Double Jeopardy!

FIRST OF THE MONTH

Interesting category.

First of the Month - $700

2011 New Student Orientation began at Providence College

Logan – What is September?

Sure glad I got that right.

First of the Month - $800

The Catholic Observance of All Hallows

Jan – What is November?

Makes sense, because Halloween is All Hallows Eve. I knew that one.

First of the Month - $1200

Canada Day

Logan – What is June? Jan – What is July?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Dumb mistake. Of course I know Canada Day is July. This year I was conducting sacrament meeting on July 1^st and I made a big deal about it being Canada Day, partly out of repressed guilt for missing this question.

First of the Month - $1600

Mardi Gras 2022 (get your beads now)

Gillian – What is March?

I can’t remember if I knew this one or not. Not a big Mardi Gras guy, although I knew it was sometime before Easter.

First of the Month - $2000

Official birthday of Point Given & Mine That Bird

Nobody got it – What is January?

I live in Kentucky. I knew that Mine That Bird was a thoroughbred horse. In retrospect, I had heard somewhere that they are considered to be born on January 1^st for classification purposes (The Kentucky Derby is for three-year-olds, for example.) Couldn’t think of it at the time. To my credit, I’m happy I knew that we were talking about horses here. I’m glad Alex didn’t mention that after nobody guessed. I’ve asked a lot of my coworkers and friends here in Kentucky and I honestly haven’t found anybody (that didn’t watch the show) that knew the answer, which makes me feel a little bit better. Of course, the ultimate way to feel better would have been to get it right.

THE JEOPARDY! TIME MACHINE

This should be an interesting category. That’s two for two.

The Jeopardy! Machine - $400

Sure Mr. Gore, Palm Beach, early 2000-guess you want to rework the ballot named for this insect.

Jan – a butterfly

I knew this one.

The Jeopardy! Machine - $800

Dress like a swell for the 1934 opening of this songwriter’s “Anything Goes”, featuring “I Get a Kick Out Of You”

Gillian – Cole Porter

I had absolutely no idea. Still don’t, actually.

The Jeopardy! Machine - $1200

Feel like doing some pillaging? Turn the dial to 1240 & join this “colorful” Tatar group

Jan – the Golden horde

I knew that one.

The Jeopardy! Machine - $1600

Get ready to shout, “Mr. President, look out!” when the setting for this city Sept. 6, 1901

Logan – What is Buffalo?

Funny, I would have hesitated to name the President (William McKinley) or the guy who shot him (some sort of anarchist, I think) but I definitely knew it was Buffalo.

The Jeopardy! Machine - $2000

You’ll learn from Corneille & La Rochefoucauld if you visit Madame de rambouillet’s 17^th century one of these gatherings

Jan – A Salon

Definitely knew that one. Easy.

GEOLOGY

My two connections to Geology – my BIL is a geologist, which is cool. I have the Geology merit badge, on account of Chris English really encouraging me to take it with him because he loved rocks so much. He left on a surprise trip to Ireland or somewhere and didn’t tell anyone he was going, which meant I was stuck in a stupid merit badge class that I didn’t want to go to in the first place all by myself. So that’s what I think about when I think about Geology. Now I also think of Jeopardy.

Geology - $400

Corundum makes up much of this rock used to make an abrasive “board”

Jan – What is emery?

I wasn’t 100% sure on that one.

Geology - $800

The sword of Damocles is a large one of these formations in Carlsbad Caverns

Gillian – A stalactite

Of course you question if it’s a stalactite or a stalagmite, but I would have guessed the same as Gillian

Geology - $1200

Shatter cones, with radiating fracture lines, are only found at the sites of space object impacts & of these tests

Logan – What are nuclear tests?

I’m really glad they gave it to me and didn’t take it away because I didn’t say “nuclear explosion” or something like that. Again, I had no idea that nuclear tests make shatter cones with radiating fracture lines…just something you pick up from understanding how Jeopardy! questions work.

Geology - $1600

This fancy French word refers to a deep fissure in a glacier.

Jan – What is a crevasse?

This one was on the top of my tongue but I couldn’t quite figure it out.

Geology - $2000

A giant ocean called Panthalassa once surrounded this supercontinent, whose name means ‘all earth”

Jan – What is Pangea?

I was very frustrated when I was beaten out with the buzzer on this one. Not getting questions like this really doomed me.

THE NATIONAL TRACK & FIELD HALL OF FAME

Of course I was super excited to see this category. I ran four years of track in high school. I considered myself a scholar of the sport.

The National Track & Field Hall of Fame - $400

Dave Wottle was known for his cap; after winning 1972’s Olympic 800, he forgot to take it off during this & had to apologize

Gillian – What are the opening ceremonies? Logan  - What is the national anthem?

Bam.

The National Track & Field Hall of Fame - $800

Mike Conley had a personal best of over 27’ in the long jump & over 58’ in this event

Logan – What is the Triple Jump?

Perhaps the highlight of the entire Jeopardy! experience for me. When I saw the Daily Double come up…and it was in a Track category…and it was the $800 question…and I looked over at the scores and saw how far I was behind…there was absolutely no doubt in my mind what I needed to do. I was excited to take the “risk”, because I really had no other option. I smiled. “Alex, let’s make it a true daily double.” At the time my mind is screaming, “IT IS SO COOL THAT I WAS ABLE TO SAY THAT!!!!!!!!!!! Then the question comes up, and I know it from the time I read Mike Conley. He held the world record in the World Book Encyclopedias that we had in our house that I would read the entry on Track & Field. Of course the clue makes it very easy as well to figure out, which I did as Alex was reading it just to make sure I was right.

No matter what anybody says about how funny I looked while at the buzzer, about how I only got second and it was a runaway, about not quite finishing the Final Jeopardy in time…I answered a True Daily Double in the Double Jeopardy! round…and that. Is. Awesome.

The National Track & Field Hall of Fame - $1200

At Oregon, he won seven NCAA track titles and made the cover of Sports Illustrated as a freshman, before his tragic death at 24

Jan – Who is Steve Prefonataine?

So mad that Jan beat me to this one. After all, Steve was one of my heroes in high school. I wanted to run like he did – go out hard, be strong enough to hang on. I’ve seen the movies. I’ve read tons of articles about him. Someday when I’m in Oregon I’ll go to the rock where he died.

The National Track & Field Hall of Fame - $1600

Al Oerter won this event in 4 straight Olympics but due to youth, then injury, then age, was an underdog every time.

Nobody got it – What is the discus throw?

I knew it was a throwing event, but didn’t know if it was shot put, discus, or javelin. After the last question of the first round, I wasn’t going to guess. I was in kind of a shock right now that I was so far behind, too.

The National Track & Field Hall of Fame - $2000

She won the first Olympic women’s marathon in 1984 and run under 2:50 in the New York Marathon in 2009

Nobody got it – Who was Joan Benoit Samuelsson?

I didn’t get this one, and I’ve ran marathons. I should have known this one. I was probably more embarrassed about not knowing this one than any other clue…and I really had no idea. A couple weeks after the show I floated an e-mail to my runner dad, asking if he knew what it was. I phrased the e-mail as a random trivia question, not “hey, I missed this on Jeopardy”. He responded that he didn’t know what it was, either, which made me feel a little better. Anyway, he told his running friends about me being on the show, and one of them asked my Dad if he knew the answer to this one…and he said yes! Yeah, you knew it after I had told you the answer!!! Cheater.

MINER CLASSICS

I think I had very interesting categories. A category about mining?

Miner Classics - $400

He didn’t strike it rich in the 1897 Klondike gold rish, but he did use the experience in works like “Son of the Wolf”

Logan - Who is (Jack) London?

I’m pretty stoked I was able to answer a category with just the last name here. That means you’re cool.

Miner Classics - $800

The son of a coal miner, this author touched on the mining life in his autobiographical 1913 novel “Sons and Lovers”

Gillian - Who was (D.H.) Lawrence?

Yeah, I had no idea. I don’t think any of the boards were especially good for Gillian, who would have perhaps done better if there were more literature questions like these.

Miner Classics - $1200

“Marching Men” by Sherwood Anderson recounts the tribulations of coal miners in this eastern state

Gillian – What is Pennsylvania?

Again, Gillian comes through on a literature question. I didn’t know the answer, probably would have guessed West Virginia or Kentucky before Pennsylvania. Good thing I didn’t guess.

Miner Classics - $1600

This “colorful” Richard Llewellyn novel set in a Welsh mining community was made into a 1941 Oscar-winning film

Gillian – What is How Green Was My Valley?

I knew this one. This was going to be the question that would have paid off all the memorizing of Oscar winning actors, actresses, and films that I did before the show. Turns out this is also one of Alex Trebek’s favorite movies. Bummed that I didn’t get the chance to answer it, especially because if I had, it might not have been a runaway. Instead, Gillian, who was behind me, answered it, losing us any chance of catching Jan. Way to go. Gillian. Not that I blame you, I don’t know if I would have held back either. Although, in retrospect, if she had, I would have gotten it right, and then I would have been able to get the next question, which was a Daily Double, which I would have gotten it right, and it would have been a game….

Miner Classics - $2000

1917’s “King Coal” by this author was to the mining industry what an earlier work had been to the meat-packing industry

Gillian – Who was Sinclair Lewis? (Daily Double)

 I already mentioned that I knew this one. Upton Sinclair. This means I knew all 3 Daily Doubles…only got to answer one. The other two people got theirs wrong.

“MAJOR” CONCERNS”

Major in quotation marks. Glad I got to have one of these categories.

Major Concerns - $400

Wasn’t asked. I will never know.

Major Concerns - $800

In the U.S. Army this commissioned officer wears 2 stars

Logan – What is a major general?

Generals have stars. I wouldn’t have known that two stars was a major general if it weren’t for the category.

Major Concerns - $1200

In the Bible it’s the collective term for Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, & Daniel

Jan – What are the major prophets?

I’m disappointed that the one Bible question we got – and that’s probably one of my strongest points, the Bible questions – I got beat out by the buzzer

Major Concerns - $1600

It’s the line that passes through the 2 foci of an ellipse

Jan – A major axis

I blanked on this one. The pressure was getting to me. Miss Buda would have been upset that I couldn’t remember it.

Major Concerns - $2000

This George Bernard Shaw play tells the tale of a woman who joins the Salvation Army

Gillian – Major Barbara

No idea. Again, Gillian on tap with the literature.

The strategy on this was Jan went for the higher priced questions first. He did that during the first game, too. That sure was frustrating, and it kinda prevented me from getting into a rhythm, which was probably his goal, since he was ahead, and had the experience of playing the game before.

I don’t want to think about this game anymore.