Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

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Robert K S
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Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by Robert K S »

1985 - Peter Lalos* (4x) - $??,???
1986 - Dan Alves* (3x) - $36,100 ($72,200)
1987 - Jim Ryan* (4x) - $30,250 ($60,500)
1988 - Michael Shutterly (4x) - $49,200 ($98,400)
1989 - Jack Lechner (4x) - $33,300 ($66,600)
1990 - Paula Massengale (4x) - $50,901 ($101,802)
1991 - David Epstein* (4x) - $46,101 ($92,202)
1992 - Josh Vincent (4x) - $58,800 ($117,600)
1993 - Steve Saum (3x) - $35,001 ($70,002)
1994 - Bob Majeska* (4x) - $33,300 ($66,600)
1995 - Richard Rasmussen (3x) - $40,600 ($81,200)
1996 - Gareth Jones (4x) - $27,796 ($55,592)
1998 - Bob Willoughby (3x) - $36,001 ($72,002)
1999 - Louis Cohen (3x) - $48,203 ($96,406)
2000 - Jason Karpf (4x) - $46,499 ($92,998)
2001 - Mark Dawson (5x) - $52,599 ($105,198), Alan Bailey (5x) - $61,501 ($123,002); both played in 2003
2003 - Faith Love (4x) - $40,801
2004 - Patrick Macaraeg (3x) - $83,002
2006 - Bud Humphrey (3x) - $56,599
2007 - Julie Dunlevy (3x) - $73,800
2009 - Meredith Robbins (4x) - $48,700
2010 - Kevin Joyce (3x) - $111,299
2011 - Sara Heard (4x) - $85,601
2013 - Patrick Morrison (3x) - $80,701
2014 - Mike Lewis (4x) - $102,800
2015 - Sean Anderson (3x) - $71,600
2017 - Tim Kutz (4x) - $107,000
2019 - Ryan Bilger (4x) - $107,049; played in 2021
2021 - Elise Nussbaum (3x) - $79,600, Jessica Babbitt (3x) - $71,598
2022 - Emily Fiasco (3x) - $87,201, Yungsheng Wang (3x) - $84,202, Lucy Ricketts (3x) - $79,499
2024 - Andy Tirrell (1x, CWC runner-up) - $15,399 + $50,000

Unconfirmed selections are marked with an asterisk (*). It is likely that early seasons did not have an alternate. Pre-doubled dollar players are labeled with doubled amounts in parentheses.
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by seaborgium »

If you're looking for facts rather than speculation, ignore this post.

I once posted on the old board that Christopher Ruth, with three wins and some $40,000, would probably have been the 1999 alternate, but I was combing through that ToC's qualification period earlier this year and found I had overlooked Louis Cohen, with $48k and change over three wins, because his losing game isn't archived (so he looks like a 2x champ on a cursory glance through the season index).

Paula Massengale is a likely candidate for 1990's ToC alternacy.

edit for actual factual content: Jeremy Bate was the alternate for the Million Dollar Masters tournament. I'm sure you know that, but it isn't in the Archive.
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by ahirbhairav »

seaborgium wrote:If you're looking for facts rather than speculation, ignore this post.

I once posted on the old board that Christopher Ruth, with three wins and some $40,000, would probably have been the 1999 alternate, but I was combing through that ToC's qualification period earlier this year and found I had overlooked Louis Cohen, with $48k and change over three wins, because his losing game isn't archived (so he looks like a 2x champ on a cursory glance through the season index).

Paula Massengale is a likely candidate for 1990's ToC alternacy.

edit for actual factual content: Jeremy Bate was the alternate for the Million Dollar Masters tournament. I'm sure you know that, but it isn't in the Archive.
Richard Landon seems like the '85 alternate, because he had more money than Steve Rogitz, the lowest scoring 5-timer that year. (OK, he had a dollar more.)
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by legendneverdies »

Analysis of the pics seen when talking about the Decades TofC showed the 1995 candidate to be Dec, 1994 three-timer Richard Rasmussen.
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by MarkBarrett »

Patrick Morrison for 2013.

James Arey popped in here not too long ago. Who wants to PM him to ask about Louis Cohen as the 1999 guy.
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by Jeff-thecdboy »

I believe that Gareth Jones from Jan. 1996 could have been the alternate for the Nov. 1996 TOC (I seem to recall him being a 4xer with a significantly lower than usual total due to missing most, if not all, of his FJ!s, but anyone who has info on him can feel free to confirm this for sure if they can).
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by MarkBarrett »

For the Battle of the Decades the alternates will be:

Prelims:

2nd place in the fan favorite vote (Diane, Brian, Erin?)

QFs:

A. Of the 10 non-winners from each decade, the ones choosing to be an alternate for that particular decade are in a random draw to create three alternates.

B. The highest-scoring non-winner from all 15 prelims is the only alternate with the 15 winners.

C. There is an alternate from each decade, but it is decided by high score entering the FJ! round in the prelims.

D. Eric Newhouse is the alternate; he just didn't want to tweet about it.

E. There is no alternate, but locals have agreed to be on call as an emergency fill-in.

F. It's a Battle Royale among all the former champs in the audience attending the taping.

Semis:

It has to be the one who just missed making the last wildcard spot.
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by MarkBarrett »

Jeff-thecdboy wrote:I believe that Gareth Jones from Jan. 1996 could have been the alternate for the Nov. 1996 TOC (I seem to recall him being a 4xer with a significantly lower than usual total due to missing most, if not all, of his FJ!s, but anyone who has info on him can feel free to confirm this for sure if they can).
Gareth won four games and $27,796 in January 1996. He was 1/5 on FJ! clues only getting the one in his fourth game, a lock. With Lucien Schmit in with four wins and $36,982 there is some wiggle room for someone else, but I would guess Jeff is right that Gareth is the guy. Put him in with an asterisk?
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by jeopardyfan87 »

I know 100% that Gareth Jones was the alternate for the '96 ToC, it was mentioned in Dave Sampugnaro's behind-the-scenes writeups that was courtesy of mindfun.com. Though the writeups aren't actively available; you would have to read them using the Web Archive.

As for other years from what I've seen, here is my perspective to who I believe the ToC alternates were:

1995: Richard Rasmussen, 3x winner ($40,600) after Jim Vercolen's 4x score
1994: Bob Majeska, 4x winner ($33,300) after Rachel Schwartz's $37,499
1993: Steve Saum, 3x winner ($35,001) after David Tiemann's $37,999
1992: Josh Vincent, 4x winner ($58,800) after Bruce Simmons's $63,599
1988: Michael Shutterly, 4x winner ($49,200) after Ron Trigueiro's $49,400
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by dhkendall »

ahirbhairav wrote:
D. Eric Newhouse is the alternate; he just didn't want to tweet about it.
So what you're essentially saying is he lied to me.

Also, how do you know that? Did he direct-message you or something?
First of all, Mark doesn't know, that's why the Eric Newhouse situation is labelled "D.", in a list of six alternative scenarios (the very next one, labelled "E.", is completely antithetical to the Newhouse Theory.)

Secondly, the nerve of Eric Newhouse to lie to you! In fact, I'll do you a favour, when I get The Call, I'll let you know right away that I'll be on the show, what place I come in in my game(s, and how many of them there'll be), and how much money I'll win. I'll tell it to anyone who asks. I'm sure that TPTB would want me to, it's not like they make their contestants sign non-disclosure agreements so that suspense can build so that people can watch the show.
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by ahirbhairav »

Updating the list with some possible alternates as marked:
2013 - Patrick Morrison
2011 - Sara Heard
2010 - Kevin Joyce
2009 - Meredith Robbins
2007 - Julie Dunlevy*
2006 - Bud Humphrey
2004 - Patrick Macaraeg
2003 - Faith Love
2001 - Alan Bailey and Mark Dawson (surfeit of 5x-ers and shortly after 9/11)
2000 - Jason Karpf
1999 - Louis Cohen
1998 - Bob Willoughby
1996 - Gareth Jones
1995 - Richard Rasmussen
1994 - Bob Majeska*
1993 - Steve Saum*
1992 - Josh Vincent
1991 - _____________
1990 - _____________
1989 - _____________
1988 - Michael Shutterly*
1987 - _____________
1986 - _____________
1985 - _____________
Last edited by ahirbhairav on Fri Jan 03, 2014 9:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by MarkBarrett »

Yes, Louis Cohen was the alternate for 1999. I found an email I had from one of the 1999 competitors where he confirmed it for me when I asked.
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by leszekp »

Alternate for the 1992 TOC was Josh Vincent.
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by Lumosityfan »

Wait - how could Mark Dawson be an alternate for his Tournament of Champions when he ultimately won the whole thing? Technically, if you're an alternate, you can't participate unless someone that was originally supposed to play can't.
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by seaborgium »

Note the year for which he was the alternate. He won the 2003 ToC. He was the sixteenth 5xer between the 2000 and 2001 ToCs, and they decided to have both him and Alan (#15) as alternates as well as holdovers because the 2001 ToC taped not long after 9/1.
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by ahirbhairav »

Has there ever actually been any instance of needing an alternate to play in a tournament?
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by dhkendall »

ahirbhairav wrote:Has there ever actually been any instance of needing an alternate to play in a tournament?
I know there were tournaments where they have had a cancellation (like Joey Beachum), can't remember the specifics though.
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by seaborgium »

Vinita Kailasanath couldn't make the 2003 taping, and Kathy Cassity ended up playing and Faith Love became the alternate. (I've read Kathy's account of her J! experience, and she actually got called to be an alternate, then got the good news a little while later.) And Deborah Fitzgerald would have been the alternate if Joey had been able to make the 2009 ToC taping. I'm pretty sure nobody has shown up specifically to be an alternate at the ToC and ended up playing, though. (It has happened in regular shows, though, like when Priscilla Ball got sick. I suspect it happened during Ken Jennings's run; he mentions in Brainiac that a couple of people he knew from Quiz Bowl came to play and couldn't because they knew him.)
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by MinnesotaMyron »

seaborgium wrote: I suspect it happened during Ken Jennings's run; he mentions in Brainiac that a couple of people he knew from Quiz Bowl came to play and couldn't because they knew him.)
One fellow claims that he has been effectively blackballed from the show since then.

(Am I using that word right?)
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Re: Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions alternates - who were they

Post by StevenH »

seaborgium wrote:Vinita Kailasanath couldn't make the 2003 taping, and Kathy Cassity ended up playing and Faith Love became the alternate. (I've read Kathy's account of her J! experience, and she actually got called to be an alternate, then got the good news a little while later.) And Deborah Fitzgerald would have been the alternate if Joey had been able to make the 2009 ToC taping. I'm pretty sure nobody has shown up specifically to be an alternate at the ToC and ended up playing, though. (It has happened in regular shows, though, like when Priscilla Ball got sick. I suspect it happened during Ken Jennings's run; he mentions in Brainiac that a couple of people he knew from Quiz Bowl came to play and couldn't because they knew him.)
I would have thought that Ken Jennings and Jeff Hoppes had already known each other when they played each other on the show. I guess not?
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