Monday
December 22nd
Rachael
Gray vs Guy Branum Vs. Jasmine Zhou
If one could earn a Second Chance
on Jeopardy while playing in a Second Chance Tournament, I'm pretty sure
Jasmine Zhou would have gotten one. By every measure she played the best game
of the three players in the first semi-final match of Week 2, responding
correctly on 24 clues and only getting three wrong. The trouble was the two she
got wrong were in Double Jeopardy and…
Well let's start for real. In the Jeopardy round all three players
were quick on the trigger and evenly matched. Guy got off to an early lead but
Jasmine started challenging him early. By the end of the round Jasmine had
$6000 to Guy's $6200 while Rachel was only slightly behind with $4600.
Jasmine responded correctly on the
first clue of Double Jeopardy to go in the lead with $7600. She then found the
first Daily Double in SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE DARK AGES. She went all in:
"Around 900 the French
king ceded to Rollo the Viking a large northern territory that became known as
this duchy."
She paused before guessing:
"What is Luxembourg?" That's what I thought it was. In fact, it was
Normandy. Down to zero she went and she had to rebuild.
Which she did. The game remained
very close and then she managed to find the other Daily Double in CROSSWORD
CLUES 'U'. By now she had $6800. Guy was still in the lead with $12,600.
Despite what had happened last time she chose to bet everything again – and it
went just as badly:
All over the place (10 LETTERS)
She kept counting on her fingers
before finally guessing: "What is universal?" That was only 9
letters. The correct word was ubiquitous.
Again she went to zero. Again she
rebuilt. Aided by a couple of incorrect responses by both Guy and Rachael as
well as an incredible effort by the end of Double Jeopardy she was right back
in it. She had $4800 to Rachael's $8600 and Guy's $9400. Victory was still within her grasp – and she
almost got it.
The Final Jeopardy category was
FRENCH LANDMARKS. "Secularized during the Revolution, this Latin quarter
building has a porch of columns & triangular pediment modeled on an ancient
building." I could only come up with the Sorbonne which was quickly proven
incorrect.
Jasmine's response was revealed
first: "What is the Pantheon?" And that was correct. (As Ken pointed
out its modeled on the one in Rome.) She wagered almost everything, putting her
at $9599 – and putting her momentarily into the lead.
Next came Rachael and she couldn't
come up with anything. She lost $7000, leaving her with $1600.
It was all on Guy. He wrote down:
"What is the Pantheon?" and he wagered far more than the $200 he
would have needed to, betting $7801. That gave him $17,201 and made him the
first finalist.
For all Jasmine guts and glory it
was hard to argue Guy wasn't undeserving winner. He had been the odd man out
between Bryce Wargin's last appearance and Mike Dawson's first. Of the three
players in the first semi-final he more than deserved a chance at redemption.
Tuesday
December 23rd
Bob
Callen vs Molly Murray vs Michelle Tsai
This match was all about Michelle
and her lovely pigeon sweater. She put together the most dominant match of the
Second Chance Tournament so far with 33 correct answers and only three
incorrect answers. It should have been a runaway by all right but that was sort
of on her.
Michelle came out swinging in the
Jeopardy round. Already the only one with money when she found the Daily Double
in 'C.B.' she bet the $1800 she had. "When you analyze information in a
manner that tends to bolster your preexisting beliefs, its called this."
She knew it was confirmation bias and doubled her score. She kept rolling from
there and at the end of the Jeopardy round she had $10,400 to Molly's $2800 and
Bob's $2200.
Michelle actually kept rolling
when she found the first Daily Double in Double Jeopardy on the second clue of
the round in HITTING YOU WITH HARD SCIENCE. She wagered another $4000:
"Latin for 'hair' gives us the name of these blood vessels." She knew
they were the capillaries and went up to $16,000.
At that point pretty much the only
one who could stop Michelle was Michelle and that sort of happened when she got
to the last Daily Double in LADY & THE STAMP and she had $22,000. She
wagered $6000:
"The ''Columbian Exposition'
series features the first U.S. commemorative postage stamps, including 7 stamps
that feature her." She thought that it was Sacagawea. I knew that it was
Queen Isabella. (It referred to Columbian themed stamps. She dropped to $16,000
and that would stop her from making it a runaway. As it was she finished with
$22,800 with Molly at $13,200. Bob had a bad round and finished in the red, so
he wouldn't be around for Final Jeopardy.
The category for Final Jeopardy
was AUTHORS. "Before his sudden death in 2004, this journalist &
author was researching the unsolved assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme.
Now for the record this was the first Final Jeopardy that I got correct during
this entire tournament that I was absolutely certain of: "Who is Stieg
Larsson?" Both Molly and Michelle knew the correct response, though
Michelle misspelled it. (I'm not sure I
could have spelled it correctly either. Molly wagered everything; Michelle bet
$3601 to win by one dollar and deservedly move on to the finals.
Michelle's original appearance was
on May 7th of this year. She was impressive then, responding
correctly on twenty-two clues and only getting one wrong. However because that
one incorrect response was on a Daily Double that cost her everything in the
Jeopardy round and turned the tide of the game. She more than made up for it
today.
Wednesday
December 24th
Aaron
Himmel vs. Andrew Wang vs Melanie Hirsch
The third and last semifinal game
of Week 2 was not only the best match in the Second Chance Tournament so far it
was by far the most exciting game played in Season 42 to this point. Outside of
a Tournament of Champions game or one played on Jeopardy Masters there have
been few games this thrilling in the last five years.
It was ultra-competitive from the
beginning of the Jeopardy round onward. Aaron was actually in the red at one
point but he managed to build up nicely and take the lead midway through the round.
He finished with $6600 to Andrew's $5000 and Melanie's $3800.
The battle was joined when Melanie
found the first Daily Double in Double Jeopardy on the first clue she picked in
THE PLAY'S THE THING. She bet everything she had:
"2010's Clybourne Park starts
with a white couple selling their home to the Younger family of this great
American play." Melanie knew it was A Raisin in the Sun and took
the lead back.
Three clues later Andrew found the
other Daily Double in WORLD HISTORY. Even before Ken asked him what he wanted
to wager he said everything and bet the $6600 he had. For a moment it looked
like it was going to work against him:
"In the 19th
century a group of Irish radicals and a group of U.S. coal miners agitating for
better conditions shared this feminine name."
Andrew paused: "What are…Molly…Maguires?"
He seemed shocked when Ken told him he was correct and he moved into the lead with
$13,200.
From then on it was a battle to
the death, primarily between Andrew and Melanie though Aaron never let up.
Andrew gave sixteen correct responses and didn't make a single mistake. Melanie
gave 20 correct responses and only got 2 wrong (but one was critical) and Aaron
gave 22 correct responses and only one incorrect one. Andrew built up a lead of
$20,400 but then late in the round Melanie caught and passed him. However then
game the last clue of the game in CRITICAL VASE THEORY.
The ancient Roman Warwick Vase was
the model for the men's trophy at this tennis event, the first Grand Slam of
the Calendar year.
Melanie guessed: "What is Wimbledon?"
That was wrong. Then Aaron rang in with the Australian Open which was
correct. Andrew and Melanie were tied at
$20,400 apiece with Aaron finishing with an spectacular $17,000 in third.
Appropriately given the day the Final
Jeopardy category was HOLIDAY SONGS. "In an early draft, this title line
was followed by 'it may be your last', but Judy Garland refused to sing it that
way."
Aaron's response was revealed
first. "What is Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas?" That
was correct. (As Aaron knew Judy Garland
famously debuted the song in Meet Me in St. Louis.) He bet nothing and
stood pat with $17,000.
Andrew was next: "What is
Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas?" A different carol. He wagered everything.
It was all on Melanie. She wrote
down: "What is 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas?" Her wager
didn't matter at that point – but she'd also bet everything. It would have been
a tie had Andrew been correct but instead Melanie won with $40,800 and the third
and last spot in the finals. Melanie, who came very close to beating Josh
Weikert in his fourth appearance, will
be in the finals.
In contrast to the semi-finals of Week
in Week 2 all three finalists were in the lead going into Final Jeopardy. And
whereas none of the Second Chance Players in Week 1 came up with a correct
Final Jeopardy during the entire semifinals we've already had six correct Final
Jeopardys by the eight players who were left standing in the semi-finals. Does
this mean the group from Week 2 is better than the one from Week 1? In the case of Michelle and Melanie, objectively
I have to say yes. But that counts for nothing in the finals as any fan of
Jeopardy knows.
I'll be back Friday with the
results.
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