Yesterday I got to enjoy one of the most amazing and fun experiences of my life when I competed as a contestant on Sports Jeopardy!
I was one of nine contestants who showed up at the Sony Studios in Culver City, Calif., as we prepared to film three episodes of the show. My group of three filmed the second episode of the day. The shows are available on Crackle (the same network that has Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.”) New episodes are released every Wednesday. I have been told my episode is set to be released on July 1. I am not allowed to give away any information about the show before it airs, but I will definitely post again when the episode becomes available for viewing.
Below is the story of my journey to becoming a contestant on the show.
Three months ago I went to the Sony Studios to interview Dan Patrick about his new role as the host of Sports Jeopardy!, which launched in September (I wrote about the experience/posted video here). As part of my trip to the studio, I got to watch an episode of the show being filmed before interviewing DP. While sitting in the audience with my cousin cameraman, I kept answering the questions on the show correctly. After getting so many questions right, my goal changed from interviewing Dan to making sure I would eventually appear on the show as a contestant. I did the interview with Dan, and then I set out to make sure I ended up on the show.
My first step was to register through the site as a potential contestant (you can go here to register). After not hearing back for around a month, I finally got an email telling me to show up for an audition in Los Angeles in April. As part of the audition, I and well over 100 other potential contestants took a 30-question written test inside the “Sports Jeopardy!” studios. I cannot reveal details about the test, but I can tell you that it was extremely difficult. Based on how many questions I know I got wrong, I was somewhat surprised that I made the cut. Maybe it was even tougher for everyone else.
All but 24 people were sent home following the written test, while the remaining potential contestants stuck around for mock auditions. We were given a game-like setting and had the opportunity to show our stuff. I made sure to do whatever I could to stand out from the crowd.
We were told that we were potential contestants for the end of Season 1 and for Season 2 if the show got picked up for a second season. There were no guarantees that any of us would be chosen as contestants, but I was confident I would be.
A few weeks after the audition and tryout, I got a call and email telling me I was picked to be a contestant on the show for season 1 and that my film date would be on May 19. Ever since then, I began preparing for my date on the show. I studied sports trivia – both recent and old, watched past episodes of Sports Jeopardy!, and began building my strategy such as how I would approach Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy.
Knowing that I would be representing LBS and the great Brown family name, I really spent a lot of time studying so I could put forth a great showing. I studied Sunday night and even missed work on Monday in order to study for my Tuesday show (OK, I did sneak in one post on Monday). I studied NFL team histories, USFL history, boxing history and trivia, tennis trivia, WNBA trivia, horse racing trivia and much more. It’s amazing to think of all the stuff I learned the past few weeks while prepping for my show. I also spent Monday night studying hockey trivia/history, and boy am I glad I did that!
Tuesday finally came and it was judgment day. It was me and two others fighting for first place and the accompanying $5,000 prize (second place receives $2,000 and third gets $1,000).
What was great was that I finally had a chance to show off all the endless sports knowledge I’ve accumulated during my 31-plus years on this planet. I’m really looking forward to when the show is released in July and will post the episode here when it does along with the appropriate commentary.
Once again, the experience was so much fun I would recommend you try to make it onto the show if you think you have the stuff. Go here to sign up and download the show, which is a lot of fun to play.
