Transcript 09/09/09 - Matt Sittel

[BBTranscriptTeam]

Matt Sittel
Bellevue, NE
Matt is a Meteorologist for the U.S. Air Force

Question Topics:
* Super Fast
* Viral Video
* Holla!
* Bad Films
* The Bank Job
* What's the Title?
* So Depressed
* Sports on TV
* Grind House
* Back in the Day
* Sick Leave
* Wheels
* Word Play
* This Old House
* Animal Labor


$100 - Animal Labor
To save money and reduce pollution, in 2009 the state of Maryland tried using goats to do what along the highway?
A: Paint curbs B: Mow grass
C: Repair potholes D: Drive electric cars

Spoiler

B: Mow grass (5)

$200 - This Old House
The Pueblo Indians are famous for making buildings out of what material?
A: Ice B: Canvas
C: Wood D: Adobe

Spoiler

D: Adobe (10)

$300 - Word Play
Most dictionaries agree that the word "bodacious" is probably a combination of what word and "audacious"?
A: Boring B: Boyish
C: Bold D: Bookish

Spoiler

C: Bold (5)

-- Commercial Break --

Matt and Meredith recollected the last night of PTBAM, and the thrill of hearing Meredith's invitation to the syndiBAM hotseat.
Matt is scared of flying, instead he took a 36-hour train from Nebraska to New York. Meredith points out the irony that he works for the USAF.

$500 - Wheels
What 1970s muscle car shares its name with a 2008 film starring Clint Eastwood?
A: Gran Torino B: Barracuda
C: Camaro D: GTO

Spoiler

A: Gran Torino (9)

$1,000 - Sick Leave
Following a liver transplant in 2009, tech guru Steve Jobs reduced his workload as CEO of what company?
A: Google B: Microsoft
C: Yahoo! D: Apple

With 4 seconds left, Matt "thinks he knows it" but decides to Ask The Audience.

ATA: A: 7% B: 11% C: 6% D: 76%

Spoiler

D: Apple (3)

$2,000 - Back in the Day
What long-running publication began in 1905 began as a New York periodical covering the vaudeville industry?
A: Reader's Digest B: Variety
C: Sports Illustrated D: Redbook

Spoiler

B: Variety (20)

-- Commercial Break --

Matt's wife is home, Matt will miss his 11th wedding anniversary, which is tomorrow.

$4,000 - Grind House
A pestle is a blunt instrument traditionally used to grind and mix substances inside a bowl called a what?
A: Mortar B: Crucible
C: Griddle D: Saucier

"One of my favorite comedy teams is '

Spoiler

Mortar

and Pestle'", Matt quips.

Spoiler

A: Mortar (23)

$8,000 - Sports on TV
What character on NBC's "The Office" shares his name with the baseball player named National League MVP in 2006?
A: Ryan Howard B: Stanley Hudson
C: Kevin Malone D: Andy Bernard

With 18 seconds left, Matt decides to phone a friend. Among Chester (Kingsport, TN), Karen (his wife in Bellevue, NE), and Michael (Richmond Heights, OH), Matt chooses his wife Karen. ("a huge fan of The Office...")

Matt reads the question and choices in 13 seconds, and his wife immediately answers

Spoiler

Andy Bernard

with 100% confidence and 10 seconds left over.

Matt answers accordingly,
("the anniversary gift keeps getting bigger...")
and drops down to $1000.
("well, the gift got smaller")

Spoiler

A: Ryan Howard (14)

On deck contestant Melissa Brown is introduced.

During the commercial break, the following "teaser for tomorrow" WWTBAM question is posed:

Spoiler

Which of these U.S. landmarks is the tallest?
A: Statue of Liberty B: Gateway Arch
C: Washington Monument D: Capitol Building

[Weyoun]

Where do they get these people?

[doitneatly]

Matt Sittel

$8,000 - Sports on TV
What character on NBC's "The Office" shares his name with the baseball player named National League MVP in 2006?
A: Ryan Howard B: Stanley Hudson
C: Kevin Malone D: Andy Bernard

With 18 seconds left, Matt decides to phone a friend. Among Chester (Kingsport, TN), Karen (his wife in Bellevue, NE), and Michael (Richmond Heights, OH), Matt chooses his wife Karen. ("a huge fan of The Office...")

Matt reads the question and choices in 13 seconds, and his wife immediately answers

Spoiler

Andy Bernard

with 100% confidence and 10 seconds left over.

It doesn't get much worse than being Durst'ed by your own wife!

As a fellow fan of the show, my strong suspicion is that she approached this question as if only one of the choices included the correct character surname. The character she immediately chose is the one whose full name is uttered quite frequently on the show, more so than the other three anyway.

This is not an easy PAF for a googler (not that she was googling...), and being a fan of the show is not the right qualification. Matt should've asked a sports fan.

[chad1m]

Where do they get these people?

The phone game.

Here's some of Matt's reflection the experience, as always, from the Game Show Forum.

Here's the problem: I read the question as, more or less, "one of these 4 baseball players shares a name with a character from 'The Office'." That's why I called my wife, because I figured she'd recognize which of the 4 names was the one on the show. Yes, I should have pressed her for more information, re-read the question, and all that, but with that damned clock ticking away there's precious little time to stop and think or remember to ask your PAF for more information. My necktie was getting tighter with every question... you'll note I exhale forcefully a couple of times-I *did* remember to breathe! The facial twitches were a combination of all that flaky make-up tickling my face and having a head cold. Not that there's anything wrong with involuntary movements, unless they're bowels and you're in the hot seat.

As for the other lifeline I used at 1K, here's the transcript from my brain:

"Steve Jobs. That's Apple... I'm pretty sure. Or wait a minute, was it Microsoft? I think it was Apple. But what if I'm wrong? I don't want to be the first zero-aire of the season. I have to get to at least 1K. I'd better ask the audience." And so I did.

Maybe I should have used my Double Dip. Or gone for it. It doesn't really matter now... and I see someone's already got the clip of my missed question on Youtube.

---

You can read the story of his very detailed experience at his website.

[Weyoun]

Jeez.

[Appa23]

I am pretty sure that Matt will need to turn in his "guy card" for missing a sports question.

Yet, despite his underwhelming performance, the local WWTBAM station still did a small story about him on the news.

In that story, Matt indicates that contestants were in the Green Room for 15 hours. I highly doubt that the show ended taping at 11 pm or later.

[Thousandaire]

Google 2006 mvp and Howard shows up right away. Not that I would criticize someone under the pressure of the hot seat and the clock for not thinking of that.

[T_Bone0806]

Matt and Meredith recollected the last night of PTBAM, and the thrill of hearing Meredith's invitation to the syndiBAM hotseat.

Yeah, I'm sure that was real #$%%$^& thrilling.

[NellyLunatic1980]

Matt Sittel
Bellevue, NE
Matt is a Meteorologist for the U.S. Air Force

He is also a former member of alt.tv.game-shows.

$1,000 - Sick Leave
Following a liver transplant in 2009, tech guru Steve Jobs reduced his workload as CEO of what company?
A: Google B: Microsoft
C: Yahoo! D: Apple

It's ironic that this question showed up on yesterday's show because Steve Jobs just made his first public appearance in a year to promote the new iPods and iPhone.

$2,000 - Back in the Day
What long-running publication began in 1905 began as a New York periodical covering the vaudeville industry?
A: Reader's Digest B: Variety
C: Sports Illustrated D: Redbook

And it's ironic that this question showed up on yesterday's show because of the death of its longtime columnist, Army Archerd, less than 48 hours ago.

$8,000 - Sports on TV
What character on NBC's "The Office" shares his name with the baseball player named National League MVP in 2006?
A: Ryan Howard B: Stanley Hudson
C: Kevin Malone D: Andy Bernard

With 18 seconds left, Matt decides to phone a friend. Among Chester (Kingsport, TN), Karen (his wife in Bellevue, NE), and Michael (Richmond Heights, OH)

The person on the bottom is Michael Klauss, a longtime member of alt.tv.game-shows and Golden-Road.net, and the owner of the late Randy Amasia's "Whew!" fan page.

Matt chooses his wife Karen. ("a huge fan of The Office...")

Matt's obvious mistake here was thinking this question was about "The Office".

Matt reads the question and choices in 13 seconds, and his wife immediately answers

Spoiler

Andy Bernard

with 100% confidence and 10 seconds left over.

Must resist throwing things at the TV...

Is this the first time that two consecutive contestants have been dursted by their PAFs?

Nihil obstat®

[MarleysGh0st]

Where do they get these people?

The phone game.

Here's some of Matt's reflection the experience, as always, from the Game Show Forum.

Here's the problem: I read the question as, more or less, "one of these 4 baseball players shares a name with a character from 'The Office'." That's why I called my wife, because I figured she'd recognize which of the 4 names was the one on the show. Yes, I should have pressed her for more information, re-read the question, and all that, but with that damned clock ticking away there's precious little time to stop and think or remember to ask your PAF for more information. My necktie was getting tighter with every question... you'll note I exhale forcefully a couple of times-I *did* remember to breathe! The facial twitches were a combination of all that flaky make-up tickling my face and having a head cold. Not that there's anything wrong with involuntary movements, unless they're bowels and you're in the hot seat.

He called it the "damned clock"! I say we give him honorary BB status and I hereby offer him all the <grumbles>® he wants!

[earendel]

Matt Sittel
Bellevue, NE
Matt is a Meteorologist for the U.S. Air Force

$100 - Animal Labor
To save money and reduce pollution, in 2009 the state of Maryland tried using goats to do what along the highway?
A: Paint curbs B: Mow grass
C: Repair potholes D: Drive electric cars

Spoiler

B: Mow grass (5)

E - fertilize the flowers

$8,000 - Sports on TV
What character on NBC's "The Office" shares his name with the baseball player named National League MVP in 2006?
A: Ryan Howard B: Stanley Hudson
C: Kevin Malone D: Andy Bernard

With 18 seconds left, Matt decides to phone a friend. Among Chester (Kingsport, TN), Karen (his wife in Bellevue, NE), and Michael (Richmond Heights, OH), Matt chooses his wife Karen. ("a huge fan of The Office...")

Matt reads the question and choices in 13 seconds, and his wife immediately answers

Spoiler

Andy Bernard

with 100% confidence and 10 seconds left over.

Matt answers accordingly,
("the anniversary gift keeps getting bigger...")
and drops down to $1000.
("well, the gift got smaller")

Spoiler

A: Ryan Howard (14)

Being a fan of "The Office" is not the issue - this is where a sports PAF would have been useful. I am not a fan of "The Office" - are all four of the choices the names of characters from the show?

[MarleysGh0st]

Here's a short article about Matt's appearance.

http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/58169282.html

BTW, WOWT, she's really only "NBC’s Meredith Vieira" when she's on the Today Show.

[Jeemie]

He called it the "damned clock"! I say we give him honorary BB status and I hereby offer him all the <grumbles>® he wants!

Marley- he was referring to the PAF clock.

That's always been a part of the game.

[MarleysGh0st]

He called it the "damned clock"! I say we give him honorary BB status and I hereby offer him all the <grumbles>® he wants!

Marley- he was referring to the PAF clock.

That's always been a part of the game.

Oh.

Well, one damned clock is as damned as another.

[Snaxx]

As for the other lifeline (Matt) used at 1K, here's the transcript from (his) brain:

"Steve Jobs. That's Apple... I'm pretty sure. Or wait a minute, was it Microsoft? I think it was Apple. But what if I'm wrong? I don't want to be the first zero-aire of the season. I have to get to at least 1K. I'd better ask the audience." And so I did.

Maybe I should have used my Double Dip. Or gone for it. It doesn't really matter now... and I see someone's already got the clip of my missed question on Youtube.

---

You can read the story of his very detailed experience at his website.

I hope this is not a hint of things to come when the show offers $3000 to walk away and not be the first llama of the season.

[doitneatly]

Google 2006 mvp and Howard shows up right away. Not that I would criticize someone under the pressure of the hot seat and the clock for not thinking of that.

Ahh yes that's a good point. Not a hard G-PAF question at all, if the hotseater manages to nimbly dissect and distill the question properly. TDC, indeed.

[chad1m]

Being a fan of "The Office" is not the issue - this is where a sports PAF would have been useful. I am not a fan of "The Office" - are all four of the choices the names of characters from the show?

Yes.

I dunno. For me, being a fan of the Office managed to help for me. Give me four baseball players and ask me the main question and I have no idea. But somewhere in my Office fandom, I picked up that Ryan Howard was also an athlete and being a fan of the Office would have been the only reason I would have gotten this right.

[Jeemie]

Google 2006 mvp and Howard shows up right away. Not that I would criticize someone under the pressure of the hot seat and the clock for not thinking of that.

Ahh yes that's a good point. Not a hard G-PAF question at all, if the hotseater manages to nimbly dissect and distill the question properly. TDC, indeed.

I think 30 seconds is plenty of time to understand this question is asking "Who was the 2006 NL MVP?"

But then again, 30 seconds was not enough time for me to realize which McDonald's sandwich was a club sandwich, so what do I know?

[mellytu74]

As soon as this happened, I posted a thread, ARUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH.

It has as much to do with misuse of the PAF --or using the wrong PAF or not knowing how to choose a PAF or something
-- than it did my particular affection for The Big Man.

Although I have enormous affection for The Big Man.

[Weyoun]

Technically, she Dursted him, but since he didn't understand the question either, I'm thinking they won't be arguing about it after the fact...

[Appa23]

Here's a short article about Matt's appearance.

http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/58169282.html

BTW, WOWT, she's really only "NBC’s Meredith Vieira" when she's on the Today Show.

Marley, didja notice that peacock on the top of the WOWT page?

In Omaha, she always is NBC's Meredith.

[Appa23]

Give me four baseball players and ask me the main question and I have no idea. But somewhere in my Office fandom, I picked up that Ryan Howard was also an athlete and being a fan of the Office would have been the only reason I would have gotten this right.

I won't ask for your "man card", but you officially are on "man probation." <g>

[chad1m]

I won't ask for your "man card", but you officially are on "man probation." <g>

Roidball is boring as hell, but I watched most of the LLWS. =P

[NellyLunatic1980]

As soon as this happened, I posted a thread, ARUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH.

It has as much to do with misuse of the PAF --or using the wrong PAF or not knowing how to choose a PAF or something
-- than it did my particular affection for The Big Man.

Although I have enormous affection for The Big Man.

I feel the same way about everything that you said.

[mellytu74]

I won't ask for your "man card", but you officially are on "man probation." <g>

Roidball is boring as hell, but I watched most of the LLWS. =P

So, you've never seen a commercial for Subway, the sandwich chain, then?

Ryan Howard is its spokesman. There are national commercials with him and Jared. His name is on the screen.

Piss poor excuse. It's still inexcuseable not have a sports PAF when you don't know from Shinola about sports.

Period.