Final Jeopardy: Historic Anniversaries (3-28-17)
The Final Jeopardy question (3/28/2017) in the category “Historic Anniversaries” was:
In July 1938 about 2,000 people with an average age of 94 gathered at this site for a 75th & final reunion.
New champ Adam Vesterholt won $26,801 yesterday. Today, his opponents are: Steve Asiatico, from McKinney, TX; and Julie Brannon, from Jacksonville, FL.
Round 1 Categories: Pie-pourri – Ends With K – Pick Your Poison – A Fallen Category – What Day Is It? – The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!
Steve found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “A Fallen Category” under the $600 clue on the 16th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $3,400, $400 more than Steve in second place. He made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
When a breeze knocked fruit to the ground, it was called this, now a term for any unexpected boon. show
Adam finished in the lead with $8,400. Steve was second with $7,200 and Julie was last with $3,600.
Round 2 Categories: MacArthur Genius Grant Recipients – 5-Letter Words – Will Smith – Water-Loving Mammals – Play Time – A View From the Bridge
Julie found the first Daily Double in “Bridge” under the $1,600 clue, with 11 clues still to go after it. She was in the lead with $13,200 at this point, $2,000 more than Steve in second place. She bet $2,000 and she was RIGHT.
From London’s Tower Bridge, get a look at Renzo Piano’s Tower nicknamed this, like a glass fragment.
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Adam found the last Daily Double in “MacArthur Grant” under the $1,200 clue. Only 4 clues were left after it. In third place with $12,000, he had $4,800 less than Steve’s lead. He bet $5,000 and he was RIGHT.
Cosmology paid off for Matias Zaldarriaga, who went back to the beginning studying faint signatures of this event. show
Julie finished in the lead with $19,200. Steve was next with $17,600 and Adam was in third place with $17,400.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
National Parks Traveler has a great article comparing the 1878, 1913 and 1938 Gettysburg Reunions, remarking on how the ranks of the Civil War Veterans had thinned out by 1938: “Given that the youngest of the Civil War vets were in their late 80s, it’s a wonder that nearly 2,000 attended the reunion that was held at the battlefield from June 29 to July 6, 1938. It’s thought that fewer than 70 of the attendees had actually been present at Gettysburg during the battle. This final major reunion of Civil War vets didn’t have the aura of spectacle that prevailed at the 50th anniversary reunion. You just couldn’t do a lot of physically taxing things with elderly gents (average age 94)…. In fact, many were no longer ambulatory and some even arrived in Gettysburg on stretchers.”
President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the Eternal Light Peace Monument at the 1938 reunion.
Adam got it right. His $201 bet brought his score up to $17,601.
Steve thought it was the firing on Fort Sumpter. That cost him $17,595, leaving him with $5.00.
Julie also got it. Because of Adam’s low bet, Julie was already the new Jeopardy! champ before her bet was revealed. Her $9,200 brought her winning total up to a much nicer payday: $28,400.
Two $1600 triple stumpers from Round 2:
5-LETTER WORDS – In 1948 the Catholic Church published its last this “of Forbidden Books”
PLAY TIME – Italian actress Anna Magnani inspired him to write “The Rose Tattoo”
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “Comedy Inspirations”
Rodney Dangerfield credited this 1972 Best Picture Oscar winner for inspiring his most famous line. show
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Julie should had wager $16,001.
Why?
She should have won more than $30,000.
The player in second rarely bets nothing, but should they consider it more often? Usually (although not in this case), for the player in second to win, the leader must miss. If the leader misses, what does that do to the expectation of the person in third (and for the player in second, as well) to give the correct response? I would say it diminishes it, perhaps significantly. With these diminished expectations, a zero bet by the player in second seems more enticing. Perhaps this reasoning led to the wager by Adam. Also, his wager still kept him in good position in the case of a triple stumper.
As a side note: as the players in second place begin to zero bet, the players in the lead would take this tack into consideration and may zero bet on tougher categories.
The Russians Are Coming! was a category 3 times in the past (J-Archive Link). This is apparently the first time that they had it twice in the category title, as if it was about the 1966 comedy. On that link, you’ll also see a clue about the film in a category called “Double Talk” at the bottom of the list.
I loved that movie. First time I ever saw John Philip Law.
44/61 here
It appears that Adam wagered to beat Steve rather than win the game. Weird! This was far from a runaway game.
I know no one can read Adam’s mind but did he assume Steve would wager a big fat zero? Weird things happen on Jeopardy under the lights.
Yes, I agree. Not the bet from Adam we were expecting, esp after he bet $5K to get the lead on that DD, but all in all, it was quite a game. 3 great players.
LINK: I only caught 3 triple stumpers and 2 of them are here.The other one is now up with 9 other extra clues from the match