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Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 1:09 am
by Bob78164
Retroactive good luck to trevor_macfee in his Tournament of Champions semifinal today. I suspect many people who will be interested will find themselves preempted by college basketball, so if TKO could work his usual magic (or if he has trained an apprentice), I'm sure that many people will be appreciative. --Bob

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 1:11 am
by littlebeast13
Bob78164 wrote:Retroactive good luck to trevor_macfee in his Tournament of Champions semifinal today. I suspect many people who will be interested will find themselves preempted by college basketball, so if TKO could work his usual magic (or if he has trained an apprentice), I'm sure that many people will be appreciative. --Bob

Ooh, since I'll actually be up at 3:30 today, I'll have to watch.....

I think the last J! epsiode I watched was one of trevor's appearances from his initial run....

lb13

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 7:55 am
by gsabc
Adding my time-travel good luck wishes. Defeating the fierce competition will serve you in good stead in the finals. :)

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:06 am
by Vague Mini
My Jeopardy comes on an ABC affiliate, so no basketball problems. But I don't have a DVR.

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 3:19 pm
by littlebeast13
littlebeast13 wrote:
Bob78164 wrote:Retroactive good luck to trevor_macfee in his Tournament of Champions semifinal today. I suspect many people who will be interested will find themselves preempted by college basketball, so if TKO could work his usual magic (or if he has trained an apprentice), I'm sure that many people will be appreciative. --Bob

Ooh, since I'll actually be up at 3:30 today, I'll have to watch.....

I think the last J! epsiode I watched was one of trevor's appearances from his initial run....

lb13

So much for that, as I was unexpectedly out for an hour and a half.... and I gave up the fun party that was on the Bored too....

I hope trevor did well....

lb13

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 4:31 pm
by TheConfessor
Clash of the Titans
Nice performance, Pastor Dave! Your true daily double was a great moment in the annals of Jeopardy! Larissa is going to be tough to beat, with her broad knowledge and superior buzzer timing. Congratulations on a memorable run.

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:27 pm
by gsabc
Spoiler
Congratulations on a well-fought game, Dave. You got clobbered on the buzzer, unfortunately. I was applauding with the audience at that TDD. Good FJ betting, too. You done good.

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:54 pm
by MarleysGh0st
J! got pre-empted by basketball, here. :evil:

Thanks for the spoilers...
Spoiler
even though they don't have the news I was hoping for.

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 1:03 am
by Bob78164
The result
I'm sorry it came to an end, but you lost to a very worthy opponent.
--Bob

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 6:21 am
by earendel
I found out that our local station was airing J! in the wee hours of the morning (3 or 4AM), so I tried to set my DVR to catch it. I couldn't use the channel guide because it didn't show the program, so I tried the timer. It didn't work, either - possibly because they aired the show at a different time.
Spoiler
I read the spoilers and am sorry that you lost, Pastor Dave. It sounds like a game I would have loved to watch. Maybe someone will YouTube it.

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 6:45 am
by Jeemie
Spoiler
Sorry you lost Dave- but you made a valiant effort.

A question on the signalling devices. I know everyone finds a comfort zone for where they hold those things, but it seemed you looked awkward the way you were holding it. It also seemed in both games that your opponent that beat you had an advantage, holding it in what appeared to be a more comfortable manner. Was it really comfortable for you that way? I'm sure it's just because that's not the way that I would choose to hold it that made me think that way, but it just didn't look that comfortable.

Sorry if that comes off sounding bad- but I really want to know. I've seen various recommendations on how to hold the signalling devices- it's a subject that interests me (although I'll probably never go on the show- my trivia playing skills are ill-matched for J!- I do not have the quick recall necessary to excel at playing it).

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:45 am
by mcd1400de
Spoiler
Dave, congrats on a fine performance! Making the semis of the ToC is quite an achievement. I was especially impressed by your pulling Eleanor of Aquitaine seemingly out of thin air!

Not that it would have mattered, since Larissa got it right anyway, but being a fan of Stargate sure helped a great deal on that FJ...
Jeemie wrote: I've seen various recommendations on how to hold the signalling devices- it's a subject that interests me (although I'll probably never go on the show- my trivia playing skills are ill-matched for J!- I do not have the quick recall necessary to excel at playing it).
I guess I can take this part out of the spoilers, since it doesn't have any bearing on the results from last night.

The best advice I ever saw on this was in a local news feature on area resident Dave Traini, from when he competed in the ToC for season 3... over 20 years ago now! (Wow.) Dave's research indicated that response times are notably quicker using the index finger versus the thumb. Also, the mere act of gripping the buzzer creates extra tension in the muscles of that hand, which can also slow reaction time slightly.

He recommended holding the buzzer in one's "off" hand, and using the index finger of your dominant hand to operate the button, which solves both problems. It took very little practice to get quite comfortable with that method, which worked very well for me during my one-and-done. (My problem wasn't with timing on the buzzer as much as it was going temporarily brain-dead during DJ....!)

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 8:05 am
by ulysses5019
mcd1400de wrote:
Spoiler
Dave, congrats on a fine performance! Making the semis of the ToC is quite an achievement. I was especially impressed by your pulling Eleanor of Aquitaine seemingly out of thin air!

Not that it would have mattered, since Larissa got it right anyway, but being a fan of Stargate sure helped a great deal on that FJ...
Jeemie wrote: I've seen various recommendations on how to hold the signalling devices- it's a subject that interests me (although I'll probably never go on the show- my trivia playing skills are ill-matched for J!- I do not have the quick recall necessary to excel at playing it).
I guess I can take this part out of the spoilers, since it doesn't have any bearing on the results from last night.

The best advice I ever saw on this was in a local news feature on area resident Dave Traini, from when he competed in the ToC for season 3... over 20 years ago now! (Wow.) Dave's research indicated that response times are notably quicker using the index finger versus the thumb. Also, the mere act of gripping the buzzer creates extra tension in the muscles of that hand, which can also slow reaction time slightly.

He recommended holding the buzzer in one's "off" hand, and using the index finger of your dominant hand to operate the button, which solves both problems. It took very little practice to get quite comfortable with that method, which worked very well for me during my one-and-done. (My problem wasn't with timing on the buzzer as much as it was going temporarily brain-dead during DJ....!)

I used my index finger since I had been taught to do that when I timed track and swim meets. But I think the player should use whatever feels comfortable.
And congrats Dave.

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 9:39 am
by Weyoun
Larissa is a terrific player - I played against her was I was in school. I was actually a little surprised to see her drop some questions like Barbarossa - I felt like she could have been beaten. Sitting home (with the usual caveats), I would have been thrilled to play her and have her give me questions in a Crusades category that I am very strong in, or in spelling words from elements (since I tutor chemistry on the side).

Her quiz bowl team at Princeton had herself, Dave Madden (who won like 20 straight episodes on Jeopardy) and Ken Jennings loser Jeff Hoppes (who is her husband now, and the strongest player in the bunch). They'd have a random fourth who could clean up on science. A very strong team that somehow never won the national title.

Congrats, Pastor Simpson, on hanging in there against such a terrific player. I don't know if you appreciate how well you did against such a great player, but you did.

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 10:02 am
by ulysses5019
Weyoun wrote:Larissa is a terrific player - I played against her was I was in school. I was actually a little surprised to see her drop some questions like Barbarossa - I felt like she could have been beaten. Sitting home (with the usual caveats), I would have been thrilled to play her and have her give me questions in a Crusades category that I am very strong in, or in spelling words from elements (since I tutor chemistry on the side).

Her quiz bowl team at Princeton had herself, Dave Madden (who won like 20 straight episodes on Jeopardy) and Ken Jennings loser Jeff Hoppes (who is her husband now, and the strongest player in the bunch). They'd have a random fourth who could clean up on science. A very strong team that somehow never won the national title.

Congrats, Pastor Simpson, on hanging in there against such a terrific player. I don't know if you appreciate how well you did against such a great player, but you did.
That would have been some team. KT and I met Dave (I think he won 22games) at a J! taping.

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 10:03 am
by Rexer25
ulysses5019 wrote:
Weyoun wrote:Larissa is a terrific player - I played against her was I was in school. I was actually a little surprised to see her drop some questions like Barbarossa - I felt like she could have been beaten. Sitting home (with the usual caveats), I would have been thrilled to play her and have her give me questions in a Crusades category that I am very strong in, or in spelling words from elements (since I tutor chemistry on the side).

Her quiz bowl team at Princeton had herself, Dave Madden (who won like 20 straight episodes on Jeopardy) and Ken Jennings loser Jeff Hoppes (who is her husband now, and the strongest player in the bunch). They'd have a random fourth who could clean up on science. A very strong team that somehow never won the national title.

Congrats, Pastor Simpson, on hanging in there against such a terrific player. I don't know if you appreciate how well you did against such a great player, but you did.
That would have been some team. KT and I met Dave (I think he won 22games) at a J! taping.
Did he autograph your beak? (I realize this post will make no sense at the next avatar change)

Re: Retroactive semifinal good luck

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 10:07 am
by ulysses5019
Rexer25 wrote:
ulysses5019 wrote:
Weyoun wrote:Larissa is a terrific player - I played against her was I was in school. I was actually a little surprised to see her drop some questions like Barbarossa - I felt like she could have been beaten. Sitting home (with the usual caveats), I would have been thrilled to play her and have her give me questions in a Crusades category that I am very strong in, or in spelling words from elements (since I tutor chemistry on the side).

Her quiz bowl team at Princeton had herself, Dave Madden (who won like 20 straight episodes on Jeopardy) and Ken Jennings loser Jeff Hoppes (who is her husband now, and the strongest player in the bunch). They'd have a random fourth who could clean up on science. A very strong team that somehow never won the national title.

Congrats, Pastor Simpson, on hanging in there against such a terrific player. I don't know if you appreciate how well you did against such a great player, but you did.
That would have been some team. KT and I met Dave (I think he won 22games) at a J! taping.
Did he autograph your beak? (I realize this post will make no sense at the next avatar change)
Nah. Do you want to scritch it for me?