Jeopardy Julia: The Queen Is Dead, Long Live The Queen
All good things must come to an end. The reign of Julia Collins - 20x Jeopardy! champion - ended on today's show. She departed as she won - with poise and good humor. On Friday, I predicted that she would falter before she reached Ken Jennings' magical 74 wins. I did not realize how close she was to the end of her run. She leaves with over $400,000 and a spot in next season's Tournament of Champions.
After the fold, I review the five bumps in the road that ended Julia's journey.
1. Missed Daily Double Ended The Runaway
Halfway through Double Jeopardy, Julia appeared to be cruising to another easy win. When Julia hit the first Daily Double of Double Jeopardy, she led Brian Loughnane (an investment operations manager) and Debra Walsh (a retired accounting instructor) handily:
Julia: $14,200
Debra: $5,200
Brian: $4,600
Julia bet $3,200 that she would get the correct response in the category "Word Origins". The clue was,
The Greek for "sand tray" gives us the name of this counting device.
Julia incorrectly guessed "calculator." The correct response was "What is an abacus?" With that miss, Julia lost the opportunity to build an insurmountable lead.
2. The Daily Double Miss Threw Julia Off Of Her Game
After Julia's miss, she still had more than double the score of either opponent with 11 clues left. Julia lost her rhythm. Brian rang in first on five of the next seven clues, and built up to $8,600. Julia then had her second big miss of the round, this time on the $2,000 clue in the category "Memoirs." The clue was:
This 18th Century Frenchman's "Confessions" set the template for modern autobiographies.
Julia rang in first and incorrectly guessed "Who is Voltaire?" No one else rang to give the correct response, "Who is Rosseau?" With that miss, Julia just barely led Brian ($9,400 to $8,600). Brian still had control of the board, with only four clues left to find the last Daily Double.
3. Brian Hits The Second Daily Double To Take The Lead
Brian uncovered the last Daily Double under the $2,000 clue in the category, "Easy Being Green" [all correct responses were about the environment]. He wagered $2,000 to take the lead. The clue was:
This city's 1997 protocol limits emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide & other greenhouse gasses.
Brian correctly responded, "What is Kyoto?" With two clues left, he led Julia $10,600 to $9,400.
4. Julia & Brian Trade The Lead In The Last Two Clues
Showing a champion's grit, Julia surged back to the lead by being first to buzz in on the $1,600 clue in the category "3 Letter Animals". The clue was:
This flightless Australian bird can be more than 5 feet tall.
Julia correctly responded "What is an emu?"
But Brian beat Julia to the buzzer on the $2000 clue in "3 letter animals." The clue was:
Also known as an alcid, this sea bird looks & behaves like a penguin but can fly.
Brian correctly responded, "What is an awk?" With that response, Brian took the lead into Final Jeopardy and Julia no longer had control of her destiny.
Julia: $11,000
Debra: $5,200 (not eliminated)
Brian: $12,600
5. Queen Julia's Last Final Jeopardy
When Brian, Julia and Debra entered their wagers on Final Jeopardy, they knew the category was "Oscar Winning Writers" and that there was a scenario for each to win. Brian had control of his own destiny. So long as he bet at least $9,401, he would win if he answered correctly.
Julia could win only if she got Final Jeopardy correct and Brian got it wrong. Julia knew that Brian would bet at least $9,401, so he would have (at most) $3,200 if he missed. Julia had a choice to make about her wager. She could have bet nothing, which would have shut Debra out of a chance to jump from third to first. But Julia would not try to back into victory. Instead, she bet it all. If she was correct, she would end up with $22,000 and pass Brian if he missed. If she was wrong, she would fall all the way to third place.
Debra could win, but only if Brian and Julia missed Final Jeopardy and bet big. Debra's smart play was to bet nothing (which she did) and stand pat on $5,200 in the hope that both Brian and Julia would fall below that level.
The Final Jeopardy clue stumped two of the three contestants:
Winning for 1999, this New England writer is the last person to win an Oscar for adapting his own novel.
Debra incorrectly guessed: "Who is Stephen King?" and stayed at $5,200.
Julia incorrectly guessed: "Who is [Michael] Chabon?" and fell to $0. At this moment, Julia was eliminated.
Brian correctly responded: "Who is John Irving? [Cider House Rules]" and added $10,000 to end up as champion with $22,600.
All Hail The Queen
Julia Collins was a great champion. She won more regular season games than anyone in Jeopardy! history other than Ken Jennings. She endured the rigor of playing five games per day against opponents that were rested and ready. She was incredibly well-adjusted and did not take herself too seriously.
Next year, Julia will enter the Tournament of Champions. One of her potential opponents will be Arthur Chu, who made headlines earlier this year with big wins and geeky style. It will be a study in contrasts.
In the comments, please let me know how you think Julia should spend her winnings. My suggestion is that she spend the money on an around the world trip to the great museums and bridges (to celebrate her art history undergraduate degree and masters in engineering).