Not the show ... I never made it that far. But I did lose a tryout for Jeopardy once upon a time a few years ago in a galaxy far away. I meant to write about it then, but never got around to it. Better late than never, right?
It was during Spring 2006. A friend of mine and I were carpooling to work when we got a call from a mutual friend telling us that Jeopardy was holding tryouts that afternoon at Jordon Commons in Sandy, Utah. We decided to go give it a shot after work.
When we arrived, the first thing I saw was the Jeopardy! Brain Bus:
It was getting late, and there was less than an hour left before their scheduled time was up, so we walked past the Clue Crew and the mock Jeopardy! set where people were playing the game and winning little prizes (including branded key chains, water bottles and pens) to find out where we needed to go. It was fortunate we did, as the mock set was not the tryout area. Instead, we were directed to a large conference room.
Upon entering the tryout area, I saw a large square area of tables dividing the room into an outer area (for people attempting to qualify) and an inner area (for those administering the process). I walked up to the table and was given one of several available tests. I think there were at least five, as I was taking one marked #5 at the top. The test was not timed and consisted of ten questions on a variety of different topics. My friend had test #3. We both took our test and handed it back and waited briefly as they were scored. My friend (a very bright person) did not pass his test. Based on some of the questions he shared with me later, it does not surprise me, and I doubt I'd have passed his test either. Fortunately, I had test #5, and I passed it! They would not tell us how many we got right, or what the cut off level was. I suspect 70% was the cutoff, and I think I barely made it.
As we left, they were shutting down the mock Jeopardy! set and we were offered several prizes, even though we didn't play the game. I was allowed to take extra, and had enough to give several of my friends and family trinkets.
Passing my test simply meant I qualified to take another test the next day at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City. A test being administered during the day. A work day. Which would entail taking time off from work. And I'd just started a new job a few weeks earlier.
I really wanted to go take the test the next day, but I was worried about whether or not I could get time off at the last minute ... as much as three hours off, with lots of stuff going on at work (which predated my hire) that required quite a bit of overtime as it was. Fortunately, when I asked, they were great about letting me take the time off and very supportive.
I had been assigned a particular time to go take my test, and was warned in very clear terms that if I arrived even a second after the doors were closed, I would miss out on my chance to take the test. Further, since I qualified for this test, I would have to wait at least a year before I would be eligible to test again. The year wait wasn't a big deal, as I doubted they'd come to Utah again that soon, and I didn't expect I'd want to travel to attempt to qualify.
They talked to us for a while, explaining what the process would be that day. We were required to fill out some paperwork about ourselves, our eligibility, potentially interesting facts for the show, and so on. We were all given a sheet to record our answers on, then we were played a video of Alex Trebek welcoming us and giving us more information. Next came the questions, also played on video. It was a 50 answer test. Each answer was displayed on screen and read aloud to us, just as it would be during an actual game. After each question was read, we had a very short period to write our question (though I don't think we were required to write a full question due to time constraints). I don't remember exactly how much time we had, but the Wikipedia article on the subject states it is only eight seconds per answer. That's probably right, but when you're taking the test, it feels a lot shorter.
After all the answers were given, the tests for the group (I think there might have been as many as 40 being tested in the group with me) were all taken and the administrators left the room to grade them, during which time we were left to talk amongst ourselves. I knew I didn't do well, and doubted I'd be selected to move on. I suspect I got 25 to 30 of the questions correct, and bombed the rest of them. They were difficult questions, but that wasn't much consolation. A while later they came back in and read the names of 5 to 10 people that passed the test. I'd like to tell you my name was in that list, but alas, it was not (just as I suspected). As with the previous test, no one was told how they did (other than a simple pass / fail), nor were we told how many questions were required to pass.
Oh, and before I forget: I want to tell you that Ken Jennings, who attended school in Utah, and is the person who won the most games on Jeopardy! (to this point), was one of the people in the test that day, so in a way I was beat by Ken Jennings! I want to tell you that, but it's not true. HA!
Seriously though, I had a blast through the process. Someday, if I don't have to put myself out too much, I'd like to try again. I wonder if Wikipedia or Uncyclopedia would be the better source of research to prepare myself for my next tryout?
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