The Stays Question...The Aftermath :)

• From: JDinan8271
• Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2001 14:18:21 -0700
• Message-ID: <000TD49OT.000GK47PO.12170551-quizbowl_at_...>

First off, I want to thank everyone for sending
their messages of sympathy for my performance on
WWTBAM. Since the show aired, I haven't really commented
on what I thought about the questions, what happened
after I left the stage, and comments others have made.
Well, enough time has passed, so now is a good
opportunity to throw my two cents out.

 When I left
the studio, I was dejected. I wasn't bitter - just
disappointed and a tad embarrassed. I was consoled by both my
father, who knew about stays, and my sister, who
didn't.

 After the taping ended, a couple of the
contestants came up to me and said they thought I got "a raw
deal." They though the stays question should have been
in the middle-tier, not one of the first five. Older
contestants and audience members I talked to thought the
question was too difficult for someone my age, as stays
had been "out of fashion" for 20 or 30 years. I joked
that I must have gotten my father's packet my mistake,
and that the $1000 question would have concerned
doo-wop music :)

 After the show aired, the
comments and letters came a-pouring. Again, many people
thought I "got screwed." 

 One woman, who works
with a family member of mine, actually came up with a
"conspiracy theory" - she believed that the show got scared
when I won four out of the five practice fastest
fingers and, thinking I was a "ringer," front-loaded the
packet to guarantee a loss.

 Another person, a
total stranger (but knew my name from postings I had
made on a game show newsgrou) who e-mailed me,
suggested another theory - WWTBAM remembered how I openly
complained that "budget cuts," "clerical errors" and "false
promises" prevented from me being on both 2-Minute Drill
and Greed. Knowing that, they front-loaded the packet
to guarantee a loss.

 Frankly, I find both
theories ridiculous.

 What seemed to bother
everyone - both via e-mails and on this newsgroup - is
that the other contestants on my episode appeared to
get easier questions (The $32K question on who wrote
Paradise Lost, the $125K on Alberto Fujimori), while I get
first-tier questions on sittees and stays. They believed
that the packets used were unbalanced and not equal
for each contestant.

 Again, everyone's
knowledge base is different - some of the contestant may
have smoked through the first-tier of my packet, who
knows? It just wasn't my day.

 My sister e-mailed
me earlier today, letting me know that one of her
history classes (she's a high school teacher) wants to
start a petition drive on my behalf, thinking WWTBAM
"shafted me." I declined to give them my blessing, only to
tell them that if they want to write to the show and
complain, then do so - I just don't want a part of
it.

 My sister did tell them about my proposal - which
was said in jest - A Tournament of Chump-ions (Second
Chance WWTBAM) where the 10 contestants who entered the
Hot Seat and goose-egged (and I checked, there are
now 10 of us! :) ) return for a chance at redemption.
They're actually considering a petition drive for such a
special - can you tell this class is learning about the
history of non-violent protest :)

 So that's it -
like I said, I had a great time at the show...I met
some great people, got to talk to Gladys Knight (!),
and had a chance to live a dream - to appear on a
game show. Maybe next time, I can win something
:)

 James