Jeopardy dreams

Today I came one step closer to making one of my dreams came true: I went downtown to the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel and took a test to audition for the quiz show Jeopardy.

There were 17 people who auditioned when I did today, and there were two other sessions, so you figure about 50 people showed up. In January all of us took and passed an online test. The next step saw us being invited to come to the Renaissance to play a mock game, to learn how to work the buzzers, to be interviewed by production staff, and to take another 50-question test.

The test was rather hard. I know I got about five or six wrong, but I'm confident I got the rest right. They don't tell you how you do on the test, not after you take it or even later on.

If you do well enough on the test, and don't disgrace yourself in the mock game and the personality interview, your name gets added to the contestant pool, where it remains for up to 18 months. At any time during that period, you might, or might not, be contacted and told to come to Los Angeles to tape the show.

They tape five shows a day, two days a week. The taping season begins in July and ends in April. They do two weeks on and one week off. Each year hundreds of people are entered into the contestant pool, but nowhere near that many people actually get called to appear on the show.

So even though I think I did well today, I'd be lying if I said I was optimistic about my chances of appearing on the program. The odds are against me, as they are against any one particular contestant. They'll either call me or they won't. I have to try to maintain a Zen-like attitude about it all, which isn't something that comes easy to me.

Obviously, if I do get called in for the show, you'll be among the first to hear about it. And if I get on the show and win enough money, I'll buy each of you a bagel or something.