Jeopardy! and sports

[ChrisOH]

Hello everybody!

This past summer, I was invited to audition in Philadelphia for the TV quiz show Jeopardy!, as a result of passing the online test. I was put in a contestant pool, but have not yet been called to appear on the show. (I will remain in the pool through December of this year, then if I still have not been called, I'll be eligible to take the online test again.)

On one of the sample letters on this website, encouraging people to write against sports programming, etc., one such letter was addressed to Jeopardy! about removing sports questions from their show, since they were not academic subjects and not a true measure of knowledge. I agree with sports not being academic subjects; however, in the interest of fairness, the show would also have to remove questions about movies, TV shows, current music, and other pop-culture topics, as those are not taught in schools either, for the most part.

The difficulty inherent in Jeopardy! is that one must have a broad base of knowledge (questions could literally be about anything) and a quickness of recall of answer faster than their opponent. It's very difficult, if not impossible, to be an expert in every subject (science, history, the arts, sports, pop culture, just to name a few) but the broader one's knowledge is, the better chance they stand of succeeding on the show. However, often the sports, TV show, and other "light" material appears in the first round, and the more difficult "book subjects" in the second round, where much more money is at stake. Plus, there's a skill involved in reading and interpreting the clues, as many times a single word or phrase in the clue can help you reason out an answer, even if you didn't "know" it for certain.

As most of you know, I came from a background of many year of sports fandom before joining this site, and the knowledge of sports I had didn't just disappear (although much of the interest has!). I also have a somewhat eidetic memory, so I can recall things simply from hearing or reading them once or twice. I hope no one on here would think me traitorous if I did make it onto the show, and got sports questions correct. The way I see it, I'd love to beat the sports fans at their own game, as I'm sure most of them don't think "nerdy" guys know anything about sports. Also, as Fat Man mentioned in my thread about baseball card selling, if others can make money off sports, why shouldn't we?

Thoughts anyone? I'll keep everyone posted!

[recovering_fan]

This past summer, I was invited to audition in Philadelphia for the TV quiz show Jeopardy!, as a result of passing the online test. I was put in a contestant pool, but have not yet been called to appear on the show.

Fantastic! Congratulations!

The way I see it, I'd love to beat the sports fans at their own game, as I'm sure most of them don't think "nerdy" guys know anything about sports. Also, as Fat Man mentioned in my thread about baseball card selling, if others can make money off sports, why shouldn't we?

Thoughts anyone?

I agree 100% with that view.

Then again, I've already gone on record here as saying that I'd take a job at a sports-book if someone offered it to me...

...so my reply was probably fairly predictable.

[ChrisOH]

This past summer, I was invited to audition in Philadelphia for the TV quiz show Jeopardy!, as a result of passing the online test. I was put in a contestant pool, but have not yet been called to appear on the show.

Fantastic! Congratulations!

Thank you! This was probably the third or fourth year I took the online test; last year was the first time I was invited to audition. All in all, it was very fun -- the contestant coordinators were nothing like the stereotypical "Hollywood divas" -- very down-to-earth, humorous, and friendly.

The way I see it, I'd love to beat the sports fans at their own game, as I'm sure most of them don't think "nerdy" guys know anything about sports. Also, as Fat Man mentioned in my thread about baseball card selling, if others can make money off sports, why shouldn't we?

Thoughts anyone?

I agree 100% with that view.

Then again, I've already gone on record here as saying that I'd take a job at a sports-book if someone offered it to me...

...so my reply was probably fairly predictable.

Do you mean a sports publication (such as Sports Illustrated), or booking in the sense of gambling and oddsmaking?

[recovering_fan]

Do you mean a sports publication (such as Sports Illustrated), or booking in the sense of gambling and oddsmaking?

The latter. Vegas baby!

However, that is a fanciful notion. I doubt there are many jobs available in bookmaking, and the human resources directors responsible for filling those jobs probably have their pick of the top statisticians from across the country. I am better at pure mathematics.

Mainly I was trying to make the point that I don't see anything immoral in making money off the sports industry one way or another. I don't fault millionaire athletes for continuing to make millions playing some silly game. They didn't make the world. Their lot is merely to make their way in it as best they can. It is up to spectators to wise up, as I see it.

--RF

[ChrisOH]

Do you mean a sports publication (such as Sports Illustrated), or booking in the sense of gambling and oddsmaking?

The latter. Vegas baby!

However, that is a fanciful notion. I doubt there are many jobs available in bookmaking, and the human resources directors responsible for filling those jobs probably have their pick of the top statisticians from across the country. I am better at pure mathematics.

Ironically, it's the "nerdy" mathematician types who keep the sports industry going -- by calculating odds for gambling and probabilities for in-game strategies, as well as being agents for the players and owners in contract negotiations.

Mainly I was trying to make the point that I don't see anything immoral in making money off the sports industry one way or another. I don't fault millionaire athletes for continuing to make millions playing some silly game. They didn't make the world. Their lot is merely to make their way in it as best they can. It is up to spectators to wise up, as I see it.

I'm sure quite a few sports agents, labor negotiators, and oddsmakers really couldn't care less about the games themselves. It's just a job to them like any other.

[Earl]

ChrisOH, please forgive my late entry. I've been preoccupied.

This past summer, I was invited to audition in Philadelphia for the TV quiz show Jeopardy!, as a result of passing the online test. I was put in a contestant pool, but have not yet been called to appear on the show. (I will remain in the pool through December of this year, then if I still have not been called, I'll be eligible to take the online test again.)

Congratulations! I certainly hope that you're chosen to appear on that show. Wow!

On one of the sample letters on this website, encouraging people to write against sports programming, etc., one such letter was addressed to Jeopardy! about removing sports questions from their show, since they were not academic subjects and not a true measure of knowledge. I agree with sports not being academic subjects; however, in the interest of fairness, the show would also have to remove questions about movies, TV shows, current music, and other pop-culture topics, as those are not taught in schools either, for the most part.

I agree.

As most of you know, I came from a background of many year of sports fandom before joining this site, and the knowledge of sports I had didn't just disappear (although much of the interest has!). I also have a somewhat eidetic memory, so I can recall things simply from hearing or reading them once or twice. I hope no one on here would think me traitorous if I did make it onto the show, and got sports questions correct.

Of course, not. You wouldn't be hypocritical at all. Not in the slightest.

The way I see it, I'd love to beat the sports fans at their own game, as I'm sure most of them don't think "nerdy" guys know anything about sports. Also, as Fat Man mentioned in my thread about baseball card selling, if others can make money off sports, why shouldn't we?

I say go for it! Again, I hope you're chosen to appear on that show!

Thoughts anyone?

I've just told you mine. Well, belatedly.

I'll keep everyone posted!

Please let us know if you are chosen to appear on Jeopardy! I'm sure I don't need to tell you this; but if you are chosen, be sure to not give any information in a post that would enable online troublemakers to track you down for the purpose of causing mischief. I would see no problem riskwise with PMs, though.

Again, Congratulations!

[recovering_fan]

Ironically, it's the "nerdy" mathematician types who keep the sports industry going -- by calculating odds for gambling and probabilities for in-game strategies, as well as being agents for the players and owners in contract negotiations.

Do you have any evidence of that? Have you done a study of it?

According to mainstream Economics, consumer demand keeps the sports industry going, just like it keeps the liquor and marijuana industries going. Sports pundits, athletes, advertisers and numbers wonks are merely reacting to the market signals which consumer demand creates.

Despite my screen name, I have NEVER blamed anyone employed in the sporting profession or in associated jobs for my addiction to watching games on TV. I have always taken full responsibility for my own weaknesses and failings. If I have blamed any jocks in some pretentious fit of rhetoric then I take it back ! The first step to recovery is not to blame "people who are good at Math" or "people who are good at sports."

I'm sorry if you ran into jerks in high school who said nasty things about you in gym. That's not my problem, as I am not that kind of person.

--RF

[Earl]

Hi, recovering_fan. I agree with you that consumer demand keeps the sports industry going.

Funny, though, I've never had to deal with the sort of addiction you speak of, as I never had any interest in sports (not even when I was a young boy). I'm not speaking self-righteously. Believe me, I'm not. It certainly wasn't easy. Try growing up in the fair state of Texas and not have an interest in football. ("Oh, the shame of it!") I always regarded my lack of interest in football as a secret that I dared not divulge to most guys of my generation. When I was a boy, I kept this dreaded secret to myself so I wouldn't hear some middle-aged man say, "Hey, what kind of a boy are you?" If some bully at school had found out, I never would have heard the end of it. (What am I saying? It's still true today, of course.) Anyway, I guess the sports bug never bit me, which would account for this shameful abnormality. I'm a disgrace to my gender.

I'm sorry if you ran into jerks in high school who said nasty things about you in gym. That's not my problem, as I am not that kind of person.

Would you please explain what you're saying here? What kind of person are you referring? I don't get it.

Oh, by the way, ChrisOH, I did respond to your OP. (see above)

[recovering_fan]

I'm sorry if you ran into jerks in high school who said nasty things about you in gym. That's not my problem, as I am not that kind of person.

Would you please explain what you're saying here? What kind of person are you referring? I don't get it.

The kind of person Chris describes in this excerpt:

In volleyball, he told the class how to do a "hit the spastic" drill, as he called it -- he said to find the "spastic" (the worst player on the team) and always aim the serve toward them. During one practice, I hit a ball backwards and out of bounds, and the gym teacher laughed and said, "I guess you guys found your spastic!" and then all the jock kids started calling it the "hit the Chris" drill.

http://www.sportssuck.org/phpbb2/viewto ... 648#p21648

Numbers guys have nothing to do with antics like that coach exhibited !
If I had been in that class, I would have wanted to throw up when I heard the coach's remarks.
Number-crunchers enjoy solving existing problems, not creating new ones.

And Chris's past experiences don't justify blaming innocent statisticians who are trying to make a living.

Cheers,
RF

[Earl]

Numbers guys have nothing to do with antics like that coach exhibited !
If I had been in that class, I would have wanted to throw up when I heard the coach's remarks.
Number-crunchers enjoy solving existing problems, not creating new ones.

And Chris's past experiences don't justify blaming innocent statisticians who are trying to make a living.

Oh, now I understand. I didn't understand what you meant. Thanks for clearing that up.

I don't blame anyone who tries to make a living in any endeavor that isn't illegal or immoral. At the risk of getting lynched by several of our fellow forum members, I have no problem at all with a man making a living as a professional athlete. That's his business. I see nothing wrong with that.

I could be wrong, but I don't think ChrisOH was blaming statisticians for the continuance of sports or was regarding them as "traitors" of some sort. Actually, I think he was just taking a sort of pride in the fact that "nerdy" statisticians were needed by sports fans, just as Fat Man has credited "nerds" for designing safer football helmets.

By the way, ChrisOH, my wife (who was a high-school math teacher for about ten years) says that coach should have been fired. (I agree with her, needless to say.)

[Indurrago]

I could be wrong, but I don't think ChrisOH was blaming statisticians for the continuance of sports or was regarding them as "traitors" of some sort. Actually, I think he was just taking a sort of pride in the fact that "nerdy" statisticians were needed by sports fans, just as Fat Man has credited "nerds" for designing safer football helmets.)

Yeah I think that's what ChrisOH was pretty much saying and pointing out the irony of the importance of those statisticians.

[ChrisOH]

Ironically, it's the "nerdy" mathematician types who keep the sports industry going -- by calculating odds for gambling and probabilities for in-game strategies, as well as being agents for the players and owners in contract negotiations.

Do you have any evidence of that? Have you done a study of it?

According to mainstream Economics, consumer demand keeps the sports industry going, just like it keeps the liquor and marijuana industries going. Sports pundits, athletes, advertisers and numbers wonks are merely reacting to the market signals which consumer demand creates.

Despite my screen name, I have NEVER blamed anyone employed in the sporting profession or in associated jobs for my addiction to watching games on TV. I have always taken full responsibility for my own weaknesses and failings. If I have blamed any jocks in some pretentious fit of rhetoric then I take it back ! The first step to recovery is not to blame "people who are good at Math" or "people who are good at sports."

I'm sorry if you ran into jerks in high school who said nasty things about you in gym. That's not my problem, as I am not that kind of person.

--RF

Hello RF!

I fear you may have misread my intent here -- I wasn't blaming mathematicians or educated people for keeping sports going; in fact, I was speaking highly of them.

You're correct, of course, that consumer demand drives sports. But there's the other side of the economic equation -- supply. For sports, that supply has to be met not only with players, but with medical personnel, television and multimedia staff, statisticians, business and legal experts, etc. I was in no way denigrating these people -- I intended to show the irony that while these people aren't shown the same adoration as the players (and in fact, sometimes are disdained as "nerdy", "geeky", or other pejoratives), the athletes and their fans wouldn't have sports as they know it without them.

I don't "blame" anyone for my sports-watching habits either. I know I had the choice to turn the TV on or off, or to switch the channel, regardless of how others behaved (I'm now exercising that choice! ) As for people working in the sports industry -- sports aren't illegal, so it's up to them to follow their own consciences in the matter.

Once again, I'm sorry that I miscommunicated. No insult or blame was intended.

[recovering_fan]

Oh, I'm sorry I misunderstood.

--RF

[ChrisOH]

Oh, I'm sorry I misunderstood.

--RF

No worries! Apology accepted.

[Indurrago]

The difficulty inherent in Jeopardy! is that one must have a broad base of knowledge (questions could literally be about anything) and a quickness of recall of answer faster than their opponent. It's very difficult, if not impossible, to be an expert in every subject (science, history, the arts, sports, pop culture, just to name a few) but the broader one's knowledge is, the better chance they stand of succeeding on the show. However, often the sports, TV show, and other "light" material appears in the first round, and the more difficult "book subjects" in the second round, where much more money is at stake. Plus, there's a skill involved in reading and interpreting the clues, as many times a single word or phrase in the clue can help you reason out an answer, even if you didn't "know" it for certain.

Interesting topic, the few times I've seen "Who wants to be a millionaire?" I've seen several questions about "light" material, particularly one that stood out to my mind was one about "Spongebob Squarepants" and the contestant ended up using a life-line to get the answer. I forgot if he made it through after that question though, lol.