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Friday, July 16, 2004
Next month, I'll be attending the UNITY Convention in DC (hopefully I'll get to see a bunch of DC-based people while I'm in town as well). One of the highlights is the AAJA Scholarship Banquet, which recently announced its special guests. I think you can guess who I'm most excited to see.
posted at 3:31 AM
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
One milllllllion dollars!
As mentioned before, here's the article my friend Rodney wrote in the AJC about the Ken Jennings phenomenon. It actually looks a lot better in the paper because the article included a graphic of six of the Final Jeopardy clues during his run. And as for his breaking the $1 million mark -- it was a tad anticlimactic since he got the question wrong (although I got it right sitting at home) -- but entering Final Jeopardy with $46,000 is absolutely ridiculous.
This now means I know of three people with quizbowl connections who have broken $1 million on game shows. And to think, I was kidding around on my Weakest Link application that I wanted to use the money I might've won on creating a program that helped feed contestants to different game shows -- I guess we've already had it to begin with.
Speaking of Weakest Link, BBC America is now showing the British version of the game. There was a share of British-centric questions (what county or country some lesser-known landmarks are located, some British TV shows, a few rugby and cricket rules questions), but there also was a surprising abundance of U.S. geography and movie questions. It will still be a challenge for any American playing along, but you'd be surprised how well you could do.
posted at 3:27 PM
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
VH1: Only shame, no points
Thanks to their Big Kahuna Summer, I've actually had VH1 subject me to both seasons of the Surreal Life in less than 24 hours and draw me in to whatever Rachael Harris, Michael Ian Black and Hal Sparks have to say about 90210, Gerardo and Bugle Boy Jeans. Grrrreat.
I can't believe VH1 is now picking up the next edition of the Surreal Life and in the process is bringing in Jordan Knight, Flava Flav, Brigitte Nielsen, Ryan Starr and Dave Coulier. There's a bit too much of "Who is that again?" for this edition to match the previous two, which had enough kitsch-star power to move it along.
As for I Love the '90s, I'll have more of a review once I watch more than just the 1991 episode I saw after Ken Jennings appeared on Letterman. But I will say that it's nice that they're doing the music compilations for the shows, but I want the DVDs, damn it. For goodness sake, Murder She Wrote, Knight Rider, Sliders and The Munsters are all heading to DVD. When will Davis Rules, The Charmings, Out of this World and Marblehead Manor head to the shiny discs?
posted at 2:57 AM
I really do like the Home Run Derby, but I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed for most of this year, despite the great outbursts by Lance Berkman and Miguel Tejada in the second round -- and providing many of the very casual fans to ask whodat?
Berkman had the home crowd behind him, and it really helped that he hit his homers in bunches. In fact, that's when the home run derby becomes fun -- when someone pulls off a streak of four or five in a row and the crowd gets fired up. It's not as exhilarating when someone does a string of "out-homer-out-homer-homer-out-out." There's not much of a groove going on. (To an extent, that would sum up Tejada's first round, as well as Barry Bonds' and Rafael Palmeiro's rounds.) This is where you get to see both sides of the 10-out format instead of the 10-swing style. And honestly, to make a game of it, I'd love to see it redone in the style of the old Home Run Derby show, although that would take too long. (The offseason version that's filmed in Las Vegas isn't all that compelling, though.)
At least they opened the roof for the later rounds. It gave a little more perspective as to how far the homers actually went from righties. Hitting the glass wall doesn't say a whole lot when it's probably closer in than Tal's Hill. But clear the train tracks and it feels like you've hit a bomb. Also, I'm surprised no one cleared the hill in center field during the derby. Even though most of the homers are pull jobs, there's usually one or two dead center moon shots that take out a scoreboard or mascot.
What also killed some of the momentum of this year's derby was all the interviews with the 500-homer club. While it was great to hear what they had to say (as well as keep Chris Berman relatively quiet), it was hard to get into many of the hitters. Miguel Tejada's record round took place while Reggie Jackson hogged the spotlight in his interview. Only when Tejada was getting close to double digits did they start paying attention to him. It was a nice idea in theory, but it seemed way too distracting. At least most of the 500-homer guys they interviewed had slightly better on-air presence than those amazingly awkward interviews during the old Home Run Derby.
"So, Mickey, he sure got a hold of one, didn't he?" "Yup."
posted at 2:35 AM
Damn you, Trebek
It's about time I mentioned Ken Jenning's amazing run on Jeopardy!. I'm thinking about writing something at work about him, but for now, I'm just feeding information to a friend working on an article on the run. In the midst of my research, I came across this page, which chronicles every contestant, answer, etc. from each game of the season. You can re-live all of Ken's wins (and in the case of my friend, can find all of the vanquished from the Atlanta area). It's an impressive site, and yet amazingly disturbing at the same time to find someone doing a play-by-play of every game for nearly a year.
It's good to see Ken doing well, although I've never met him. I thought for a while I played him at the ABD back in 2000, but I'm doubting that now because it took place on a Sunday. Oh well. Still, it's good to see yet another of the quizbowl world doing well on game shows. Right now, I'd like to see a team of Ken, Brian Weikle and Mark Dawson at a tournament as Team Jeopardy! (we'll stick with three because it's like a regular episode of the show; otherwise, there'd been a long list
I'm amazed by how well he's playing, even though I think I could keep up with him for good stretches of time before getting smoked. I'm even answering with the same cadences and/or goofiness. After a while, all you look for is how much he'll take home at the end of the day.
One of the good things about the run is that I'm getting my brain more tuned up for a game show run -- Jeopardy! is on at 4:30 here in Atlanta, perfect time for me to watch and then head out to work. Many people like Jake Johannsen have rediscovered the show just to watch Ken keep going. However, you've still got to wonder how some of the past champions might've done with an extended run.
Update: Thanks to Phil (in the comments), I finally got my confirmation that I actually played Ken four years ago at the ABD -- with my team beating his. I guess that makes for a little more fodder for whatever Jeopardy! story I eventually decide to whip up.
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