Friday, May 11, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[ACW]

Bella is seen by some as an anti-feminist character because (among other things) she chooses to marry her undead boyfriend right out of high school, to have his creepy baby even though doing so will kill her, and to forfeit her human life in order to be with the vampire she loves for, like, all eternity. Doing the laundry and cooking dinner (activities Bella is described as enjoying) can't really compete with battling evil (Hermione Granger) and sparking a revolution (Katniss Everdeen).

All the high-fiving and hugging at the end was awesome. Congratulations, ladies!

And her boyfriend STALKS HER.

[in2wildfire]

28 grand? 28 grand??!!

I loved it, dumb or not. Some people just have such supreme confidence in themselves that they automatically will go for broke without hesitation, screw the logic. Those who want to criticize her will probably play it safe for the rest of their lives . They will never experience what this little girl, Elyse, will have for the rest of her life; a moment no one can take away from her.

The last time I ever experienced something approaching this was in 1998 when I bet my Broncos sans points against the Packers in Super Bowl XXXII. All in and I cleaned 'em out.

Congratulations little girl!

I agree with you it was a great teen tournament and there were a bunch of smart kids the only thing I could fault any of them for is not betting agressively on DD and FJ, except for Elyse who bet "bat guano" crazy aggressively throughout the tourney, good for her. US history seemed to be in all three of their wheelhouses and Elyse is the only one who bet like it was one of her strong categories. She seemed more concerned with the competition itself than the money the others seemed to want to gurantee themselves a little cash to take home, I can't fault them for this either but I would rather watch Elyse compete in a TOC.

[in2wildfire]

28 grand? 28 grand??!!

I loved it, dumb or not. Some people just have such supreme confidence in themselves that they automatically will go for broke without hesitation, screw the logic. Those who want to criticize her will probably play it safe for the rest of their lives . They will never experience what this little girl, Elyse, will have for the rest of her life; a moment no one can take away from her.

Thing is, she would have had the victory and $75K in hand with a $0 bet in FJ. And that would have been a spectacular, dominating win, also a moment no one can take away from her. And NO ONE would be second-guessing her for "why didn't you bet it all?!"

Given what she stood to win with a correct response (an additional 5% over her guaranteed winnings) and what she stood to lose with a miss (um, the tournament), wagering big was just not the way to go. You say "play it safe" as if that's always a bad thing. As I read this thread, a lot of us here believe it would have been absolutely the right thing to do in this situation.

That said, many congrats to the champ. I should live so long and be so good as to be in a position to make that wager.

And thumbs up to the other finalists as well. Very nicely done.


You are not factoring her knowledge of the category into your risk mamagement scenario. US history is right in her wheelhouse which mitigates some of the risk. Her post game interviews shows a person who loves the competition and the money was a secondary issue. Good for her for going for the glory instead of the guranteed cash!

[lisa0012]

Bella is seen by some as an anti-feminist character because (among other things) she chooses to marry her undead boyfriend right out of high school, to have his creepy baby even though doing so will kill her, and to forfeit her human life in order to be with the vampire she loves for, like, all eternity. Doing the laundry and cooking dinner (activities Bella is described as enjoying) can't really compete with battling evil (Hermione Granger) and sparking a revolution (Katniss Everdeen).

All the high-fiving and hugging at the end was awesome. Congratulations, ladies!

And her boyfriend STALKS HER.

And she never talks about college or career goals, or having any life plans besides MARRYING A VAMPIRE. Who, by the way, is a hundred years old or so, but stuck in a 17 year old's body. But since he looks her age, it's all good.

[TenPoundHammer]

I totally misread the final, trying to figure out who the president was when Iowa got statehood.

Oh good, I'm not alone.

At least you only misread a clue once in a while. I do it ALL THE TIME and don't know how to fix it.

[jaxjags]

Maybe, just maybe, (hear me out) her(Elyse's) wagering theory was that if all of them bet it all, she would win on a TS. Isn't a sound strategy but it worked.

Anyway, I love high wagers, and that was awesome, and she leaves with more than was guaranteed. As for FJ, I misinterpreted the question and said Polk, thinking Iowa was admitted to the Union sometime during the 30's to 40's, then smacked myself when the answers were revealed. Ah, well, good thing I wasn't playing.

[Johnblue]

I actually fell asleep in the theater during the second one. Just horrible crap.

Why did you bring a book to the theater?

I'm an inveterate reader!

[Johnblue]

Actually, many young girls are jealous of Bella because they're jealous of her. They want Edward for themselves. He's a bit like Bieber!

[Spaceman Spiff]

Maybe, just maybe, (hear me out) her(Elyse's) wagering theory was that if all of them bet it all, she would win on a TS. Isn't a sound strategy but it worked.

Anyway, I love high wagers, and that was awesome, and she leaves with more than was guaranteed. As for FJ, I misinterpreted the question and said Polk, thinking Iowa was admitted to the Union sometime during the 30's to 40's, then smacked myself when the answers were revealed. Ah, well, good thing I wasn't playing.

My two (Confederate) cents worth on her betting? Based upon what I've seen of her in the tournament, history is a strong suit of hers, so she bet big accordingly. Nothing more, nothing less.

[in2wildfire]

OK, so I've been thinking more about Elyse's final bet, essentially risking 50k to make 5k, which can be argued to be considered bat-guano crazy. This bet only makes sense if the odds of her having the wrong answer AND one of her opponents having the right answer are greater than 10-1. After much consideration, I think she had the odds figured out about right. Now I'm only wondering why she left $400 on the table. Good gamble Elyse!

[HugoZ]

I actually fell asleep in the theater during the second one. Just horrible crap.

Why did you bring a book to the theater?

I'm an inveterate reader!

That's all right. JBoard welcomes both the spined and the spineless.

[earendel]

Bella is seen by some as an anti-feminist character because (among other things) she chooses to marry her undead boyfriend right out of high school, to have his creepy baby even though doing so will kill her, and to forfeit her human life in order to be with the vampire she loves for, like, all eternity. Doing the laundry and cooking dinner (activities Bella is described as enjoying) can't really compete with battling evil (Hermione Granger) and sparking a revolution (Katniss Everdeen).

All the high-fiving and hugging at the end was awesome. Congratulations, ladies!

I thought her disdain was based on the idea that all teenaged girls were Twilight readers and loved the character of Bella; she said it with scorn to show that she shouldn't be included.

[econgator]

I thought her disdain was based on the idea that all teenaged girls were Twilight readers and loved the character of Bella; she said it with scorn to show that she shouldn't be included.

*nod*

[jeff6286]

I thought her disdain was based on the idea that all teenaged girls were Twilight readers and loved the character of Bella; she said it with scorn to show that she shouldn't be included.

*nod*

I had a different take than most of the others proposed in this thread. My first thought was that perhaps she was a loyal member of "Team Jacob", and she was showing disdain not necessarily for Bella, but for Bella's choice of beau, as referenced in the clue. Maybe we'll never know the real story...

[JFanForever]

I did not know the FJ. I thought it was Jackson or Taylor and did not think of the Louisiana Purchase.

[whoisalexjacob]

If I had to guess, I'd say that she didn't realize she was risking the lock. First, it would be really ballsy to do that intentionally. Secondly, why leave the $400 on the table?

I don't think they need to start inviting the teen winner into the tournament. Honestly, no offense to anybody of course, but I'd be in favor of not inviting a college player and letting one more regular player in. The teen and college players didn't have to accomplish the same thing that the regular players did. I kinda think that the dollar amount that those winners get is more than enough by itself.

[dhkendall]

If I had to guess, I'd say that she didn't realize she was risking the lock. First, it would be really ballsy to do that intentionally. Secondly, why leave the $400 on the table?

I don't think they need to start inviting the teen winner into the tournament. Honestly, no offense to anybody of course, but I'd be in favor of not inviting a college player and letting one more regular player in. The teen and college players didn't have to accomplish the same thing that the regular players did. I kinda think that the dollar amount that those winners get is more than enough by itself.

I think the college winner is invited partly because they can compete in regular games (and chose instead to participate in the college tournament), the teens aren't eligible for the regular games anyways.

And, if the money the college folk win is reason to not let them in, then are the teachers and the winnings their champ gets included in that?

[StevenH]

Honestly, no offense to anybody of course, but I'd be in favor of not inviting a college player and letting one more regular player in. The teen and college players didn't have to accomplish the same thing that the regular players did. I kinda think that the dollar amount that those winners get is more than enough by itself.

I agree. Honestly, the college tournament winners just have not done well enough in the ToCs to justify continuing to invite them at the expense of someone who appeared on the regular show.

[whoisalexjacob]

And, if the money the college folk win is reason to not let them in, then are the teachers and the winnings their champ gets included in that?

Yes, yes of course. God yes. No special tournament winners please.

[cheezguyty]

If I had to guess, I'd say that she didn't realize she was risking the lock. First, it would be really ballsy to do that intentionally.

In her post-game interview on the Jeopardy website Elyse is asked how she determined her final (Final?) wager and she says "I wanted to get more than the minimum of $75,000, and if I lost, then I was still going to get a lot of money, and somebody fantastic would win, so I decided to take a big risk."

Honestly, no offense to anybody of course, but I'd be in favor of not inviting a college player and letting one more regular player in.

I agree. Honestly, the college tournament winners just have not done well enough in the ToCs to justify continuing to invite them at the expense of someone who appeared on the regular show.

But would the last contestant to qualify (currently the alternate) do any better? The last five college champs are a semifinal appearance ahead of the last five "last ins".