Congratulations, Kingspades! You’ve really got the timing down for ringing in first. Good job remembering the name of that statue too. I couldn’t come up with it. Hope you go (went) far!
So, I’ve got Jeopardy on, I’m eating dinner and as I look down at my food I thought “Hey, I recognize that voice.”
Seriously, I didn’t see you, I wasn’t even really paying attention, but I heard you and knew exactly who it was. (And then, of course, after it was over I knew this thread would have some new posts in it since it aired about 2 hours ago).
Nicely done!
My answer was “Gigantic Jesus With His Arms Spread Wide On The Mountain Overlooking Rio de Janeiro”. Don’t know if that would’ve fit on the screen.
Thanks, everybody! Glad to have the Dopers in my corner.
You know, that’s the thing about the Tournament: we all do. Everybody’s crazy fast on the button. I was surprised to find out that I may be the only champ in the field that uses the lights and times my button-pressing visually. Everyone I asked during the post-tournament reception said they just listened to Alex and went with the rhythm, anticipating the lights.
I’ve gotten that so many times! Even people here in Atlanta that didn’t know I was going to be on the show told me they heard my voice from another room and spotted me that way.
So, Kingspades, are you back on tonight?
If so, which contestant are you?
And congrats!
mmm
I taped an episode on December 5th, 2012 (the last taping they did for the year), and my episode will appear in the last week of April.
I’m not allowed to say what happened in social media, but anyone who cares will know soon enough.
I sure am! As it happens I was in the last quarterfinal game and the first semifinal game. My name’s Dave Leach and I’ll be at the center podium.
Cute story: before the quarterfinal game I joked with Ashok that I’d never played from the center before, and actually prefer to play from the end spot - even over the champ’s spot (for some reason I feel I can see the board better from that angle). He said that he’d never played from the end and liked the center. I offered to switch places, and he agreed, but Robert, the contestant coordinator, pointed out that they were arranging the contestants by winnings and if I wanted to swap I’d have to give Ashok $30,000.
I kept the center spot.
Congratulations! I hope you had as much fun out there as I did. I really am having the time of my life playing Jeopardy!, and it’s a real privilege to be invited back to do it again.
No question, the producers and contestant coordinators were wonderful. And all the contestants turned out to be great people, folks I’d love to have as friends if I didn’t want to beat them all so badly!
I’m not sure if this was an everyday thing or just a one-time special event (one of the longtime employees on Jeopardy! was retiring on December 5th), but the lunch was provided by Wolfgang Puck, and it was excellent!
One thing I learned the hard way- timing is everything. I’m pretty sure all three contestants would get 90% of the answers right on a written test, so it all comes down to who rings in at the right moment. My big problem was ringing in prematurely! I usually knew answers immediately, and that made it tough to wait for Alex to say the last syllable.
I just set my DVR to record upcoming episodes (I won’t be home tonight to watch ‘live’). Here’s wishing you some retroactive good luck, Kingspades!
And astorian, I hope you’ll bump this thread as a reminder before your appearance. I guess commasense will have to update the list to include your name!
Hey - I “know” Kingspades form two places. Here and on boardgamegeek.com
Brian
Hey Dave, it was awesome seeing you last night (this is Lionel), but I have one question that is nagging at me.
You hit the daily double with only two clues left on the board so the opportunity to make more money is dwindling quickly. You wagered $4000, which if you got right, would have still left you behind by $200. Why did you not wager $4200, which would have made it a tie game?
Ultimately it may not have mattered if the woman had gotten one of the other two clue right (or if you did), but in this case, it seemed to make the difference. It’s really easy to play armchair quarterback after the fact, just curious.
Otherwise, congratulations big time on making it as far as you did, what an amazing match!
Booo…do not care at all for the woman who won – the air of extreme boredom she demonstrated was really off-putting.
Sorry to see you go, Kingofspades – glad you had fun while it lasted!
Now, back to rooting for Jason (<double-taps chest> Jersey represent!)
Whoop, forgot to mention:
My thought as well – when you hit the DD, I was thinking “Bet five grand…bet five grand…” Was it that you were hoping to get close with the $4000 wager, and then make it up with the couple of remaining clues?
Congrats on making it to the semi-finals of the Tournament of Champions, Dave! Very impressive performance.
Thanks for the kind words, all! Just circling back around to the Dope to see them this morning.
As for the Daily Double, if you’ll forgive me for quoting myself from the JBoard:
[QUOTE=myself]
I’ve certainly had a month’s time to think and rethink how tonight’s game ended. On the one hand it’s easy to say, “But for $200 more,” and, “If only I’d been a little more aggressive on that Daily Double.” Both those thoughts benefit from hindsight. The DD could have easily been something I didn’t know: I was 4/11 in my regular season games, and despite running a movie quotes category in my second game it’s not a strong subject.
The $4000 bet keeps me from falling behind Jason and puts me right on Kristin’s tail. I don’t do well at Final Jeopardy; it was very lucky that the FJs in my two games were ones I knew. I went 3-10 over the course of the Tournament’s games, missing all four of the ones to come. I want to neutralize FJ because it’s a weakness, either by locking the game or being in a position where I’m set to win whether or not I respond correctly. I know how to make the savvy bet, so I see what I did as turning a weakness into a strength.
[/QUOTE]
tl;dr: Instead of betting on myself to know Final Jeopardy, I bet on Kristin not knowing it.
I’ve gone back and forth on whether to reveal this, but for anyone who cares… I will be appearing on Jeopardy! on Friday April 26th. I’ll be the large (vertically and horizontally) guy in the middle.
Congrats! Why* not *reveal it?
I hope he didn’t pull a Wolf Blitzer
.
Oh, I have no reason to be ashamed or embarrassed by my performance. It’s more that, over the years, I’ve guarded my identity on these boards, and have never revealed my real name.
That won’t be a secret any more.
Final bump, just to notify the few remaining people who haven’t heard: I’ll be on “Jeopardy!” tomorrow, Friday April 26th.
Watch if you have nothing better to do!
You did well, it’s rare that all three final Jeopardy wagers are that huge.