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Same here.
I got all but #1 correct (I knew someone had, but couldn't remember who ... funny, given a link I posted on this very site earlier today), though #3 took me 15 seconds or so.
I couldn't get the expansion teams one, mostly because I thought it was the first three letters of the cities that were supposed to match.
Got 'em all correct, but No. 3 threw me a little. I think it took me about 30 seconds to get it, but under the lights and timeclock pressure, I'm sure it would have taken longer.
I knew No. 1 instantly, and I have no idea how I knew it. Back in the lizard part of my brain somewhere. I grew up in L.A. and even went to summer camp on Catalina Island once, so I picked it up somewhere.
Sound like somebody else watched The Mentalist with his wife last night...
Well, never you mind what I did with my wife last night, har har!* But I've never seen The Mentalist. Just a coincidence I guess.
* put the kids to bed and then dozed off on the couch.
I've never known anyone who made the show but I assume it's not as easy as when you are sitting in your underwear on your couch.
I'm not so good with these modern euphemisms. Missionary position, followed by unenthusiastic cunnilingus?
I also would have gotten 6 of these 8, assuming like the rest of you that I can clutch out the Mariners/Marlins response under TV pressure as I did at my desk. And, also like the rest of you, I wouldn't bet more than $9,999 if the Final J! category was "[Petunia's] Favorite Ice Cream Flavor".
Has anyone actually tried to calculate the EV of moving onto another Jeopardy game based on the historic stats? I'm guessing in the range of 15K? It might make theoretical sense to bet it all on a favorite category in certain conditions -- say you had 40K going into final jeopardy, your nearest opponent had just under half your total so you have to bet $0 to assure then win, and it was Baseball then you probably are leaving money on the table, but it would be tough to do in practice.
And, yeah, bet $9,999. Why would you bet an extra 10k? If you're thinking is, "I can't miss" then you should bet the whole thing.
To me, in that situation, your only rational bets are 0, $9,999 and $39,999. You bet zero in the event it's a category you don't know anything about. And if you really are convinced you have a near 100 percent chance in a category, you bet everything that won't automatically knock you out. Betting 20K would just be silly: ruin your guaranteed win but leave nearly 20K "on the table".
How about if it was "The Air Speed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow"?
Cart <--- Horse ?
On the other hand, I totally blanked on the Pirates. Ironically, I kept thinking about the Pittsburgh Steelers, even though that's football, and not even the write spelling for "stealer".
That's a neat one.
I thought about the expansion one for a few seconds before giving up. I stupidly got #8 wrong.
I missed number 1. That one is pretty much the only one you couldn't work out. You'd either know it or not and your guess would be 1/16 instead of, in other cases, 1/2 or 1/4 or so.
Yeah, and worse, the Catalina part of the name would screw me up. I'd think it must be a hint, because the FJ answer isn't usually that esoteric and factoid-based. I'd never have gotten to the Cubs, and I almost certainly would have guessed Pirates.
Well, now we know why Vlad's cunnilingus is unenthusiastic.
Damn. Hadn't thought of that.
I'll vouch for this, one step earlier in the process. Years ago, I tried out for college jeopardy. The first thing they do is herd you into the studio and give you a blank sheet of paper. Then, they put jeopardy-style clues up on a big screen. Each clue is shown for ~15 seconds. You have to read the question, come up with the answer, write it down, and get ready to read the next question in that time.
So far, no problem. I aced that portion, after which the assistant producers tell you that they've completed the "intelligence" screening of the audition. Next, they put you up on mock jeopardy set and ask about ten questions. Hitting that buzzer is hard, and - speaking as someone who has no trouble speaking in public and who rarely gets nervous - freezing is inevitable for all but the best performers. Then - this is the worst part - they *interview* you, just like on the show, and you have to come up with something interesting and intelligent to say about yourself, while sounding both interesting and intelligent. EPIC FAIL on my part. The worst part was that one of the guys trying out with me was super-personable, quite handsome, in a wheelchair, and had a shock of orange hair. I didn't stand a chance.
The same game she got Tris Speaker right.
I lost touch with that friend when we went to middle school, but baseball and alcohol are still big parts of my life.
On two occasions my friends and I have discovered mistakes in Trival Pursuit cards. One card claimed that the Indy 500 was a 250 lap race, (a Moops moment during our game) and another mistake regarding a question involving third basemen, which I've somehow forgotten.
The Wrigleys also owned the Los Angeles Angels of the PCL, who played in the LA Wrigley Field. Though the exterior of the LA version was in the Spanish/Mission style, it matched the Chicago version in a number of other particulars, including the ivy-covered outfield walls. The Home Run Derby television series was filmed in LA's Wrigley Field (as were a number of baseball movies).
This is the absolute dumbest part about those shows. Does anyone in the audience care? Why? I don't give a damn what the contestants do for a living or where they've traveled or anything, shut up and get back to the damn game. It's especially frustrating when they run out of time to finish the game, and they'd have had plenty of time if not for that stupid segment.
You got drunk in 4th grade?
a coworker of mine was on once. she started well, got passed in double jeopardy. she wagered everything in final jeopardy and got it right, which put her in the lead, and i was so happy for her, but then the leader did the same thing and wiped her out. a real heartbreaker.
Agreed. My guess is that they do it purposely to cut some "game time" to save money.
The best 4 to 7 years of your life?
He wasn't, but that wasn't what was stated in the question anyway.
43: College Bowl is insane. I was a star high school Quiz Bowl player - I literally played tournaments singlehandedly (I was the only player on the team) - but I went to a university with a nationally-ranked College Bowl team. I barely made their "D" squad, and never advanced beyond that level. One of the team members ended up on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and blew the 125K question, for which he was teased endlessly.
Also, I don't think that this gets enough press as one of the all-time great TV moments.
I was on the show. Surprisingly, knowing the answers is not much harder than at home. The game moves at real time (the breaks are actually as long as the commercials, so, it takes 30 min to film a show, barring technical difficulties) and you settle in pretty quickly.
The real ##### is timing the damn buzzer. You can't see it b/c of the podiums, but a lot of time all three people know it, and are punching away at the button. The timing comes and goes during a show. Sometime you're on, sometimes you're not, kind of like shooting a jump shot.
That was the real advantage of that Jennings guy that won $1M. He literally built a buzzer mechanism at home, and practiced for something like a year.
For a non-baseball fan, I have to imagine that all of these would be like a category on BALLET to a baseball blogger, except maybe the Babe Ruth questions, the stole/Pirates one, and the ALleghenies one, which really isn't a baseball question (except if you don't know the name of the team in Pittsburgh, in which case, you already bet $0, so why worry?)
I tried out for Jeopardy twice. There is a quiz, which is hard, which I passed. Then then have a simulated game, where you ring a small bell (like at a hotel) instead of the buzzer. The key is ringing in quickly. I got killed in the sim game. I knew most of the answers, but was too slow. The guy who was winning actually became a 3 time champion.
Keep trying. I tried out twice before making it on my third go round. They need lots of contestants every year, and come to most major cities each summer. There are also Jeopardy versions for the X-box/Nintendo etc. where you can time your buzzing.
That guy was awesome. Loved seeing the cockiness on such a contrived show.
No kidding! Oh, you meant in the tryout...
The worst part was that one of the guys trying out with me was super-personable, quite handsome, in a wheelchair
Tough to get a Video Daily Double if you can't see over the podium.
Freaking awesome response to that ridiculous answer.
While we're on the topic of Jeopardy and baseball, I must mention the time I played in a Jeopardy-like trivia game at the 2008 All Star FanFest and won all sorts of cool stuff.
Actually I think what I just knew because I grew up in L.A. was that the Wrigleys used to own Catalina.
Absolutely.
I've done the Jeopardy tryouts myself a couple times but have never received the call; I suspect my College Bowl background is helping keep me off (and I know they prefer to have professions other than lawyers if possible), though one time I had laryngitis and could barely croak out anything at all so that one was just for the experience.
They are also overwhelmed by white professional males age 25-50. Certainly being from some other demographic is going to help.
It is frustrating to watch Jeopardy when success at clicking the buzzer is the most important thing. Kind of like watching the NBA when drawing a foul is one of the most important skills.
Concur. I think they should add some randomness to the delay after the question to make that skill less important.
I got incredibly lucky when it came to College Bowl. We didn't have Quiz Bowl in HS, so all I did was Academic Decathlon. One of the provosts decided it would be a good idea to start a team my freshman year, and we went to CBI Nationals my freshman and soph years. I wish I could say it was all me, but...we had someone who would become a legend on our team, and I got to stick around because I was proficient in one of the few areas he wasn't world-class at (that being sports).
EDIT: Oh, yeah. I missed #1 and #6 too. I'd almost given up on the expansion teams one when suddenly it jumped into my head.
Story by author of a book on the subject.
As a side note, Pat Sajack was on Celebrity Jeopardy the other week and destroyed. I was impressed.
And as a bunch of people said above, anybody who doesn't bet strategically is retarded.
As for TFA, 10/10; the Cubs answer was sort of a guess, but I dredged it from some musty corner of my brain.
The reason to consider betting $20,000 is in case it ends up beign an unexpectedly hard question - if you miss it, and everyone else misses it, you probably still win.
The clue to the expansion team was "one may catch the other"--that gave it away for me.
- actually, that is what confused me because i thought they had to be in the same division or league. i didn't know the question was literal
and i had NO idea about catalina. i never even heard of the place and thought it must be either the LA angels or some PCL team like the padres
Just watch this and picture Ernie Banks in a bikini.
Can't the contestants just start button mashing as soon as they know the answer?
There are lights that go on, but it's usually too late if you wait for them.
It's not automated. There's a guy who literally has to push a button to "arm" the buzzers after Alex finishes talking. So the time is set by that guy's reaction time.
As I said above, it would be a better game if it was automated, and there was a random time added to the delay, something like 0.25 to 2.0 seconds in 0.25 second intervals. That way anyone who knew the answer would have an approximately equal chance of ringing in, regardless of "buzzer skill".
If you took the buzzer skill out of it, I think a large number of winners could give Jennings a good run for his money. What made him dominant was buzzer skill not knowledge. If you watched he built his huge leads by getting ALL the easy questions, the ones all three players usually know.
Can't the contestants just start button mashing as soon as they know the answer?
No, the buzzers aren't "armed" until Trebek stops talking. It's a big flaw with the competitiveness of the game, but probably makes it a better TV show.
Exactly, so they why can't they just start button mashing while he is still talking, then as soon as the buzzer "arms" they are already hitting the button.
EDIT: To prevent any confusion, by button mashing, I mean repeatedly hitting the button as quickly as possible, not holding it down.
There are 2 betting strategies if the player has a better than 50% chance of getting the baseball question right: bet $9999.99 or $40,000. If the player bets the 10k (rounded) he/she gets 50k (now) +40k (future) = 90k if right and 30k (now) + 40k (future) = 70k if wrong. If the player bets 40k, he/she gets 80k (now) +40k (future) =120k if right and zero if wrong.
The specific assumptions I chose make the expected values of the two betting strategies equal if the player is right on the baseball question 70% of the time. With risk aversion, obviously most people would need to be more confident than 70%, but you'd have to be tempted if you thought you could get the question right 80% of the time, which is $96,000 expected value on the big bet vs $86,000 to play it safe.
Not only that, but my understanding from the tryouts is that if you start buzzing before the light goes on you're locked out for half a second and most of the time that dooms you. It's about timing the light and the buzzer.
As a side note, Pat Sajack was on Celebrity Jeopardy the other week and destroyed. I was impressed.
Speaking of, years ago I watched all (up to then, there were only 1 or 2 after, which I've also seen now) the SNL CJ skits in a row. I noticed that not only has no one ever gotten a question right, which I would have probably said beforehand, but throughout all 12+ skits, not one person has even correctly chosen a category and dollar amount.
and i had NO idea about catalina. i never even heard of the place and thought it must be either the LA angels or some PCL team like the padres
Just watch this and picture Ernie Banks in a bikini.
- if it's gotta be a Cub, i'd really prefer DLee if you don't mind. besides i always thought he'd look super HOTTTT in one of those old unis. brotha looks like a ballplaya
I'd guess you're in the minority on that. The term 'team name' immediately clarified to me that the question was referring to nicknames.
Correct. If you buzz too soon, there's a lockout period. Don't rember how long, but long enough that you're out of it unless both other players don't know the answer.
There are 2 betting strategies if the player has a better than 50% chance of getting the baseball question right: bet $9999.99 or $40,000. If the player bets the 10k (rounded) he/she gets 50k (now) +40k (future) = 90k if right and 30k (now) + 40k (future) = 70k if wrong. If the player bets 40k, he/she gets 80k (now) +40k (future) =120k if right and zero if wrong.
I've told the story before of my roommate (who was also in b-school at the time) and I watching Hollywood Squares one afternoon while high. A contestant chose a particular square to go for, and one of us said they should have chosen another one (this was middle-late game) and a loud, long argument started over which choice was better. The complicating factor is of course the chance of missing the question and giving your opponent the square. Anyway, after a long time, he decided to run the thing through the decision tree software in the b-school lab. We decided on a 60% chance of getting any random question right.
So he's in the lab that weekend, setting it up, and the professor for the class he was in where they covered using decision trees walks by. He's impressed that roommate is there on the weekend working on his own with the software (they didn't have homework or anything for it.) Roommate has to confess what he's doing, and at first the professor is kind of disgusted, then gets into it. He sits down to help build the tree. Half-hour later, the tree shows roommate was right, but barely, something like 57%-54%.
So is there an indication of when the buzzer goes active? Like a light or something? Then the entire thing is just a reaction time test really.
I wouldn't be surprised to be in the minority, but the issue is that it's incorrect terminology. I would think that Jeopardy would try to be exceedingly careful with that sort of thing, and I think they blew it there. I'd raise holy hell if I had been on the show, justifiably in my opinion. (Then again, I also officially protested the SAT question that I missed that cost me my 1600, and I still swear I was right, so I may be loony about those things.) Like I said, a quibble, but it seems clear to me that that's a boner.
Yes, a string of lights around the game board. It's not entirely a reaction time thing, but it's a big factor.
I'd say in a game with three good contestants (there are some dopes that slip through, or maybe they just have stage fright) for 40% of the questions all three know the answer, 60% are known by 2, and only 35% by just one.
In one of my games there was a category on Negro League Baseball, where I knew every answer, but didn't get in once.
I wasn't particularly good at the buzzer. I won most of my games (4 in the regular season and 2 in the TOC) by getting high value questions in rather obscure categories.
Or normalized to a 100 percent per percent system, that's 30% known by all three, 44% known by two, and 26% known by just one.
Holy #### that is a ridiculously easy question for a million bucks. I woulda thought it had something to do with physics or astronomy or obscure 17th century Russian literature. What a dumb show.
I was building in 5% that nobody knows, and the 60% should say "at least" 2.
So to be clearer, 40% by all three, 20% by uniquely 2, 35% by one, and 5% none.
... and that question was? (And don't be coy. You 're dying to tell us as much as we're dying to know, and there's zero chance you've forgotten it.)
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