Before the recap of this
Tournament of Champions continues, a refresher on a previous one.
In the leadup to the
2022 Tournament of Champions the new format allowed for the three players who
were already ranked among the greatest game show players of all time to receive
automatic byes into the semi-finals. I wasn’t about to argue with that. Having
spent Season 38 utterly astounded by the work of Matt Amodio, Amy Schneider and
Mattea Roach – who in their original runs had already won a combined 101 games
and just under 3.5 million dollars – it would have been asking a little too
much for them to just play in the quarterfinals like peons, even for a
traditionalist like myself. What I wondered about was whether the other six
semi-finalists – with the benefit of one win under their belts – would have a
slight edge over the three seeded players. I wasn’t convinced the exhibition
match would make a much of a difference.
The results were a
mixed bag. Amy Schneider romped to a runaway victory in her semi-final match.
Matt Amodio spent most of his in a tight-fought game before losing to Sam
Buttrey in his semi-final. And Mattea Roach was basically humiliated by Andrew
He in his runaway win.
Now with all due
respect to Adriana Harmeyer, Isaac Hirsch and Drew Basile while they are the
best players of Season 40 and impressive Jeopardy champions, I doubt any of
them would compare themselves to those three. But the basic principle going
into the semi-finals that began Tuesday was the same. And if anything it was
more pertinent then how it played out a little more than two and a half years
ago. There’s quite a bit of separation between an Andrew He, who won five games,
and Mattea Roach’s 23. There’s a lot less difference between Drew Basile’s
seven wins and Amy Hummel’s five. An extra game could mean just enough of an
edge to put all of these players over the top against these three very good
players. And as we all saw last year sometimes on a level playing field the
super-champions can be defeated by underdogs, as Cris Panullo found out very
quickly.
With that in mind I
watched the semifinals with bated breath. And here is what happened.
Game 1
Adriana Harmeyer vs.
Ryan Manton vs. Will Wallace
Ryan got off to a quick
start in the Jeopardy round when he found the Daily Double on the fourth clue
of the game in ANY DAY OF THE WEEK. He risked the $1000 he had:
“On American Gods, Ian
McShane was Odin, also known as Mr. this guy.” He knew it was Wednesday (I’d
forgotten that was Odin’s namesake) and doubled his score. The rest of the
round was a back and forth between Ryan and Adriana and Ryan held his lead at
the end: $5200 to Adriana’s $4400. Will spent much of the Jeopardy round in the
red and only got out on the final clue to put him at $200.
Double Jeopardy was
more of the same but then Adriana responded
correctly on the $2000 clue in MOVIE & SONG TITLE. “An ethereal
rom-com with Reese Witherspoon & a Top 40 hit by The Cure.” Somehow she
knew both: Just Like Heaven.
She then found the
Daily Double on the next clue in SCIENTISTS. She wagered $4000: “A strength of
mind almost divine’, says some of the Latin inscription on this 17th
century genius’ grave at Westminster Abbey. She took a long time before she
said: “Who is Isaac Newton?” and put her in the lead which she would hold for
the rest of the round.
Will got to the other
Daily Double and at the time had just $1000. With little choice he bet the
$2000 he could: “A Nicki Minaj hit that samples Sir Mix-A-Lot & a J. Lo
movie set in the jungle.” He pondered and then guessed: “What is Baby Got Back?”
That was the right song but the wrong lyric. I knew the film was Anaconda. Will
dropped to -$1000.
Adriana maintained her
lead for the rest of the round finishing with an impressive $22,000. It was not
enough to lock it up as Ryan was at $12,000. Will managed to get out of the red
again on the final clue with $200.
The Final Jeopardy
category was COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD. “About 80 miles from Vladivostok, its
11-mile land border with Russia is the shortest of that country’s 14 neighbors.
I guessed Finland and I wasn’t even in the right part of Russia as you’ll see.
Will guessed: “What is
Bhutan?” That was wrong. He lost everything. Ryan’s response was revealed next.
He wrote down: “What is North Korea?” That was correct. He wagered $10,001
which put him in the lead with $22,001.
It was all on Adriana.
Her response was: “What is North Korea?” She wagered $3000 which gave her
$25,000 and put her in the finals with a well-earned victory.
Game 2
Isaac Hirsch vs Mark
Fitzpatrick vs. Amy Hummel
Isaac got off to a fast
start in the Jeopardy round building an early lead with $3200. Then he found
the Daily Double in ELEMENTAL NAMES. He bet everything:
“According to a study
published in 2016, this venomous pit viper was responsible for 39 percent of
snake bites on U.S. kids.” Isaac struggled before guessing: “What is an iron
cobra?” I couldn’t come up with a copperhead either. To his credit he rebounded
and at the end of the round he was back in the lead with $5000 to Amy’s $4200
and Mark’s $1200
Mark got to the first
Daily Double in Double Jeopardy early in AROUND THE WORLD. He had $4400 and
chose to bet it all. “The Genghis Khan Statue Complex is found about 35 miles
west of this city of 1.5 million.” He figured out it was Ulan Bator and went into
the lead for the first time.
For the next several
clues he and Isaac went back and forth and Isaac managed to get to the other
Daily Double in MOVIES AFTER YOU PRESS PLAY. He was in the lead with $15,000
and he bet $5000:
“The Paramount Pictures
mountain fades into a Peruvian peak.” Again he struggled before guessing: “What
is Six Days of the Condor?” He was thinking of Three Days of the Condor and
he’d still have been wrong: it was actually Raiders of the Lost Ark. He
dropped back into second place. At the end of Double Jeopardy Mark held the
lead with $18,400, Isaac was next with $13,600, Amy was very much alive with
$5600.
The Final Jeopardy
category was SCIENTISTS’ NAMES. “The first man to observe bacteria &
protozoa had a name containing the Dutch word for this much bigger creature.”
Now I knew this clue referred to Van Leeuwenhoek, the inventor of the
microscope. But I had no idea what kind of creature it was. I guessed: “What is
a wolf?”
Amy’s response was:
“What is a goose?” That was incorrect. She lost everything but a dollar.
Next was Isaac. He
wrote down: “What is a lion?” That was the correct answer. As Ken told is
Leeuwen means ‘lion’ in Dutch.” Isaac bet $4000. That put him at $17,600. He
was gambling on Mark being wrong.
It came down to Mark.
He was thinking of the right man, but his response was: “What is Leviathan?” He
wagered $8801, dropping him to $9599 and enabled Isaac to come from behind to
move on to the finals.
Game 3
Drew Basile vs. Drew
Goins vs Neilesh Vinjamuri
Note: For the purposes
of the show, the producers decided to eliminate confusion by calling the ‘two
Drews’ (as they will be known for eternity) by their last names. So I will
refer to them as Basile and Goins.
The game started with
all three players struggling to get out of the gate. When Basile found the
Daily Double in THE WESTERN HEMPISHERE he was the only player on the positive side
with $800. He wagered $1000:
“The name of this territory
means ‘our land’ in an Inuit language.” Basile struggled before guessing: “What
is Yukon?” It was Nunavut. He dropped to -$200 and everyone was in the red. It
didn’t last that long: Goins and Neilesh got out of the hole by the first break
and by the end of the Jeopardy round all three players were: Goins led with
$4800, Neilesh was next with $2000, Basile trailed with $800.
Neilesh went into the
lead early in Double Jeopardy with four consecutive correct responses. Goins
managed to get the first Daily Double in NEWISH WORDS AND PHRASES. Trailing
with $3600, he bet everything:
“This online activity of
anxiously poring over the sad state of affairs was in full swing in 2024.” He
knew it was doomscrolling (don’t we all) and went up to $7200.
He then found the other
Daily Double in YOU NEED A SPECIALIST and once again he bet everything. And it
was here that Drew Goins’s incredible, remarkable run came to an end:
“An epileptologist will
know how to treat tonic-clonic seizures, the bad kind also known by this French
name.” Goins struggled before guessing: “What is Guillain Barre?” It was
actually grand mal and he dropped to zero.
It wasn’t quite over
for Goins; this was another tough game for everybody. These clues were
difficult and everybody struggled. Basile had 14 correct responses but gave six
incorrect ones, Goins gave 17 correct responses but five incorrect ones and
Neilesh managed to give 13 correct responses but 2 incorrect ones. So by the
end of Double Jeopardy the scores were not particularly high: Neilesh led with
$8800, Basile was next with $6800, Goins was alive with $4400.
The Final Jeopardy
category was ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY. The clue was a killer – for me at least. “Wadi
al-Malekat in Arabic, this site near a similar and better known location was
the burial place of Nefertari and others.” All three players had an idea of
what the clue referred to; I didn’t. I guessed: “What is Thebes?”
Goins’s response was
revealed first: “What is the Valley of the Kings?” That was incorrect. He lost
just $400, leaving him with $4000.
Next came Basile. He
wrote down: “What is the Valley of the Queens?” That was the correct response.
(Egyptologists will know the Valley of the Kings is where King Tut’s tomb was
unearthed.) Basile bet $2002 putting him at $8802 and into the lead.
It came down to
Neilesh. He also had written down Valley of the Queens. He wagered $4801. That
put him at $13,601 and made him a more than deserving finalist. Two Drews were
not enough to beat him. (I know, I know.)
It was an incredible
run for Drew Goins, who won both the
Second Chance Tournament and first runner up in the Wild Card Tournament. He
managed an impressive $85,000 and will now be the mark for all future Second
Chance players.
As for the Tournament
of Champions for the first time in the post Alex Trebek era: the two winningest
players by either the metric of games
won or money won will be competing in the finals. Adriana Harmeyer will not
get her rematch against Drew Basile, who ended her 15 game streak to start a seven
game streak of her own but Isaac Hirsch will be formidable enough. As for
Neilesh, he managed one of two runaway victories in the Tournament of Champions
so far and he’s already managed to unseat a far better player in his semi-final
match. That said, Neilesh’s triumph over Greg Jolin and Weckiai Rannila aren’t
in the same category as Andrew He’s wins in the 2022 Tournament of Champions
and it wasn’t exactly a picnic in the semi-finals.
Tomorrow the best of
seven finals begin with $250,000 and a spot in the 2025 Jeopardy Masters
waiting. Keep watching this spot for the recap and the winners. It’s a great
group this time around.
No comments:
Post a Comment