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Some of you already know that I’m married to a Five-Time Jeopardy Champion. My husband is THAT GUY – the one everybody who knows him calls to settle an argument because “he’ll know” the answer. The one who floored our Catholic neighbor when she asked him if he knew anything about Saint Athanasius, and he said “Which one?” because there are at least two saints by that name – he’s not Catholic, he just knows this stuff.
So what’s it like to sit in the audience and watch your Beloved on the JEOPARDY! set matching wits with the other players?
It’s HELL.
There’s nothing you can do except be nervous and hopeful. You learn the hard way that you don’t have any mental telepathy with your spouse, and your looks can’t kill when some other player temporarily surges ahead.
There are few people as determined as my husband was to get on JEOPARDY!. He tried out SIX TIMES before he got on the show, and aced the tests six times. Most of the prospects are white guys between 35 and 55 who live in the Los Angeles area – my husband fitted this profile perfectly. But the producers want more variety – they try really hard to get more women, more minorities, more people under 35, and more contestants from other parts of the country.
I claim my contribution is what finally got him on. For our anniversary, I bought him a handsome grey suit, French cuff shirt with cuff links, and a silver tone-on-tone tie – classic Cary Grant. When he wore it for his sixth try-out, he was the most elegant man in the room. Of course they took him!
I’m sure the fact that by this time, all the staff running the try-outs knew him by name had NOTHING to do with it.
He played under the Old Rules – the monetary value of each clue was half what it is now, you were limited to 5 wins, and then you got whatever money you’d won plus a car and were “retired.” But on the good side, Five-Time Champions were automatically seeded into the annual Tournament of Champions.
And before you ask the most commonly asked question -- No, the contestants do NOT know anything about what the categories will be before they play the games. The personnel who prepare the games are kept completely isolated from the rest of the show’s staff – they even have a separate entrance – and nobody on the set knows what the clues will be except Alex Trebek, who gets to see them just before taping starts to make sure he knows how to pronounce everything correctly.
Most people don’t realize how important hand speed is on JEOPARDY!. Knowing the right answer isn’t enough – you have to buzz in first with that answer. You’ll notice nobody ever buzzes in before Alex finishes reading the clue. That’s because the buzzers aren’t live while he’s reading. Lights flash above the board when the buzzers go live. If you hit too soon, you’re jammed out just that split second that will allow an opponent to buzz in first.
Think about the pressure. Standing in front of a studio audience, knowing millions of people will be watching you on television, a contestant has to listen/read the clue, figure out the answer, see the light and hit the buzzer before the other two players, and then supply the correct response IN THE FORM OF A QUESTION.
Sometimes, you just go blank.
Now imagine you’re in the audience, and you see your Beloved’s eyes have glazed over. You know he knows the answer – it’s the title of one of his all-time favorite movies, “Red River.” The category is “Colorful” Movie Titles, for God’s sake.
The other two contestants don’t know the answer.
Inside your brain you’re screaming “You KNOW this! It’s Red River! RED RIVER!!!” But you can’t make a sound or move a muscle because the enforcers patrolling the aisles to prevent any possible collusion will throw you out if you do.
The seconds are counting down – the guy at the end buzzes in: “Uh, what is “The Red Pony?”
Alex says: “I’m sorry, that’s incorrect.”
You’re thinking: “C’mon, you’ve gotta have it now – he gave you the COLOR.” Just as the bell rings, your Beloved buzzes in – too late.
I’m telling you, being the spouse in the audience would make a teetotaler take to drink.
He made it to the semi-finals in his Tournament of Champions. He was beaten by Brad Rutter, who holds the all-time record for winning the most money on JEOPARDY! (No, Ken Jennings didn’t even come close to Brad’s record – and Brad beat Ken easily in their Ultimate Tournament of Champions.)
The year my husband was in a Tournament of Champions, he was the second oldest Champion, and Brad was the youngest – there was a 30 year age gap. Hand speed made the biggest difference, but I say proudly that it took the very best player in JEOPARDY! history to beat him.
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