TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

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hansenkd
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TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by hansenkd »

I'm probably not an active enough user to start a new topic, but I think this is worthy and deserves potential attention from TPTB.

Here it is: A cutoff for the TOC coinciding with Alex's last episode works out almost perfectly. This would place the elimination line precisely below all the 4 time winners. Brian is the first qualifier from the post-Alex era. And if he is included, that knocks out Veronica Vichit Vadakan. A very worthy 4-time champion whose total is above that of Zach Newkirk. She was also on a long time ago, so it's kind of painful to see her fail to hold on.

I really think this makes a lot of sense. It's clean. All the TOC participants will have played their initial runs with Alex. Yes, Zach is a potential holdover due to extenuating circumstances, but that is OK. They should establish this cutoff, invite the participants, and make an announcement ASAP, maybe run the tournament in the summer.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by Philliesfan02 »

You called it! Nice job.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by Bamaman »

Anyone else think of this thread at the end of the show today?
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by opusthepenguin »

Bamaman wrote: Thu Jan 28, 2021 8:20 pm Anyone else think of this thread at the end of the show today?
Nice spoiler there, buddy. Now I know that Zach either wins or loses.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by hansenkd »

Philliesfan02 wrote: Thu Jan 28, 2021 1:57 pm You called it! Nice job.
No insider info, I swear! It just made sense. So this next TOC will include all four-game winners that it could have and should include both VVV and Sarah Jett Rayburn. Five women, but three of those are right behind Jason Z with 8 wins apiece.
Spoiler
Zach and Brian are apparently the first qualifiers for the next one, and Zach has now clinched that spot.
The 15 would be: Ben Henri (Teachers), Nibir Sarma (College), Jason Zuffranieri (19), Jennifer Quail, MacKenzie Jones, Karen Farrell (all 8), Sam Kavanaugh, Brayden Smith, Kevin Walsh, Paul Trifiletti (all 5), Ryan Bilger, Ryan Hemmel, Andy Wood, Sarah Jett Rayburn, Veronica Vichit Vadakan (all 4). Great field, but Jason Z. would have to be the odds-on favorite.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by JoshuaSianturi »

I would also put Lucy Ricketts as one of the possible qualifiers from the post-Alex era since she won three games.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by teapot37 »

Per Ken in Thursday's episode, the cut-off for the next ToC has already passed (Brian Chang will be in the subsequent tournament).
Not many people can say they've lost four times on Jeopardy!.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by brucejoel199 »

JoshuaSianturi wrote: Thu Jan 28, 2021 9:37 pm I would also put Lucy Ricketts as one of the possible qualifiers from the post-Alex era since she won three games.
Is she one of the possible qualifiers? Because J!'s TOC tracker now has the following footnote attached to the next TOC's list: "All 4-time and over winning players starting from 01/05/21 will be eligible for a future Tournament of Champions." So TPTB have evidently decided to no longer list 3-day champions on their official tracker, but the vague wording makes it unclear as to whether they're even gonna be eligible to qualify for the TOCs either (which would be a departure from the recent past & would render Lucy ineligible), or whether 3-day champs are still fully eligible to be invited (though presumably after highest-winnings tiebreakers coming into play, of course), with it just so happening that they're no longer gonna be listed on the online tracker because TPTB opted to stop doing so.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by finishemzoe »

Don't know if this is too early to determine or not, since a date hasn't been formally announced yet, but with the current finalized field I figured I'd put in my rough draft of gold, silver, and bronze power rankings:

Gold: Jason Zuffranieri, Jennifer Quail, Brayden Smith, Ryan Bilger, MacKenzie Jones

Silver: Sam Kavanaugh, Karen Farrell, Andy Wood, Kevin Walsh, Ben Henri

Bronze: Ryan Hemmel, Paul Trifiletti, Veronica Vichit-Vadakan, Sarah Jett Rayburn, Nibir Sarma

Brian Chang and Zach Newkirk would both be in silver if they had qualified for this tournament, knocking Andy and Kevin to bronze probably. Strong field though, better than 2019 imo.

edit: welp, turns out it was too early to determine. R.I.P. Brayden Smith. :(
Last edited by finishemzoe on Mon Mar 01, 2021 4:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by gameshowfandanny »

Here are my gold, silver, and bronze rankings:
Gold: Jason, Jennifer, MacKenzie, Sam, and Karen
Silver: Steve, Ben, Kevin, Ryan Hemmel, and Andy
Bronze: Nibir, Paul, Ryan Bilger, Sarah, and Veronica
EDIT: I posted my rankings before Brayden Smith died. It is now confirmed that Steve Moulds will replace Smith, so I have updated my rankings.
Last edited by gameshowfandanny on Fri Mar 05, 2021 2:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by MarkBarrett »

With the expectation that this is the field I rounded up some stats for a grid:
Spoiler
Image
It's a lot of data so plenty of ways to misspell a name or botch a number. Please let me know if you spot anything to fix.

Things of note:
Jason has never trailed entering the FJ! round.
Paul & Andy pulled off wins twice from trailing positions.
Jennifer is 14/14 on DDs.
Ryan Bilger and Paul are also perfect on DDs at 7/7.
Andy at 5/5 is the only player perfect on FJs.
I gave Nibir 3/4 on FJ clues in crediting him for a get when he crossed off the correct response in going for humor instead.
Last edited by MarkBarrett on Sun Feb 07, 2021 9:58 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by MarkBarrett »

For the 4x champs who now are expected to make the ToC I've added so-and-so + game number for each of their games. If it turns out someone does not get in then remind me to remove those tags as appropriate. Hope I spelled the names correct on games 1 as I did a copy/paste after that to only change the number. I sure as heck did not want to have to type V3's or SJR's names five times.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by seaborgium »

MarkBarrett wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 12:35 am Andy at 5/5 is the only player perfect on DDs.
Judging by the chart, I think you meant FJs here.

Also, MacKenzie's third game (which reran tonight) was not a lock.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by MarkBarrett »

seaborgium wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 3:12 am
MarkBarrett wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 12:35 am Andy at 5/5 is the only player perfect on DDs.
Judging by the chart, I think you meant FJs here.

Also, MacKenzie's third game (which reran tonight) was not a lock.
Right, 5/5 on FJ! clues for Andy and 1 instead of L for MacK game 3. Thank you. It's fixed.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by hansenkd »

I couldn't find a discussion about this anywhere, but I think there is enough distance now to speculate on who might take Brayden's spot. They are probably still trying to figure it out. I think a 3 timer is a bad idea since they seem to have now established four as a minimum. Really, the most logical choice seems to be to move Zach to this tournament instead of the next one. He did win 4 games in the Alex era.

A really out of the box idea: invite Avi Gupta, the last teen winner. He was a great champion and at the time of the tournament airing will have completed two years of university. He could surely hold his own.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by Robert K S »

hansenkd wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 9:41 am they seem to have now established four as a minimum.
Nobody tell ToC winner Michael Falk this.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by hansenkd »

I was going by the most recent verbiage on the TOC tracker at the official site on the 4 game minimum. Still nothing there about who might take the spot.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by MarkBarrett »

hansenkd wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 10:09 am I was going by the most recent verbiage on the TOC tracker at the official site on the 4 game minimum. Still nothing there about who might take the spot.
How about a play-in match? You can have Avi Gupta in it. The show can add Burt Thakur with his one win. And since it's fantasy land anyway I'll add Yoshie Hill with her two wins. The winner makes the ToC.

Or do the expected and most sensible by cutting Zach's prep time to put him in the 2021 version.

What I would not want to see is five players up for "dance monkey, dance" and a public vote for the 15th spot.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by Robert K S »

hansenkd wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 10:09 am I was going by the most recent verbiage on the TOC tracker at the official site on the 4 game minimum. Still nothing there about who might take the spot.
It says, "All 4-time and over winning players starting from 01/05/21 will be eligible for a future Tournament of Champions". The date there is important, but I agree, that language does seem to set a floor on the minimum number of games won to be considered for a future ToC invitation.
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Re: TOC Cutoff (Are you listening, Mike Richards?)

Post by hansenkd »

MarkBarrett wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 10:39 am
hansenkd wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 10:09 am I was going by the most recent verbiage on the TOC tracker at the official site on the 4 game minimum. Still nothing there about who might take the spot.
How about a play-in match? You can have Avi Gupta in it. The show can add Burt Thakur with his one win. And since it's fantasy land anyway I'll add Yoshie Hill with her two wins. The winner makes the ToC.

Or do the expected and most sensible by cutting Zach's prep time to put him in the 2021 version.

What I would not want to see is five players up for "dance monkey, dance" and a public vote for the 15th spot.
Zach is obviously the most logical option. I only threw Avi out there because I think he's worthy and could hold his own. And I think that ending the bid for the teen winner, who is typically in college by the time of the next tournament, was not the greatest decision the show has ever made. Yes, they always flamed out, but you never know, and if you look at Avi's profile of things he has done since winning the tournament, it is highly impressive indeed. He might have been the one to break through.
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