Friday, October 28, 2022

Final Analysis on The Jeopardy Second Chance Tournament

 

Well, the million to one shot didn’t pay off. But not for lack of trying.

Last night, I basically said that Rowan Ward was on their way to the Tournament of Champions after finishing Game 1 of the Final with $30,000, more than $25,000 than their nearest opponent. Until the very end of Game 2, there was an excellent chance that I was going to have spend this article eating even more crow. Because Jack Weller spent all of that time making it look like the impossible was going to happen.

Rowan did what they had done in Game 1 and got off to a fast start, but unlike in Game 1 their opponents were determined not to go quietly. Jack managed to get to the Daily Double in the Jeopardy round ahead of them – something no one had managed in Game 1. Knowing what he was up against, he bet $1800 in the category FROM THE LATIN:

“This 9-letter word for the sacred writings of the Bible is from the Latin for ‘to write’.

Jack knew it was scripture and doubled his score.  Rowan managed to overtake him late in the Jeopardy round, but unlike last night, when it ended their lead was anything but insurmountable. Rowan had $6800, just $2000 more than James.  Sadie had $2600.

A critical moment came early in Double Jeopardy. On the second clue of the round in MYTH-POURRI, Rowan got a $1600 clue wrong and James got it right. He went back into the lead with $7600 and far more importantly found the first Daily Double on the next clue of the round in that category.  He went big: $7000.

“Allecto, or ‘unceasing in anger’, was one of the 3 vengeance goddesses really living up to this collective name.” Hew knew they were the Furies and widened his lead to $14,600. For the rest of Double Jeopardy Rowan was chasing him but couldn’t catch him. The closest they ever game to narrowing the gap was when Rowan found the other Daily Double in DAYS OF YORE and bet the $6400 that they had:

“In 1429 Charles VII granted nobility, arms and the surname du Lys to her family.”

Rowan knew it was Joan of Arc and went up to $13,600 to Jack’s $18,200. That was as close as Rowan would get to him. Rowan actually got far more correct answers than Jack – 27 to his 18 – but Jack didn’t make a single mistake, and perhaps more importantly five of his correct answers were $2000 clues. By the time Double Jeopardy was over, Jack was in the lead with $29,400 to Rowan’s $20,000. (Sadie had the misfortune of being caught between these two buzzsaws and had only $5000. If Jack could get Final Jeopardy right and Rowan erred, he could very well pull off one of the biggest comebacks in Jeopardy history.

The Final Jeopardy category was the deceptively easy sounding ARTISTS. The clue was very tough: “Sabena Airlines commissioned a painting by this artist, “L’Ouiseau de Ciel”, a bird whose body is filled with clouds in a blue sky.” All three players guessed Picasso, which was the wrong response. The correct one was Rene Magritte. (Sabena is the National Airline of Belgium and Magritte is a famous Belgian surrealist.)  Jack by necessity wagered everything and Rowan ended up betting $12,201 (which would have been enough to beat Jack by one dollar had both of them been correct). As a result, Rowan still emerged the victor but they clearly knew how close they had cut it: Rowan was understandably emotional by the end.

It's hard to argue the Second Chance didn’t provide exactly what Jeopardy looks for in any tournament: great play memorable games and exciting finals, both of which (for completely different reasons) came down to the last moments in Final Jeopardy. There were exciting close games and runaway games. There were fascinating personalities and breakout stars. There were tough Finals and categories which showed immense amounts of humor by the writers, occasionally poking fun at the contestants and the nature of the Tournament. (In the last Double Jeopardy round of tonight’s game, there was a category called ‘SECOND’ CHANCES.) In short, it was everything you hope a Jeopardy tournament will be and if you are lucky, sometimes actually get.

I’m still not a hundred percent sure that this can be the kind of thing that is done every year.  Jeopardy had to go through what amounted to two seasons of games to find these particular eighteen contestants and as I mentioned in an earlier article, they were really stretching the definition of the term. (I grant you a lot of them earned it; it does not change that underlying fact.) And it’s hard to imagine another scenario like this coming up in time for the next Tournament of Champions which the show’s producers still think will happen some time in the next season. But all of that considered, it’s hard to argue that the Second Chance Tournament did not provide exactly what it set out to at the beginning: it gave players who they thought deserved another chance on Jeopardy one, and most of them more than demonstrated that they earned it. You really can’t ask for much more than that.

Tomorrow, I will give you my preview for the 2022 Tournament of Champions which begins Monday.  I’ll refresh your memory on the players, give you the lay out and get you prepared. Spoiler: given the results of this tournament, Matt Amodio in particular might be in for more than he bargained for.

 

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