Tuesday, February 14, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[jeff6286]

Was anyone else self-spoiled on FJ? When I saw Monica had it right and her wager, I knew she was the champ, as she had a score Zack couldn't attain. I calculated 2201 by her would lock out Zack. I think that was correct.)
Very impressed by all three players, that any left the stage alive after those nasty boards.

Good news bad news situation! Good is that there's going to be another OToC! The bad is that a computer screw-up plugged that tourney's final board into tonight's board.

I had $2401 as the minimum Monica needed to bet to lock out Zack, but otherwise I agree with you, it was a little anti-climactic that the game was decided as soon as her wager was revealed. I'm guessing this is the bet Monica referred to in her first post, saying that she tried to figure out the exact amount she should bet, but then at some point just said screw it and bet something in the ballpark. Her bet of $3,000 was more than she needed to lock out Zack, but as long as she stayed under $4,200 she would have still had enough left on a miss that Sarah couldn't catch her.

I wasn't sure how much Zack should bet. He couldn't just bet to cover Sarah, because he needed to bet more than that to cover the amount Monica would have if she made the MSB and missed. I figured he might as well bet it all, because on a miss he was likely going to finish 3rd anyway, so he might as well bet enough to ensure that he wins if he gets it right and Monica misses. Sarah's all-in was definitely the right play as well, so I thought all 3 players made solid wagers in the finals.

[StevenH]

Great game, but jeeze that Bible category was painful. And Zack kept going to it!

Well done Monica. When was the last sophomore winner, or that last 18 year old winner (if ever)?

I know that Ben Lyon, Craig Barker, and Keith Williams were all freshmen when they won their college tournaments. I am not sure what their exact ages were at the time.

[alietr]

Boy, that was a punishing round. Ended as a war of attrition. Congratulations, Monica, for that stellar victory. And Sarah and Zack, you both were most excellent as well. Today's boards were going to take down almost anyone. Very fun tournament to watch.

[spell4yr]

Said Afghanistan right away, then spent the rest of the 30 seconds trying to talk me out of that country bordering China. Thankfully I stuck with my original instinct.

I found it odd during the contestant interviews that Alex first said that this was the game where the contestants could talk about whatever they wanted, and then he still asked them questions anyway (granted about family in the studio, but still).

[Bamaman]

Afghanistan was an instaget. Then I thought about it and changed to Bangladesh for some reason.

[MDCSWildcats86]

Thankful the FJ! didn't ask for BOTH alphabetically first and last, as I NEVER would have guessed Vietnam blindly.


Then again, I would never have guessed King Solomon on Friday's FJ, either.

[marpocky]

Thankful the FJ! didn't ask for BOTH alphabetically first and last, as I NEVER would have guessed Vietnam blindly.


Then again, I would never have guessed King Solomon on Friday's FJ, either.

Afghanistan is more obviously first, but it turns out Vietnam is only 4th from the end (Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe). So all you'd have to do is think of it and you could be pretty sure it was right.

[GregK]

That was tough to watch given the board was all over the place in terms of difficulty versus question value.

I enjoyed Sarah's casual resigned "lets make this a true daily double"s in the tourny - with a tough "bring it on" attitude. She had a good instinct for what the writers are looking for and worked that to her advantage. I also like how Monica often did not change her cheery facial expression even if ruled incorrect - like she wouldn't let them get her down and kept her confidence up knowing she'd get the next one.

Congrats to the woman left standing - Monica - you rock! As someone in the contestant pool with high hopes, I look forward to taking you on in the TOC this fall. Question to Monica: the red shoes - any story there and are they crocs? I couldnt tell on my non-HDTV. Did you have an endorsement deal?

Too bad there were no contestants from Notre Dame, Texas Christian, or Brandeis to get SOME of these easy Bible questions. Or maybe the writers need to jazz up the category: "This scantily clad friend with benefits of Adam's had a taste for the Grannie Smith's" or "Born in a manger, this carpenter with two dads was the life of the party in Cana tending bar with His signature drink recipie."

[goforthetie]

Now ... how did you all miss "sit-up" when there was just a clue mentioning them not 30 seconds before?

That was the problem. I remembered them mentioning it and thought, maybe sit-up isn't one of the three. It was entirely plausible that pull-up, chin-up, push-up were the three they wanted, even though the first two are very similar exercises. (And if you do think it's push-up, sit-up, and either pull- or chin-up, how do you decide between the two? Bad clue.)

I don't get why everyone thinks this board was extra tough, though. Here are some of the $2K clues: Two-Face (spotted "two"), spoils system (I assume they'd also accept patronage system), Resurrection (spotted "raising the dead"), and urban bliGHT. And the other two (Northern Marianas and Deuteronomy) aren't exactly ungettable, either.

[HugoZ]

Dear Jeopardy!:

Knapsack <> Sleeping Bag
but
Nap Sack = Sleeping Bag

Sincerely,
Hugo Z. Homophone

[bpmod]

Didn't Monica say Johnson? Shouldn't she questioned again to specify?

Yes. She said Andrew Johnson. No, she shouldn't have to give more than that.

Brian

[chuck5982]

When was the last sophomore winner, or that last 18 year old winner (if ever)?

Erin McLean was a sophomore when she won last season. Don't know how old she was at the time.

[chuck5982]

Yay Monica!

[dhkendall]

That was kind of painful. Among other things, I guess there is now ample evidence from the last 3 days that college kids these days don't know their Bible...

Need to get kids from BYU or Oral Roberts on J! ...

That Bible category was hilarious. That Islands category...yeah. Turks and Caicos in the middle box of a college tourney? The writers were feeling particularly evil.

Kid could be a geography nut (I was half expecting Sarah to get it, as she definitely had a proclivity toward geography) - heck, I specifically remember a song I made up as a ten year old that mentions Cockburn Town as the capital of the Turks and Caicos Islands. (Yes, I was a ginormous dork even back then).

4/5 in Bible, saying Exodus upon seeing Moses in the clue. Nasty negbait there. I mean, who reads Deuteronomy anyway?

While I clammed (was thinking it was the book of Joshua, but not with the word "Joshua" right in the clue!), it was a headslap on reveal, as it makes sense that the book *before* Joshua would have Moses dying and Joshua taking the reins in it.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when you get a bunch of agnostics on Jeopardy. It ain't pretty.

Was wondering how you knew the religious affiliation of all three finalists, then I remembered who you were. (Congrats for rocking it, loved the reaction to your win, and your "I give up" gesture that I could see a few times).

I do hold, though, that agnostics/atheists/non-religious people who get The Call should study the Bible for the same reason that tee-totalling Ken Jennings studied Potent Potables - Jeopardy asks Bible questions with surprising regularity. I wouldn't be surprised if they turn up often in the College Tournaments. (Not, of course, studying the Bible the same way the religious might, but studying the stuff that Jeopardy! would ask about.)

I didn't think China stretched that far west, but now I know haha.

More of a case of Afghanistan stretching that far east, it's the one with the salient that was tacked on (basically by the British to keep the Russians from touching India).

Great game, but jeeze that Bible category was painful. And Zack kept going to it!

I think it was the lesser of two evils (pun not intended) when up against the German category.

Now ... how did you all miss "sit-up" when there was just a clue mentioning them not 30 seconds before?

That was the problem. I remembered them mentioning it and thought, maybe sit-up isn't one of the three. It was entirely plausible that pull-up, chin-up, push-up were the three they wanted, even though the first two are very similar exercises. (And if you do think it's push-up, sit-up, and either pull- or chin-up, how do you decide between the two? Bad clue.)

This leads in to one of the questions I wanted to ask the "judges", I had push-ups and sit-ups as well, but instead of pull-ups, I had "chin-ups". Are they different, then? (I always thought they were the same. I almost always hear "pull ups" as a reference for potty training devices, but then I'm a parent ... )

My other question for the judges' table: is "Odin" the same as "Wodin"? (Sci-Fi, $400)

[alamble]

My other question for the judges' table: is "Odin" the same as "Wodin"? (Sci-Fi, $400)

Yup. Just a variant spelling of the name.

[Wimple]

Pull-ups your palms face away from you, with chin-ups they face toward you. Yes, I raised 3 sons, why do you ask?

[cinemaniax7]

Great game, but jeeze that Bible category was painful. And Zack kept going to it!

Well, to paraphrase Superman, I hope this experience hasn't put any of you off Scripture. Statistically speaking, it's still the safest way to travel.

[MarkBarrett]

90210 with no problem and dominoes for the dice pips. $6000 in the Bible category and Azerbaijan for the FJ clue. It was just that kind of night for me, so I can understand the game not having the best flow. I guessed pull/chin/push on the Fitness "ups" clue.

Monica won $100K and a TOC spot. Wildcard, 3rd entering FJ in the semis and 2nd entering FJ for both games of the Finals is a tough path to accomplish that feat. It will be interesting to see if the Teachers Tournament can produce another unpredictable scenario over the 10 games. My wish is only to improve on 50% FJ success.

Afghanistan was one I rejected because I could not picture it touching China and then I went for another "A" country that wasn't even close. The only consolation I can find is at least I didn't guess Albania.

One Q for the judges. For the Debussy work what if someone played Frenlish and responded with, "What is The Mer?"

[emtwo]

Question to Monica: the red shoes - any story there and are they crocs? I couldnt tell on my non-HDTV. Did you have an endorsement deal?

On the first day of filming I had a pair of sequined (sparkles!) tennis shoes. Honestly, that was just to please my inner magpie. On the second day (semis/finals) I had TOMS--no endorsement deal there, I just happen to appreciate their socks-free-wearability (these things happen when you're too lazy to bother putting socks on.) The publicity staff said something about sending photos on to the TOMS staff so... endorsement... hahhh in my dreams?

I do hold, though, that agnostics/atheists/non-religious people who get The Call should study the Bible for the same reason that tee-totalling Ken Jennings studied Potent Potables - Jeopardy asks Bible questions with surprising regularity. I wouldn't be surprised if they turn up often in the College Tournaments. (Not, of course, studying the Bible the same way the religious might, but studying the stuff that Jeopardy! would ask about.)

TRUE LIFE. Words to live by. I studied a little more of the literature side (it did help some! Not that much, but some.) not anticipating a Bible category in the finals, but oh how Murphy's law proves true time and time again. Hopefully I'll be a little more ready for the ToC.

PS for clarification according to TPTB I am the youngest winner (barely 18 as of filming), but I think that's just a statistic. (Also Carrie from Harvard was 17, so I wasn't even the youngest in the tournament!)

[jeff6286]

I had forgotten about this until goforthetie brought it up, but for Northern Mariana Islands I'm pretty sure I heard "Marianas" in Monica's response. Is this just like Mariana Trench vs Marianas Trench, which we had recently and someone said either is acceptable? Are the Islands named for the same trench?

I also had the same thought as one earlier commenter, that it was kind of odd that Alex mentioned that in the 2nd day of the finals, they like to let the contestants talk about whatever they want, but then after Zach chose to mention his family members, Alex decided to ask both of the other two contestants what family they had in attendance? They didn't exactly get to choose their topic of discussion.