Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

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MarkBarrett
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Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by MarkBarrett »

Gold (*and Platinum) 2003 - 2013 TOCs

1. Brian Weikle
2. Tom Walsh
3. Ken Jennings*
4. David Madden
5. Celeste DiNuci
6. Larissa Kelly
7. Dan Pawson
8. Roger Craig*
9. Joon Pahk
10. Tom Nissley
11. Colby Burnett
12. Stephanie Jass
13. Kristin Morgan

Silver 2003 - 2013 TOCs

1. Mark Dawson
2. Russ Schumacher
3. Chris Miller
4. Maria Wenglinsky
5. Aaron Schroeder
6. Ben Bishop
7. Dave Simpson
8. Vijay Balse
9. Stefan Goodreau
10. Jason Zollinger
11. Liz Murphy
12. Justin Bernbach
13. Mark Runsvold
14. Jason Keller
15. Keith Whitener

That's 28 players. To narrow it down to 15 I'll go with:

1. Brian Weikle
2. Chris Miller
3. Ken Jennings
4. David Madden
5. Maria Wenglinsky
6. Celeste DiNucci
7. Larissa Kelly
8. Dan Pawson
9. Roger Craig
10. Joon Pahk
11. Tom Nissley
12. Vijay Balse
13. Colby Burnett
14. Stephanie Jass
15. Kristin Morgan

That's five women for what must me the minimum amount of females who will be selected. Tom Walsh was removed from my previous list in the 2006 thread to get David Madden in there. I have no doubt he will be playing. What I had wanted to do was show a strong field of 15 to demonstrate it could be done to not have him guaranteed placement as it's very difficult to take someone of those out.

I took Tom Walsh over Nissley in a close call. 8 wins beats 7 and Nissley is more recent.

From the 2010 field I selected Vijay Balse for being the winner. I gave no one Gold from that year because I could not give it to five and I could not decide where to make the divide. Without a doubt that year has Gold level players and they will have good representation in the field. It's just tough to know what the powers will do with them.

15 does not seem like enough for the most recent years. Either the total field goes above 45 or one of the other decades will see less than 15.

The thirteen I could not find room for:
Mark Dawson
Tom Walsh
Russ Schumacher
Aaron Schroeder
Ben Bishop
Dave Simpson
Jason Zollinger
Stefan Goodreau
Liz Murphy
Justin Bernbach
Mark Runsvold
Jason Keller
Keith Whitener

That's way too much muscle left on the sidelines and some of them have to be included somehow.
Last edited by MarkBarrett on Wed Jun 12, 2013 11:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
legendneverdies
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by legendneverdies »

Michael Falk isn't listed and he won the 2006 TofC. Is it the 3xer thing that leaves him out of your list?
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StevenH
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by StevenH »

The more I think about it the more I don't think that Maria Wenglisky is going to get the call again. I think that TPTB will go on the side of memorable and pick Kara Spak, instead. I could also see Donna Vogel, Cora Peck, Anne Boyd, or Liz Murphy getting the nod over Maria.

I am also guessing that either Stefan Goodreau or Tom Walsh will get in over Joon Pahk.
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MarkBarrett
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by MarkBarrett »

legendneverdies wrote:Michael Falk isn't listed and he won the 2006 TofC. Is it the 3xer thing that leaves him out of your list?
I had Michael Falk in Bronze and for the 8 TOC summary I'm sticking to the top tiers. Absoulutely any Bronze or other level players could be invited. I don't know anything and I just like to take a shot at predictions. Going on an expected count of 45 players I don't see how all TOC winners can be included. Well, they could be, but then all the memorable greats who didn't win could not all be invited.

Maria Wenglinsky could be one I'm wrong about and Michael Falk is right there with Madden who only made the semis. Russ Schumacher winning his TOC may count more than Chris Miller in the UTOC Super Six or Tom Walsh's 7 wins in regular play.

Michael Falk only winning 3 regular games was part of my ranking. The other part is "The X Factor" or whatever you want to call it. It's been seven years since he won. Around here we have no problem remembering Michael. The general viewing public recalling him? Well...

We'll find out at some point.
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by teapot37 »

From your lips to TPTB's ears, Mark.
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by Glassysquid »

You don't think there's any place for any of the college players? I think that's where you might be wrong. I'm not saying it should be me (on the contrary, I think they'd pick Monica over me) but I think that Nico or Cliff (was he 03?) would deserve the call again, too. They had the college champs in the UToC, there's no reason they shouldn't be present here.
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MarkBarrett
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by MarkBarrett »

Glassysquid wrote:You don't think there's any place for any of the college players? I think that's where you might be wrong. I'm not saying it should be me (on the contrary, I think they'd pick Monica over me) but I think that Nico or Cliff (was he 03?) would deserve the call again, too. They had the college champs in the UToC, there's no reason they shouldn't be present here.
In the doing the 8 TOC summary to arrive at 15 players I worked with only my Gold and Silver level picks plus Ken Jennings and Roger Craig. Could anyone from Bronze, Copper and Tin make the cut? Absolutely. My leveling is just one person's opinion. It's not like the producers are letting in on their meetings and have influence.

I did have college champs picked for the previous decade sections. All available TOCers are possible selections for the upcoming tournament. The powers will do what they are going to do. I've tried to work within the supposed numbers of 15 from each decade and some reasoning behind my guesses. And that's what they are guesses. I don't know anything about what will happen.

For you, Monica or any other player that should or could be included that's great. Name them and take someone out. Of my 15 I think I've seen Maria, Joon, Tom, Stephanie and Kristin mentioned as not as likely as I consider them.

1. Brian Weikle
2. Chris Miller
3. Ken Jennings
4. David Madden
5. Maria Wenglinsky
6. Celeste DiNucci
7. Larissa Kelly
8. Dan Pawson
9. Roger Craig
10. Joon Pahk
11. Tom Nissley
12. Vijay Balse
13. Colby Burnett
14. Stephanie Jass
15. Kristin Morgan

For just the college winners it's:
Kyle Hale
Keith Williams
Vinita Kailasanath
Kermin Fleming
Nico Martinez
Cliff Galiher
Joey Beachum
Patrick Tucker
Nick Yozamp
Erin McLean
Monica Thieu

Monica is young, female and most recent, but did not make semis.
You were a TOC semifinalist.
Nick made the semis but is male.
I see no scenario where Patrick or Joey have a chance.
Cliff is the rare college champ & TOC finalist.
What case is there for Nico over other college champs?
Kermin was likeable and memorable even though it's been a while since he played. He had a shot in the UTOC though.
Vinita brings diversity and she won a game in the UTOC.
Keith and Kyle would seem like distant longshots for a berth.

For any TOC year I think the powers will try not to have one field dominate selections with six or seven from one TOC. Who knows perhaps I have 2011 all wrong and it's Roger then you in the ranking?
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by StevenH »

MarkBarrett wrote: For you, Monica or any other player that should or could be included that's great. Name them and take someone out. Of my 15 I think I've seen Maria, Joon, Tom, Stephanie and Kristin mentioned as not as likely as I consider them.
I don't see how Stephanie doesn't get in. The facts that she won the most regular games of any female contestant and that her memorability factor is high should make her a lock.
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by slam »

Although I think Mark did an excellent job in trying to assess who gets in and who doesn't, he (and he'll be the first to admit this) does not know what's going on in TPTB's mind. NO ONE is a lock. I can even see Ken Jennings not participating (though personally I would be very surprised by that). Maybe TPTB don't want to "use him up" on something as pedantic as these tournaments and have something bigger in mind when Alex retires in the somewhat foreseeable future. Same could be said about Brad Rutter. Mark has Roger Craig on his Platinum list, but maybe Roger annoyed some people on the staff backstage (having met Roger a few times, I don't think that's likely, but who knows?), and they convince Maggie that he's one guy who would just ruin the show if he's brought back. The point is, we just don't know.
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by QuizGeek75 »

Everyone knows that Ken Jennings is the oddball out since he never competed in the Tournament Of Champions for $250,000 since he had to give that chance up to compete in the 3 game finals of the ULTIMATE Tournament Of Champions after finding out that he was going to be guaranteed at least $250,000, which is the prize for 3rd place, but we will never know until we find out later on in season 30 for the Decades Tournament.
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by ahirbhairav »

QuizGeek75 wrote:Everyone knows that Ken Jennings is the oddball out since he never competed in the Tournament Of Champions for $250,000 since he had to give that chance up to compete in the 3 game finals of the ULTIMATE Tournament Of Champions after finding out that he was going to be guaranteed at least $250,000, which is the prize for 3rd place, but we will never know until we find out later on in season 30 for the Decades Tournament.
If you read his blog regularly, you would know that the call on the show's website, was "some stuff" he already knew about...possibly he might come back to crush everyone else? I hope not, since he's actually getting kind of annoying for me.
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by Vermonter »

MarkBarrett wrote:
Glassysquid wrote:You don't think there's any place for any of the college players? I think that's where you might be wrong. I'm not saying it should be me (on the contrary, I think they'd pick Monica over me) but I think that Nico or Cliff (was he 03?) would deserve the call again, too. They had the college champs in the UToC, there's no reason they shouldn't be present here.
For just the college winners it's:
Kyle Hale
Keith Williams
Vinita Kailasanath
Kermin Fleming
Nico Martinez
Cliff Galiher
Joey Beachum
Patrick Tucker
Nick Yozamp
Erin McLean
Monica Thieu
In my personal rankings I put Cliff (TOC finalist) followed by Kermin (memorable, great UTOC game). Beyond a solid UTOC performance and possibly the novelty of being the youngest champ, I don't have much going for me. I've convinced myself that I won't make it just for psychological purposes. :)
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by RunDMH »

Something I'm obviously curious about is whether they'll include big winners who haven't had the chance to compete in a ToC yet.

Ben Ingram and I both won 8 games in season 29. Considering there won't be a new ToC before the Decades Tourney, I hope they at least consider Ben and I in the conversation. The notice on the website was asking for just the former ToC contestants--I wonder if they are limiting it to only those contestants who have actually been on a ToC or if they just assumed that the contact information for more recent contestants would be up to date anyway. I filmed my episodes back in October 2012, so they certainly would have had time to plan--as opposed to getting a 15-game winner in mid-December or something.

I had a low average dollar amount, so I wouldn't assume I'd get in, but I'd hate to miss out on being considered because the most recent ToC aired the week before my shows did.
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by Austin Powers »

RunDMH wrote:Something I'm obviously curious about is whether they'll include big winners who haven't had the chance to compete in a ToC yet.

Ben Ingram and I both won 8 games in season 29. Considering there won't be a new ToC before the Decades Tourney, I hope they at least consider Ben and I in the conversation. The notice on the website was asking for just the former ToC contestants--I wonder if they are limiting it to only those contestants who have actually been on a ToC or if they just assumed that the contact information for more recent contestants would be up to date anyway. I filmed my episodes back in October 2012, so they certainly would have had time to plan--as opposed to getting a 15-game winner in mid-December or something.

I had a low average dollar amount, so I wouldn't assume I'd get in, but I'd hate to miss out on being considered because the most recent ToC aired the week before my shows did.
That ship has sailed. They asked those they consider to be eligible to start submitting info, including videos, back at the beginning of summer.
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by seaborgium »

RunDMH wrote:Something I'm obviously curious about is whether they'll include big winners who haven't had the chance to compete in a ToC yet.

Ben Ingram and I both won 8 games in season 29. Considering there won't be a new ToC before the Decades Tourney, I hope they at least consider Ben and I in the conversation. The notice on the website was asking for just the former ToC contestants--I wonder if they are limiting it to only those contestants who have actually been on a ToC or if they just assumed that the contact information for more recent contestants would be up to date anyway. I filmed my episodes back in October 2012, so they certainly would have had time to plan--as opposed to getting a 15-game winner in mid-December or something.

I had a low average dollar amount, so I wouldn't assume I'd get in, but I'd hate to miss out on being considered because the most recent ToC aired the week before my shows did.
When they did Super Jeopardy in the summer of 1990, they brought in Frank Spangenberg and Bob Blake, both of whom had played in season 6 and had not yet played in their ToC (set for November). However, the producers didn't initially include them and only did so when Merv Griffin himself interceded. (Which is why the quarter-finals of SJ each had four players: the invites had already gone out to the 27 they had planned to involve, and the producers decided expanding the field to 36 was the easiest way to go.) So I suspect without Merv Griffin's intercession, you're out of luck, with only promises of a future ToC to console you.
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by legendneverdies »

seaborgium wrote: When they did Super Jeopardy in the summer of 1990, they brought in Frank Spangenberg and Bob Blake, both of whom had played in season 6 and had not yet played in their ToC (set for November). However, the producers didn't initially include them and only did so when Merv Griffin himself interceded.
Super J! happened in large part to encourage ABC to pick up Monopoly for a primetime summer run, no? Super J! would have been a bigger hit if done a decade later in the wake of WWTBAM Regismania.
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by Rex Kramer »

seaborgium wrote:So I suspect without Merv Griffin's intercession, you're out of luck, with only promises of a future ToC to console you.
Oooh, I didn't think of that! I'm going to have my grandmother get in touch with Merv and have him intercede on my behalf. She watched his talk show every day; I'm sure that counts for something.

Rex
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by seaborgium »

legendneverdies wrote:
seaborgium wrote: When they did Super Jeopardy in the summer of 1990, they brought in Frank Spangenberg and Bob Blake, both of whom had played in season 6 and had not yet played in their ToC (set for November). However, the producers didn't initially include them and only did so when Merv Griffin himself interceded.
Super J! happened in large part to encourage ABC to pick up Monopoly for a primetime summer run, no? Super J! would have been a bigger hit if done a decade later in the wake of WWTBAM Regismania.
So?
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by hanzz »

What's the precedent with regard to the ToC eligible champs that had their run between the UToC and the previous ToC? Or was Ken Jennings the only one.
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Re: Calling All TOCers 2003 - 2013

Post by MarkBarrett »

hanzz wrote:What's the precedent with regard to the ToC eligible champs that had their run between the UToC and the previous ToC? Or was Ken Jennings the only one.
Kerry Breitenbach won her 5th game in January of 2005. $90,400 halved to $45,200 was not enough to make the cut for the UTOC. She of course did play in her TOC May of aught six.

The J! champs who qualified for the next TOC in season 31 are not in the Battle of the Decades.
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