{"id":2936,"date":"2011-11-10T20:54:27","date_gmt":"2011-11-11T04:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.doubleperf.com\/blog\/?p=2936"},"modified":"2017-10-31T09:24:21","modified_gmt":"2017-10-31T13:24:21","slug":"back_in_jeopardy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.doubleperf.com\/blog\/archives\/2011\/11\/10\/back_in_jeopardy.html","title":{"rendered":"Back in Jeopardy!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

My appearance has already come and gone (a week ago tonight), but I thought I’d post something about my appearance on the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, which I taped in late September.<\/p>\n

I got the call a few weeks beforehand, and though I’d heard I might be in the running, I was still surprised and happy to hear I’d made the cut. I didn’t do much in the way of preparation, but I hadn’t done much the last time, so I crossed my fingers and headed over to the hotel just after we arrived back from Colorado. <\/p>\n

The next morning, we all assembled in the lobby, and I saw a group of familiar faces, the best players of the last year and a half, all gathered around, filling out paperwork. We all headed over to Sony in a shuttle bus, and so began two very long days of taping. <\/p>\n

It was a real pleasure to meet everyone, and I think we even felt somewhat starstruck meeting these people we’d all seen on TV\u2026even though we, too, had been on TV. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We had the usual round of rehearsals (a demoralizing event for me, as it took me about ten minutes, no exaggeration, to successfully beat anyone to the buzzer), and then retired to the green room until it was our turn. I didn’t have too long to wait; I was called for the second game of five. I went up against Roger Craig and Kara Spak, and quite quickly, it became clear that this was a different game altogether. I’d never seen Roger or Kara play, but they were tough opponents. Roger had quite a run in his time, and Kara and I were simply outgunned on the buzzer. <\/p>\n

I got a few answers in, got a Daily Double right, and even managed to pick up a couple of rebounds from the other players. The air sort of went out of the game, though, as Roger took off in Double Jeopardy, and it ended up a runaway. I bet it all on the Final, and had no idea, so for the first time in my Jeopardy! career, I ended the game at the round number of zero. <\/p>\n

I later found out that if I’d bet nothing at all, I’d have made it as a wild card into the semifinals, but I had no way of knowing that at the time, and didn’t even realize it until later in the day. The fact that I couldn’t have known the wild card cutoff didn’t keep me from going over the “what if” over and over again in my head, and I was pretty down on the whole thing by the end of the day. <\/p>\n

Thanks to Aimee’s prodding, I returned the next day to watch the semis and final games, and I’m glad I did. It was great to hang out with everyone, and to watch the drama – no exaggeration – unfold in the final games. We all formed a pretty close bond over those days, and have been enjoying keeping in touch in the weeks since. I wish I’d made a better show of things, but I’m happy to have been included, and to have met everyone involved.<\/p>\n

Here I am digging deep for Mrs. Dalloway<\/I>:<\/p>\n

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