Thursday, January 19, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Placeholder for J! Round

[Archivists]

Placeholder for DJ! Round

[jeff6286]

Sports & The Movies
Wen asked for a home address in The Blues Brothers, Elwood gives 1060 W. Addison St., the home of this facility.

Spoiler

What is Wrigley Field? Naved guessed Comiskey Park. (The other major baseball stadium in Chicago at the time.)

Lynn Hammerlund: $13,200+$9,300=$22,500...now a 1-day champion with $22,500
Naved Sheikh: $11,200-$1=$11,199
Amy Stephenson: $5,600+$4,000=$9,600

[econgator]

$1? Really?

Instaget FJ.

[xxaaaxx]

$1? Really?

No reason to bet anything, and he bets a dollar anyway. Amy had half his score and bet something other than 5600 or 1600 (if you're going to give up on the possibility of winning on a TS by betting more than 1600, bet it all to potentially tie him). I'm convinced the contestants know the proper wager, and do the exact opposite just to troll us

FJ was a complete WAG. Never seen the movie, didn't know the address, but I had Chicago rattling around in the back of my mind, and it was as good a guess as any.

[debramc]

I saw this one in the studio so I guess I have to report my wrong answer from that day (though I did remember the right one today). I said Joliet. I've seen the movie, but it's been a long time, and I remembered they (or maybe just Elwood?) had just gotten out of Joliet, and they mention it somewhere. Seemed like a good guess. Maybe if I'd ever been to Chicago it would've helped.
I ran both the "Foreign" and "4N" categories. I'm not sure I've ever done that when they do the clever thing where categories sound the same but are actually different.
Baffling wagers, yes. The only day Amy bet right was against me.

[StevenH]

I applaud the contestants for not knowing Maroon 5.

I had no idea that the U.S. got the Virgin Islands from Denmark. I also guessed The Netherlands.

I got lucky and guessed correctly on the FJ clue.

I thought that the J! round was easy but the DJ round was average difficulty.

[bpmod]

I spent most of the game wondering why there were only two contestants. And it's not very often I say this, especially two days in a row, but they were (both) very painful to watch.

And then, hoping for a sole get on FJ!, I was astounded to see Amy's wager.

Oh well, at least "I'm-$5000-behind,-but-I-don't-want-to-maximize-the-Daily-Double-I-hunted-for" isn't coming back.

Sorry to be so harsh.

Brian

[Paucle]

I never actually saw the movie, but I knew it took place in Chicago. Combine that with the category, and there was no reason to guess anything other than a Chicago Stadium.

Am I wrong in thinking that this is a rare situation for second to bet nothing? He knows the leader needs to miss for him to win, and her wager to protect against him will drop her below him on a miss. Third place can tie him on a double-up. Seems like 0 is his ideal wager. And while all-in from third is usually pointless, here it seems pretty sound.
That's the problem with ideal wagers. They're only ideal when all involved know how to wager.

[thenextofken]

I've never seen "Blues Brothers," but for whatever reason associated it with Chicago, and figured it could only be the iconic Wrigley Field.

Nursery Rhymes was a weird category, as the only ones I got were at the top and bottom of the board.

[econgator]

Am I wrong in thinking that this is a rare situation for second to bet nothing? He knows the leader needs to miss for him to win, and her wager to protect against him will drop her below him on a miss. Third place can tie him on a double-up. Seems like 0 is his ideal wager. And while all-in from third is usually pointless, here it seems pretty sound.
That's the problem with ideal wagers. They're only ideal when all involved know how to wager.

Exactly. I could at least understand a wager of $5599, as that would overtake first and require third to at least get it right, but $1 makes as much sense as giving no answer for FJ.

[billy pilgrim]

There was the intriguing possibility of a 3 way tie here. Last goes all in with 5600 and gets it right. Second bets 0 with 11,200- to offer a tie to third on a TS. Leader bets 2000- to not risk falling below doubled 3rd, and then misses. Seeemed like Neved made the ONE wager he should never have made.
FJ was real easy for me - i lived in chicaago for a bit. But one unfamiliar with the city might have guess Cummisky ;and don't forget Soldier Field.

[Zee2]

I recognized the address as being on the North Side of Chicago, and stupidly said "The Chicago Cubs." Since they wanted a "facility" it would not have been accepted, would it?

[Robert K S]

Pretty sure the Final clue was technically wrong. Elwood never actually gives his address in the movie, it is only mentioned (by himself and others) that he did so at some time before the events of the film, the last time he renewed his driver's license (or maybe his registration).

[billy pilgrim]

Pretty sure the Final clue was technically wrong. Elwood never actually gives his address in the movie, it is only mentioned (by himself and others) that he did so at some time before the events of the film, the last time he renewed his driver's license (or maybe his registration).

It was from when he traded the Caaddy for the Bluesmobile, I think.

Jake: How are you gonna get the band back together, Mr. Hot Rodder? Those cops have your name, your address...
Elwood: They don't have my address. I falsified my renewal. I put down 1060 West Addison.
Jake: 1060 West Addison? That's Wrigley Field.

[alietr]

I recognized the address as being on the North Side of Chicago, and stupidly said "The Chicago Cubs." Since they wanted a "facility" it would not have been accepted, would it?

Oooo, sorry.

[TenPoundHammer]

14/30, 6/29.

I ALWAYS get the Spanish words for Saturday and Sunday mixed up. Saturday is "Sábado", which sounds like Sabbath to me, and Sunday is Domingo. So of course when Domingo comes up in the very similar Portuguese, I say Saturday.

Also fell into the ant/beetle trap on the last clue of DJ!

DJ! just felt like a bear to me. I was standing and staring throughout American History, Beef, WWII and Presidents on TV.

FJ! was frustration too. Even more so because I read the Blues Brothers page on TV Tropes just the other day, and they even pointed out the Wrigley Field reference. But I was just drawing a total blank. "Oh, that um, field. The field. What is the name of that field? That field where they play baseball?" Herp to the derp.

(By the by, that was a real mall they drove through. The entire mall ceased operations a year prior, and is still barely standing in an abandoned state.)

[bpmod]

(By the by, that was a real mall they drove through. The entire mall was literally closed to the public at that point.)

They didn't think it was safe enough to figuratively close it?

Brian

[TenPoundHammer]

(By the by, that was a real mall they drove through. The entire mall was literally closed to the public at that point.)

They didn't think it was safe enough to figuratively close it?

Brian

Damn, and I try so hard not to misuse words like that. I really feel badly for myself.

In all seriousness, the whole mall (Dixie Square in the Harvey) went out of business in 1978. As I mentioned elsewhere, I study shopping malls, and the "dead mall" phenomenon so prevalent today was all but nonexistant until the late 1990s; the rise of online retail alone has dealt a major blow to brick and mortar stores. A dead mall in 1978 was a huge anomaly. It wasn't the first — Bayside Mall in Boston closed in 1976, both it and Dixie Square owing their premature deaths to high crime — but I would say Dixie Square is by far the most "famous" of the dead malls due to its use in The Blues Brothers and the fact that it's still (barely) standing 30+ years later.

[Serendipity]

Am I wrong in thinking that this is a rare situation for second to bet nothing? He knows the leader needs to miss for him to win, and her wager to protect against him will drop her below him on a miss. Third place can tie him on a double-up. Seems like 0 is his ideal wager. And while all-in from third is usually pointless, here it seems pretty sound.
That's the problem with ideal wagers. They're only ideal when all involved know how to wager.

I was thinking along the same lines. #1 has to bet to cover #2 by a dollar if he goes all in. #2, knowing this is #1's logical bet and he can't catch her unless she's wrong, should focus on #3. Which apparently he did. But he got it wrong. Assuming he was hoping #1 would answer incorrectly, he wants to maximize his chances of becoming champion, even if he has to share the title. In this case, very rare, #3 has exactly half of #2's score. You've got to assume #3 will go all-in, so #2's ideal wager is zero. Where's the up-side in #2 betting anything? And, #3 should also have gone all-in. Mostly because she can't win if #1 answers correctly, and she has a chance to tie #2 and she's got to figure he'll do the logical thing and bet zero. Her best bet is to go for a chance at a win if #1 is wrong and #2 bets zero. Instead, she creates a scenario where she can only win if #1 answers incorrectly, and #2 both answers incorrectly, and bets illogically (and big).

Question for you all - if #2 and #3 had tied, but not won, would they have split the combined $3,000 for second and third place, or would #2 have taken second by virtue of leading going into FJ?