(I wondered if I should save that title in case Brooks wins this tournament!)
My Coryat for last night’s GSN episode was 23600. The first time I kept score, only in August, my score was 16600. I guarantee you I didn’t answer as many in The Spanish-American War the first time, having studied for my Jeopardy! appearance now!
Before I get into today’s episode, this is weird but it’s my blog and I can do this: I’m entering Jeff Korbelik’s Dining with Jeff contest in the Lincoln Journal Star. There is one question, Lincolnite though I may be, that I can’t find the answer to. I figure since a Nebraskan is on Jeopardy! today, maybe more Nebraskans will be reading this – and I want to win really bad. Here it is: Where was the Rio Grande restaurant located? Help me out, people! Please! I need to know by 5 p.m. on February 27th.
Now for the moment I’ve been waiting for – Omaha resident Brooks Humphreys/my chance to blog about one of his episodes.
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| Leslie Decker |
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| Nate Rice |
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| Brooks Humphreys (I still think he was in my audition, but I may never know.) |
I loved the categories of the Jeopardy round, including French 101, Toys and Games, and College Mascots. The players had trouble, though: Let’s just say there were a lot of triple-stumpers throughout the game. I wanted to count them but I’m trying to blog and compile my results for my Twitter friend at the same time, and I’m not sure if I will watch this episode a third time for it!
Would you believe this was the very first clue of the game, in College Mascots?: “Herbie Husker.” I just saw Herbie on both Saturday and Sunday, at basketball games. Nate beat Brooks to the buzzer on this one! For much of the Jeopardy round, Brooks looked like he had trouble ringing in, though. And he looked nervous to me. If he is the guy I’m thinking of at my audition, he was nervous there, too. At the first break, he had 600 while Nate had 3800 and Leslie had 1800.
Were you taken aback when Brooks said he lives 4 blocks from Warren Buffett?
Leslie’s and Brooks’ scores were still 1800 and 600 respectively when Nate found the Daily Double in the round. Nate had 4400. The category was Other Wonders of the World. Nate wagered 2400 on this clue: “The Alcazaba is the citadel of this Moorish masterpiece in Granada, Spain.” Nate had nothin’, and neither did I. (It doesn’t really matter, but I used to live near the California town of this name!)
Was anyone else wondering how was this a triple-stumper, in Potpourri?: “If you know the correct procedure, you ‘know’ this, also a tool.” Brooks looked surprised when “awl” wasn’t accepted. Then I got this triple-stumper in the same category: “‘Shaping a Life,’ ‘Building a Home,’ and ‘Creating a World’ are on the U.S. postage stamp promoting awareness of this.” Brooks drew a laugh when he then went to another category. I did notice this: Every clue in the category was a triple-stumper. The scores were dismal at the end of the round: 2000 for Nate, 1000 for Brooks, and 2400 for Leslie.
We interrupt this recap…About this time during the show, Jeopardy! tweeted this. (They have a way of tweeting while I’m watching the show, don’t they?) I’m gonna be near D.C. a couple times this spring (unofficial Jeopardy! reunion, anyone?!), but not when this is happening. In fact the reunion is the very next weekend. While I’m at it, I noticed there are a lot more details about the reunion on the History Bowl site.
Back to regularly-scheduled programming – Leslie found the first Daily Double of the Double Jeopardy round, in Lesser-Known Women. She had just taken the lead and had 3200. She wagered 1700 on this clue: “Massachusetts’ state heroine is Deborah Samson, who, disguised as a male soldier, fought in this war.” Leslie got it right! I wound up sweeping the category.
But Brooks was not to be outdone. He sank his teeth into Toot Sweet and it seemed like game-over from there. (But maybe I’m biased!) He found the Daily Double in the 800 spot in that category. He had 7000 while Nate had 10000 and Leslie had 11300. Brooks wagered 5000 on this softball: “This Sousa piece, the official march of the U.S., includes the tooting of the euphonium, clarinet, & cornet.” Brooks seemed to pause, but he got it and looked like he knew it all along. He swept the category. I got 4/5, clamming on “1812 Overture.” Just like that he had 16800 to Nate’s 10000 and Leslie’s 11300. There was one category left, Engineering. Brooks got two of those clues and Nate got one. Nate had one neg in the category. So the round ended with Brooks leading: 19200 to Nate’s 9600 and Leslie’s 11300. The Final Jeopardy category was Singers. Just before Mr. Trebek read the clue, he gave sort of a hint when he said the singer was “well-known.” He gave even more hints immediately after the think music: “a number of hit songs,” “a great activist for the environment,” and “took us on many a Rocky Mountain High.” [rolling my eyes] I couldn’t help but notice that none of the contestants looked worried when Mr. Trebek was saying all this. The clue: “On the eve of Earth Day, 2011, he became the first performer inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.” Now this is the second consecutive day I have to go, “Really?!” All three contestants got it right. Nate doubled his score. (Forget it, I’m not touching the wagering today.) Leslie wagered 2000. Brooks wagered 3401, and boy did he look happy to be a finalist! Vamos, Brooks!
