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NewsvinePlagued by slips of the tongue, bad luck and a quick-fingered opponent, Craig Boge ‘07 had to settle for second place in the 2007 College Jeopardy! Tournament, despite a strong performance in last week’s two-day final round.
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The finals, which aired in a two-part series on Thursday and Friday, saw Boge deliver uneven performances.
In the first round, he trailed UCLA sophomore Cliff Galiher for most of the game. Though both Boge and Notre Dame freshman Christine Kennedy were within striking distance of Galiher’s lead, back-to-back Double Jeopardy! missteps set Boge back $4,500. At the same time, a series of quick answers raised Galiher’s score to $22,600, compared to Boge’s $10,900 and Kennedy’s $5,200 at the end of Double Jeopardy!
A tricky Final Jeopardy! question, however, allowed Boge to surge back into contention. From the category “The Computer Age,” came the clue “This term still had ‘work’ on the end when Vinton Cerf & Robert Kahn, two of its creators, used it in a key 1974 paper.” While Kennedy and Galiher both answered incorrectly, Boge, much to his own surprise, correctly answered “What is the Internet?” He had been shaking his head before host Alex Trebek deemed the answer correct.
Boge’s correct Final Jeopardy! answer bumped his one-day total up to $16,000, and Galiher’s incorrect guess brought him down to $18,100, while Kennedy became a non-factor with $3,200. Suddenly, Boge was a mere $2,100 from Galiher’s lead. The crowd gathered in Grove Lasuen, where Boge lives, erupted in cheers.
Early in Friday’s second round, it seemed as if the previous day’s surprise ending had provided Boge with the momentum he needed to claim the $100,000 first prize. Galiher — who had been so dominant the day before — found his score dipping into the red, while Kennedy only buzzed in intermittently. Boge, on the other hand, buzzed in quickly and efficiently and was in high enough spirits to joke with Trebek about his golf skills at the first commercial break.
“Now, with a name like Craig Boge [pronounced ‘bogey’], it’s obvious that you are a golfer,” Trebek quipped. “The question is, are you a good golfer?”
“Well, it really depends on the day,” Boge replied, drawing some laughs from the crowd. “There are some days when it’s going pretty good and I’m pretty happy. There are other days when I hit people, houses, golf carts...”
“So I could assume that you are not a member of the Stanford University golf team?” Trebek followed up.
“You would be very correct,” Boge said.
“Good,” Trebek deadpanned. “I enjoy being correct.”
This exchange, however, kicked off a gloomy second half for Boge. Galiher regained his calm and buzzed back with measured efficiency to take back the lead. The Stanford senior did not give up and kept on Galiher’s heels throughout Double Jeopardy!, but when he incorrectly responded to a $2,000 Daily Double! question, Boge was out of contention. Galiher entered Final Jeopardy! with $18,000, compared to Boge’s $9,000, thereby cementing his victory before the final question was even asked. (Because the champion was determined by his cumulative score over the two-day final, Galiher was assured of victory given his $2,100 advantage in the first round.)
Because the final question — which asked the participants to identify the historical document that read “Prudence...will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes” — had no bearing on the outcome of the game (save the battle for second place, which Boge had essentially locked up), the senior wagered $2,007 — “for all of the seniors.” He grinned as Trebek pronounced his response, “What is the Declaration of Independence?” correct. Both Galiher and Kennedy incorrectly identified the document in question as the Constitution.
When Trebek awarded Boge the $50,000 second-place prize money, Grove Lasuen residents gave their housemate a standing ovation that lasted more than three minutes.
“Thank you,” Boge said as the applause died down. “Thank you so much for coming out to see this, for coming to watch me get the wrong answers.”
The crowd chuckled.
Though he admitted he regrets not having the mathematical foresight to keep himself in contention longer, Boge said he was thrilled with his time on the game show.
“It’s been an absolutely fantastic experience,” he said.