bertha for Big Block, and clamming on Zander and cybercafé. (I was sure the latter was two words.)

My only 0/5's were Europ"a" (kept forgetting the category) and Re-election, but I clammed on 3 in the latter. Didn't think Goldwater would've done well in Mississippi since I knew he was from Arizona (and I knew that only because of my mall list — Goldwater's was a department store in AZ).

Precalled Chicken Fried in Band Is Cooking (third day in a row they've had at least one country music clue!) and Mad in Magazines.

I knew World Cup = soccer, but I couldn't think of any soccer players from before the 1990s, so I just put down a blank.

[Woppy T]

Taylor should have been ruled incorrect on his "Brendan Frasier" response. The actor's name is FRASER, pronounced FRA-zer I believe.

[TenPoundHammer]

Taylor should have been ruled incorrect on his "Brendan Frasier" response. The actor's name is FRASER, pronounced FRA-zer I believe.

They don't rule against mispronunciations if they still match the spelling. Fraser can still be pronounced "Frasier", even if Brendan doesn't use that pronunciation.

Conversely, I've seen misspellings go by as long as they fit the pronunciation. I remember one episode where Final Jeopardy!'s correct response was "Who is Dr. Seuss?" and all three contestants wrote "Suess". That one works either way, since "Suess" could still be pronounced "Sooce", and the man himself initially pronounced it "soyce".

[davey]

Speaking of Green Onions, I noticed that the closed captioning said something like "Hammond organ playing". I was quite impressed by that, especially given the usual quality of closed captioning (sorry, Trainman).

Unlike most closed captioning, Jeopardy!'s is excellent. I don't have a hearing problem myself, but if I miss something I know the captioning will make it clear. Even the spelling of obscure responses is impeccable.

At first I misread the clue, thinking it referred to Stanley Cup. Fortunately I reread it after about 20 seconds and got it easily. Reminds me of the 12/21 episode where JaneMarie was leading into FJ and got hit with a sports question.

Probably the leader's problem too - as well as her youth?

[thenextofken]

FJ may have been the instaget of instagets. When playing along at home, I usually wait until Alex stops reading the clue to start writing, but like others on here, I think I would've finished writing well before he was done. It probably didn't hurt that when I was about 12-13, my dad took me and my brother to watch Pele play from the New York Cosmos against the Dallas Tornado at Texas Stadium.

[Austin Powers]

Um, no, there was also the Blues Brothers reference from last week that the two women got.

Ah, so a movie question.

[MarkBarrett]

The game left me with mixed feelings. Christen played so well to give the guys all she could handle and I enjoyed the big bets (Nice solve on marigold) on the DDs. Part of me sympathizes that she lost on what was probably a nightmare category for her and the other part of me is glad to see someone punished who doesn't basic sports.

World Cup = Soccer. Name the biggest star and it's obviously not Donovan or Beckham.

Taylor's interview indicated he's been paying his dues a long time to get ready for the show. He kept fighting through the last clue and did just enough to gain second place entering FJ. If he bet more on his DD miss like he should have (2200 was chicken blank in my book) then he would have lost. Yes, luck plays a big part. I suspect tomorrow can't match the competitve duo of Kirby and Christen and Taylor should be able to get things rolling earlier.

Kirby has too many clues to cringe at where he blew his chance at everyting. Another payday. A third win. The chance to play again. Possible TOC. It was all so close, but he's done. And it's his fault.

The players are instructed about product plugs and such, but Christen's dodge not to name the San Diego Zoo was hilarious. Alex seemed more amused by her miss of Turner and Hooch to throw a dog in the mix. Owen Wilson has been called worse.