A Plug For Jeopardy

I'm an avid Jeopardy viewer, so it's no surprise that I caught Paul Wampler's first appearance on the show, three days ago. Paul is from Knoxville and I said from the start, "I know him from somewhere." His face was so, so familiar. He has continued to win every day and I've continued to rack my brain, not only to try to come up with Jeopardy answers, but to try to figure out how I knew the champion. It wasn't until the chat segment in yesterday's show that I finally remembered. A big wad of tobacco strategically tucked into his lower front jaw would have given me the edge I needed, but when Alex mentioned that Paul's dream is to play in the World Series of Poker main event, the jig was up. I've played poker with him...or should I say, against him. Either way, I'd rather be pitted against him there than on the Jeopardy show. He's one smart cookie.

And for the record, this is the second time in recent history that I've seen a familiar-faced contestant on Jeopardy. About six months ago, PhillyTwo and I had just settled into our usual spots on our couches to watch the show, when who should appear as a contestant, but Jelisa Castrodale. Now that name may not ring a bell for most of you, and rest assured it didn't for me either, but her face sure did. I had seen it many, many times. Not only was it was part of the masthead at the top of her blog, "The Typing Makes Me Sound Busy," but over time, she had posted lots of pictures of herself in the blog. So even though I had never met the girl, I felt like I knew her. Both PhillyTwo and I had been regular readers, so we were excited when we saw her and thrilled that she won that first day. Unfortunately, she got eliminated the next day, so her reign was short-lived, as was her blog. She stopped posting there about a year ago, but I'm sure she moved on to other projects. She makes her living as a writer.

Paul makes his living as a computer programmer. His gig on Jeopardy has already netted him $50,000, but he's still alive (as a contestant) so it could get bigger. Maybe he'll take some of it to Vegas this summer to make his dream come true. Go Paul!!!