[DFT] Fw: [ChivalryToday] Chivalry in Jeopardy!

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Chivalry in Jeopardy!
By Scott Farrell
©2004, Shining Armor Enterprises
www.ChivalryToday.com

There are plenty of claims that the Code of Chivalry is out-of-step
with modern sensibilities. Audiences raised on a diet of TV shows,
sporting contests and other media that encourage aggressive,
confrontational attitudes often feel that the courteous, honorable
attitudes of knights in shining armor are dull, tedious and
unsatisfying.

A recent television spectacle proved just how incorrect that assumption
is.

The event occurred on the game show Jeopardy! The situation was this:
Tom Walsh had won four consecutive matches, and was going for his fifth
win (a rare occurrence which automatically places a player in the
show's yearly Tournament of Champions). The fifth match had been
particularly close - for much of the game, Walsh was trailing the other
two contestants, but he made a swift comeback in the Double Jeopardy!
round, and when the final scores were tallied, he commanded a slight
lead: $17,500 to the second-place player's $16,000.

Then, of course, came the Final Jeopardy! round. The players were given
the category, then the opportunity to wager as much, or as little as
they wanted before the question was revealed. It's a tense moment for a
Jeopardy! player: Do you go conservative, bet low and hope your
opponents will give incorrect answers? Or do you play aggressively and
bet high on the assumption that you'll come up with the correct answer?

Both Walsh and the number-two player chose the later strategy, and both
had the correct response. When the second-place player's wager was
revealed, Alex Trebek noted that he'd "gone for broke," betting all
$16,000 for a new total of $32,000. All Walsh had to bet was $14,501,
and he would be the winner, clinching the prestigious title of
"five-day champion."

Then, an amazingly chivalrous thing happened. Walsh's wager was
revealed: $14,500. He'd bet only enough to match his opponent's score,
not the extra dollar he needed to exceed it. The scoreboard revealed
that both of these players finished with $32,000, and Alex Trebek
reminded the audience of a little-known Jeopardy! rule stating that in
the case of a tie, both of the contestants return on the following show.

Of course, no one in the audience could read Tom Walsh's mind. Perhaps
his wager was the result of miscalculation or error in strategy on his
part. Yet something in his countenance as he turned to his left and
shook his opponent's hand indicated this might have been exactly what
he intended. The tie-making wager had cost him nothing - Walsh was
still a five-day champ, and still had a seat in the Tournament of
Champions. It also gave Walsh the opportunity to honor a worthy,
knowledgeable and valiant opponent.

Like the heroes of medieval legend, perhaps Walsh felt that the most
appropriate way to conclude a hard-fought match was not to crush his
competition, but to graciously allow his foe to rise and fight again.
If so, it was a brilliant and inspiring move. By putting chivalry in
Jeopardy!, Tom Walsh demonstrated that a champion can also be a knight
in shining armor.

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WHAT'S NEW at www.ChivalryToday.com  ?
- An award-winning youth essay on knightly business ethics;
- The Athlete's Pledge for chivalrous competition;
- Chivalry in Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings";
Plus several newly posted articles from Scott Farrell's "Chivalry Today
Weekly" archives, which can be found under the Chivalry Weekly section
in the left-hand navigation bar on our website. Come back and visit
soon!

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Readers are permitted and encouraged to share this article with others
as a way of furthering the understanding of the Code of Chivalry in the
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Scott Farrell and Shining Armor Enterprises. Visit our website at
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