Tuesday, May 27, 2014 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[earendel]

Yes, Dearborn, MI is a suburb of Detroit, known for it's heavily-Muslim population. However, I got Dearborn Street Station immediately for the M*A*S*H ("Adam's Ribs") reference. I ran two categories in the first round, the Intials and Baba Wawa.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who got the "Adam's Ribs" reference.

[legendneverdies]

There was one contestant a few years back who was ruled incorrect on a first round DD because they didn't phrase it properly. Alex said after the first commercial break that they prompt for phrasing in the first round, except on the first round DD, and the player was ruled wrong.

[periwinkle]

Yes, Dearborn, MI is a suburb of Detroit, known for it's heavily-Muslim population. However, I got Dearborn Street Station immediately for the M*A*S*H ("Adam's Ribs") reference. I ran two categories in the first round, the Intials and Baba Wawa.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who got the "Adam's Ribs" reference.

Ha, I first heard of Dearborn on a later M*A*S*H episode, where Col. Potter is talking with a recovering patient from Chicago, and the Col. gets every fact about Chicago wrong. (He mentions something at the corner of State and Dearborn, and the patient says, "Col.? State and Dearborn never meet.")

[This Is Kirk!]

Isn't there a place called Dearborn near Detroit? I think I stayed in a hotel there one time.

Yeah, I thought so too which is why I negged on it (and probably will again next time it's asked, Dearbon is too ingrained with Detroit in my mind now.)

Yes, Dearborn, MI is a suburb of Detroit, known for it's heavily-Muslim population.

I suppose it's known for that, but I would say it's more well-known as the headquarters of the Ford Motor Company.

The Dearborn Street in Chicago is a reference to Fort Dearborn which was situated where Chicago is today.

[Leander]

Isn't there a place called Dearborn near Detroit? I think I stayed in a hotel there one time.

Yeah, I thought so too which is why I negged on it (and probably will again next time it's asked, Dearbon is too ingrained with Detroit in my mind now.)

Yes, Dearborn, MI is a suburb of Detroit, known for it's heavily-Muslim population.

I thought it was more well known as the HQ location of Ford, and famous in automotive history.

Edit: what a weird post coincidence!

[Fleeboy]

If I'm not mistaken, Julia is the first ever contestant to have at least $10,000 before the first commercial break.

Ken and Brad both had $8,800 in their respective BotD semis matches, but I don't know about the 10k mark.

Brad, helped along by a TDD on the 14th clue, had $6,100 by the first commercial break in his ToC QF. That would translate to $12,200 today.
Julia's fast start in Tuesday's game felt uncomfortably familiar.
Give credit to Dylan for at least trying to make a game of it by going TDD.

[jeopardyhopeful]

What is it with new members and stupid comments recently?

There is no need for this kind of hostile attitude. You can disagree with someone's opinion without getting into personal attacks. It's no wonder that people are sometimes reluctant to post here. There will always be opinions that are not the majority here. And I think that's a good thing.

[southsidehitman]

Dearborn is a major street through Chicago, and was my first choice on that one (having lived in Chicago almost all of my life before moving to LA).

Did you take that train when you moved?

I had pilgrimage and I think he should not have gotten a BMS since he did not do the question thing.

I knew what the play was, just couldn't pull out its name, might have done better if I hadn't had to wait until after midnight to watch the show.

I got Begin and Sadat from having lived through it, not from any history class I took.

Julia....just wow.

I did not take that train upon moving to LA, but only because my wife and I made the sojourn into a month-long road trip.

I might be mistaken, but Dylan's response was "Religious pilgrimage" which was BMS'd, because they were specifically looking for "Hajj". I thought that was an easy one, and was surprised he missed it.

I think he actually said something like "religious reasons" and got BMS'd. I think "religious pilgrimage" would've probably been accepted. Alex said something like, "What is a hajj, or pilgrimage."

I do stand corrected - I went back to the film and he said "Religious purposes". I do believe "pilgrimage" should have been accepted since there are technically two kinds of pilgrimages to Mecca - the "Hajj" (the one that Alex indicated was the 'correct' answer) and the "Umrah" (which is, essentially, a mini-Hajj). I don't know how they would have handled the "not answered in the form of a question" problem though - maybe claim his inflection was good enough? (Incidentally, I recall some years back a contestant's first response was "Is it ____?" and it was accepted as being in the form of a question, odd as it may have been. This is apropos of mostly nothing, but an interesting anecdote nonetheless.)

[soxfan99]

Julia got the applause this time for the opening category run. So much for thinking a doctor and a law professor might make decent opponents.

If Julia is lurking here then someone should link some worldly Sporcle games for her. Hanoi, Sadat/Begin, the not obscure king/country yesterday, Algeria...I never claim to be a geography/world leader person, but even I can handle those.

I agree no excuse on Hanoi, but sitting at home and not having the area of Algeria at my fingertips, I did not hit my imaginary buzzer, figuring while Algeria was the most likely answer, there are a number of large French speaking countries in North Africa that were possible alternatives.

What was in the clue that pointed towards Hanoi as opposed to HCM/Saigon? Based on the responses here, there must have been something, but I just remember the clue being something about "visiting the American Embassy in this Vietnamese city." Was there a "north" or some other word I missed to distinguish the two? Now, buzzing in to say Saigon after HCM was negged is another story...

[dhkendall]

What was in the clue that pointed towards Hanoi as opposed to HCM/Saigon? Based on the responses here, there must have been something, but I just remember the clue being something about "visiting the American Embassy in this Vietnamese city." Was there a "north" or some other word I missed to distinguish the two? Now, buzzing in to say Saigon after HCM was negged is another story...

Embassies are always* in the capital city. Other official diplomatic offices of foreign countries that are not in the capital are called "consulates"

*with some very few exceptions (like most of Israel's embassies being in Tel Aviv, and most of the Vatican's (including Italy's!) are in Rome.)

[John Boy]

FJ was about $600 difficulty level in my opinion - unless people don't know that play at all anymore.

Aren't ALL clues about $600 degree of difficulty, unless you don't know anything at all about the subject?

[John Boy]

To me, the TOC doesn't even really matter in regards to how Julia places. Sure, it would be fantastic to see a Chu-Collins match in the finals because of the contrast of styles and sheer amount of talent the two have, but there are so many variables at play. Both are good television and will likely get somewhat simple QF matches. In the semis, anything can and has happened. Doesn't really speak to player quality.

Julia must have brushed up on something between tapings because her bets are more aggressive. Either she figured out for herself that the further out in front she gets, the harder it is for her opponents to avoid the lock...or she read some of the stuff people here have been posting about her smaller wagers. Either way, I love watching her evolve.

She certainly has the stamina going. The pressure does not seem to be getting to her at all. Just keeping it simple...call a clue, hit the button, answer the question. Her focus is amazing.

I would say Amen to all three. I'm already anticipating the ToC (although at this point Julia could miss it because she keeps on winning through the end of the season). And yes, her game play has changed significantly since her early games, making her way more dangerous for opponents to face, and without losing any of her charm and gentility, which is admirable. And yes, she just rolls over opponents without breaking sweat, not seeming to flag in games taped late in the day. All of it is impressive.

I got Pygmalion before AT was through reading the clue. Thought that nub of the plot was kind of Pavlovian J!

[periwinkle]

Not a Subaru.

Three beatdowns in a row now.

I had family in the Foreign Service in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, and I just forgot that was a consulate and not an embassy.

[Sherm]

As far as making the semifinals let's say the buzzer, material and opponents are more difficult than what she has faced so far. Give her 12,000-14,000 entering FJ and who knows if sit would be good enough or if she would need a hit to move on? 12/17 on the FJ! clues is decent, so it's a good bet that she makes the semis, but nowhere near a lock.

Mark, I really think you have this one wrong. You've said that she may not make your gold medal group in the ToC a week of so back, now you are saying she is not a lock to make the semi's. No way. In the last week, she has started to streamroll like no one has on this show in a long time.

She is easily one of the top three players for the last year, her buzzer skills are top shelf and her knowledge base appears to be as good as anyone that is going to be in the ToC. Based on the fact that she has shown that she isn't overly aggressive. I tend to think she is the top lock to make the semi, because she isn't going to hurt herself with a DD. With 4 of the top 10 non winnners advancing. I don't know how she could not advance.

IMO, she is no Rutter/Jennings (then, who is?), but she could hold her own in a game with almost anyone not named Rutter or Jennings. That makes her a semi's lock. After that, let's put it this way. After watching Keller get steamrolled by Whitener last year, in one game scenario, no one is a lock to win.

[Dr. J]

only three types of people ever teach history:
1. The old geezer who's been teaching for 538 years, and just wants to retire;
2. The 'fanatic' for ONE era of history, who thinks all the other stuff is 'trivia' that takes away from discussing the hat sizes of every officer in both the Union and Confederate armies;
3. The young guy who's in over his head. who has no control of the class...I had that guy the second half of senior year, after a really cool, older female teacher took an early retirement over Christmas break. Everybody respected her, but the new guy had never taught a history class before(and tried to turn into more of an economics class)...but a roomful of 18 year olds with 'senioritis' didn't really care.

Or, you know, really awesome young women who are passionate about the past and love relaying a sense of what it was like to live in another time...who dress up like Teddy Roosevelt, role play civil rights demonstrations in their classrooms, and watch Monty Python's Holy Grail after school? Ms. Meyer was THE BEST. She is why I teach history today. (and I kick ass at it, btw.)

That being said, I've experienced all the other kinds, and it made me want to rescue the past from them and get people excited about history again.

[opusthepenguin]

What is it with new members and stupid comments recently?

The old hands aren't pulling their weight anymore?

[DHicton]

I didn't take history in high school. History is far too interesting to learn in school.

I can state with 100 per cent confidence that someone who relies on only the history (or science or math or English or whatever) spoonfed to them in school will not only do poorly on Jeopardy!, but won't even (deserve to) pass the preliminary test.

[Dr. J]

I didn't take history in high school. History is far too interesting to learn in school.

I can state with 100 per cent confidence that someone who relies on only the history (or science or math or English or whatever) spoonfed to them in school will not only do poorly on Jeopardy!, but won't even (deserve to) pass the preliminary test.

Yup. Students don't even take my college-level history courses because they think it's all just memorization, when in reality it's tons of critical thinking, analysis, and argumentation. They just don't know how to think! (and it's my job to teach them.)

[opusthepenguin]

And now I have a question for you Boardies: I notice how everybody reports their Lash Trash. Is there something you're doing when making your Coryat marks to remember where your Lash Trash was? I've been using a simple +/-/0 system in the couple of months I've started to track Coryats.

When I was tracking, I'd put a T in the box for Trash or Triple-stumper. I'd also put a B for "bashful" if I thought of the correct response in time but was too chicken to ring in. And I'd put an S in the box for "slow" if I thought of the correct response too late to ring in. (Couldn't find a rhyming word for that one.) My sheet had lines to enter totals for Trash, Bash, Rash (money lost by ringing in with the wrong response), and Slow. Comparing the Bash to the Rash can prove helpful in deciding if you need to be more or less aggressive on ringing in. If your Slow number is high, you might try ringing in when you think you might know the correct response and see how often you can pull it out in time. Maybe hit Pause so the contestant doesn't blurt it out while you hem and haw. How much time do you get for that? 5 seconds?

[DHicton]

FJ was about $600 difficulty level in my opinion - unless people don't know that play at all anymore.

Aren't ALL clues about $600 degree of difficulty, unless you don't know anything at all about the subject?

ALL clues have a zero degree of difficulty if you know the answers, and ALL clues have a zillion-degree difficulty if you don't know the answers. There is absolutely no objective way to gauge how hard a question is. You either know something or you do not.