10 Comments
May 12, 2023Liked by Mills Baker, Omar Khalid

Maybe want to un-dox yourself with the check photo. Great piece!

Expand full comment
author

Thank you! Better safe than sorry.

Expand full comment
May 14, 2023Liked by Mills Baker, Omar Khalid

Omar, thanks for this great piece. I was on the 2/10/23 episode of J! and got second place. I kept beating myself up for the moodiness I couldn't shake off after the airing. I was indeed mocked for my lack of knowledge about football, since I had the miserable luck of appearing on the episode right before Super Bowl Sunday, and I know nothing about the sport. Definitely a feeling of "This is it, huh? That was my chance and I sure blew it." Connecting with fans has definitely helped me shake it off!

Expand full comment
author

Thank you Libby! I'm so glad this resonated with you. I think about how much worse this has gotten in the past decade or so with viral "journalism" and social media. I'm sure it will fade with time, but what a crummy thing to think about an experience that should be such a positive.

Expand full comment
May 13, 2023Liked by Mills Baker, Omar Khalid

Omar this was a really great piece. Especially the second half and getting the chance to peer into the emotional element of the experience. Loved it

Expand full comment
author

Thank you! I don't know if I'm the only one that felt that way, but I suspect I'm not. It's making me think a lot more about the aftermath of experiences in general.

Expand full comment

Totally. Aftermath of experiences is a legitimate thing. Even after a big creative experience there’s that lull period and it can shake me pretty hard.

Also the Jeopardy veterans group is fascinating. That’s like a lifetime pass to that club eh?

Expand full comment
May 12, 2023Liked by Mills Baker

Great read. 👌

Expand full comment

Fascinating story. I also have a friend who was a Jeopardy loser. My theory: we were raised in America to believe being on television in any manner was a worthwhile life goal. So congratulations! The other side is that we are also experiencing the zero-sum game of living in America, few winners and the rest losers. Do not listen to "Deacon Blues" too often!

Expand full comment

Failure stinks but I’m sure you learned cool stuff during the brief time. Plus you get that cool check to frame 👍

Expand full comment