Congratulations! You have been selected for a follow-up appointment at an upcoming Jeopardy! contestant search for the Chicago area, exclusively for those who successfully passed the online test. This is the next step in becoming a Jeopardy! contestant. We have reserved the following appointment for you...
I took the Jeopardy! online test on January 27th, and after looking at the answer key someone had posted on the Ken Jennings messageboards, decided that I had failed by one or two questions. Ah well, I thought, There's always next year.
It would seem that I had passed after all, because I received the aforequoted email from Jeopardy! on Monday, inviting me to audition for the show. Great! I thought, going through my calendar in my head. My schedule should be fairly free for the next few months, except when I'm at a conference in Los Angeles, May 25-30.
When I read on, I discovered that the proposed audition was Thursday, May 28 at 3pm (CDT) in Chicago. I will not only be at the conference in Los Angeles on May 28, but I will be presenting that day, from 2-3:15pm (PDT).
I tried to justify skipping out on the presentation to go audition for Jeopardy!, but it didn't really work. I was all ready to resign myself to having to wait and try again when I noticed that at the end of the email, it said:
Should you have a major conflict with the time and date provided, you may respond to this email to explain the nature of the situation.
I was sure my conflict would not be "major" enough for the important bigwigs at Jeopardy!, but I figured it was worth a shot and I would kick myself if I didn't even try. I responded to the email and explained my situation. The following afternoon, I got another email:
We are holding auditions in Chicago May 27th - June 2nd. Would another date work better for you?
YIPPEE!
It's now all confirmed: I will be auditioning June 1 instead.
Now off to pick out a TV-ready outfit¹ and come up with some better-than-average² "one-liner" interview stories! Any suggestions or advice are welcome!
¹ It has been pointed out to me that the "bottom" of a Jeopardy! outfit isn't all that important, since you're hidden behind the lectern. I think it would, however, be fairly important to wear something on the bottom for the audition at the very least.
I have ANOTHER post in my head that I have to get out on paper blog and which is still fermenting in my mind-grapes, clogging more stuff up.
I upgraded Movable Type recently and it did some weird thing where it's hiding all comments on old posts, which makes me sad because the comments are my favorite part of most of my blog posts.
I think the only way to fix this comment problem is to update my templates, which is probably going to be an annoying process and will result in my blog looking different.
I am resistant to change.
Plinky (this blog-prompting thing) is not compatible with Movable Type, which makes me hesitant to do all this Movable Type upgrading when I could just move to WordPress.
Moving to WordPress would be another huge headache with the potential for loss of information, blog posts or comments, which is an even bigger risk/annoyance than changing my templates.
I am resistant to change.
There's so much more time in the day for blogging when you have no friends. Stupid friends, making me change priorities!
I had intended to complete this blog post before March Madness began. And then I intended to complete it before March Madness ended. Neither has happened, so this year I'm bringing you my March Madness predictions (or rather March Madness hopes and dreams, because I know that my bracket is never realistic) after you all know the results¹. Exciting, right?
Read on for more, MacDuff.
¹ If you are basketball fans, which, judging by the fact that you are reading my blog, I am assuming you're not.
Louisville vs Morehead State. I was persuaded by previous failure not to pick a #16 over a #1. Alas!
Ohio State vs Siena. Obvious.
Utah vs Arizona. I know someone from there.
Wake Forest vs Cleveland State. I just got back from a Spring Break trip to North Carolina and am rather partial to that state right now.
West Virginia vs Dayton. Root, root root for the home team!
Kansas vs North Dakota State. I didn't care one way or the other so I picked the higher-ranked team. Boring, I know.
Boston College vs USC. I have no memory as to why I made this choice.
Michigan State vs Robert Morris. New York abstains, courteously. Wait, that's Lewis Morris and Robert Livingston. Anyway, another case of rooting for the home team that I don't actually care about.
West
Connecticut vs Chattanooga. So much for being persuaded not to pick #16s over #1s. It doesn't apply when one of the teams has a funny name.
BYU vs Texas A&M. I will pick any team over any team from Texas.
Purdue vs Northern Iowa. When in doubt, go with the Big Ten team.
Washington vs Mississippi State. I have a long-standing grudge against Mississippi State.
Marquette vs Utah State. Just went with the Midwestern one.
Missouri vs Cornell. You ever heard of it?
California vs Maryland. I have a friend who went there. It's a nice campus.
Memphis vs CSU Northridge. WHO? If I haven't heard of the school and they don't have a goofy-sounding name, they probably won't make it too far.
East
Pittsburgh vs East Tennessee State. The #1 over #16 thing again. Yawn.
Oklahoma State vs Tennessee. Picking Oklahoma teams kind of goes hand in hand with not picking Texas teams.
Florida State vs Wisconsin. Once again, pick the Big Ten team. And I like Wisconsin.
Xavier vs Portland State. Again, picking the home team. And I have a friend who went there.
UCLA vs VCU. I don't know what VCU stands for, so I picked UCLA.
Villanova vs American. School for Villains!
Texas vs Minnesota. Big Ten what what!
Duke vs Binghamton. North Carolina thing again! In North Carolina, I visited a friend whose home is a house divided (Duke/UNC) and we watched a lot of basketball.
South
North Carolina vs Radford. See previous!
LSU vs Butler. We work with Butler, and also I think the L in LSU might stand for Louisiana.
Illinois vs Western Kentucky. BIG TEN. WE GET IT.
Gonzaga vs Akron. Have you ever read my blog before? Of course Gonzaga wins!
Arizona State vs Temple. I have a friend who just moved to Pennsylvania. I like Pennsylvania.
Syracuse vs Stephen F. Austin. In 2005, when I was applying for jobs during March Madness, I picked all the schools I was applying to, in the hopes that basketball success would make them more hire-y. Now I have a friend applying for a PhD at Syracuse, so I feel I have to support them to make them more accept-y. Also, SFA is, I believe, in Texas.
Clemson vs Michigan. Go Blue!
Oklahoma! vs Morgan State. One is a musical, the other is ranked 15th.
Round 2
Midwest
Louisville vs Siena. I think I might have made this decision based on ranking. I didn't have a strong opinion either way, but Siena had served their purpose of knocking Ohio State out, and that's all that matters.
Utah vs Wake Forest. Once again, the whole North Carolina thing.
Dayton vs Kansas. Hometown team again.
Boston College vs Michigan State. Big Ten! And Michigan team!
West
Chattanooga vs BYU. Yeah, what was I thinking, picking a #16 to win in the first round? I certainly can't make the same mistake in the second.
Purdue vs Washington. Big Ten!
Marquette vs Cornell. What a weird matchup. I didn't think either of them would win, so I picked the one that was higher-ranked.
Maryland vs Memphis. I don't remember my justification for this choice. I guess Memphis sounds basketballier.
East
Pittsburgh vs Oklahoma State. Didn't care one way or the other, so I picked the higher-ranked one.
Wisconsin vs Xavier. Apparently conference is stronger than proximity. Big Ten!
UCLA vs Villanova. School for Villains moves on!
Minnesota vs Duke. And now we learn that North Carolinaness is stronger than conference. Or maybe they just sounded more realistic as a winner.
South
North Carolina vs Butler. I had seen some article that said North Carolina was going to win it all, so I figured I'd take them as far as I could. Which you'll see in the next round is not that far.
Illinois vs Gonzaga. Another foe is crushed beneath the wheels of Gonzaga!
Temple vs Syracuse. Blah blah accepty.
Oklahoma! vs Michigan. Go Blue!
Regional Semis
Midwest
Louisville vs Wake Forest. North Carolina FTW.
Dayton vs Michigan State. Once again, the Big Ten/State of Michigan powers combine to push MSU through another round.
West
BYU vs Purdue. Big Ten!
Marquette vs Memphis. Again, I have no idea. Sounds slightly basketballier?
East
Pittsburgh vs Wisconsin. I have no idea how I could justify picking Pittsburgh over a Big Ten team (and one I like so much!) so it must have been another case of me actually half-trying to make this a good bracket by picking the higher-ranked team. Booo, srah. Boooo.
Villanova vs Duke. Stephanie's team gets pushed on another round. Yay for her!
South
North Carolina vs Gonzaga. This is one of those times that I have to admit my bracket exists in a fantasy land instead of reality. In my Facebook bracket, in which I actually tried to pick winning teams, I let UNC beat Gonzaga. But the official ballot must always end with Gonzaga in first place.
Syracuse vs Michigan. Go Blue!
Regional Finals
Midwest
Wake Forest vs Michigan State. Big Ten! Curiously enough, I think I've picked Michigan State to end up in the final four for the last three or four years, usually ending up in second place. Unlike the situation with Gonzaga, this is not out of any blind loyalty, but just because I'd like to see them continue in each round until they're up against Gonzaga. Also, I love the smell of burning couches and you don't get nearly as many riots when they go out in the first round as when they get their hopes built up.
West
Purdue vs Memphis. Big Ten!
East
Pittsburgh vs Duke. North Carolina!
South
Gonzaga vs Michigan. Go B-- Oh. Oops. Sorry, Michigan, but it couldn't be helped. You had a good run this year.
National Semis (Final Four)
Michigan State vs Purdue. Two Big Ten teams enter, only one leaves. How on earth did I let Purdue get this far?
Duke vs Gonzaga. Bien sûr.
Championship
Michigan State vs Gonzaga. Gonzaga wins! Gonzaga wins! ... does someone smell something burning?
