Q & A with Elizabeth Pfeifer

Did you read my recap of your episode?

I did read your recap – before I ever got to watch my episode, which I got to do on Saturday morning.  Jeopardy! sent me a DVD since my episode was going to be preempted for the election special my local station was running on Nov 1.  The station received some emails and calls asking when my episode was running from local friends, and then decided to air my episode, as I was local.

How did you decide on your Final Jeopardy wager?

Well, Keith had a runaway, so I had to concentrate on getting to second place. John had 600 more than I did, so I knew he could out-wager me.  My only hope of second was to hope he got it wrong and to end up with more than him – so I wagered $0.

I kind of thought John was going to win since he was wearing a different outfit in his howdy than he did on the show. Do you know anything about this?

I believe John’s luggage was lost by his airline, so he did his howdy in the only clothes he had, and then his luggage made it to the studio before he taped.  Not sure if that is why he went in last ep of the day.

Any specific regrets?

I wish I had known the physical setup of the studio and how the clues appear on the board to the contestants.  I believe that my vision issues hampered me a bit – the board is a bit far away and individual clues are not “blown up” to fill the screen as they appear to be when you watch at home – they fill the whole screen.  That’s what I was expecting. 

Did you know the correct responses to the Daily Doubles? 

I knew all three of them!!!  That was kind of a heartbreaker.

Can you tell me more about your community theater involvement?

I’ve done community theater since I was a kid, did all the plays in high school, taught drama, and have become involved with a great company here in Fairfax County.  I’m relishing that as I age, I’m getting great character roles that give me the opportunity to be as big a ham as I can be:  I’ve been Bloody Mary in South Pacific, Agnes Gooch in Auntie Mame and just closed a show as Rheba in You Can’t Take it With You.  I used to be a high school English teacher, which was like having a captive audience several times a day.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

One of my favorite parts of being a teacher was also being a coach for academic competitions.  I believe that smart kids aren’t given the same recognition for their pursuits as athletic kids, and I wanted to try to help balance the scales.  I coached a Mock Trial team, a Quiz Bowl team and several teams that competed on the local TV show, “Brain Game” in Raleigh.  In many places, as was the case at the schools where I taught, academic coaches receive no supplemental pay for coaching these pursuits, while the football, baseball, volleyball, and cheerleading coaches, for example, all received extra pay.

     Thank you, Elizabeth!