The Dan Enright Effect

[Robert Hutchinson]

[quote name=\'1978-Jeopardy\' date=\'Jul 17 2004, 06:45 AM\']The people who are rooting against Ken are doing so because they feel he has already reached his goal/served his porpose, obtaining the one million dollars, and is no longer exciting or needed. The people rooting for Ken are probably counting on Ken reaching the two million dollar mark, or just winning higher amounts of money. [/quote]
People were rooting against Ken well before he reached $1M. I think a lot of people are rooting against him because they don't enjoy runaway games, and/or don't enjoy seeing a succession of pretty good players not have much of a shot at even a single win.

I, really and truly, am not rooting for him or against him. I love it when he's got a $30,000 lead, and I love it when the other contestants are giving him a run for his money. It's all exciting to me.

[Don Howard]

I'm watching for the following things:
* A $100,000 victory
* Breaking Kevin O.'s $2.18M record
* Breaking that 100% winner overseas' record of 75 games
* The night when a giant killer comes along and takes over podium #1
Will all four occur? We shall see.

[Craig Karlberg]

Let's see here:

The first scenerio is doubful because Ken needs at least $50K to work with & bets at least that amount.

Breaking Kevin's mark is possible but he needs at least 30 more wins to do that at his current average.

The 75 game win streak from 100% is possible but an even LONGER odds there.(I guess maybe that's why they wanted to re-research the Thom McKee mark because of international records).

The last one is a definite YES!  It's only a matter of time before Ken bows out.

I don't think ALL 4 will occur, but the last one is definitely money in the bank.

[ClockGameJohn]

[quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' date=\'Jul 18 2004, 04:56 AM\'] The first scenerio is doubful because Ken needs at least $50K to work with & bets at least that amount. [/quote]
 Hmmm, interesting.

[fsk]

[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' date=\'Jul 17 2004, 01:04 PM\'] [quote name=\'1978-Jeopardy\' date=\'Jul 17 2004, 06:45 AM\']The people who are rooting against Ken are doing so because they feel he has already reached his goal/served his porpose, obtaining the one million dollars, and is no longer exciting or needed. The people rooting for Ken are probably counting on Ken reaching the two million dollar mark, or just winning higher amounts of money. [/quote]
People were rooting against Ken well before he reached $1M. I think a lot of people are rooting against him because they don't enjoy runaway games, and/or don't enjoy seeing a succession of pretty good players not have much of a shot at even a single win.

I, really and truly, am not rooting for him or against him. I love it when he's got a $30,000 lead, and I love it when the other contestants are giving him a run for his money. It's all exciting to me. [/quote]
 

and/or don't enjoy seeing a succession of pretty good players not have much of a shot at even a single win.

I was thinking that it is somewhat unfair to new players, that it's a longshot for them to get a single win.  How about this format change: On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, have 3 new players each day.  On Thursday, the 3 winners play each other.  On Friday, you have the returning champion, the winner from Thursday, and a former champion play.  This would have each week be like a mini-tournament.

[chris319]

The people who are rooting against Ken are doing so because they feel he has already reached his goal/served his porpose, obtaining the one million dollars, and is no longer exciting or needed.

No, it's because the matches have become totally predictable: Ken will go into Final Jeopardy! with > 2x his nearest opponent's score. Worse, the score will be $5,000 to $400 to $-200 going into the first commercial. Gee, who d'ya think's gonna win? No dramma, no suspense. Will Ken win $35,000 or $36,000 today? Stay tuned, you won't want to miss it.

I'd be ecstatic if I won $1 million but so help me Hannah I don't understand the psychological thrill of watching someone else win it.

Last call for Vivienne Nearing.

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jul 18 2004, 09:29 AM\'] Last call for Vivienne Nearing. [/quote]
Have Ken take on both Viv and Erik Krapelein on the same telecast.
By the by, the way I can see a $100,000 win happening is if Ken knocks both opponents out of the running before Final Jeopardy!, has (for example) $55K and wagers of $45K of it knowing he's back tomorrow no matter what.

[garffreak]

And who can beat Jennings?  Another super-genius.  This could become a vicious cycle of braniacs having multi-week runs.

[Ian Wallis]

No, it's because the matches have become totally predictable: Ken will go into Final Jeopardy! with > 2x his nearest opponent's score. Worse, the score will be $5,000 to $400 to $-200 going into the first commercial. Gee, who d'ya think's gonna win? No dramma, no suspense.

I agree there.  Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'm kind of enjoying Ken's streak.  I just find it truly amazing how far he's gone, but at the same time it would be nice to see a competitive game again.  

When was the last time the game was in doubt going into Final Jeopardy anyway?

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Jul 19 2004, 08:26 AM\']

No, it's because the matches have become totally predictable: Ken will go into Final Jeopardy! with > 2x his nearest opponent's score. Worse, the score will be $5,000 to
When was the last time the game was in doubt going into Final Jeopardy anyway?

June 28th or 29th IIRC.

[chris319]

[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Jul 19 2004, 06:32 AM\'][quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Jul 19 2004, 08:26 AM\']When was the last time the game was in doubt going into Final Jeopardy anyway? [/quote]
June 28th or 29th IIRC.[/quote]
Of what year?

[TimK2003]

I'm unbaised on his continuing reign of terror, but perhaps Ken may have a personal goal he wants to reach ala Michael Larsen did on Press Your Luck...

Putting the 'beating the system" point aside, Larsen purposely slowed down after hitting the $100K mark -- he began passing spins and hitting spaces that had no additional spins so he could finish his run.

Might Ken have a magic threshold that, once reached (a certain # of games, a certain $$$ winnings amount, a guaranteed seat on the Sony Board of Directors...), will allow him to relax a bit and just play a little looser -- giving the opponents more of a chance to keep up with him?  

We'll find out.

[chris319]

On Monday Spongeken Squarepants won with $35,000. The burning question is, will he shock the world tomorrow by winning with $35,001?

Oooh, I can hardly wait.

[Robert Hutchinson]

[quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Jul 19 2004, 07:34 PM\']Putting the 'beating the system" point aside, Larsen purposely slowed down after hitting the $100K mark -- he began passing spins and hitting spaces that had no additional spins so he could finish his run.[/quote]
I've never seen more than a couple of short clips of Larsen's shows, but I remember a handful of people saying that it looked like he was hitting non-extra-spin spaces because he was starting to lose his cool, so to speak. Wasn't one of them near the very end a space with a Whammy on one of the slides?

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' date=\'Jul 19 2004, 10:03 PM\'] [quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Jul 19 2004, 07:34 PM\']Putting the 'beating the system" point aside, Larsen purposely slowed down after hitting the $100K mark -- he began passing spins and hitting spaces that had no additional spins so he could finish his run.[/quote]
I've never seen more than a couple of short clips of Larsen's shows, but I remember a handful of people saying that it looked like he was hitting non-extra-spin spaces because he was starting to lose his cool, so to speak. Wasn't one of them near the very end a space with a Whammy on one of the slides? [/quote]
 Indeed it was.  He also did Whammy on his very first spin (but didn't for the rest of the game).

Doug