jennings rampage

Oh, it’ll be one day soon, Alex.

Great Moments in Scott Tries Out For Game Shows History:

• When I was twelve, maybe, I tried out for a game show on Nickelodeon. What was the name? Make The Grade, maybe? Anypoop, I failed the tryout when I sat down at the end of the round even though Simon didn’t say I could.
• In 1996, I tried out for College Jeopardy! (The name of the show has the exclamation point. I was excited, but not excited enough to use an exclamation point.) I flew down to New York from Rochester for the tryout, hung out with a friend from high school for an hour or so, ate from a hot dog cart (fulfilling a life-long dream) and came up short on the qualifiying test by one point!
• I spent my senior year of college trying out for the original American version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? This was back when they had the toll-free number to call to take a “fastest finger” quiz — I’d call the number when the line opened up, qualify about two-thirds of the time, and spend the next day waiting for the phone call that never came. I still hold a grudge against Regis Philbin.
• I tried out for the daytime version of WWTBAM? during the summer of 2002 while I was on vacation in New York, I breezed through the qualifying test (I excel at multiple choice tests with questions culled from episodes I’ve already seen), and felt pretty good about the brief interview afterwards. Did admitting my crush on Meredith Vieira end up hurting me? Almost certainly.

And so that was that, until former Jeopardy! champion Tom McCudden hipped me to the tryouts in Washington, DC, next month. I entered the lottery for a appointment, crossed my fingers, and got lucky — they’re expecting me on Saturday, February 12th. Katy and I are going to make a weekend of it, roadtrip it up, do some sightseeing, visit esteemed Posse member Chris Sabis, have some fun, flip off some federal buildings.

And goddamnit, I’m going to read the 2005 World Almanac and An Incomplete Education my girlfriend got me for Christmas (she knows me and I love her for it), and I’m going to be on Jeopardy! That’s how excited I am.