March 28, 2016 recap/discussion (for Kevin)

Kevin! You were so funny! You had some great responses to Pat! Of course this is the one episode that my DVR didn't record, so I'm going off of when I watched it live while making & eating dinner; I may have missed some of the zingers, but I think I heard them correctly.

I loved when the COLLEGE LIFE category was announced and you groaned and Pat asked "Is that okay with you?!" "Noooo" hahaha! Sorry to see you hit the Bankrupt but I guess that's a part of the game!

And of course, as shown in the picture above, your last interaction with Pat was pretty hilarious. Nicely done! Congratulations; you were a fun player to watch & root for!

ETA: Yes!  I couldn't agree more with Mario; I love the fact that you solved the science puzzle!  

I'm sorry the wheel didn't treat you kindly, Kevin, but hey, you solved a science related puzzle for almost $2,000, which is better than the pity $1,000. I hope we never play against each other for redemption games, which will never happen.

I precalled COZY with no letters, just had that gut feeling it was time for a super hard BR and I was right.

Lindsey really blew this game... she was pretty good but then did a College Dumb (TM) in R3. Her spin pattern would have been fine for the P's in R4, which would have still gotten her the win.

So much fun watching kevin's interactions with Pat. Sorry you didn't win more but at least you have great stories to tell.

Poor Lindsey. Marist was one of my top choices and I did get accepted there. The reduction of the yellow $900 to $600 affected the outcome yet again.

Or, one less vowel purchase and we would have had the first tie in 13 years.

What is it with contestants repeating an incorrect vowel they previously called on Free Play?

This was the time to call Y-M-C-A in the Bonus Round.

KEVIN!! I feel like I've been waiting to watch your episode FOREVER! You seemed so comfortable up there and had some of the best interactions with Pat that I've ever seen! Congratulations on your win! You solved the MOST appropriate puzzle for you. And just like I've been saying that the last show of the day is very difficult... I can imagine the FIRST show of the day is, too since you didn't get to watch anyone else play first. Nicely done!!

Thank you all! And thanks as usual for the recap Bobby! (Can it be "(for kevin)" b/c I wanna be special, obviously, xP ) I will chime in more later (maybe a spinning story w/ more pics. Though, lots of pics on my fb if you want to add me there), but some quick thoughts:

MarioGS Glad you caught that! It was funny as I was just discussing Trebek's retirement w/ the makeup lady Sandy, so it was on my mind. Unfortunately, my viewing party was so loud, and I couldn't figure out the CC on the TV at the brewery I held it at (it said "Not available"!?!), so a lot of people that watched didn't catch the comments I or Sajak said. Speaking of viewing party, I am never having a party like that again where I'm the center of attention and I have to greet everyone (e.g. wedding). We had about 30 and it was 2 hours. Open bar yay. (Viewing party should be separate post later on. Maybe a spinning story. But it went off perfectly mainly because of replica name tags I printed on sticker paper and a "free for all" toss-up game courtesy of MarioGS  along with tons of food and a display board of my journey to Wheel/LA vacation).

Obviously, Lindsey had the "magic thumb" as Pat said. You can tell by my buzzing in I knew the first 2 toss ups at the exact same time but missed by a fraction of a second. I knew the 3rd one right after she buzzed in. Oh well. My old age (25) got me! And yes to getting the science-themed puzzle. If I had to solve 1 puzzle, I'm glad it was that one. Thank you Emily for calling that I.  Speaking of the 1 I solved, I suppose I could have gambled more, but at that point I was kind of panicking. We're on the 4th puzzle of the show and I've got nothing?! I thought for sure I would be faster at the tossups as Twitter toss-up kind presidentbacon can attest to. 

Speaking of toss-ups, John (SM I think?) came over after the game was in the bag, talking about toss-up 3. My heart skipped a beat as I thought there was some type of malfunction or error and we would have to replay something. But, they just needed to reshoot a reaction to Lindsey getting it. And speaking of reactions, I'm glad they didn't show mine after I solved the R2 puzzle b/c I remember just completely going bonkers. I looked awkward enough up there ha. I WAS SO EXCITED TO BE THERE GUYS!! The yelling come out of me while spinning the wheel was my outlet for my excitement. You can tell I was surprised by my first Bankrupt in R1 because I was looking at the wrong arrow and thought I was on Lindsay's replay. I KNEW that was easy to look at the wrong arrow (they tell you that), and I still did it! No biggie though, didn't throw me off. (And I'm sorry I couldn't not watch the wheel spin despite advice against it; it was too much fun)!

The day before I went to the afternoon Seattle week taping and the first toss-up the buzzers malfunctioned (I think if you press too many times it locks up the system...you'd think being sister shows w/ J! they could have a better buzzer system ), so they just started from the beginning and reshot with a new puzzle. During rehearsal, Gary emphasized one press and release (and don't put your finger on it. "Is that a rule?" I asked. It's not, ha).

Objectively, it would seem Lindsey was the best puzzle solver. She WAS really good. That "BOSTON HARBOR" solve impressed me. (I'm guessing being from the northeast helped a bit I'm wondering though if she knew beforehand or she just didn't think to call the multiple B). And Lindsey and Emily were really nice, but I think I intimidated some contestants at first because I knew exactly what we would be doing and what would happen because of these boards. "How do you know all this?!" one contestant asked incredulously.

For the main game puzzles, I know I knew them before both of them because they were buying vowels when I knew the answer. That's the most frustrating part -- It's not always your turn like when watching on TV!

And yes, Lindsey, oof. I know she was kicking herself afterward. She was in the audience for the second show and seemed pretty upset. Sometimes those words just don't come to you. But 15k in cash? I couldn't feel too badly for her especially after my $1,950. And I'm hoping she's okay with it now. But yeah, that was hard to watch. Also, on the outside I'm cheering and so happy for everyone, but on the inside I'm like "Bankrupt, Lose A Turn, Bankrupt, Lose A Turn pleeeaaaseeee!" So when Emily spun on the PP I was shocked! IDK if she wanted more money or it was just instinct. It gave her the game though!

Weirdly enough, I was not nervous at all while playing. I think going to a taping the day before helped (and was fun to see it from the audience perspective!) The only time I got extremely nervous/anxious/almost lost it was when Lindsey picked the dreaded "1" ball (Monday) for our group and I took an anxiety pill I had pocketed I wish I would have stayed for more shows, but my family wanted to leave! I don't blame them. And I got my WoF fill between the tapings the day before and the one I watched after mine. (Actually, that whole day before was game shows. Went to a taping of "Price is Right" in the morning. You'll see me in the audience May 16th since the woman my mom and I were talking to all morning got called down! I gave her some kind of awkward hug/pat on back/freak out. So exciting seeing that live even though I'm not the biggest fan of TPiR in the world. I started yelling prices REALLY loud (despite being in the far house left corner) and realized I was starting to lose my voice. So I just mouthed words and prices the rest of the time.

When I was in the green room watching the BR on the monitor, I said "COZY PAJAMAS" immediately after Emily's pics and Gary was like, "Wow, that was really good!" and the other contestants in the room were also impressed. So there's my bonus round consolation. Also, thanks to ten96lt , I looked like a genius when I solved TU1 during rehearsal (I knew it with no letters, but I waited for a couple to pop in, ha) and I was also prepared to go wacky when Shannon asked, "Who wants to rehearse the bonus round?" Um yes, please! I ran screaming over to the other side of the stage jumping. That was fun. [The rehearsal BR Wheel is just full of cardboard. Gary said, "We'll have you solve this one way or the other. I'm gonna say it's 33k. Give a good reaction to inspire others." "Oh yeah, no problem. I'm a theatre person," I told him. 

Random thoughts/fun stuff I remembered while re-watching it:

--It's hard to hear, but when Lindsey bankrupted the MDW in R1, I said something like "Just wanna [or maybe "can I"] touch it. Sajak yanks it away and says something like, "yeah can touch it." Thing is heavier than it looks (not like "Wheel" heavy of course, it's just really thick). I kind of shrugged toward Lindsay and said something like, "doesn't matter you can't win that anyway."

--Also hard to hear, but in R4 when Vanna reveals the F, she is anticipating the wrong one and quickly hops over to to touch the correct one. I had a very small/quiet chuckle and Pat did too. (That was probably the only time I noticed Vanna as I was so focused on solving the puzzle.)

--Jackie and Shannon (the CCs) were awesome. While waiting in line for the bathroom, I talked to them about TPiR and learned they both used to be pages there. They couldn't believe I got there at 8am and had numbers 77 and 78 for the line (out of 300ish). In the Barker days, they said, people were there at 5 or 6. A lot has changed. And also this whole experience wants me to just take off to LA and work in game shows like fellow college-weeker ryanlinus27  I would be an awesome CC guys.  :lol:

--It became real when we got our name tags. We all "oooohhh"d. 

--When they explained the rules and went through all the specialty wedges and what they do ("They have to explain the rules?!" I thought). I made "beep beep" for the 1/2 cars and my best impression of a mystery chime. I'm positive everyone thought I was super lame. BUT AGAIN, I WAS JUST TOO EXCITED TO BE THERE.

--My publicity photo almost wasn't taken! Luckily, the photographer realized she was missing one and I got up there. She told me to act like I was spinning the wheel. Everyone else had a "normal" shot. No rhyme or reason. So, I'd say to future contestants if you want a pic of you spinning the wheel, just do it. You only get 1 publicity photo!


That's all...for now! Let me know if you have any questions! Thank you everyone for your support and just this community in general! I couldn't have made it through the 7 months of waiting for a tape date without you guys! 

Oh, and I retweeted all the nice/mean things said about me on my twitter (link in signature). And Pat Sajak did me a favor and clarified for people that don't get him:

Awesome, Kevin! Thanks for sharing your perspective on your experience; it was a fun and interesting read! You have a great attitude and I'm glad you were able to take the whole experience in. Congratulations again!