The Ballad of John and Katy (Now with Q by Q rundown)

[John Doh]

Question 9.
OK, I have been getting a lot of grief from my siblings, family, and even my godmother on this question.
After hearing my explanation, most have been very forgiving. So let me also share my explanation here.

I knew this one cold, but this question was when being in the hotseat started messing with my mind.
Just before going to NY, I had briefly reviewed the 'basics' on the topic of Popes. When I read the
question, I grimaced a bit in fear of what the answers would be. I was expecting to see Pope names -
you know So-and-So IV or Such-and-Such VII. When the disciple names appeared, I said to myself
'Oh, that's easy - It's Peter'. But wait a minute . . . Did Peter change his name when he became Pope?
I don't know why that thought popped into my head, but that kernal of doubt (plus not being at 25K yet)
made me decide on using DD just to cover my butt.

I do not like Double Dip. It can be a dangerous lifeline and I completely understand why people walk
with that one still on the table. I knew I was throwing it out the window by using it on this question,
but decided it was the best way to calm my doubt at that point.

Looking back on how I played my stack, I have thought about 'What if I didn't use DD here?' If I had trusted
what I knew and held on to the DD, I might have used it on the 25K question and definitely would have used
it on the 50K question. So in the end, I would have been facing the 100K question without any lifelines either
way I played it. I am at peace with my decision.

[John Doh]

Question 10.
Again, I had reviewed the 'basics' on the Amendments before going to NY (knew the
18th started prohibition and the 21st repealed it), but had no clue on the law that
enforced the 18th amendment.

Figured that this would be right up Tom Delay's alley, but just wanted to see what the
audience thought first. If the percentage was higher than 50, then I might hold on
to ATE. Not a big fan of using ATA after 25K, so I also thought this was the last chance
to use that lifeline. Turned out the audience got it right, but 39% was not a result
that gave me any confidence. However, after hearing Tom Delay saying that he was
pretty sure about this one, I felt good about going with Volstead Act.

I made it to 25K!!!! That certainly was a major goal for me - wished I still had a lifeline
or two, but that was OK. I wouldn't have gotton here without using them, so I was happy!

[John Doh]

Question 11
OK, flying without a net, but this one is a free guess! Never heard of 'Coast of Utopia'.
Fortunately, the possible answers helped me out here. I pay attention to things like
the Emmys and the Grammys, so I was fairly confident that PBS Miniseries and James
Taylor Album could be eliminated. Actually, when the answers appeared, I was immediately
drawn to Trilogy of Plays for some reason. After deciding it wasn't B or C, I chose A without
even really considering D - Presidential Biography (that one never even came up on my radar).

A - Trilogy of Plays - Final answer.

Meredith holds for dramatic pause and then asks 'Do you know who wrote it?'

At that moment, the only words I wanted to hear were 'That's correct!' Also was on guard for
the famous 'Meredith fake-out'. My response of 'I don't care' was pure reaction without thought.
As long as it wasn't written by James Taylor or some PBS screen writer, I didn't care.

It wasn't until the show aired last week that I saw my comment really made Meredith laugh. I just
remember her saying something about me being cocky! The fact that she cracked up before she
said that did not register with me when I was in the hotseat. Didn't even know that she said the
author's name going into the commercial break. I had just won 50 thousand dollars and everything
was kind of a blur right then!

[John Doh]

Question 12
'Word' questions are one of my weak areas. Sometimes I can figure them out, but overall I
struggle with those questions. I had never heard the word 'Barophiles', so I knew this was
going to be tough for me.

This was the first question where I really felt pressure from the clock. I also spent too much
time looking at the answers for clues rather than the word itself. In those handful of seconds,
'barometer' was not coming to mind. Now if TDC wasn't there, I might have had time to come up
with barometer - which measures pressure - which should have led me to 'Deep Sea' as the answer.
However, I had to play the game as it was, which meant coming up with it in less than 45 seconds
or try guessing. Since I couldn't come up with it and I definitely am not a gambler, I knew I had to
walk with the 50K. I was very happy with winning that amount!

Yes, I missed making the ToT leader board by about 10 seconds, but I was OK with that. I chose to
focus on being in the hotseat right now - I wasn't going to worry about what might happen in the
future. I could have gone with the Carver/Cahill strategy, but that wasn't me.

Turns out that I got sick right after I returned home from NY. If I had made the top 10, I would have
had to return to NY 3 days after I got home and that was when I was the sickest. Of course, I would
have made the trip back to take a free look at a million dollar question, but I probably would have felt
miserable the whole time and odds are I would have walked away with my 50K.

I had an absolutely fantastic Millionaire experience and nobody can take that away from me! Well, Uncle
Sam will take away some of it, but all the non-money parts of it are mine to keep forever, and those are
the things that even a million dollars can't buy.

[jarnon]

Question 9.
When the disciple names appeared, I said to myself 'Oh, that's easy - It's Peter'. But wait a minute . . . Did Peter change his name when he became Pope? I don't know why that thought popped into my head, but that kernal of doubt (plus not being at 25K yet) made me decide on using DD just to cover my butt.

In retrospect, you regret overthinking the question, but your explanation makes a lot of sense. Modern Popes do change their names. And Peter changed his name too; it was originally Simon. Matthew 16:18 says: "And I tell you that you are Peter [which means 'rock' in Latin], and on this rock I will build my church." (You could even say that Peter changed his name when he became Pope, since Jesus appointed Peter to be head of the church in the same verse as he changed his name.) Paul (who wasn't a Pope) also changed hsi name, from Saul. That's a lot to think about in 30 seconds.

As I posted earlier, you were a fabulous contestant.

[earendel]

Question 9.
When the disciple names appeared, I said to myself 'Oh, that's easy - It's Peter'. But wait a minute . . . Did Peter change his name when he became Pope? I don't know why that thought popped into my head, but that kernal of doubt (plus not being at 25K yet) made me decide on using DD just to cover my butt.

In retrospect, you regret overthinking the question, but your explanation makes a lot of sense. Modern Popes do change their names. And Peter changed his name too; it was originally Simon. Matthew 16:18 says: "And I tell you that you are Peter [which means 'rock' in Latin], and on this rock I will build my church." (You could even say that Peter changed his name when he became Pope, since Jesus appointed Peter to be head of the church in the same verse as he changed his name.) Paul (who wasn't a Pope) also changed hsi name, from Saul. That's a lot to think about in 30 seconds.

As I posted earlier, you were a fabulous contestant.

Technically Peter didn't change his name - Jesus changed it for him (as you rightly noted later). As for Paul, he didn't change his name, either. As was common in that era he had both a Jewish and a Roman name. As Luke records the story, Saul started using the Roman "Paul" as he began missionary work among the Gentiles.

[Phil Ken Sebbin]

Great synopsis, John. I really enjoyed reading it and I can't wait to get to give my play-by-play but it will have to wait a few months. I think you took an excellent approach to the hotseat and came across very likable. I was mentally trying to retroactively give you the answer to the barophile question but I totally understand why you would walk there. The difference of playing for $25k is very different when you are playing for real and not vicariously at home.

Great game!