Tuesday, November 15, 2011 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[legendneverdies]

Roger, you are by far one of Jeopardy's best known players now, and clearly a force to reckon with. Someday, if we ever have a 2nd Ultimate Tournament, which could be 20 years from now for all we know[...]

Well, Alex's current contract is up in two years, which would coincide with J!'s 30th season... That would be a great way for Trebek to go out with a bang...

Alex talked last year, not sure whether he was joking or not, about maybe running for Governor-General of Canada in 2014 or 2015. We'll see if he does that, and/or whether his injury or not influences his decision to renew his contract.

[Austin Powers]

I don't feel bad at all about missing FJ -- I just wagged a random 19th C poet, Tennyson -- as it was a TS. Is there some reason we should be expected to know that?

"Each man kills the things he loves" is the most famous line from the poem; I can't recall what the clue was, but it was clearly meant to recall it. I was pretty tentative in saying - mainly because I wasn't sure the year of publication (turns out it was 1897). I was quite sure it wasn't "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and nothing from Tennyson jumped out, and I couldn't fathom it being Wordsworth or Keats. Shelly - perhaps one could WAG "Adonais."

Looking at the archive, the question has been referred to in a Final Jeopardy three times now.

Congrats to Roger. Aggressive play pays off when you actually know the answers. I couldn't imagine approaching a TOC any other way.

[alietr]

I am shocked shocked by that result!

Congratulations, Roger, on an amazing performance. Buddy and Tom, you both had a great tournament and deserve congratulations as well. In fact, that was every bit the dynamite tournament we all expected it to be. It's going to be tough going back to regular games after that.

No chance on FJ, but I have to admit that I was surprised at how easy those boards were once again. Turned it into more of a buzzer battle, which Roger seemed to be able to win.

[hbomb1947]

Congrats to Roger on closing out a dominating TOC run. I had the privilege of watching this game at a viewing party with Roger, Dan Pawson, and some other J! Champions (I'm still there now, in fact). It was a a thrill to be here for the celebration, and it was a great feeling when it was apparent that Roger had a "super-lock" going into FJ.

Even before this game, Roger's place among the very best players that J! has ever seen was pretty secure. Now that a championship has made it official, I expect speculation to only intensify about a Million Dollar Masters-type tournament (maybe 15 players) to see how he would fare against the likes of Rutter, Jennings, Pawson, Kelly, and Madden. I think something of a much larger scope like another UTOC is neither necessary nor desirable, however.

That was a tough FJ. I went with Coleridge. The fact that a great player and literary guy like Tom Nissley had the same guess made me feel a little better about missing it. I finished at 5 for 10 on FJ's in this tourney.

Congrats also to Tom and Buddy who were both awesome all tournament. I look forward to reading Tom's book when it comes out.

[code65536]

There is still a lot of luck, though. Had Tom found the DDs and gotten them right, things might have played out different (at least, the FJ round would not have been nearly so boring ). And had DDs not come into play at all these two days, I wonder how things would have turned out. So in addition to Roger, I'll extend my congratulations to Tom and Buddy as well, and especially to Tom: had the DD luck worked in your favor, we might have a different champ today.

[legendneverdies]

There is still a lot of luck, though. Had Tom found the DDs and gotten them right, things might have played out different (at least, the FJ round would not have been nearly so boring ). And had DDs not come into play at all these two days, I wonder how things would have turned out. So in addition to Roger, I'll extend my congratulations to Tom and Buddy as well, and especially to Tom: had the DD luck worked in your favor, we might have a different champ today.

Alex didn't mention Tom getting $100K and Buddy getting $50K at the end of the show.

[jeopfansincebirth]

Now Roger is the #4 Jeopardy! Champion of all-time behind the UTOC finalists.

Tom is the #7 Jeopardy! Champion of all-time.

Buddy is now ranked #53 all-time.

[shubhaghosh]

An anticlimactic game in some ways. But it had its moments. I wondered if Roger might get negged for saying "Usual Suspects" rather than "The Usual Suspects," the full name of the movie and the full quote from the movie. Articles, shmarticles. At that point, I was hoping for any boost to Tom and Buddy. Congratulations to all. Everyone paid brilliantly and one stunningly. Congrats especially to Buddy. It is cool to know I was there to see you when you just got started, and I can live vicariously by saying I lost to a ToC finalist. You were awesome the last two games and throughout.

I thought Poe for he FJ. Coleridge seemed a possibility, me thinking of the poor dead albatross. But the rhythm of he quoted verse sounded like Poe. Would not have guessed Wilde despite the famous line.

Did not know all those common words had 17 letters. U-n-c-o-n-s-t-i-t-u-t-i-o-n-a-l?

[Mark B]

Congratulations Roger!

Any ToC win is an impressive accomplishment, of course, but there's a lot of pressure on a front-runner. Most of us tipped you to end up on top, but there are so many ways for it all to go wrong, so many great players to plow through, so many DD's that could have gone astray. Kudos.

I should point out that my 10-year old son picked up some Lach trash on you, not only getting but precalling Mike Fisher and Carrie Underwood. The next generation is nipping at your heels my friend, ready to use your methods to best you. Beware!

[BigDaddyJ]

Did not know all those common words had 17 letters. U-n-c-o-n-s-t-i-t-u-t-i-o-n-a-l?

It was constitutionality.

[shubhaghosh]

Did not know all those common words had 17 letters. U-n-c-o-n-s-t-i-t-u-t-i-o-n-a-l?

It was constitutionality.

Thanks for the memory jog. I remember getting the answer at the time FWIW.

[shubhaghosh]

Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!



This verse from The Ballad of Reading Gaol I remember, especially the last two lines.

[Bamaman]

I don't feel bad at all about missing FJ -- I just wagged a random 19th C poet, Tennyson -- as it was a TS. Is there some reason we should be expected to know that?

You should know it because you are a TOC finalist.

As for me, I was as clueless as you and went with Coleridge. Not familiar with the referenced work.

Boards were much tougher today than yesterday.

[dhkendall]

Alex talked last year, not sure whether he was joking or not, about maybe running for Governor-General of Canada in 2014 or 2015. We'll see if he does that, and/or whether his injury or not influences his decision to renew his contract.

Uh, yeah, that would be a joke, you don't run for GG; constitutionally, the Queen appoints the GG on the PM's advice (in reality, the Queen says "yeah, whatever" to the PM's pick), no one "runs" for Governor General (one would think someone who follows Jeopardy! would have this knowledge ... )

Alex didn't mention Tom getting $100K and Buddy getting $50K at the end of the show.

He's mentioned the prizes throughout the tournament, there's nothing that happened that would have changed that (short of Buddy or Tom getting more than their minimum guarantee, of course.)

[ayeembored]

I held off on yesterday's game and watched both halves of the finals in one shot. I'm blown away! I think that this TOC might end up being the turning point in DD use. Roger's fearlessness with his wagers made him untouchable.

I know that all of us know how much the game hinges on who finds the DDs and how they use them, but this was a textbook demonstration of what a dominant player should do with them. I almost wonder if the pendulum will swing so far that people get overaggressive with them. Is there such a thing?

[boson]

Congrats Roger!! Yesterday's incredible dramatics made today's evenly fought match a little anti-climactic, but still a treat to watch. Congrats to Tom and Buddy: impressive wins to get to the final, and a well-contested two-game match to end it. I really enjoyed all 15 of the ToC competitors this past 2 weeks - thanks everyone for great TV and the commentary here and elsewhere on the internet afterwards. Despite myself, I almost signed up for twitter to follow the conversations...

Like Mark B's son, I picked up the Lach trash of Underwood and Fisher (the prettiest male and female former residents of Ottawa, jussssst slightly edging me out) . My daughter (at 4 years old) wasn't yet getting any answers, but was counting my corrects, wrongs and clams. She's ready for Roger's analytics, once I teach her Perl.

I was with Tom on a guess of Coleridge, but didn't think the ancient mariner really loved the albatross... I wonder if this one will break 20% on the poll?

[vellore]

Alex talked last year, not sure whether he was joking or not, about maybe running for Governor-General of Canada in 2014 or 2015. We'll see if he does that, and/or whether his injury or not influences his decision to renew his contract.

Uh, yeah, that would be a joke, you don't run for GG; constitutionally, the Queen appoints the GG on the PM's advice (in reality, the Queen says "yeah, whatever" to the PM's pick), no one "runs" for Governor General (one would think someone who follows Jeopardy! would have this knowledge ... )

Although it wouldn't be unprecedented for someone like Alex to be appointed. The two Governors General preceding the current one had been broadcasters with the CBC (now THAT has the ingredients for a great FJ). There might be the small matter of his having become a U.S. citizen, though.

[Bamaman]

For the first time ever, I went 0/5 in a sports category. I knew Ham, but couldn't pull it out.

[Paucle]

For the first time ever, I went 0/5 in a sports category. I knew Ham, but couldn't pull it out.

I'd have to see the ??s again, but I think I only got two, both the Boston-based ones. Ewwwwww. Well, Nomar was ok, I always thought he was pretty cool, but I almost wretched having to answer "Who is Tom PrettyBoy?" And not even gonna do a "judges?" we know full well that would be acceptable.

The FJ sounded kind of macabre, so I went with EAPoe (but not Johnny Johnson).

[Paucle]

Oh great, Brady just read my post and felt assaulted enough to cry for a roughing the QB call.