Jeopardy
You may not have caught on to this yet, but something quite out of the ordinary is happening on a daily basis (at least for a short while longer). On the game show Jeopardy they had a rule change at the beginning of the season to beef up the cash prizes offered. First, they doubled the usual cash prizes for each question, and then they changed the way the champion can compete for big bucks. Originally when a contestant won five shows he would be given a choice of cars, and then retired as a five-time champion to compete in a tournament at a later date. Now the champion can continue winning until he loses--sky’s the limit.
Now I don't want you to confuse me with some hormonal old maid who has nothing better to do than watch game shows all day. The extraordinary thing that is happening is the current champion, a fellow named Ken Jennings, has won 12 straight games as of June 18, and is currently at the $410,000 or so mark. He's the Energizer Bunny of Jeopardy--he just keeps on going, and going, and...
Now I am interested in seeing exactly how much he finally ends up with, and who is going to dethrone him. You should watch this play. He rips through every question in a rapid fire manner, interjecting quick jokes every now and then. He ends up racking up about $35,000 in prize money while his opponents only have about $6,000 between the two of them. I have never seen anyone so completely own the game of Jeopardy before (second only to Cliff Claven). It's a tough game with difficult questions even though the show's designers provide ample clues in almost each question. Most people I know of regard Jeopardy as the Gold Standard of quiz shows--rightly so.
So here's this guy, with tons of money at the end of the show, and he bets large on getting the final Jeopardy question. He hasn't bested the daily record for the show, which is $56,000, but he gets close. Yesterday he missed the final question, but he had so much money it didn't matter. The question was, "In the Phonetic Alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc.) the two that are names of Shakespeare character." He answered (actually asked, according to Jeopardy rules), "Who are Othello and Hamlet?" Now any old aviator, like myself, knows it was Romeo and Juliet for "R" and "J". So I had few seconds of superiority feeling.
Anyway, I'm dying to see how long it is going to be before he gets ousted. It will be like watching Lou Gehrig's baseball consecutive game record get smashed. I thought that was a record that would NEVER get beaten. Originally when the rules were changed, there was a strong implication a contestant could play until he loses. But yesterday Alex Trebek hinted that he may get pulled if he wins $500,000. I hope not. I want to see Ken be champion for months to come and rack up millions. This is pretty exciting stuff that doesn't come along every day. Tune the show in, catch the fever!
ACE
Now I don't want you to confuse me with some hormonal old maid who has nothing better to do than watch game shows all day. The extraordinary thing that is happening is the current champion, a fellow named Ken Jennings, has won 12 straight games as of June 18, and is currently at the $410,000 or so mark. He's the Energizer Bunny of Jeopardy--he just keeps on going, and going, and...
Now I am interested in seeing exactly how much he finally ends up with, and who is going to dethrone him. You should watch this play. He rips through every question in a rapid fire manner, interjecting quick jokes every now and then. He ends up racking up about $35,000 in prize money while his opponents only have about $6,000 between the two of them. I have never seen anyone so completely own the game of Jeopardy before (second only to Cliff Claven). It's a tough game with difficult questions even though the show's designers provide ample clues in almost each question. Most people I know of regard Jeopardy as the Gold Standard of quiz shows--rightly so.
So here's this guy, with tons of money at the end of the show, and he bets large on getting the final Jeopardy question. He hasn't bested the daily record for the show, which is $56,000, but he gets close. Yesterday he missed the final question, but he had so much money it didn't matter. The question was, "In the Phonetic Alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc.) the two that are names of Shakespeare character." He answered (actually asked, according to Jeopardy rules), "Who are Othello and Hamlet?" Now any old aviator, like myself, knows it was Romeo and Juliet for "R" and "J". So I had few seconds of superiority feeling.
Anyway, I'm dying to see how long it is going to be before he gets ousted. It will be like watching Lou Gehrig's baseball consecutive game record get smashed. I thought that was a record that would NEVER get beaten. Originally when the rules were changed, there was a strong implication a contestant could play until he loses. But yesterday Alex Trebek hinted that he may get pulled if he wins $500,000. I hope not. I want to see Ken be champion for months to come and rack up millions. This is pretty exciting stuff that doesn't come along every day. Tune the show in, catch the fever!
ACE