RIP India Cooper

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Robert K S
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RIP India Cooper

Post by Robert K S »

Facebook is abuzz with the personal encomiums written by her many friends in the trivia community. She was active both online and IRL, traveling to the Trivia Nationals in 2019. She was not only a great five-time champion of Season 8, but her prowess and personality got her invited back an astounding four times, for the 1992 Tournament of Champions, the 2002 Million Dollar Masters tournament, the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions, and the 2014 Battle of the Decades. I understand she passed away this morning after a brief battle with cancer.
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by kablamfan11 »

Robert K S wrote: Sun May 17, 2020 2:31 pm Facebook is abuzz with the personal encomiums written by her many friends in the trivia community. She was active both online and IRL, traveling to the Trivia Nationals in 2019. She was not only a great five-time champion of Season 8, but her prowess and personality got her invited back an astounding four times, for the 1992 Tournament of Champions, the 2002 Million Dollar Masters tournament, the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions, and the 2014 Battle of the Decades. I understand she passed away this morning after a brief battle with cancer.
Sorry to hear about that.
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by jlgarfield »

May she rest well. She was just an amazing competitor to watch, to say the least. X(
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by kablamfan11 »

jlgarfield wrote: Sun May 17, 2020 2:57 pm May she rest well. She was just an amazing competitor to watch, to say the least. X(
Oh yeah she was.
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by gameshowfandanny »

Oh no. That's unfortunate to hear. :(
Also, she won $24,001 on December 17, 1991. India originally appeared on May 1, 1991, but was invited back likely because of a response that was later deemed to have been acceptable (Correct Response was Mark Antony), according to this thread: viewtopic.php?t=3072
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by StevenH »

This is very sad to hear. I never met her, but it was a joy to see her compete in the three super tournaments that she was invited to. May she RIP.
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by jlgarfield »

gameshowfandanny wrote: Sun May 17, 2020 3:11 pm Oh no. That's unfortunate to hear. :(
Also, she won $24,001 on December 17, 1991. India originally appeared on May 1, 1991, but was invited back likely because of a response that was later deemed to have been acceptable (Correct Response was Mark Antony), according to this thread: viewtopic.php?t=3072
I hope we can someday see the 5/1/1991 episode. It was Kay Kipling vs Andy ? vs India.
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by Picked Off »

Very sad to hear. She was one of the first champs I rooted for as a little kid. Great player.
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by opusthepenguin »

Definitely one of the greats. Thanks for letting us know.

For those who want to remember her, here's India Cooper's 5th game from 1991:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1g4Hkm ... Tygc8ysQMB

Feel free to share this link. On this one, I'll take my chances.
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by opusthepenguin »

jlgarfield wrote: Sun May 17, 2020 3:43 pm
gameshowfandanny wrote: Sun May 17, 2020 3:11 pm Oh no. That's unfortunate to hear. :(
Also, she won $24,001 on December 17, 1991. India originally appeared on May 1, 1991, but was invited back likely because of a response that was later deemed to have been acceptable (Correct Response was Mark Antony), according to this thread: viewtopic.php?t=3072
I hope we can someday see the 5/1/1991 episode. It was Kay Kipling vs Andy ? vs India.
Is that date right? The archive has Game 3 and Game 5 of her original run as occurring in December of 1991. Then she reappears for the TOC in November of 1992.
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Re: RIP India Cooper

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^ Yes, it is. Interestingly, May 1, 1991 was also when Rickey Henderson became the all-time stolen base king of MLB.
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by gameshowfandanny »

opusthepenguin wrote: Sun May 17, 2020 4:59 pm
jlgarfield wrote: Sun May 17, 2020 3:43 pm
gameshowfandanny wrote: Sun May 17, 2020 3:11 pm Oh no. That's unfortunate to hear. :(
Also, she won $24,001 on December 17, 1991. India originally appeared on May 1, 1991, but was invited back likely because of a response that was later deemed to have been acceptable (Correct Response was Mark Antony), according to this thread: viewtopic.php?t=3072
I hope we can someday see the 5/1/1991 episode. It was Kay Kipling vs Andy ? vs India.
Is that date right? The archive has Game 3 and Game 5 of her original run as occurring in December of 1991. Then she reappears for the TOC in November of 1992.
As jlgarfield said, it is the correct date. I got the date from a post that Mark Barrett made in the thread I linked to.
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by MarkBarrett »

India played and lost before getting an invite to return to regular play seems to be causing the confusion about dates.
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by kablamfan11 »

I remember watching her play in the Million Dollar Masters tournament when it reran on GSN in 2006. I also remember her watching in the Battle of the Decades tournament. Hopefully we can get the 5/1/91, 12/16/91, 12/17/91 & 12/19/91 episodes someday.
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by LucarioSnooperVixey »

:cry:
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by kerryoakie »

I met India in 2019 while we both moderated the Regional Finals for the National History Bee. She and I bonded over the lack of good coffee provided by the school :lol: .

I was hoping to see her again this year, but she didn't attend (for now-obvious reasons). My condolences to her family and friends.
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Re: RIP India Cooper

Post by reddpen »

opusthepenguin wrote: Sun May 17, 2020 4:50 pm Definitely one of the greats. Thanks for letting us know.

For those who want to remember her, here's India Cooper's 5th game from 1991:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1g4Hkm ... Tygc8ysQMB

Feel free to share this link. On this one, I'll take my chances.
Thanks for posting this, Opus, and for including only what we needed to see. Having only seen her on TV for the BotD and in person briefly at Trivia Nationals last year, I hadn't realized she was a fellow redhead. Another data point.

I got a little choked up at the end
Spoiler
seeing how excited she got at winning her fifth game, ensuring her slot in the ToC.
Maybe on some level she sensed that this was the beginning of her game show immortality.
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