Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions

[Scott]

Was Alex just stalling for time when he took so long to come up with his bid that Alex T. had to prompt him.? I can't see any advantage at stalling at that point...

It seemed to me that he was trying to do some quick math.  "Can I bet enough so that, if I get it right, I will have more than double what my nearer competitor would have if he gets all of the remaining answers correct, but not so much that, if I get it wrong, I wouldn't lose my lead in that situation?"  At least, with only small amounts left and such a big lead, that's what I'd be trying to do.  (Not that I could have calculated it any faster...)

[Chicken Wing]

Is it sad that I'm debating seeing the new Hunger Games on Saturday instead of Friday night just because I want to stay home and watch the final game of the TOC?

[dcalley]

I just had a conversation with....  Apparently his mother knows....

Unless a contestant says something publicly, I don't think it's appropriate to discuss a person's medical situation.

 

Is it sad that I'm debating seeing the new Hunger Games on Saturday instead of Friday night just because I want to stay home and watch the final game of the TOC?

Ha, I also pushed something to Saturday night instead of Friday night with Jeopardy in mind!

[possibilities]

I tried to convince myself that Zaire and Niger rhymed, until I realized they only had 5 letters each.

 

I'm still laughing about "What is Aleve?"

 

I like all the contestants. I can't help it. The only quirk that bothers me is when someone sways back and forth, which I'm sure is probably because their back or feet hurt, but I get nauseated watching it. Even that, though doesn't make me angry. I think it's such a high pressure situation, and it's a lot to ask that people not only have a gigantic store of information, but also be quick, relaxed, witty, nice to look at, smart at wagering, able to smile just the right way for the camera, and have an interesting story to tell Alex.

[just prin]

Thanks prosper! Appropriate or not, you've now changed how I view Matt, and my enjoyment of the final game will be upped immensely, should he be appearing in it.

[ClareWalks]

Thanks prosper! Appropriate or not, you've now changed how I view Matt, and my enjoyment of the final game will be upped immensely, should he be appearing in it.

 

Agree (except I already loved Matt, haha). It confirms the suspicions of a lot of posters, but of course this is all third-hand info so I take it with a grain of salt. If it is the case, it's very inspiring and quite the success story, and I hope he does "come out" and serve as a role model for those on the spectrum.

[teebax]

Ha, I also pushed something to Saturday night instead of Friday night with Jeopardy in mind!

If possible, push it to Monday night. Don't forget the last champ we had in the regular games had that wicked vocal fry everyone hated. Monday might be a good day to skip.

[BubblingKettle]

Matt Jackson's silent "BOOM" during the FJ song just gave me life. 

 

It's an unpopular opinion, but I have loved him from the start!

 

Ew, I don't want to watch Monday's episode--the return of the elongated final syllable topped with vocal fry. 

[mojoween]

Yeah I'm over Matt now with his behavior during the DD. Go Alex J!

Although I would love to know what Matt and Andrew were talking about at the end because it looked like something interesting.

I haven't heard Laura yet and I'm scared.

Edited November 19, 2015 by mojoween

[proserpina65]

Okay, nope, Matt still drives me crazy.  Rooting for Alex or Kerry tomorrow.

 

I got the final - thanks to having an interest in early space exploration and watching the episode of Big Bang Theory where Howard goes into space multiple times - but missed all 3 daily doubles.  My answer on the last one would've been "why did it have to be the one musical I completely loathe and therefore know absolutely no songs from?".

 

I haven't heard Laura yet and I'm scared.

I haven't either, but apparently I have no ear for vocal fry and couldn't even tell you what it is, I'm not too concerned.  Unless she starts dancing or shouting.

[secnarf]

I was pretty surprised nobody recognized Ethel Kennedy. I thought Defying Gravity was an easy daily double and my reaction probably would have been similar to Matt's - it won him the game.

My thought process for FJ was "It can't be Russia, that's too eas--KAZAKHSTAN". I couldn't tell you where I learned that or how I pulled it out of my brain in that moment, but there you go.

[Kathira]

Grr. My cable went out and I spent the entire time of tonight's episode dicking around with Time Warner tech support and missed it. Are episodes ever posted online or on demand?

[Trey]

I was pretty sure FJ was a country that was formerly part of USSR but not Russia itself.  Kazakhstan came to mind but I went with Ukraine.

 

It should be wild two day Final!

 

Has anyone bothered to go to the Jeopardy! website yet to find out who Debra Messing says is the most fun person she's ever worked with?  I'm betting it won't be Alex Trebek.

[ClareWalks]

I got another TS, the Parents Without Partners one. Matt destroyed it, as usual. Loved his pouty face during the intro. It was nice to see everyone so relaxed. Matt's goofy side really came out. Not sure if he'll stay so relaxed in the finals, though, since he is up against two amazing competitors. Honestly, most other years Alex or Matt could each win the TOC easily, so this is quite the competitive tournament this year, it seems.

[Prevailing Wind]

I halfway enjoyed Matt today, which is a new thing for me.  I'll be rooting for Alex J.

[Setra]

I was pretty sure FJ was a country that was formerly part of USSR but not Russia itself.  Kazakhstan came to mind but I went with Ukraine.

 

It should be wild two day Final!

 

Has anyone bothered to go to the Jeopardy! website yet to find out who Debra Messing says is the most fun person she's ever worked with?  I'm betting it won't be Alex Trebek.

No surprise, it's Sean Hayes.

[NorthstarATL]

Matt brought the entertainment factor! Sadly, I guessed Ukraine as well. But I did run Shakespeare!

[PaulaO]

I'm rooting for Alex J. I had no idea about FJ, figured it would be something Soviet, so answered Trebekistan.

[BubblingKettle]

I thought of Kazakhstan only because I knew that the Soyuz space capsules have landed there. I'm a bit of a space nerd (I don't live far from Cape Canaveral), so I love to watch the landings on the NASA channel.

[CarpeDiem54]

I'm rooting for Alex and Kerry. Matt is just intolerable to me. Tonight he was more distasteful than usual.

I can't believe no one knew Ethel Kennedy and they even showed her picture.

I guessed Ukraine for FJ.

[Jesse]

Matt was really cracking me up tonight. He's such a  weirdo! The final should be really great. Maybe this week I can actually stay up until 10:30 to watch the rescheduled Friday episode, unlike last Friday.

[Day2Day]

Matt brought the entertainment factor!

Only one "jazz hand" tonight, but he has lightened up.

 

Andrew's constant swaying side-to-side was distracting.  Good game.  This should be a good play-off !!!

[mojoween]

I didn't even notice Andrew was a swayer, I couldn't look at the screen because of Catherine's buzzer assault.

[just prin]

Go Alex! Work that buzzer!!!

[Roaster]

SOME HOPE FOR KERRY

 

Kerry is a big underdog in the finals and I doubt she will win.  But I think there is a chance.

 

Both Matt's and Alex's relative weakness is Final Jeopardy.  I looked through the archive and found their records when playing in regular play during the

year.

 

Matt - 14 games; Final Jeopardy record = 8 right, 6 wrong
Alex - 7 games; Final Jeopardy record = 3 right, 4 wrong
Kerry - 7 games; Final Jeopardy record = 6 right, 1 wrong

 

(Yes, it's a limited data set but it's something.)

 

Matt and Alex locked up so many games by the end of DJ they didn't need to be good at Final Jeopardy.  Kerry actually had to answer those FJs to win.

 

In Final Jeopardy, speed doesn't matter.  Knowledge and wagering do.

 

In last year's finals, Ben finished the Double Jeopardy round both days in third place.  But he won it all.  He got FJ right on the first day and bet big.  The other two contestants missed FJ.  On the second day everyone missed FJ.  It was pretty much that one question on FJ that won it for Ben.

 

The producers seem to want Final Jeopardy to matter in this tournament - both knowledge and wagering.  They are not putting up softball instagets.

 

For this to work, though, Kerry must accumulate enough money in the first two rounds so that she becomes a threat in FJ.  Against two extremely fast players, that will be tough.

[Bastet]

I like the way all three finalists play, so I’m not really rooting for anyone.  Kerry for the sisterhood factor, but I also find Matt’s demeanor endearing.  And Alex is still making me chuckle over “What is Aleve?”  So I’ll be happy with any of them winning.  It should be a good match.  Unfortunately, I have early dinner plans tomorrow so I’ll have to record that one, but Friday’s dinner plans are at 8:00, so I can watch in real time.  Priorities!

 

The videogame villains with whom I am familiar are the Donkey Kong Kremlings, Pac Man ghosts, and such, so that was not my category.  I’ve never been a big Shakespeare fan, so I was pretty bad at that one, too.  Musicals are not my favorite, but I did well in the show tunes category. 

 

Parents Without Partners was a bit surprising as a TS.  Ethel Kennedy as a TS, despite the picture?  Stunning.

 

I’d have bet big on FJ based on the category, but it took me a while to come up with it once the clue was revealed.  A former Soviet republic, obviously, but which one?  I debated pretty much the whole time before guessing correctly.

[GreekGeek]

 

The videogame villains with whom I am familiar are the Donkey Kong Kremlings, Pac Man ghosts, and such, so that was not my category.  I’ve never been a big Shakespeare fan, so I was pretty bad at that one, too.  Musicals are not my favorite, but I did well in the show tunes category. 

 

Parents Without Partners was a bit surprising as a TS.  Ethel Kennedy as a TS, despite the picture?  Stunning.

 

 

I don't know squat about video games, but I knew Carmen Sandiego. That was a surprising TS. I also came up with Parents Without Partners. I'd studied Shakespeare in college and had read all the plays in the clues except for Comedy of Errors. 

 

I guessed wrong on FJ, though. Was there anything specific in the clue that would have led someone to settle on Kazakhstan?

 

It's killing me that I'm going to be out Thursday and Friday and I don't have the know-how to record the shows.

[VioletNevermind]

My birthday wish has actually come true: Matt vs. Alex vs. Who Cares. I'm a fan of both Alex and Matt. I find Alex smoking hot in a brooding, mysterious kind of way, so I want him to win (not to overthink things, you know), but I fear that Matt will mop the floor with him. Either way, cannot wait until tomorrow.

Edited November 19, 2015 by SuzyLee

[peeayebee]

I got another TS, the Parents Without Partners one.

 

I didn't get this one, but when Alex said it, I felt like I hadn't heard of this group in a long long time.

 

For FJ my sister immediately said Russia, but I said that was too easy, that it was probably something like Ukraine. 

 

I could hardly recognize Ethel Kennedy. It took me a moment to say, "Is that a Kennedy?"

 

Trebek was kind of funny tonight, though he didn't get Andrew's joke about saying, "Soirrey," with a Canadian pronunciation.

 

I can't remember what the valley was in the DD clue about port, but again Alex irked me by repeating the valley name, as if that was the dead giveaway. 

 

Oh, and I didn't like Matt being able to just say WWF instead of World Wildlife Fund. 

[Bastet]

I didn't have a problem with accepting WWF (or NOW) because they're so commonly referred to by their initialism/acronym rather than by the organization's full name.  But I wouldn't have minded a "be more specific" prompt, especially because I've heard some people who think the F in WWF is for Federation rather than Fund (maybe conflating with World Wrestling Federation, which had to stop using WWF and thus switched to WWE) and even more call NOW the National Organization of Women, rather than for Women.

[rhys]

Shame on me. I'm old enough to know that the pic was of Ethel Kennedy but I was shouting : "Eunice Kennedy, ya maroons."

My pie of crow was not delightful.

[YoureSoUrban]

 

I could hardly recognize Ethel Kennedy. It took me a moment to say, "Is that a Kennedy?"

Same here. Don't think I've seen a photo of her in a while.

 

I wasn't too happy with the acceptance of WWF either. 

 

Alex and Matt head to head. The next two games will be EVERYTHING. 

[possibilities]

I got too busy and stopped watching the show for part of this year (until this Tournament), so I had never seen Matt play before. I'm regretting that, because I enjoy both his killer instinct and his humor.

 

That said, I don't have a preference for who wins. Alex vs Matt is the battle of the ages, but a Kerry win would be an upset that would be exciting, too. Kerry's so steady in the face of both of the others' intensity and stress patterns, I anticipate finding the whole exercise hilarious to watch, whatever happens.

[dcalley]

I had no idea about FJ, figured it would be something Soviet, so answered Trebekistan.

It would have been hilarious if Matt had written that! He would have one-upped the Aleve joke.

[possibilities]

WWF and NOW are like FBI and CIA; everyone uses the abbreviation and no one refers to them by what it stands for.

 

Only one "jazz hand" tonight

I thought he was giving the pageant wave, which made it even funnier to me.

Edited November 19, 2015 by possibilities

[dcalley]

I'm a knitter & I call them tapestry needles. That term doesn't make sense either, tho. I can't figure what the dragonfly had to do with the question.

Thank you! I knew I thought of them as something else (other than "yarn needles") but was unable to think of the damn term. Apparently dragonflies are also known as darning needles or devil's darning needles.

[Prevailing Wind]

The writer Sue Grafton is on a book tour and she's in my town tonight.  I want to go see her. Doors open at 6, program starts at 7.  But J! starts at 7:30.  I have a feeling come 7:30, I'll be parked in my recliner with not a thought to seeing a writer pushing her new book.  If it were any other episode but TOC, I'd be driving around the church's garage (it's a BIG church, which is why the library's holding the event there) looking for a parking space.

 

...but a Matt/AlexJ match?  I'm there.

[illini1959]

Matt is just intolerable to me. Tonight he was more distasteful than usual.

 

 

Yep.

[proserpina65]

I'm rooting for Alex and Kerry. Matt is just intolerable to me. Tonight he was more distasteful than usual.

I can't believe no one knew Ethel Kennedy and they even showed her picture.

 

I wouldn't know Ethel Kennedy if you hit me over the head with her.  I know OF her, but have never seen a picture of her before, and the rest of the clue did not help.  I did feel a little embarrassed by my lack of recognition.

[Scott]

God, what an ass.

[PaulaO]

Matt bugs me and I finally figured out why.  Because he wants it so badly. Lighten up Francis, it's a freakin' game. Alex J. and Kerry seems cool about it; they act like it's fun.  But Matt is so damn serious that I want him to lose just to teach him humility.  On the other hand, I'm taking this too seriously--I need to lighten up!

[alias1]

I wasn't too happy with the acceptance of WWF either. 

 

I agree and I found it odd that Matt even said it that way.  Acronyms like FBI and CIA are definitely shorter than saying the whole phrase, but WWF takes one more syllable than just saying World Wildlife Fund (and actually sounds more awkward, too).  

Edited November 19, 2015 by SierraMist

[ClareWalks]

Matt bugs me and I finally figured out why.  Because he wants it so badly. Lighten up Francis, it's a freakin' game. Alex J. and Kerry seems cool about it; they act like it's fun.  But Matt is so damn serious that I want him to lose just to teach him humility.  On the other hand, I'm taking this too seriously--I need to lighten up!

 

He did jazz hands, what more do you want?

[mojoween]

I do have to say it was so jarring when Catherine and Andrew would answer a bunch of questions in a row and then Matt would get one because his barking of the clues was so sharp to their mellow speaking. I really noticed it more last night than I have before.

[possibilities]

That intensity is part of what I like! I liked it in Arthur, too. I like when the players are visibly exerting-- why not want it? why not admit you have to try? And the quickness is something that I find exhilarating, because it's harder for me to keep up, but it's a challenge to rise to it (same with board-jumping). Being able to win without breaking a sweat, and looking casual, is impressive, but sometimes I think the "too cool for school" veneer comes off looking apathetic or smug (I'm better than this, it's too easy, yawn).

 

It's great to be great with ease, it's great to be great with effort, it's just great to be great, is how I see it.

 

I take the enthusiasm and excitement as passion, and I like passion. And because we don't see it all that often on Jeopardy! (despite the !), I find the times we do see it to be a fun change of routine. Be frisky if you're frisky. Not everyone is comfortable at the same level; some people are actually more relaxed when they can lean in more, and find it harder to function if they have to "hold back" and "modulate" to a slower rate or less fevered pitch.

 

I think I'd get annoyed if people were hamming it up and being too goofy. But a little humor is good seasoning for me, at the level we have been seeing in this tournament. Also, I like seeing Alex Trebek kept on his toes. I haven't felt like anyone is being an attention whore, just that they're showing their personalities a bit.

Edited November 19, 2015 by possibilities

[sugarbaker design]

So my niece's son is my great-nephew?  I've been calling my niece's son my grand-nephew for years!

Edited November 19, 2015 by sugarbaker design

[PaulaO]

I refer to my nephew's daughter as my niece-lette.  Solves that problem.  You know what else bugs me about Matt?  That he and Alex T. won't give in.  Matt knows Alex T. wants to make a little comment after each correct answer, yet insists on talking over him.  And Alex T. knows Matt will talk over him, yet insists on making a little comment after each correct answer.

 

O.K.  I'm done now.  Go Alex J. and Kerry!

[ClareWalks]

I agree that I like to see a contestant give a shit about winning. Matt is really damned if he does, damned if he doesn't with some of you guys. If he were too "easy breezy" there'd be folks in here saying it was disrespectful to his fellow competitors that he wasn't taking THEM seriously as adversaries. I have no problem with hating the dude, as long as it's consistent ;)

Edited November 19, 2015 by ClareWalks

[ChicagoCita]

Since Jeopardy is a syndicated show and nigh impossible to find anywhere except air time, all I have to say is ....

 

Nothing... nothing! ... can happen anywhere in the world that demands a station break or breaking news alert between 3:30pm and 4pm Central Standard Time on Thursday and Friday.

 

Barack Obama, ISIS, National Weather Service, you've been warned.

[ClareWalks]

Since Jeopardy is a syndicated show and nigh impossible to find anywhere except air time, all I have to say is ....

 

Nothing... nothing! ... can happen anywhere in the world that demands a station break or breaking news alert between 3:30pm and 4pm Central Standard Time on Thursday and Friday.

 

Barack Obama, ISIS, National Weather Service, you've been warned.

 

So help me, if Obama interrupts my Jeopardy, I will send him a strongly worded tweet!