A Life in Jeopardy!

When play resumed I nailed a couple of quick answers. But my buzzer woes returned; I got shut out of the "Raise Your Glasses" category, which was all about booze. "Oh What a Year," the last remaining category, treated me a little better. Each question consisted of three events; we had to name the year in which they occurred. I snagged the $100 and $300 clues in the category, then picked the $400.

Okay, so here I was, a journalist from Miami, someone who had actually lived through Hurricane Andrew. Obviously this was my question for the taking. Right? I jabbed at my buzzer furiously. Right?

Trebek said, "Robin."

"What is 1992?"

Doh!

This was the equivalent of failing to hit a slow-pitch softball ... on national TV. I could already hear all the shit I'd be catching about this from my colleagues back home: How could you miss such a gimme, Ted? You have brought shame to Miami's entire press corps.

I wanted to scream: It's not me! I knew the answer! It's this goddamn buzzer!

But I had bigger problems at the moment. Robin -- sweet, brutally unflappable Robin -- had control of the board with one clue remaining, which was ... the freakin' Daily Double. If I'd gotten in on Hurricane Andrew, that Daily Double would have been mine. I could have bet my entire $1900 and vaulted into a tie for the lead.

Instead Robin put down $1300 of her $3800 and, of course, nailed the question. The score at the end of the round: $5100 for Robin, $2300 for Charles; $1900 for Hurricane Ted.

Even so, I was relatively calm as we waited through another commercial break for Double Jeopardy to begin. Lots of money up there for Ted, I told myself. Two Daily Doubles up there for Ted. And because I was in third, I'd get to pick first.

I quickly assessed my prospects in each category: "Literary Heroines" (not bad); "Foreign Words & Phrases" (strong); "Actors & Movie Roles" (not bad); "Former City Names" (very strong); "Yes, Mast-Er" (confusing; stay away); and "Woof!" (something about dogs? confusing; stay away).

"Ted, you're in third place, select."

"'Former City Names' for $200, please."

"Byzantium."

Robin got in first. Of course.

"What is Constantinople?" she replied.

"No."

I buzzed in but I was rattled, amazed that Robin had missed -- the first incorrect answer by any of us in the game.

"Ted."

The seconds ticked down. Did they want the old name or the current name? Then I remembered that wonderful old swing tune They Might Be Giants covered a few years back. It's called, "Istanbul, Not Constantinople."

"What is Istanbul?"

I went for the $400 clue next.

"Tenochtitlán," Trebek said.

Then he said my name again.

"What is Mexico City?"

Got it.

Jeopardy! is often a game of streaks. The real key is to find a groove with the buzzer in a category that you have down cold. I sensed this might be happening. Was the tide turning? Was Hurricane Ted finally ready to roar? Might the good name of Miami's journalists be redeemed?

Nope.

Even though I knew the responses to the next three cities -- a combined total of $2400 in clues -- Charles beat me to the buzzer on all of them. The Robin and Charles Show continued. Robin nailed another Daily Double, this one for $2000. I was slipping to a distant third.

And then Trebek read the $1000 clue in "Foreign Words & Phrases."

"This rhyming Chinese word for acting in a servile manner literally means 'To knock one's head.' Ted."

"What is kowtow?"

"That's it."

Here is where I made my only real tactical error of the game; but it was a killer. I was in third place, more than $5000 behind little Robin. It was time to start fishing for that second Daily Double, which is nearly always at the bottom of the board. The way Robin was playing, I couldn't count on beating her to the buzzer, ever. But when you pick a Daily Double, there's no buzzing involved. The player in control of the board is the only one allowed to answer.

But I didn't go fish. Instead, inexplicably, I went to the top of the "Actors & Movie Roles" category. I answered the $400 clue but didn't know the $600. Charles got that one, then picked the $800 clue and uncovered that final Daily Double. He had $5700; Robin had $10,100. He needed to bet aggressively to get back in the game, and he did: $5000, which would have given him the lead.

The question: "The mysterious title character Ralph Fiennes played in this 1996 film was actually Hungarian."

A gimme. Who the hell hadn't seen The English Patient?

But Charles scrunched up his doughy face, hesitated, then offered, "What is Schindler's List?"

Double Doh!

Now I was in second place, and I knew there was enough money left on the board for me to get within striking distance of Robin for Final Jeopardy if I got on a late run.