WEBVTT - Jeopardy! Changed My Life 0:00:14.916 --> 0:00:31.196 Pushkin. If I thought about who I was, it was 0:00:31.236 --> 0:00:35.236 just a very like someone who's good at memorizing things, 0:00:35.276 --> 0:00:41.156 someone who's good at like knowing things. But there was 0:00:41.196 --> 0:00:44.156 no one tapping me on the shoulder and saying, Scott, 0:00:43.836 --> 0:00:49.036 you're You're a great guy, and I need to get 0:00:49.076 --> 0:00:52.956 to know you more. There was no one saying that 0:00:53.116 --> 0:00:57.036 for sure. Scott Mankee never thought he had a particularly 0:00:57.236 --> 0:01:00.796 compelling personality, but he did feel he stood out in 0:01:00.796 --> 0:01:03.676 at least one way. He had a natural ability to 0:01:03.756 --> 0:01:07.636 learn and remember interesting facts. So in two thousand and nine, 0:01:07.676 --> 0:01:10.036 when Scott was in college, he tried out for the 0:01:10.036 --> 0:01:13.916 trivia game show Jeopardy, and he made it. Scott was 0:01:13.956 --> 0:01:16.596 excited to put his trivia skills on display and to 0:01:16.636 --> 0:01:20.116 hopefully earn some cash, but he was surprised when viewers 0:01:20.156 --> 0:01:23.196 responded not just to his performance but to who he 0:01:23.316 --> 0:01:26.036 was as a person. One of the first comments that 0:01:26.076 --> 0:01:30.276 I remember seeing was this person saying, I really like 0:01:30.396 --> 0:01:36.956 Scott's demeanor on the show. And I didn't expect that reaction. 0:01:37.676 --> 0:01:41.516 It seemed to be like they liked who I was 0:01:41.596 --> 0:01:45.196 and they thought I'd seemed like a good, good hang 0:01:45.316 --> 0:01:51.836 or whatever, And so that one really struck me on 0:01:51.956 --> 0:01:59.156 today's show. Sometimes we just get ourselves wrong. I'm Maya 0:01:59.236 --> 0:02:02.116 Shunker and this is a slight change of plans, a 0:02:02.196 --> 0:02:04.476 show about who we are and who we become in 0:02:04.516 --> 0:02:13.596 the face of the big change. I've been friends with 0:02:13.676 --> 0:02:16.396 Scott Mankee for just about a year. I met him 0:02:16.396 --> 0:02:19.236 through my husband Jimmy. They played some trivia leagues together, 0:02:19.876 --> 0:02:22.556 so I wasn't surprised when I learned that Scott's always 0:02:22.596 --> 0:02:25.276 been a big fan of the TV show Jeopardy. He 0:02:25.316 --> 0:02:27.716 started watching it when he was in high school, right 0:02:27.756 --> 0:02:30.716 around the time a contestant named Ken Jennings was taking 0:02:30.796 --> 0:02:35.436 Jeopardy by storm, breaking records and winning every game. Scott 0:02:35.436 --> 0:02:39.156 became mesmerized by Ken's epic run, and by the time 0:02:39.236 --> 0:02:42.116 Scott got to college, he was obsessed with the show. 0:02:42.636 --> 0:02:46.396 He skipped class to watch it, taped episodes, and rewatched them. 0:02:46.436 --> 0:02:48.916 He even used a ballpoint pen as a stand in 0:02:49.036 --> 0:02:53.636 for the buzzer, and Scott often found himself thinking, Huh, 0:02:53.796 --> 0:02:55.516 maybe this is the kind of thing I could win. 0:02:56.356 --> 0:02:59.516 The thing I liked about Jeopardy was that it's very 0:02:59.516 --> 0:03:02.796 black and white. There are right answers and there are 0:03:02.796 --> 0:03:06.156 wrong answers. It's something that you can improve at, it's 0:03:06.156 --> 0:03:09.796 something that you can get better at. There's very little 0:03:09.836 --> 0:03:13.996 gray area whether Budapest is the capital of Hungary. That's 0:03:14.036 --> 0:03:18.996 just right or wrong. And I think I'm the type 0:03:18.996 --> 0:03:24.956 of person that that would appeal to. And there's something 0:03:25.036 --> 0:03:29.876 comforting about that. There's something comforting about not having to 0:03:29.956 --> 0:03:35.516 leave anything up to someone's interpretation of something. You can 0:03:35.596 --> 0:03:41.476 just know the answer and prepare and you're done right. 0:03:41.716 --> 0:03:44.116 And it was the same way for me growing up 0:03:44.116 --> 0:03:47.436 in school, right spelling tests. That was the best speller. 0:03:47.676 --> 0:03:49.356 You just have to know how to spell the word, 0:03:49.516 --> 0:03:54.756 and then you're done, versus you know, writing an essay 0:03:54.756 --> 0:04:00.196 about Charles Dickens, and then your teacher has a different 0:04:00.276 --> 0:04:04.996 viewpoint on some point that you're making, and I don't know. 0:04:05.036 --> 0:04:06.396 I don't know how to succeed on that. There's no 0:04:06.436 --> 0:04:09.556 guaranteed way to succeed at that, and that's un comfortable 0:04:09.556 --> 0:04:12.596 for me. The good old days when things were true 0:04:12.676 --> 0:04:17.356 or false. You're already making a nostalgic Scott. But so 0:04:17.436 --> 0:04:20.996 you're in college, right, and you are now exclusively devoting 0:04:21.036 --> 0:04:24.516 yourself to jeopardy. You're not attending class. What is that experience? 0:04:24.596 --> 0:04:27.676 Like when you you become a super fan of Jeopardy. 0:04:28.516 --> 0:04:32.316 What I found when I was watching the show so 0:04:32.356 --> 0:04:39.276 consistently was that I was getting better and I started 0:04:39.676 --> 0:04:42.596 noticing that I was getting clues that the contestants weren't getting, 0:04:43.116 --> 0:04:46.476 and you know, I was. I was sweeping categories in 0:04:46.516 --> 0:04:49.756 my mind, so I could tell that I was, all 0:04:49.756 --> 0:04:51.796 of a sudden like in the mix, you know, I was. 0:04:51.916 --> 0:04:55.276 I was being competitive with those characters on the screen. 0:04:55.836 --> 0:04:59.196 And as I started getting getting better and better, I 0:04:59.596 --> 0:05:02.676 had the thought that I could probably be good enough 0:05:02.716 --> 0:05:05.556 to pass the test and be a contestant, just based 0:05:05.596 --> 0:05:08.676 on how many questions I was getting right so on 0:05:08.716 --> 0:05:13.036 the one and I felt like my knowledge base was there. 0:05:13.956 --> 0:05:18.876 But the flip side of that is being a contestant, 0:05:18.996 --> 0:05:24.196 being someone who comes into people's living rooms and being 0:05:24.876 --> 0:05:28.396 having somewhat of a of a personality. I didn't know 0:05:28.436 --> 0:05:30.636 if I was if I was there, and I didn't 0:05:30.676 --> 0:05:38.516 know if I had that to offer necessarily. And where 0:05:38.516 --> 0:05:42.396 do you think that? Where did that originate from? You 0:05:42.476 --> 0:05:44.756 said you you had a who was the phrase you use? 0:05:44.836 --> 0:05:49.156 A somewhat personality? Yeah? I think in college I was 0:05:49.276 --> 0:05:53.636 just kind of a shy person and all my life. 0:05:53.716 --> 0:05:57.836 I had been that way growing up. I don't think 0:05:59.076 --> 0:06:04.076 being a super interesting person and being the life of 0:06:04.116 --> 0:06:09.996 the party was necessarily valued by my family. By my parents, 0:06:10.796 --> 0:06:17.116 my mom immigrated here. She's Chinese, She's born in Hong 0:06:17.196 --> 0:06:21.316 Kong and moved here from Singapore when she was thirteen, 0:06:22.476 --> 0:06:29.436 and I think she really valued hard work and achievement academically, 0:06:29.556 --> 0:06:33.676 and you know, any of like the social stuff and 0:06:34.196 --> 0:06:38.476 you know who my friends were and what kind of 0:06:38.596 --> 0:06:40.996 clubs and activities I was doing. I think that was 0:06:41.516 --> 0:06:46.556 secondary or like forgotten entirely, and so I don't think 0:06:46.596 --> 0:06:54.916 I had that much encouragement to to try and work 0:06:54.916 --> 0:06:58.956 on that part of myself, Like I don't think I don't. 0:06:58.996 --> 0:07:01.836 I don't think I hung out at anyone's house or 0:07:01.876 --> 0:07:04.796 did a sleepover maybe like once or twice throughout all 0:07:04.796 --> 0:07:07.036 of high school. And I don't think that was a 0:07:07.156 --> 0:07:10.356 very big concern for them. I think they were just 0:07:10.396 --> 0:07:13.076 cool with me hanging at home with them. And you know, 0:07:13.156 --> 0:07:15.996 getting an a in French got to conjugate those verbs, okay, 0:07:16.156 --> 0:07:22.676 very important. I didn't think that there was anything remarkable 0:07:22.756 --> 0:07:26.716 about me as a person that would that would make 0:07:26.796 --> 0:07:31.716 me stand out in any way other than I know 0:07:31.796 --> 0:07:37.156 the powers of two up to the twentieth power, or 0:07:37.756 --> 0:07:40.796 you know, I got a perfect math SAT score when 0:07:40.836 --> 0:07:45.396 I was thirteen. I was just I. I if I 0:07:45.396 --> 0:07:47.516 thought about who I was, it was just a very 0:07:47.636 --> 0:07:50.436 like someone who's good at memorizing things, someone who's good 0:07:50.476 --> 0:07:56.556 at like knowing things. But there was no one tapping 0:07:56.556 --> 0:07:59.196 me on the shoulder and saying, Scott, you're you're a 0:07:59.236 --> 0:08:04.436 great guy, and I need to get to know you more, 0:08:05.756 --> 0:08:08.196 or you need to you need to be out in 0:08:08.196 --> 0:08:10.516 front of people and telling them all about it yourself. 0:08:12.076 --> 0:08:14.956 There was no one saying that for sure, So I 0:08:15.156 --> 0:08:18.156 don't know why. I don't know how other people are 0:08:18.316 --> 0:08:22.196 are comfortable doing that when there's a very real chance 0:08:22.276 --> 0:08:26.116 that no one wants to hear from them, and all 0:08:26.116 --> 0:08:31.276 of a sudden everyone loses from that interaction. Yeah, that's interesting. 0:08:31.316 --> 0:08:34.516 I mean, it seems like your default assumption was that 0:08:34.676 --> 0:08:38.596 unless you were explicitly told otherwise, what you had to 0:08:38.636 --> 0:08:42.636 say wouldn't be interesting to people. Is that right? Yeah? 0:08:42.676 --> 0:08:44.876 I think that is right. I think I just didn't 0:08:44.916 --> 0:08:49.396 have a lot of self confidence. I didn't feel comfortable 0:08:50.236 --> 0:08:54.956 putting myself out there with people. I didn't know, with 0:08:55.876 --> 0:08:59.036 a large group of people that may have different interests 0:08:59.036 --> 0:09:02.596 than me, I didn't think that I had anything to 0:09:02.636 --> 0:09:08.516 offer them. Really, I was into my thing, but you know, 0:09:08.516 --> 0:09:12.516 why would any one want to know my thoughts and 0:09:12.516 --> 0:09:17.396 feelings about subjects that I'm not necessarily an expert in 0:09:17.676 --> 0:09:19.716 or you know that I don't have all the right 0:09:19.756 --> 0:09:24.996 answers too, And so I was just shy and had 0:09:25.076 --> 0:09:29.116 reservations about sharing anything with them. Yeah, and that's particularly 0:09:29.116 --> 0:09:31.996 interesting because it's not like I mean, correct me if 0:09:31.996 --> 0:09:33.636 I'm wrong, But it seems like it's not like people 0:09:33.636 --> 0:09:36.276 were actively saying negative things about you. They weren't coming 0:09:36.316 --> 0:09:39.996 up to you and saying, Scott, your personality sucks. You 0:09:40.076 --> 0:09:43.716 shouldn't be in front of large swots of people sharing 0:09:43.716 --> 0:09:46.036 who you are. Inside the feedback you're getting was the 0:09:46.036 --> 0:09:49.316 absence of feedback, right, Yea, So there was really no 0:09:50.116 --> 0:09:53.236 confirmatory evidence in either direction. But it seems like you 0:09:54.116 --> 0:09:59.836 decided in your mind anyway that no, I'm you know, 0:10:00.676 --> 0:10:03.276 I'm smart, but not really that fun to be around. 0:10:03.356 --> 0:10:06.276 People don't really care what I have to say. Yeah, 0:10:06.396 --> 0:10:09.476 I think that's right. I think that's totally right. So so 0:10:09.236 --> 0:10:11.396 so maybe maybe I've gotten some feedback in the past 0:10:11.396 --> 0:10:15.996 that I'm a nice person. But it seemed a stretch 0:10:16.076 --> 0:10:19.396 to me to suggest that I would then go on 0:10:19.436 --> 0:10:22.676 a on a game show and say, hey, everybody, look 0:10:22.716 --> 0:10:27.716 at me. I'm great. That that that didn't track to me. 0:10:28.316 --> 0:10:33.676 M So, Scott, give given everything that you've just described, right, 0:10:33.756 --> 0:10:38.036 being relatively shy, um, not feeling that anyone will want 0:10:38.076 --> 0:10:41.476 to have the opportunity to get to know you in 0:10:41.516 --> 0:10:46.116 any deep way, why go on a game show? Yep, Yeah, 0:10:46.116 --> 0:10:51.356 that's a good question. So Number one, if you win 0:10:51.396 --> 0:10:55.116 the tournament, this college tournament, you can win one hundred 0:10:55.116 --> 0:10:57.076 thousand dollars. That's the amount of money that goes to 0:10:57.076 --> 0:10:59.876 the winner. Wow, so there's there's a real incentive there. 0:11:00.716 --> 0:11:04.116 Number two, I felt like you would be good for me, 0:11:04.916 --> 0:11:09.396 uh like for my resume somehow, Like I wasn't doing 0:11:09.396 --> 0:11:12.676 that great in school. I thought if I if I 0:11:12.716 --> 0:11:17.796 was representing my school on Jeopardy, that that would be 0:11:18.396 --> 0:11:21.116 kind of reclaiming like some kind of you know, good 0:11:21.156 --> 0:11:25.476 points for me in some sense. So you mustter up 0:11:25.476 --> 0:11:30.236 the courage to audition for Jeopardy, right, Yeah, So I 0:11:30.276 --> 0:11:34.676 finally decide it's time. So the first thing I did 0:11:34.756 --> 0:11:39.156 was you take an online test, And a few days 0:11:39.196 --> 0:11:40.916 after that, I got an email that says, Hey, you're 0:11:40.916 --> 0:11:44.596 invited to come to Washington, d C. For an audition 0:11:45.036 --> 0:11:48.036 in person where you'll get to play the game and 0:11:48.116 --> 0:11:51.836 you'll get to meet some of the crew at the show. 0:11:52.716 --> 0:11:58.436 So that's exciting. So go there a month later and 0:11:59.116 --> 0:12:04.356 get into the room and there's fifty other hopefuls who 0:12:04.356 --> 0:12:09.516 are from nearby colleges sitting in this conference room, and 0:12:09.876 --> 0:12:14.076 I feel intimidated because a lot of them have better 0:12:14.116 --> 0:12:18.076 stories than me from the outset, and I'm like, I got, 0:12:18.116 --> 0:12:21.076 I got nothing, um, And so I'm I'm I'm a 0:12:21.116 --> 0:12:27.316 little discouraged in the moment because even amongst the Jeopardy faithful, 0:12:27.796 --> 0:12:32.276 who you would imagine are a little less interesting than 0:12:32.316 --> 0:12:35.236 the than the than the average person, I feel like 0:12:35.276 --> 0:12:39.356 I'm not scoring well against them. So that was kind 0:12:39.356 --> 0:12:43.436 of the backdrop for for that audition. And then I 0:12:43.476 --> 0:12:46.516 feel like I did decently when I was actually buzzing 0:12:46.836 --> 0:12:50.276 and answering questions. Um, that was kind of my crutch. 0:12:50.676 --> 0:12:54.756 I can do pretty well just answering questions, you know. 0:12:54.756 --> 0:12:57.876 That's my bread and butter. That's what I've been practicing 0:12:58.236 --> 0:13:01.636 all these years and then comes time for me to 0:13:01.956 --> 0:13:05.716 talk about myself, and sadly, one of the one of 0:13:05.756 --> 0:13:08.676 the fun facts that I wrote about myself was simply 0:13:08.756 --> 0:13:11.676 repeat eating a line in my bio. It was just 0:13:12.076 --> 0:13:16.436 my name is Scott. I'm a senior in college. So 0:13:16.556 --> 0:13:18.636 there was nothing remotely interesting about that. It was just 0:13:18.676 --> 0:13:22.156 repeating information that was contained on the other parts of 0:13:22.156 --> 0:13:24.316 the form. I love how the line of your bio 0:13:24.396 --> 0:13:27.476 you chose was literally your nave in college, that fact 0:13:27.516 --> 0:13:30.676 that you're a college student. It's a college tournament. I 0:13:30.716 --> 0:13:34.156 mean they probably could have deduced that that's very that's 0:13:34.276 --> 0:13:36.796 very charming. Yeah, like you weren't even willing to go 0:13:36.796 --> 0:13:38.836 to that. I used to play the violin and hated it, 0:13:38.956 --> 0:13:41.036 or I don't know what other hobbies one might have 0:13:41.076 --> 0:13:44.356 had growing up. Right, very interesting, right, that was? That 0:13:44.396 --> 0:13:48.876 was number one? That was number one fact. And I 0:13:48.916 --> 0:13:55.236 remember how I knew something about the show that no 0:13:55.236 --> 0:13:57.876 one else in the room had known. And what it 0:13:57.996 --> 0:14:02.476 was was the producer asks, does anyone remember who won 0:14:02.676 --> 0:14:06.836 the college tournament the previous year? And I raised my 0:14:06.876 --> 0:14:08.476 hand and I said, of course, it was Joey from 0:14:08.476 --> 0:14:14.196 Mississippi State. And I think that in my mind was 0:14:14.636 --> 0:14:17.716 the difference maker. You know, I was kind of unremarkable 0:14:17.716 --> 0:14:20.036 in the other aspects, but the fact that I was 0:14:20.036 --> 0:14:22.476 such a super fan and knew, you know, the show 0:14:22.516 --> 0:14:26.636 backwards and forwards and what had happened was what allowed 0:14:26.636 --> 0:14:30.836 me to kind of differentiate myself. And yeah, that was it. 0:14:30.836 --> 0:14:35.396 It was. It was pretty quick. Didn't feel that optimistic 0:14:35.436 --> 0:14:39.316 about my chances, and you know, I felt like I 0:14:39.356 --> 0:14:43.356 did okay on the trivia and subpar on the personality part, 0:14:43.436 --> 0:14:47.316 as expected. And so then what is it like to 0:14:47.356 --> 0:14:50.756 get the call that you you had been chosen from 0:14:50.796 --> 0:14:54.036 all those hopefuls? Yeah, that was that was great. I 0:14:54.076 --> 0:14:58.956 remember ever since I auditioned, I would fantasize about seeing 0:14:58.996 --> 0:15:03.676 that number show up on my little flip phone, and 0:15:03.796 --> 0:15:06.196 I would just imagine, like what what that feeling would 0:15:06.196 --> 0:15:07.556 be like when I when I saw this call him 0:15:07.556 --> 0:15:13.236 through the way I've felt at that moment was was joy. 0:15:13.316 --> 0:15:16.236 I remember looking out into the into the distance, into 0:15:16.276 --> 0:15:20.156 the ocean and thinking, as cheesy as it might sound, 0:15:20.476 --> 0:15:22.676 like all my life's about to change. My life's meet 0:15:22.716 --> 0:15:25.276 to change. I remember thinking that, And in what way 0:15:25.316 --> 0:15:29.916 did you think that it would change? I felt like 0:15:29.916 --> 0:15:33.916 like I I had been watching Jeopardy for a while, 0:15:34.196 --> 0:15:38.356 so to me, being on Jeopardy was a big deal. Yeah. 0:15:38.396 --> 0:15:39.996 In my mind, I'm like, now I get to be 0:15:39.996 --> 0:15:43.476 a part of this club, and you know it's going 0:15:43.556 --> 0:15:49.716 to be a maybe anxiety riddling experience, but it's going 0:15:49.756 --> 0:15:53.516 to be, you know, a big experience nonetheless. And then 0:15:53.556 --> 0:15:56.996 what is it like, you know, to be to be 0:15:57.076 --> 0:15:59.756 on the stage the lights go on, You're so once 0:15:59.796 --> 0:16:02.796 we get to the stage, you're you're getting to go 0:16:02.876 --> 0:16:05.756 through the motions of actually being on Jeopardy. I remember 0:16:05.796 --> 0:16:08.956 buzzing in correctly on a few clues in this practice round, 0:16:09.356 --> 0:16:14.716 and pretty quickly I get ushered offstage and the producers 0:16:14.716 --> 0:16:18.556 are like, Scott, you're good, good job, good job. You 0:16:18.556 --> 0:16:21.916 don't need any more practice. You're all set. And I 0:16:21.996 --> 0:16:25.076 felt happy about that. I felt like I fit the 0:16:25.156 --> 0:16:29.756 mold of a good contestant in the sense that I 0:16:29.796 --> 0:16:31.476 did what I was supposed to do. I kept the 0:16:31.476 --> 0:16:34.836 game moving. I was looking in the right direction and 0:16:35.916 --> 0:16:39.676 pressing the buzzer appropriately and answering in with a good 0:16:39.836 --> 0:16:42.316 tone of voice. So I felt like I checked all 0:16:42.356 --> 0:16:47.476 the boxes of just fulfilling the contestant duties if they 0:16:47.516 --> 0:16:51.356 existed on a checklist somewhere I felt like I felt 0:16:51.356 --> 0:16:53.796 like I was ready to play, and so yeah, I 0:16:53.836 --> 0:16:58.996 felt I felt good. Well, here how Scott did on Jeopardy. 0:16:59.116 --> 0:17:01.596 After the break, we'll be back in a moment with 0:17:01.676 --> 0:17:15.436 a slight change of plans. We're back with Scott Manke, 0:17:15.916 --> 0:17:19.236 who successfully made it on to the Jeopardy College Championship 0:17:19.316 --> 0:17:22.276 in two thousand and nine. So let's hear about Scott's 0:17:22.276 --> 0:17:25.556 experience on the show, starting with when he introduced himself 0:17:25.636 --> 0:17:29.676 to the ten million plus viewers watching at home. Scott 0:17:29.716 --> 0:17:35.596 Minky is from Flemington, New Jersey. Teaches chess to who 0:17:36.956 --> 0:17:39.596 at Johns Hopkins were in the community of Baltimore. So 0:17:39.636 --> 0:17:43.036 we go out into the more underprivileged communities in Baltimore 0:17:43.116 --> 0:17:45.956 and we bring out a table every week and set 0:17:45.996 --> 0:17:48.196 up some boards and we teach the chess the kids 0:17:48.196 --> 0:17:50.716 in the in the neighborhood there. Are they fascinated by 0:17:50.756 --> 0:17:52.836 the game? Are they really interested or is it just 0:17:52.916 --> 0:17:54.756 a way to pass the time. It's a little bit 0:17:54.756 --> 0:17:57.276 of both. They're they're pretty interested. Unfortunately, they forget the 0:17:57.316 --> 0:17:59.076 rules every week, so we have to reteach them. That 0:17:59.116 --> 0:18:00.636 takes up a lot of time, but at the end, 0:18:00.676 --> 0:18:03.996 we usually get a few good games going. How did 0:18:03.996 --> 0:18:08.236 you do? How did it go? Yeah, my first game 0:18:08.476 --> 0:18:11.916 went really well well. I had a small lead going 0:18:11.916 --> 0:18:15.396 into double jeopardy, and then in that second round I 0:18:15.436 --> 0:18:21.236 really pulled away and reached thirty thousand dollars at some point, 0:18:21.796 --> 0:18:25.876 which is a pretty decisive victory. And I went into 0:18:26.396 --> 0:18:29.356 the final jeopardy knowing that I had what's called a 0:18:29.396 --> 0:18:32.476 lock game, or I had no chance of losing if 0:18:32.516 --> 0:18:35.716 I wagered appropriately. And then the second day and then 0:18:35.756 --> 0:18:38.396 the second day it was more of a back and 0:18:38.476 --> 0:18:40.836 forth game. I did well enough that I had the 0:18:40.916 --> 0:18:45.196 lead going into final Jeopardy, and I got the question wrong. 0:18:45.876 --> 0:18:48.756 So my Jeopardy run kind of came to a crashing 0:18:48.756 --> 0:18:52.356 halt when it was revealed that the answer to the 0:18:52.436 --> 0:18:56.796 clue was deadline and not headline as I had written. 0:18:57.876 --> 0:19:00.596 So one letter kind of brought the whole thing to 0:19:00.636 --> 0:19:03.316 an end. That's so unfortunate. You should have been well, 0:19:03.316 --> 0:19:04.796 good thing you weren't a real of fortune, because it 0:19:04.796 --> 0:19:09.676 turns out letters matter a lot there ut Okay, So 0:19:09.716 --> 0:19:11.876 what did it feel like, Scott? When when this whole 0:19:11.876 --> 0:19:16.156 experience was over, I would say, yeah, it was I 0:19:16.436 --> 0:19:19.716 felt good about it. I felt like I achieved, you know, 0:19:19.876 --> 0:19:23.076 higher than fifty percentile outcome of what could have happened. 0:19:23.596 --> 0:19:26.356 My parents got to see me win there, which was 0:19:26.356 --> 0:19:29.556 like important to me, and I did fine, So I 0:19:29.636 --> 0:19:33.356 was happy with it. So what is it like after 0:19:33.556 --> 0:19:38.716 the show actually airs. I remember back in the back 0:19:38.756 --> 0:19:40.316 in those days, by the way, two thousand and nine, 0:19:40.436 --> 0:19:43.236 everything's everything's done on Facebook, all right. Facebook is huge 0:19:43.356 --> 0:19:48.636 back then, and there's this Jeopardy message board where people 0:19:48.676 --> 0:19:52.316 post about the episodes and you know, some predictions for 0:19:52.356 --> 0:19:55.476 the upcoming tournament, that kind of thing. I remember people 0:19:56.596 --> 0:19:59.436 on the message board being like, ooh, you know Scott 0:19:59.436 --> 0:20:01.556 from Johns Hopkins, I think I think this guy could 0:20:01.596 --> 0:20:03.276 be I think this guy could be the winner. You know, 0:20:03.316 --> 0:20:07.436 we'll see. So there's there's just like there's I tried 0:20:07.436 --> 0:20:13.556 to consume all of the media surrounding my appearance, you know, 0:20:13.596 --> 0:20:17.396 which consists of this one message board mostly and you know, 0:20:17.516 --> 0:20:21.516 see what people's reactions are going to be basically. So 0:20:21.556 --> 0:20:25.196 then the first episode airs, and first there's like a 0:20:25.236 --> 0:20:30.596 flood of you know, Facebook friend requests, people sending me 0:20:31.036 --> 0:20:33.796 notes and things like oh wow, you did you did 0:20:33.836 --> 0:20:37.076 so well congratulations, And then I go to the message 0:20:37.076 --> 0:20:41.116 board because that's where like the true Jeopardy diehards are. 0:20:41.116 --> 0:20:42.636 And you know, I don't care as much that my 0:20:42.716 --> 0:20:46.596 neighbor from back home said good job, Scott, because they 0:20:46.596 --> 0:20:49.196 would say that regardless of how I did. But I 0:20:49.236 --> 0:20:53.636 want to hear from the Jeopardy ogs. Yeah, what do 0:20:53.676 --> 0:20:55.836 I have their respect? And so I go to my 0:20:55.956 --> 0:21:00.436 episode page and yeah, one of the first comments that 0:21:00.476 --> 0:21:04.276 I remember seeing was this person saying, I really like 0:21:04.396 --> 0:21:07.636 Scott's demeanor on the show. You know, I think they 0:21:07.836 --> 0:21:11.156 had some other points about my performance and how how 0:21:11.156 --> 0:21:13.436 many questions I got right or how well I was doing, 0:21:13.476 --> 0:21:16.396 but that was the first line, I believe of the 0:21:16.196 --> 0:21:18.636 of the post, and it really stuck out to me 0:21:18.716 --> 0:21:22.916 because I didn't expect that reaction. I thought it would be, 0:21:23.836 --> 0:21:25.596 you know about, oh, how did I miss this question 0:21:25.716 --> 0:21:28.236 or you know, good job getting getting this one right. 0:21:28.356 --> 0:21:32.316 But it seemed to be like they liked who I 0:21:32.436 --> 0:21:35.996 was and they thought I'd seemed like a good, good 0:21:35.996 --> 0:21:38.516 hang or whatever, and so that one, that one really 0:21:38.516 --> 0:21:41.836 struck me. Um So, in addition to that, what was 0:21:41.876 --> 0:21:45.796 funny was someone created a Scott Mankie on Jeopardy fan 0:21:45.916 --> 0:21:51.076 club low membership, definitely, but hey, better to have a 0:21:51.076 --> 0:21:55.596 few high quality ones, right, that's right, that's yeah, a 0:21:55.716 --> 0:21:59.236 hundred true fans, right, that's what we need. Okay. I 0:21:59.316 --> 0:22:05.116 was touched by the fact that someone went to the 0:22:05.876 --> 0:22:10.196 trouble of of making that um so, so that was 0:22:10.276 --> 0:22:13.916 that was heartening. I thought I would be passable and 0:22:14.356 --> 0:22:18.756 an acceptable person in terms of how I came off. 0:22:18.796 --> 0:22:22.236 But I just remember people saying that they'd want to 0:22:22.276 --> 0:22:24.436 be my friend, or they'd want to you know, they'd 0:22:24.436 --> 0:22:27.916 want to meet me, just based off how the episode was. 0:22:29.556 --> 0:22:34.556 So so you're starting to notice that people are responding 0:22:34.636 --> 0:22:38.676 to you, right, not not your trivia prowess, but to you. 0:22:38.836 --> 0:22:41.876 They they they like you. They're expressing that they want 0:22:41.876 --> 0:22:45.556 to be friends with you, contrary to your working model 0:22:45.596 --> 0:22:48.196 of the world, which is that you had nothing interesting 0:22:48.276 --> 0:22:49.716 to say and no one would want to hear what 0:22:49.716 --> 0:22:52.436 you had to say. It sounds like people do. What 0:22:52.516 --> 0:22:55.036 was it like to have this realization about yourself for 0:22:55.036 --> 0:22:59.476 the first time? It was it was a substantial realization, 0:22:59.956 --> 0:23:05.956 and it made me wonder whether I needed to change 0:23:05.956 --> 0:23:09.236 how I interact with others and need to share more 0:23:09.276 --> 0:23:13.076 and need to put myself out there, if they enjoy 0:23:13.156 --> 0:23:15.636 me for who I am, then maybe I need to 0:23:15.636 --> 0:23:19.916 share more of that. And did this realization lead you 0:23:19.996 --> 0:23:26.596 to reinterpret anything that had happened during your Jeopardy experience? 0:23:27.556 --> 0:23:31.756 Seeing people respond that way made me wonder whether that 0:23:31.956 --> 0:23:35.876 same thing came across when I was filming the show, 0:23:36.516 --> 0:23:41.236 and whether I was getting a similar response there. And 0:23:41.276 --> 0:23:46.116 so I thought back, and I do remember the different 0:23:46.156 --> 0:23:49.316 crew members on the show joking around with me during 0:23:50.156 --> 0:23:54.316 downtime and talking about other shows that they'd worked on, 0:23:54.476 --> 0:23:57.836 and different celebrities and who was nice and who was not, 0:23:58.116 --> 0:24:02.236 and different different gossip from behind the scenes of some 0:24:02.316 --> 0:24:05.076 of these shows. And I wondered if it was maybe 0:24:06.156 --> 0:24:10.196 them just wanting to hang out and me seeming like 0:24:10.276 --> 0:24:16.876 a good person to talk to, Um, maybe reconsider that. Yeah, 0:24:16.916 --> 0:24:19.716 And you know, I imagine, you know, anytime we have 0:24:19.836 --> 0:24:24.556 a profound realization, you know, we can we can prescribe 0:24:24.996 --> 0:24:27.236 a future for ourselves in which we, you know, change 0:24:27.276 --> 0:24:30.956 the way we are. But it's perhaps hard to put 0:24:30.996 --> 0:24:33.156 that into practice, right because so much of it feels 0:24:33.156 --> 0:24:36.076 so foreign. M So, so, do you have any notable 0:24:36.116 --> 0:24:39.756 memories or any specific memories of when you kind of 0:24:40.836 --> 0:24:43.196 took the car for a test drive, so to speak, 0:24:43.236 --> 0:24:47.036 the personality car. So yeah, I remember, I remember the moment. 0:24:47.196 --> 0:24:51.116 I remember a moment. The moment was in Las Vegas, 0:24:51.156 --> 0:24:54.676 where I lived after graduating. I would like play poker sometimes, 0:24:55.276 --> 0:24:57.996 and when you're seated at a poker table, it's just 0:24:58.116 --> 0:25:02.236 like ten strangers and you're you know, in between hands 0:25:02.436 --> 0:25:05.276 or when you're not when you don't have cards, there's 0:25:05.276 --> 0:25:08.476 a lot of table talk or banter that's that's going on. 0:25:09.196 --> 0:25:12.036 And I remember engaging in that. And this was like 0:25:12.076 --> 0:25:14.796 shortly after the you know, less than a year after 0:25:14.836 --> 0:25:19.356 the episode it had aired, and feeling comfortable in that situation. 0:25:20.716 --> 0:25:23.436 I don't think any of the opinions I shared were 0:25:23.476 --> 0:25:26.676 like notable, but it was things like, you know, talking 0:25:26.676 --> 0:25:31.596 about the sports game that was on TV, or talking 0:25:31.596 --> 0:25:34.236 about like iPhones. I remember iPhones were like new back then, 0:25:34.676 --> 0:25:37.916 and kind of just like talking about the technology generally. 0:25:38.316 --> 0:25:42.396 But I just remember feeling much more comfortable in my 0:25:42.476 --> 0:25:47.316 skin talking with these strangers. And I think if I 0:25:47.356 --> 0:25:49.316 was at a poker table before Jeopardy, I would just 0:25:49.796 --> 0:25:53.716 you know, sunglasses, hoodie up, just looking at the looking 0:25:53.756 --> 0:25:56.436 at the cards and caring about the game. You know, 0:25:56.476 --> 0:25:59.076 it's so interesting you mentioned, you know, and none of 0:25:59.116 --> 0:26:03.156 it was notable stuff. That's exactly the point. I mean, 0:26:03.196 --> 0:26:06.116 the fact that you felt that in order for something 0:26:06.156 --> 0:26:08.196