raccoonleaf wrote: ↑Sun May 27, 2018 2:47 pm
This is Ross. Thanks to everyone here for being an important resource to me in the lead up to my appearance. Here are just some random thoughts:
So far, people have been very nice about me on the internet other than a couple stray comments about my “creeper mustache” (which apparently just means a regular mustache on someone younger than 60 years old).
Your mustache is awesome. Those people are crazy. (And this is coming from a guy with a fine beard who has never quite managed to grow a good mustache, and not for lack of trying)
I couched it in a pop culture reference, but you came across as very likable and amusing on the show.
raccoonleaf wrote:
Thanks for that. I’m sure there have been better contestants throughout the years who were never-winners, but their losses almost always came down to missing Final Jeopardy.
I had months to ruminate over this, so I’ve looked. I’m not certain enough to say it’s never happened, but it’s at least exceedingly rare for a challenger with the leading Coryat score greater than $17,000 to lose without missing Final Jeopardy or some other miscue (e.g. a Daily Double miss, or a bad Final Jeopardy wager). Without limiting it to challengers, the best I’ve come up with is
this game. Scott converted a $9,000 Daily Double with 2 clues left in Double Jeopardy to grab an insurmountable lead against champion Rachel. She had a $20,200 Coryat.
That’s not to say Virginia didn’t earn her win. If you look at Virginia’s performance in a vacuum, a Coryat of $14,000 with gets on all three Daily Doubles plus Final Jeopardy deserves to win. Fate had to decide between the two of us.
Indeed, your loss was statistically unusual. However, a contestant going 3/3 on DD's is almost always going to be enough for the lead heading into FJ. While one can hunt for DDs, it still comes down to luck, which was certainly on Virginia's side in that game.
Don't give up on Millionaire just yet! As this board has shown, many former Jeopardy players appear on there and end up making a tidy sum of money.
Regardless, best of luck in all future trivia contestant adventures; I will be rooting for you.