Game Six Recap... Mark Brown
Show-biz wise, it was a hell of a game. That won't pay off my house, cover the taxes on my Jag, or even buy a single box of diapers, but it was nice to
entertain the folks. It could've gone a different way right up until the last
question, but that depends on something that only Mr. Weikle can tell us.
In watching the game tonight, I realized that it was even more of a seesaw
battle than it seemed at the time. Even I didn't see how I was going to catch
back up to Brian in the second round ? he was much farther ahead than I
remembered. He certainly helped me out with his incorrect guess of Bill Cosby in the Kennedy Center Honorees category towards the end. But earlier throughout the game I could have made a lot fewer guesses myself and wasted a lot less money.
So here's what I've been dying to get off my chest to the Jeopardy! world at
large: Twice near the very end I had correct answers pop into my head, and both times I laid off the buzzer because I was relatively uncertain about them.
The first time was the Danny Kaye question. He came to mind right as Brian was buzzing in with his Bill Cosby response. It's hard to tell on TV, but there was definitely a beat there where I could've buzzed in before Max. I just wasn't certain enough to do it. Then, on the very last question, the word "escutcheon" came to me instantly from I know not where. However-- possibly because of my many incorrect responses in the game so far--I decided not to give it a try. It seemed important to stay close to Brian, and I felt only 10% sure about the answer. Tonight is the first time I was reminded that the root word "scutum" was part of the clue. Now I'm really questioning my decision not to ring in.
The question that I haven't asked Brian yet is this: how would he have bet on Final Jeopardy if he had been $1,600 or more behind me instead of $400 ahead?
But I was behind, and betting strategy became all-important. We all had the
experience of the previous day in mind, when so many contestants went to zero at the end. Of course, with no wild cards in this round, we were back to a winner-take-all strategy. Nevertheless, I was determined not to bet it all, and also decided to save back more than just $1.
When the category was revealed, Brian reacted as if it was poison. It never
occurred to me that this might be a bluff, and he said later it wasn't. I felt
somewhat positive about the category, but I figured I would be betting most of what I had either way.
At this point, I confess that I was totally disregarding Max because I was so
fixated on Brian, since our scores were so close. But Max definitely had the
makings of a back-door win. If I had thought about guarding against her, I
might have been led to a smarter strategy.
It seems now that the ideal bet for me would've been just $401, which would have guaranteed that I would finish ahead of Max. Then if Brian and I were both wrong, I would finish ahead if he made the standard "cover" bet, which he did. If he was right, but had gone with a zero-dollar strategy, I could finish $1 ahead with a right answer. If he was right and bet to cover, I was screwed no matter what.
But I thought of all of this way too late. After seven games, I finally knew what it felt like to lose.
There was some talk at the end of the TOC, and has been since on the Jeopardy! message boards, that Brian and I shouldn't have been put together in the same semi-final game. The truth is, I liked the categories in that game and would have wanted to be in it regardless of who my competition was.
Congratulations to Brian and thanks to Max for a great game. We put on the best show of the tournament so far.
Another "consolation" (of a sort) came when I watched the two final round games. It was clear to me that I wouldn't have had a chance to win the $250,000. Even though I might have held my own during both games, the Final Jeopardy questions would've killed me. The most I could have hoped for was second place and $50,000, but third place would have been more likely.
One of my worries about the whole Jeopardy experience from the very beginning was that, regardless of how many games I won (if any), I might leave feeling that I hadn't done my best. Fortunately, I felt "on" for every game--not distracted or even very nervous, once each game began. I had been sick and very tired the week before, but had gotten over that. I kept wishing for more study time, but in truth I had studied as much as I could stand.
I finally got the answer to my question "I wonder how I'd do if I ever got on
that show?", and it was a good answer. How often do you get to so decisively cross out an item on your list of life goals?
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