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Fairytales for a Practical Princess - 2008-11-30
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10:02 p.m. - 2004-07-21
I’ve said many times that I don’t watch TV. I’ll amend that to I don’t watch much TV. I’ve been watching an old favorite again recently. Wolf, believe it or not, has become a huge Jeopardy fan. I’ve started watching with him. I like sharing Jeopardy with my kid. Wolf understands the format, if not the questions themselves, and happily shouts out his nonsense answers in the form of a question. This cracks me up. Sometimes he almost gets a particular clue and he listens to my answer. He nods as if he’s saying, “Okay, I’ve got it now.” Like all kids with his kind of glitches, the boy has an awesome memory. I’m certain quite a bit is sinking in. When he’s accepted at Stanford I’ll send Alex Trebec a dozen roses. I wish Ken Jennings would just lose already. I’m sick of looking at him. Plus, how many people has he shot down so far? 70? Seems to me now that he’s got his million and more than a month’s worth of appearances the decent thing to do would be to retire and let someone else have a chance. I know 2 people who’ve been on Jeopardy, both are brilliant. I’ve never lost a game of Trivial Pursuit. Ever. I tried out for Jeopardy years ago when I was on top of my game and fast. I didn’t pass. Getting on Jeopardy is Hard. And I’m not just saying that because I didn’t make the cut. It’s no cakewalk to get selected. So I truly think this recent group of contestants got hosed. You know why? Because Jeopardy is like the Super Bowl of Smartness. Taking your place at the podium vindicates every extra-credit report. Every non-major course you took because it sounded interesting. All the rainy day encyclopedia reading. All the crap you got for being a know-it-all and a bore. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to unleash your brain and kick some butt with it. And to pass the rounds of entrance tests and go to California and finally, finally get your moment in the sun only to be chewed up and spat out by some winning machine like Ken Jennings is so unfair I could howl. I’m competitive, but I have this line I won’t cross. I have a rather Japanese baseball approach to competing, a tie is good. When I play Tanglewords I try to find a room with enough similarly rated players. It’s no fun winning round after round against lower rated players. Nor do I enjoy playing against the real big guns who win like 70 rounds in a row and don’t seem to mind. The challenge is to take on a peer. To me this is the true test of skill. Ken Jennings has the timing down to the nano-second on the signaling button. No nervous newbie stands a chance. Jeopardy has ceased to be a brain battle, it’s a reflex contest and that’s not what the show is about. At this point Ken just looks like a big old greedy-head to me. “ Hey, Lightning Thumb, why don’t you be a mensch and let some of the other kids play now?” Maybe I just don’t have the killer instinct. I like to win, but it doesn’t kill if I don’t. I dislike those win-at-all-costs types. You know the kind, the ones who are incapable of playing a ‘friendly’ game of anything. A game of Pictionary becomes a grudge match. All the fun is sucked out of it when every point is argued and/or there’s a lot of gloating. Bleh. Shut up and play. I’m mean really, I’m no fortress of self-esteem, but I’d have to be pretty hard-up for ego if my self-worth was on the line over a game of Uno. Ken Jennings…Go Home! Fed up~ LA Tonight’s Pick: “I Lost on Jeopardy” by Weird Al
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