Ocracoke Jeopardy

Saturday, May 7

The past couple days have been very exciting for Ocracoke. And, ok, for me personally as well. On Thursday, local high school English teacher Charles Temple made his debut on Jeopardy’s first ever Teachers’ Tournament. Gaffer’s Sports Pub held a celebration for Charles, displaying Jeopardy on all 18 of its TVs. Though some stayed at home or went to friends’ homes to watch, a huge chunk of the island turned out for the event, and Gaffer’s was packed. Local news station WITN and even Kelly from Jeopardy’s Clue Crew were also there.

Charles and I had ventured to LA during the last week of March for the Jeopardy taping. He had already been cautioned on the need for discretion – how would Jeopardy maximize its viewing audience if everyone knew the results a month in advance? And, sure enough, when the tournament was over, a slough of paperwork and contracts had to be signed. I remember thinking at the time, “It’s hard enough for most of the contestants to keep this a secret, but they’re not going home to a tiny island where everyone knows everyone and information spreads like a napalm firestorm!”

The next month was spent holding each other in check, maintaining poker faces, and keeping a sharp eye out for any verbal traps set by a multitude of persistent friends. When Thursday was suddenly only a week away, I felt a rush of relief and excitement. Even with a month to process our secret information, Charles’ Jeopardy appearance suddenly felt new.
Back to opening night at Gaffer’s - as I said, the bar was overflowing with family, friends and out-of-town well-wishers, all eager to finally know, and all profusely proud of Charles just for being on the show. When he appeared on the TV screen, the applause was wild, and continued every time he answered correctly. Each time an opponent beat him to the punch, however, there were plenty of “boo”s, at which point Charles and I exchange sympathetic glances – we had the pleasure of getting to know most of the other contestants, and really liked and respected them. But tell that to a frenzied force of fans.

The first half of Jeopardy was a nail-biter for all. Not many realize that the biggest obstacle in Jeopardy isn’t the trivia – all of the contestants know probably 80% of the answers – but it’s the timing that’s trickier. There’s a specific moment that marks when it’s ok to buzz in, noted by either a flash of lights not visible to the viewer at home or by Trebek’s voice when he finishes reading. If you’re too early with the trigger, you get locked out for a full second. Some completely brilliant contestants have been unmanned by that timing. While Charles had done well with ringing in in practice, he had some difficulty in the beginning. Combined that with a couple wrong answers and he began the game in the negative.

But, oh, it was a thing of beauty to watch his comeback. The moment he had the hang of timing, the other contestants didn’t stand a chance. Sally, one of Charles’ opponents, had said after the taping, “Yeah, I was doing fine until I got cut by the buzzsaw that was Charles.” He ate up the board and landed on two Daily Doubles. By final Jeopardy, with over $20,000, there was no chance of catching him. The overwhelming response of applause and yells of triumph broke over Charles like a tsunami, catching up all in its path. It was amazing to feel that infectious outpouring of excitement, pride and love, bearing any and all upon it.
And so it was Charles Temple moved into the semi-finals! Tune in Wednesday, May 11 to find out how he does next!

Terrible way to end it, isn’t it? I know, but again, I’m not allowed to talk until the general public has seen it. I will say, as I was regaling surrounding friends with what it was like to watch Thursday’s episode from the studio audience, I stopped mid-story and suddenly said, “It feels so good to finally be able to talk about it!” As much as a lot of people are dying to know what happens, I’m dying for them to know, too!

As if this wasn’t an exciting enough week with Jeopardy, the Ocracoke fishing tournament was taking place at the same time. My roommate Vera Attaway had been recruited to fish on the Misfit Mermaids team, and, despite her limited fishing experience, she was only too happy to give it a try. Thursday only saw her and other members of her team catching a nasty sunburn, but Friday was another day altogether. The Mermaids hadn’t been fishing for more than an hour that morning when Vera called me. Her gush of words flooded the receiver and at first I was only able to make out, “…caught…33…big blue…I…first place…!” When she repeated herself for me, I learned Vera had landed a 33 ½ inch bluefish, putting her team in first place for the women’s category with 49 points!

I waited all day to hear more, but it wasn’t until she came home around 4:30 that she finally finished the story for me. Later that day, another women’s team caught a bluefish measuring 33 ¼ inches; they, too, received 49 points, and suddenly there was a tie. As no one else scored higher, the tiebreaker was held later in the form of a coin toss, placing the Misfit Mermaids in second place. I personally think the Mermaids won first with the bigger fish, but I am biased. The only thing that could have made Vera’s victory sweeter was if she had been permitted to keep that bluefish. A winning fish tastes so good, but, sadly, fish get tossed back in the tournament. Vera did come away with a trophy that she’s immensely proud of (and for good reason!), and a pile of incredibly nice fishing gear. Vera already has plans to place her trophy next to boss Scott McNally’s fantasy football draft trophy at Gaffer’s.
That’s all I have for this week! I hope that’s enough excitement for you, dear reader. If not, have you heard of sky diving? Adrenaline-junkies, the lot of you.

“Until tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow”
Chrisi