Andy here (lest my opinions be confused with Jeanie’s)…
This week’s players:
Jen Jabaily Blackburn – Northampton, MA (WWLP)
Kynan Dias – Las Vegas, NV (KLAS)
Mike Ewing – Austin, TX (KXAN)
Mikki Gibson – Austin, TX (KXAN)
Stephanie Hull – Columbia, MO (KMIZ)
Brad King – Hartland, MI (WDIV)
Jim Luh – Bethesda, MD (WJLA)
Shawn Paul – Waterville, ME (WMTW)
Penny Reid – Bloomington, IN (WTHR)
Kristin Sausville – Newark, DE (WPVI)
Rachael Sims – Sullivan, IL (WAND)
Today we have: Jen Jabaily Blackburn, Mike Ewing, and Rachael Sims, who won $21,500 on Friday!
J! round categories:
MARCH MADNESS
FILL OUT YOUR BRACKET
THE SWEET 16
THE ELITE ATE
THE FINAL 4
NCAA CHAMPS
MARCH MADNESS $600 was the Daily Double; Rachael played it on the third clue of the game, holding $600! She bet $600 (*facepalm*), playing the following clue: In March 2001 this space station was intentionally deorbited & crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Rachael gave the correct response and went to just $1,200 instead of $1,600. Sigh.
Sometimes I wonder if there’s a closet Scrabbler on the J! staff — today I wondered because of the high-probability Scrabble word DEORBIT and if this clue was simply to get the word DEORBIT onto the show!
Poor Mike was beaten onto the buzzer by Jen on the following NCAA CHAMPS clue: 1984 was the year of the Hoyas & this 7-footer who ended up with the Knicks but should’ve played for “Dallas”
At the first break, the scores sat at:
Rachael $2,200
Jen $1,800
Mike $600
Rachael spent a year abroad at the University of Ottawa!
I am mad about this question at the bottom of NCAA CHAMPS (He “Conjured Up” the 1979 title for his Spartans, beating Larry Bird & being named Most Outstanding Player); I’m bitter about having lost a LearnedLeague matchup earlier this season due to poor defending of that question!
Jen seemed to be slow selecting clues; I thus blame her for there being three clues unrevealed! Scores after the J! round:
Rachael $4,600
Mike $4,600
Jen $3,600
DJ! round categories:
PHILOSOPHY
TOP 5 HITMAKERS
DINOSAURS
WHAT A COUNTRY!
THERE BE 3 “B”s
THE SCIENCE OF SECURITY
3 “B”s $800 had a Daily Double in it! Jen played it, with scores at:
Rachael $4,600
Mike $4,600
Jen $4,000
Jen bet $1,200. Really? IT IS AN $800 CLUE. IN A CATEGORY WHERE YOU KNOW THE ANSWER HAS 3 Bs. Why do I bother sometimes?
Her clue: Deeply religious are of the South & Midwest. Her correct response put her at $5,200.
Mike’s finding the final Daily Double under WHAT A COUNTRY! $1600 meant that the Daily Doubles were evenly distributed today! Scores:
Mike $8,200
Jen $7,200
Rachael $5,800
Mike bet $2,200. His clue: This city-state’s entire military consists of Swiss soldiers – Mike’s correct response put him at $10,400!
Two clues were unplayed in Double Jeopardy!; Scores going into Final:
Mike $14,400
Jen $11,200
Rachael $9,800
FJ! category: LITERARY CHARACTERS
FJ! clue: The first story in which he appeared began, “The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at 3 in the morning”
Rachael 9800 – 9800 = 0
Jen 11200 + 8500 = 19700
Mike 14400 – 6400 = 8000
I guess we’ll get to at least one more day of not reaching 61 clues. That’s disappointing!
I’m a simple man, really. I want to see aggressive Daily Double betting and 61 clues.
Jen will be back tomorrow to defend.