Introduce Yourself Here

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Woof
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by Woof »

OK, since my earlier intro has been lost with Sony's site...

My name is Mark and I'm a Chemistry Professor (of the organic sort) at a major public University. I'm being a bit more coy about my identity now that I'm in the pool (auditioned in Orlando in May) but many here have my details. I've been a fan of J! since the days of Art Fleming and I recall professing to my mother at ca. age 7 that I wanted to be on J! (her response, for the record, was "You'd better know the Bible a lot better than you do right now -- there are a lot of questions on it!") I didn't seriously give trying out a thought, though, until Ken Jennings's run rekindled my interest and the online testing started. On this, the fourth year of taking the test, I finally got the invitation to audition, so now I get to wait and see if I'll get an invitation. Though I now live in the Midwest, I grew up in the SF Bay Area and have been a lifelong fan of the Giants. My interests are quite broad, but I have particular passions for history, geography, politics, computers, food, wine, science fiction, music and travel. My screen name comes from my long-standing nickname, the origins of which I proposed to be one of my fun personal anecdotes on J! Would that you all will hear it fairly soon! :D
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MarkBarrett
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by MarkBarrett »

jbillygirl wrote:I was on Millionaire about ten years ago with Regis Philbin and won $32K, after falling back from the $125K question. (Macrons have been my nemesis ever since.) Five years later to the day I won $2K on the "Extravadanza" segment of the dearly departed Tony Danza Show. I put the money toward a digital piano.

I took the online J! test in January 2010, auditioned in April of that year, and got "the call" 14 months later. I taped on Tuesday, August 2, and no, I can't say how I did, but I can say that Alex looked great, even though he had to hobble around in a boot and sit on a stool behind his lectern. It was the ride of a lifetime, and I hope you all get your own chance to experience it as well.
I did a search on Google using "Jessica who wants to be a millionaire" and the first hit was YouTube with the appearance with Regis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnPp1oi2GEQ

Congrats on getting the call on J! and thanks for confirming Alex was at the taping for the new season.
seaborgium
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by seaborgium »

demomoke wrote:I have tried out for J! twice: the first time was at the Culver City studio in 2005. I rocked the test and was asked to play a mock game. I don't believe I did very well there, which is why I was not selected for taping. The second time was April 2010 at the Radisson. Again, I nailed the tests, but this time I also destroyed in my mock game.
Mark and I have determined that the session at which I failed in 2005 was the one at which he passed. (A Navy guy in whites who passes the Jeopardy test is easy to remember!)
Rafferty Barnes wrote:
jbillygirl wrote:
I took the online J! test in January 2010, auditioned in April of that year, and got "the call" 14 months later. I taped on Tuesday, August 2, and no, I can't say how I did, but I can say that Alex looked great, even though he had to hobble around in a boot and sit on a stool behind his lectern. It was the ride of a lifetime, and I hope you all get your own chance to experience it as well.
Ooh, our first Boardie on the show for Season 28! I should revive the thread.
I'm not entirely in the know, but there may be one sooner... [edit 9/1/11, just in case someone remembers this and comes back to it: I was out of the know. The one I was thinking of won't be sooner.]
Last edited by seaborgium on Thu Sep 01, 2011 9:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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jbillygirl
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by jbillygirl »

MarkBarrett wrote:
jbillygirl wrote:I was on Millionaire about ten years ago with Regis Philbin and won $32K, after falling back from the $125K question. (Macrons have been my nemesis ever since.) Five years later to the day I won $2K on the "Extravadanza" segment of the dearly departed Tony Danza Show. I put the money toward a digital piano.

I took the online J! test in January 2010, auditioned in April of that year, and got "the call" 14 months later. I taped on Tuesday, August 2, and no, I can't say how I did, but I can say that Alex looked great, even though he had to hobble around in a boot and sit on a stool behind his lectern. It was the ride of a lifetime, and I hope you all get your own chance to experience it as well.
I did a search on Google using "Jessica who wants to be a millionaire" and the first hit was YouTube with the appearance with Regis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnPp1oi2GEQ

Congrats on getting the call on J! and thanks for confirming Alex was at the taping for the new season.
Yup, that's me in all my "glory." I still can't rewatch that episode, even though I have it on tape somewhere. I know it's great that I won $32K, but the final question still smarts, even after all these years (funny how that happens...). Anyway, I try to remember the good stuff, and there was plenty of that.
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trainman
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by trainman »

Jim, one of your friendly board moderators, here. I've been watching the Trebek version of J! pretty much since it premiered, perhaps with some influence from my parents, who were fans of the Fleming version.

Born and raised in Florida, graduated from Northwestern University, now living in L.A. I currently work for Yahoo!, doing data analysis for search and display advertising. I used to work as a closed-captioner; when I started, my company held the contract to closed-caption J!, and worried about impropriety, I didn't start trying out for J! until another company took over. I've now tried out six times -- three under the old initial-test-in-person system (passed every time) and three under the new initial-test-online system (invited to an in-person tryout every time); therefore, I've more or less been in the pool continuously since 2002.

Bonus fact: my three favorite types of ball are foot, base, and pin. (One of those, I love to play -- I compete in a league. Two of those, I'm much better as a spectator.)
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mitchparov
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by mitchparov »

Mark Samburg here--mitchparov on the old boards (which I unwittingly joined in disproof of Slam's Rule), mitchparov on the new boards. I currently live in New Haven, and have zero affiliation with Yale--I've been a lawyer for about 8 months. (If you're in the area, and looking for a fun pub quiz team, some friends and I have been stringing together a decent series of performances at a Tuesday night quiz; let me know!)

I'm a lifelong nerd, and was a big fan of J! as a kid. I think I stopped watching sometime around high school, and never really started watching again until after I got the call (I'd tune in periodically, but I can't imagine I watched more than fifty or so total games from the time I was 14 until the time I was 25). I was VERY careful not to mention this fact at either of my auditions.

I had the pleasure of appearing on the 4/1/11 episode (when you already have a reputation for taking NOTHING seriously, you try convincing friends and family that you're not pulling a fast one when you tell them you'll be on J! on April Fools'...). My incredibly slow reflexes (and occasional mindnumbingly stupid answers) combined with my lack of knowledge of Glee made me easy fodder for future ToCer and Superchamp Christopher Short in his first game.

Unfortunately, the game show bug bit me hard in LA. I'm currently waiting VERY impatiently for my year-long blackout period to end so I can start auditioning for other trivia shows!
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jepkid97
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by jepkid97 »

mitchparov wrote: I had the pleasure of appearing on the 4/1/11 episode (when you already have a reputation for taking NOTHING seriously, you try convincing friends and family that you're not pulling a fast one when you tell them you'll be on J! on April Fools'...). My incredibly slow reflexes (and occasional mindnumbingly stupid answers) combined with my lack of knowledge of Glee made me easy fodder for future ToCer and Superchamp Christopher Short in his first game.
My parents were married on April Fool's day. To this day I wonder if the entire thing was a sham, and I think they might too. :)
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paul5562
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by paul5562 »

Hey all. I'm Paul Wampler and, like most everyone else, grew up watching J! with my family. I didn't really grow up in a family of trivia buffs, just one who emphasized knowing as much about as many topics as possible. I never was really involved with the old Sony J! board until I got the call to be on the show last fall and an more of a lurker than anything else.

I grew up in NC and NJ with stops in Madison, WI and central VA before landing in Knoxville, TN -- the land of my wife's family. I was never involved in any kind of quiz bowl, or the like, in high school or at Princeton, but don't remember a time when I didn't plan to watch J! each night, either with family, friends or just by myself.

I'm a web developer and social media guru for a non-profit HR organization and also have a web design business that I run on the side.

I took the online test a few times before getting picked for an in-person audition in Charlotte in April 2009 and 17 1/2 months later, go the call to be on the show. I was fortunate to get picked for the show after one audition and even more fortunate to win 4 games (2/7/11-2/11/11). My wife will never let me live down the fact that I tanked on a FJ about The Wizard of Oz -- one of her favorite movies that she never misses when it's on tv during which I always find something else to do. Thankfully, it wasn't the deciding question in my final match.

As of the end of the season, held the 15th and final TOC slot, but with Justin Sausville's two-game run to end the season and not knowing how he did taping the first week of the new season last week, I still have a glimmer of hope for possibly the alternate's slot.
Turd Ferguson
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by Turd Ferguson »

Hi folks. Otherwise known as George, I was born in what was then the only borough in Canada (East York) and raised in Mississauga, Ontario. Like most here, I was a game show junkie as a kid, and was probably the only one in my high school English class truly impressed when we watched our teacher's episodes on Definition. I played Schoolreach/Reach For The Top in high school, on a team that also included a future 3-time J! champ. (I see that, despite being the 6th-largest city in Canada, and home of the country's largest airport, Mississauga has very few hits on the archive)

After drifting away as a J! viewer in my teens/20s, I was pulled back in during the UTOC (I'd watched a few of Ken's games, but didn't find them especially compelling, always "knowing" who was going to win)... finding the Sony board during the tournament, and being fascinated by the behind-the-scenes accounts helped get me hooked again. I lurked off-and-on on the board for years before trying the online test in '08 (which I think I failed) and '09, getting an audition that June. Knowing that at least two people from my audition group had already appeared on the show, getting The Call 14 months after the audition came as a complete shock.

44 minutes of fame and a Board de-lurking followed that, and here I am now, writing test software in the Ottawa site of a large Corporation. Though I live very close to Alex Trebek's alma mater, I did not attend the school. I was happy that my reply to Alex asking if I did was edited out of the show, as I suspect I might have said no in a manner that was (unintentionally) a bit unflattering. (Though it might've been amusing, in that I ended up being defeated by an Ottawa U. grad. Karma, perhaps).
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TheGrandPiano
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by TheGrandPiano »

Hello, and good evening! My name is Billy, and I'm from Michigan. I'm a teenager, and I've recently been looking for Jeopardy forums to get my "fix" during the month or two of re-runs. Of course, I do hope to be posting here longer than just the re-run period. I very first (very first?) started watching Jeopardy the Monday that Stefan Goodreau made his five day run (one of my favorite contestants; I wanted so bad for him to win the Tourney!), and I've been hooked ever since. I'm honored to be posting with some of the great Jeopardy players who I've faithfully watched (Mark Runsvold, Erin McClean, and Paul Wampler, among others). I sure wish I had a whole wealth of information to post, but I'm just an average kid who loves to watch Jeopardy (and most of all the Tournament of Champions). I do hope that I get to know all of you better. This seems like a very nice, current Jeopardy forum.

By the way, as a side note...judging by a couple of posts, I think I may have seen Stefan here. Is he, or am I just crazy?
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alietr
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by alietr »

TheGrandPiano wrote:By the way, as a side note...judging by a couple of posts, I think I may have seen Stefan here. Is he, or am I just crazy?
"Seaborgium"
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HugoZ
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by HugoZ »

Greetings and renewed salutations all!

Full Name: Hugo Z. HackenVito
Alias: Vito Cortese

Home: Pittsburgh, PA (currently bathed in the warm glow of the Bat Signal Rising)

Age: Old enough to be POTUS, young enough to not be in AARP (though they still insist on sending me stuff in the mail).

Occupations:
- Software Engineer (by day)
- Italian Translator (by night and weekends)
- Stable Hand (when I'm not busy with the other two)
- Know-It-All Smart-Ass (every waking moment)

J! Fame: Rode the wave of 3 wins this past November 3-5, then was done in by Turd Ferguson, 2 Daily Doubles, and a Tchaikovsky orchestral suite (still cannot stomach walking into a Christmas store to this day).

Favorite Punctuation Mark: Parentheses (can't you tell?)

Since We Last Talked:

Despite Robert not finding the fact that my wife wanted to buy a horse with the J! winnings noteworthy enough to make it to the interview card, we did decide to augment our 24 pounds of cat (split into two wildly unequal portions) with a 900 pound horse. One day you're on TV in front of 9 million people, the next day your horse is doing her dootie in the stall you've just mucked.

As a result, I haven't been bitten by the quiz show bug yet, and have fended off several attempts by the horse ticks as well.

I did come out of semi-retirement to try the World Quizzing Championship in June, having done zero cramming and not knowing what to expect on the test.

The Good News: Given that there were only two other people at the Pittsburgh location, I had a lock on at least a Burgh Bronze.

The Bad News: One of them was the 2010 U.S. Champion (repeated in 2011) and the other was Roger Craig.

Still, a respectable score and next year I'm giving myself a healthy goal somewhere in the Seaborgium range.

To date, Roger's the only other J! contestant that I've met outside of Sony (not sure if anyone else from my NYC 2010 audition has made it). And I suspect Turd's not going to take me up on my open invitation to come down and see a game at PNC Park now that the New Improved Pirates have now reverted back to their old Classic Pirates flavor.

More riveting facts (and supporting parenthetical remarks) a little further down the road.

Hugo_Z
NJCondon
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by NJCondon »

alietr wrote:
TheGrandPiano wrote:By the way, as a side note...judging by a couple of posts, I think I may have seen Stefan here. Is he, or am I just crazy?
"Seaborgium"
If it doesn't already exist, I'm thinking that a complete listing of J! champs that links their board handles and their on-camera names may be worthwhile...
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econgator
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by econgator »

NJCondon wrote:If it doesn't already exist, I'm thinking that a complete listing of J! champs that links their board handles and their on-camera names may be worthwhile...
It kind of exists on the J-Archive -- if you look up a player, it shows their board name. Of course, that may not be the same name as they have here (although most seem to be) and I don't know if we have any plans to include this board name as well.
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Roadgeek Adam
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by Roadgeek Adam »

econgator wrote:
NJCondon wrote:If it doesn't already exist, I'm thinking that a complete listing of J! champs that links their board handles and their on-camera names may be worthwhile...
It kind of exists on the J-Archive -- if you look up a player, it shows their board name. Of course, that may not be the same name as they have here (although most seem to be) and I don't know if we have any plans to include this board name as well.
Wouldn't hurt here anyway.
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Turd Ferguson
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by Turd Ferguson »

HugoZ wrote: To date, Roger's the only other J! contestant that I've met outside of Sony (not sure if anyone else from my NYC 2010 audition has made it). And I suspect Turd's not going to take me up on my open invitation to come down and see a game at PNC Park now that the New Improved Pirates have now reverted back to their old Classic Pirates flavor.
I would have, but Reddpen had said that Kelly M. often attends J! auditions in Seattle, so I had to plan my summer vacation around crashing the auditions there instead! Seriously, I don't follow the NL especially closely, so by the time I'd noticed the season the Pirates are having (thanks to TWiB), it seems they'd already started their tailspin. Road trip next year, hopefully, though.
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Rafferty Barnes
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by Rafferty Barnes »

Turd Ferguson wrote:
I would have, but Reddpen had said that Kelly M. often attends J! auditions in Seattle, so I had to plan my summer vacation around crashing the auditions there instead! Seriously, I don't follow the NL especially closely, so by the time I'd noticed the season the Pirates are having (thanks to TWiB), it seems they'd already started their tailspin. Road trip next year, hopefully, though.
Kelly and Jimmy were at my taping day. Ya jealous?
EugeneF
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by EugeneF »

Hello, I'm Eugene Finerman. Way back in '87 (I can't remember which century, but I think that the host was Thomas Aquinas) I appeared on Jeopardy, and appeared, appeared, appeared,etc. I was a five time winner, which used to be a mark of distinction. In the subsequent Tournament of Champions I lasted into the finals, ending up as Bob Verini's doormat. But three years later, I played on "Super Jeopardy" and became the first human being to beat Frank Spangenberg; of course, in my next match I was pitted against Bob Verini....

In 2005 some dotard claiming to be me participated in the UTOC. At least he won his first game.
NJCondon
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by NJCondon »

Rafferty Barnes wrote:
Turd Ferguson wrote:
I would have, but Reddpen had said that Kelly M. often attends J! auditions in Seattle, so I had to plan my summer vacation around crashing the auditions there instead! Seriously, I don't follow the NL especially closely, so by the time I'd noticed the season the Pirates are having (thanks to TWiB), it seems they'd already started their tailspin. Road trip next year, hopefully, though.
Kelly and Jimmy were at my taping day. Ya jealous?
All three of the Clue Crew were present at my taping day. I saw them in the cafeteria at lunch. I'll say that they are all instantly recognizable as "on-camera talent," rather than ordinary schlubs, even if (like me) you took a second to realize who they were.
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mitchparov
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Re: Introduce Yourself Here

Post by mitchparov »

HugoZ wrote:I did come out of semi-retirement to try the World Quizzing Championship in June, having done zero cramming and not knowing what to expect on the test.

The Good News: Given that there were only two other people at the Pittsburgh location, I had a lock on at least a Burgh Bronze.

The Bad News: One of them was the 2010 U.S. Champion (repeated in 2011) and the other was Roger Craig.
There were only three of us in Boston also (at least after the departure of the two people who were offended they couldn't have a funny team name and work together). My local field was just a TINY bit less competitive than Pittsburgh.
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