The prior posting leaves Matt as the 9-day champion. This morning he is a 10-day champion, ranking 8th in overall money won, nearing $400,000. Asked yesterday on the show by the financial journalist Dave Faber what plans he might have for his winnings, Matt, who you suspected was a down-to-earth-guy anyway—despite his head full of correct answers—answered he's likely to buy something having to do with real estate.
I don't always see things in terms of thoroughbred racing, but there are similarities to real life competitions.
Anyone of a certain age who has been following thoroughbred racing for any number of years is familiar with the horse named Arazi. Arazi was owned by Allen Paulson, the now deceased Chairman and CEO of Gulfstream Aerospace. Think private business jets. Arazi won the 1991 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Championship in such stirring fashion, going from last to first on the far turn to pass horses as if they were standing still, that racetrack commentators and journalists couldn't help themselves by heaping praise on a horse they all believed would be the next Secretariat. Or Jesus.
Winning the final and top 2-year-old race of the year, and doing it so breathlessly, stamped Arazi as the very early favorite for the Kentucky Derby, despite the fact it was 7 months off. Horses can break your heart, and Arazi did, never living up to the insane hype he earned in that Breeders' Cup race.
The owner, Allen Paulson, who was also his own pilot, would name horses after aviation checkpoints, and the name Arazi was one for the Yuma airport in Arizona.
Last night, Matt Amodio was meeting his match, even falling behind. The woman in the center was matching his correct answers. Her pot of money was close to his. They were dueling down the backside. Is this the end of Matt?
Ding, Ding, Ding. Matt picks a tile that's the Daily Double. It's almost cute that the game uses what was once the only exotic bet at a racetrack: pick the winners of the first two races and share in the Daily Double pool. It's more than likely that your payout will be greater than if you were to parlay, or take the winning payout from your first winner, and plow it into the second winner, and collect the total. The "Double" was the first multi-leg bet, hugely popular, and now nearly completely forgotten with all the other combinations of wagers. It's still there, but it's old news.
I think the category had something to do with Australia, our great ally on the other side of the world, down under. Matt's sitting at $13,000 and change, and the woman in the center is breathing down his throat latch. He can't seem to shake her.
He squints at the board, almost seems to chuckle, and just goes for it. He bets it all, with no gestures, no funny line, just tells the host Dave the amount. This is Nick the Greek betting on rain drops.
As usual, the question/answer, if it were to be diagrammed out by a near-extinct grammarian, seems to have several clauses, but has something to do with the type of government Australia has. Do you know?
I was holding my breath. In fact, I didn't hear the question/answer well, but Matt did. He somewhat haltingly said "Commonwealth." He's now sitting pretty, having pulled an Arazi move, doubled his money count, and is likely to finish in that catbird position of mathematically being unable to be caught with the Final Jeopardy question. He was Eamonn Coghlan on the final lap. Goodbye guys.
The remainder of the show was just the mop up. Matt, and Christina Leone got the Final Jeopardy question, but her $9,600 total and $9,600 bet couldn't catch Matt, despite getting the answer right. Matt added $15,000 to his total, and emerged, as expected, as the 10-day-champion with $362,400.
Anyone who knows anything about the show knows that several episodes are taped on the same day, as many as six I believe. If you're lucky enough to make it as a contestant I believe the producers tell you to bring a change of clothes in case you emerge as that episode's champion. A recent short-term champion was a Marine who stayed in his uniform. I think he made it through three days.
Last night Matt looked even more like Clive Owen in his monochrome brown suit and shirt. If he keeps at it, not only will he add to his winnings, he might even get some free clothes shipped over to the set. It might already be happening. I'd bet his outfit didn't come from his closet. When you're an emerging celebrity, things happen.
Matt has now gone through three guest hosts. Reading the posting on the Internet, I'm reading Joe Buck does next week! Joe Buck, a real sportscaster. How about getting Kenny Albert next? Or Larry Colmus, who's not doing NYRA race calls these days?
Arazi the horse disappointed. What will Arazi the human do next?
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