WWTBAM Bored

The Game Show First Family of Placentia gets some virtual ink on today's KJ blog:
http://ken-jennings.com/blog/?p=765

A very nice shout-out!

But I also like his quote about girls with nerd fetishes.

What he didn't mention was the fact that Maddie got the high score of the night on the test. She got 24 out of 25. Apparently the high score up to that point on the book tour had been a 22. I got one less right than Maddie and the person who got one less than us was a Jeopardy champion who had won over $40,000 on the show. The three of us played in the final trivia round.

So, not only did Maddie almost beat me, in the final competition, but she also beat a multi-day Jeopardy champion.

PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote:So, not only did Maddie almost beat me, in the final competition, but she also beat a multi-day Jeopardy champion.

Did Ken get the results wrong when he says you edged Maddie out on the buzzer?

So you have to take a test in order to participate in the trivia quiz? How many get to play the trivia quiz? It wasn't real clear on his blog. He just mentions the trivia contest, but those of us who haven't been to a book signing aren't familiar with the format.

kayrharris wrote:So you have to take a test in order to participate in the trivia quiz? How many get to play the trivia quiz?

Everyone who attends gets to take the qualifying test. He reads 25 questions, and the audience members all write down their responses on an answer sheet that has been passed out, along with tiny golf pencils. The questions are all fairly straightforward generic trivia, with several very recent pop culture-type questions added in. Just in case there is a tie, there is a tiebreaker question, where you have to insert your best numeric guess to a question that no one could possibly know the exact correct answer to.

The previous high score (per KJ) was 22 correct out of 25. Maddie got 24 correct, while PSM got 23, and I got 21. Unfortunately for me, another guy got 22 correct, so he was picked in the top three who compete for the actual prize [a copy of Ken's latest book]. The top 3 are then asked 10 questions, and have to shout out their answer first; no buzzers are used. The 10 questions used were all moderate-difficulty generic trivia. [I am convinced that if I had made it to the final round, I would have won, since I knew 8 or 9 of the 10 answers and have a quick response time, but now we'll never know.]

By the way, I did say that I was just joking about still hating Ken but most people were laughing at my previous comment that they didn't hear it.

I sounds more organized in Yorba Linda than it was in Boston. Someone posted Ken's appearance on YouTube. He asked questions to the crowd and tossed leftover Halloween candy to whoever answered each one. Then he picked three at the end to get up and play for the grand prize.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMB5O9flJNo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw4auf1zMv8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmTruiPUWWw

MarleysGh0st wrote:

PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote:So, not only did Maddie almost beat me, in the final competition, but she also beat a multi-day Jeopardy champion.

Did Ken get the results wrong when he says you edged Maddie out on the buzzer?

well?

TheConfessor wrote:I sounds more organized in Yorba Linda than it was in Boston. Someone posted Ken's appearance on YouTube. He asked questions to the crowd and tossed leftover Halloween candy to whoever answered each one. Then he picked three at the end to get up and play for the grand prize.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMB5O9flJNo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw4auf1zMv8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmTruiPUWWw

That was how the NYC one was done also. IIRC, NYC was the first stop on his book tour. It sounds like he refined the process as he went along.

Sounds like fun.

This is the first I'm hearing of this. I am sure if it ever came to Philadelphia, there would have been stories or something.

On the other hand, between the house, TLAf and boonie, there might have been stories and I wouldn't have seen them because I was oblivious to so much.

jsuchard wrote:

kayrharris wrote:So you have to take a test in order to participate in the trivia quiz? How many get to play the trivia quiz?

Everyone who attends gets to take the qualifying test. He reads 25 questions, and the audience members all write down their responses on an answer sheet that has been passed out, along with tiny golf pencils. The questions are all fairly straightforward generic trivia, with several very recent pop culture-type questions added in. Just in case there is a tie, there is a tiebreaker question, where you have to insert your best numeric guess to a question that no one could possibly know the exact correct answer to.

The previous high score (per KJ) was 22 correct out of 25. Maddie got 24 correct, while PSM got 23, and I got 21. Unfortunately for me, another guy got 22 correct, so he was picked in the top three who compete for the actual prize [a copy of Ken's latest book]. The top 3 are then asked 10 questions, and have to shout out their answer first; no buzzers are used. The 10 questions used were all moderate-difficulty generic trivia. [I am convinced that if I had made it to the final round, I would have won, since I knew 8 or 9 of the 10 answers and have a quick response time, but now we'll never know.]

Thanks for the explanation. It helps to understand the concept. Sorry you didn't get a chance to compete. That would have been fun to watch.

peacock2121 wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:

PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote:So, not only did Maddie almost beat me, in the final competition, but she also beat a multi-day Jeopardy champion.

Did Ken get the results wrong when he says you edged Maddie out on the buzzer?

well?

There were no buzzers, but I won the competition. What I was trying to convey is the fact that Maddie held her own against the multi-day Jeopardy champion.

PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote: There were no buzzers, but I won the competition. What I was trying to convey is the fact that Maddie held her own against the multi-day Jeopardy champion.

I got that. Heck, we all knew Maddie could do that!

I got confused by the difference between the final competition that Ken reported on and the preliminary test that you described.

PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote:

peacock2121 wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote: Did Ken get the results wrong when he says you edged Maddie out on the buzzer?

well?

There were no buzzers, but I won the competition. What I was trying to convey is the fact that Maddie held her own against the multi-day Jeopardy champion.

Thanks for the clarification.

I also love that you bragged about your daughter at your own expense.

That didn't come out right, but you know what I mean.

peacock2121 wrote:

PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote:

peacock2121 wrote: well?

There were no buzzers, but I won the competition. What I was trying to convey is the fact that Maddie held her own against the multi-day Jeopardy champion.

Thanks for the clarification.

I also love that you bragged about your daughter at your own expense.

That didn't come out right, but you know what I mean.

Thank you.

We are proud of Maddie.

We are proud of Emma too. She made the District Honor Band on Drums. Emma also had a photograph that she took make it to the PTA Council Level for a Reflections contest. Her grades are better than her sister's right now.

Emma finds things to do so she is not walking in her sister's footsteps.

Being the Jeopardy champion in question, I was amazed by Madeline! I was fortunate to jump in on a few of the questions Ken asked because Julie and Madeline were so quick on everything. And a score of 24 on that quiz is tremendous!

My wife and I had taken our 3-year-old up to the mountains for some sledding that day and decided to drop by on the way back. We got a picture of the little guy talking to Ken later on.

I noticed Jeff in the audience when I got there but couldn't place where I'd seen him (Ken's site?). I had no idea of the legend of the Suchards, but now I know first-hand! I'm certainly impressed.

zachbaker wrote:Being the Jeopardy champion in question, I was amazed by Madeline! I was fortunate to jump in on a few of the questions Ken asked because Julie and Madeline were so quick on everything. And a score of 24 on that quiz is tremendous!

My wife and I had taken our 3-year-old up to the mountains for some sledding that day and decided to drop by on the way back. We got a picture of the little guy talking to Ken later on.

I noticed Jeff in the audience when I got there but couldn't place where I'd seen him (Ken's site?). I had no idea of the legend of the Suchards, but now I know first-hand! I'm certainly impressed.

Hi Zach! I didn't remember your name when I made my account, I am glad that you found the bored.

Maddie does quiz bowl in high school. The NAQT questions that she hears are more difficult than Jeopardy stuff, so I am not ashamed that she did better than me on the test. The pop culture stuff did in Jeff on Ken's test.

I was fully prepared for Maddie to beat me when we went up. She beat Burns Cameron on the Jeopardy simulator at the GSC when she was 11, so I wouldn't be the first MSL.

PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote: Hi Zach! I didn't remember your name when I made my account, I am glad that you found the bored.

I had seen it once or twice before, but hadn't made the connection at the time that you were the PlacentiaSoccerMom.

PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote:Maddie does quiz bowl in high school. The NAQT questions that she hears are more difficult than Jeopardy stuff, so I am not ashamed that she did better than me on the test.

That's great! I played something like quiz bowl for one year in high school and two years in junior high before I moved to Downey, which has nothing of the sort. It was very memorable as well as lots of fun. I've definitely lost a step since on the kind of trivia where you can interrupt at any time. It really keeps you on your toes!

PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote: The pop culture stuff did in Jeff on Ken's test.

I was fully prepared for Maddie to beat me when we went up. She beat Burns Cameron on the Jeopardy simulator at the GSC when she was 11, so I wouldn't be the first MSL.

Ken does like his pop culture, doesn't he?! Sorry to break up an all-Suchard final, which would have been very entertaining. Thanks for the challenge though, and congratulations to both of you!

zachbaker wrote: That's great! I played something like quiz bowl for one year in high school and two years in junior high before I moved to Downey, which has nothing of the sort. It was very memorable as well as lots of fun. I've definitely lost a step since on the kind of trivia where you can interrupt at any time. It really keeps you on your toes!

They don't have it at Maddie's school either, which is why I drive her to Huntington Beach three times a week to play for the team that Jeff and I played for in high school.

If we were smart, we would have bought a house closer to our former school, but I just couldn't imagine that her high school wouldn't have Quiz Bowl.[/quote]

zachbaker wrote: Ken does like his pop culture, doesn't he?! Sorry to break up an all-Suchard final, which would have been very entertaining. Thanks for the challenge though, and congratulations to both of you!

You don't need to apologize at all.