Now that the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades tournament is over, I'm able to watch bits and pieces of it on YouTube, caveman-style. I already know who wins, but it is still a joy to see Ken Jennings compete again. Here are two notable moments from the quarterfinal and semifinal.
First, this crazy difficult category from the quarterfinal: "Initials to Roman Numerals to Numbers." Alex explained beforehand that the displayed answer suggests a name. You take the initials of the name, convert them to Roman numerals, and then convert that to a number. Watch Ken Jennings dominate the entire category (audio sync is a bit off).
Yeah.
On a lighter note, during the semifinal, in a category called "Art 'S'tuff," the correct response (beginning with an s, as required), was "shadowbox." But Russ Schumacher instead says, improbably, "What's a diorama?"
Which of course made me think of this classic Ralph Wiggum moment. I wish I could believe Mr. Schumacher did that on purpose, but I don't think so.
This was done on purpose, though. It's my all-time favorite Jeopardy! moment. (These last two are not from the tournament.)
This one is pretty good, too, and I love the odds of it happening.
I mean, really, a guy who knows that bit beforehand (see here) makes it onto Jeopardy!, makes it to the end, doesn't have a clue about the real answer and is willing to completely give up to have a chance to tell a joke. I love it.
(Edited to add: Miriam came home from school and watched a few minutes of the final game with me. When told her that was Professor Ken Jennings, as seen in her Greek Mythology and Maps and Geography Junior Genius Guides, she got a special little smile on her face. Those books are so good, by the way! I bought them for the girls but I ended up stealing them so I could read them, too.)
First, this crazy difficult category from the quarterfinal: "Initials to Roman Numerals to Numbers." Alex explained beforehand that the displayed answer suggests a name. You take the initials of the name, convert them to Roman numerals, and then convert that to a number. Watch Ken Jennings dominate the entire category (audio sync is a bit off).
Yeah.
On a lighter note, during the semifinal, in a category called "Art 'S'tuff," the correct response (beginning with an s, as required), was "shadowbox." But Russ Schumacher instead says, improbably, "What's a diorama?"
Which of course made me think of this classic Ralph Wiggum moment. I wish I could believe Mr. Schumacher did that on purpose, but I don't think so.
This was done on purpose, though. It's my all-time favorite Jeopardy! moment. (These last two are not from the tournament.)
This one is pretty good, too, and I love the odds of it happening.
I mean, really, a guy who knows that bit beforehand (see here) makes it onto Jeopardy!, makes it to the end, doesn't have a clue about the real answer and is willing to completely give up to have a chance to tell a joke. I love it.
(Edited to add: Miriam came home from school and watched a few minutes of the final game with me. When told her that was Professor Ken Jennings, as seen in her Greek Mythology and Maps and Geography Junior Genius Guides, she got a special little smile on her face. Those books are so good, by the way! I bought them for the girls but I ended up stealing them so I could read them, too.)