Ask the guy in the Jeopardy! UToC

. . . but don’t ask him much, at least until after his episode airs Tuesday, March 1 [check your local TV listings for channel and time.]

Click on the Ultimate Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions button, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, I am Kevin from St Ann, MO http://www.jeopardy.com/
I cannot, of course, disclose whether or not I won my first round match. But I can say that win, lose or draw, it was a wonderful experience.

Tuesday? Oh I will be watching this.

Is the idea of going up against the Keninator daunting?

More of a general Jeopardy! question, but how tricky is it to buzz in only when the question is fully read? Do you have to wait a beat as the final word of the Q is read by Alex, to avoid being locked out? Have you lost a lot of Qs because of a buzzing/timing problem?

Do you ever have the urge to say “The day is mine, Trebek!”?

Did you wager “Suck it, Trebek” in Final Jeopardy?

Do you know when it’s airing here in St. Louis?

Second question: Are you interested in another Dopefest? (I couldn’t make it this Tuesday, but maybe at the end of the month.) I posted a thread but it was sank quick.

Do you drive the Tahoe? How much did you have to pay in taxes on that puppy? (When I was a kid watching game shows like Wheel of Fortune, my father would always say, “I wouldn’t take [ridiculous prize]! Just think of the taxes!” :stuck_out_tongue: )

Are you single and if so did you get any dates out of the show?

Did you mention Cecil on the show?

Ken Jennings gets a free pass until the Finals. But everybody in the UToC is very, very good. There were 15 contestants in the pool the day my episode was taped. Of those 15-- there were 3 winners of the Tournament of Champions and the highest single-game winner [before the prize money was doubled], along with 2 College Champions.

A.D & ** T.M.** No, I was very respectful of Alex. I would like to have had the chance to do my bad Scots’ burr again like I did the first time, Alex loves Scots’ burrs.

Did you make at least one allusion to The Straight Dope? Or to Cecil?

No, I did not keep the Tahoe. I was hoping to make some kind of deal with my employer [I work for a not-for-profit organization], but we couldn’t figure a way for me to make the donation work. I ended up trading the Tahoe in on a Blazer, a smaller SUV. Now I wish I would have taken the 2 Chevy Malibus, would have kept one & sold the other for taxes.

Taxes :frowning: I like to bash Bush as much as anybody on the Board, but the amount of taxes I had to pay almost made me want to become a Republican. :eek:

[ul]
[li]California withheld 7% for income taxes right off the top[/li][li]I had to pay Missouri sales tax on the retail price of the Blazer[/li][li]I was in a much higher tax bracket than usual.[/li][/ul]

Yes, I am single; No, no dates. I look bad enough in real life, and even worse in make up. Did get a congratulatory call from an old girlfriend, who had married and moved out-of-town.

Allusions to SDMB: watch very carefully to Final Jeopardy.

Channel 5 @ 3:30 p.m.-- great time slot, the unemployed and retired people can see it, everybody else has to tape it.

St Louis Dopers, we will be watching it at the Tap Room Restaurant [21st & Locust, downtown near Union Station].

A St Louis Dopefest sounds great, we don’t seem to be very good at organizing them, however. How about it St Louis Dopers?

Some folks on Television Without Pity think that the questions in the UToC are easier than normal, possibly to make sure that anyone that goes up against Ken has the requisite trigger power. What’s your impression?

Here’s my question: when’s the damn thing going to be over? No offense to you, 5 time champ, and I will watch your show, but I’m getting sick of it. It’s been going on for far too long, and doesn’t seem to have any end in sight. And really, I have no need or frankly, any stomach for seeing Ken Jennings ever again (bad enough to see his beady-eyed face in Cingular ads now.) I just want to see regular contestants and regular questions (as I truly believe some of these UToC questions have been low-balled, big time) again.

I’m the opposite of TeaElle. I turned the show off after Ken left. I couldn’t care less about the Joe Schmoes. But I am definitely interested in seeing all the champs, including our own. I just hate I’ve missed it up till now. Thanks to this thread, the DVR is cocked and ready.

Damn, I forgot my question: what’s Ken really like?

I’m not sure he can answer that. Only the people who were there the day Ken was can answer that and he can’t admit anything more than the fact that he is there for the March 1st show.

Which of the other ULTIMATE CHAMPIONS would you least like to face. That Lezek (sp) guy is the most intimidating to me.

He is intimidating, but he is already out (he lost in the game that was aired on Friday).

Easier material? I don’t think the material was easier, I think the material is harder. That seemed to be the consensus of the 15 contestants on my taping day. Alex thought the material was more difficult also.

OTOH, maybe it is just that certain categories have been very, very difficult, and not particularly interesting.

Ken J is already guaranteed a spot in the three game final, and he won’t play until those three games. So I don’t think there is any way to make all 74 games easier just for him. I don’t know for sure, but I believe that Jeopardy! writers did not make separate materials for each round of the UToC.

A lot of it comes down to what an individual’s strengths and weaknesses are. Personally I thought the material last Wednesday’s game-- when only one contestant ended Double Jeopardy on the plus side-- was the easiest of the games I have seen so far.

And on the third hand, the game is a hell of a lot more difficult to play live in the studio, than when you are watching it at home. Not so much because you are nervous about being on stage, under the lights, in front of the studio audience. I think it is because one, the buzzer, you have to anticipate the the lights which tell you when are allowed to ring in. Two, live competition against players that are at least as good as you are. You can know the vast majority of the questions, but if you can’t ring in to have Alex call on you, you are going to lose.