metro
FOREVERMARK
THE DIAMOND. THE PROMISE.
All 41 The Family
Jeopardy! addict gets her chance
to shine on the game show Oct. 1.
Barbara Lewis
I Contributing Writer
nswer: The daughter of a
Detroit Jewish Jeopardy! con-
testant, she will soon appear
on the syndicated television quiz herself.
Question: Who is Sara Goodman?
Goodman, 25, of Huntington Woods,
flew to Los Angeles two months ago for
the July 29 taping of the program, which
will air on Oct. 1. In accordance with
the Jeopardy! rules, she cant say how she
did in the game, only that she is satisfied
with her performance.
Other parent-child Jeopardy! con-
testants have probably been on the
show, but the Goodmans, members of
Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park,
may be the first from Michigan.
Allen Goodman describes himself as
"the most famous loser in Jeopardy! his-
tory" (keep reading to learn why), and
avenging his loss was one of Sara's goals.
Both Goodmans are Jeopardy! junkies,
as is Sara's mother, Janet Hankin. Allen,
66, started watching in 1964, when Art
Fleming was the host, and tried out to be
a contestant in the late 1960s.
Sara is even more addicted. Growing
up, she watched the game almost every
night with her parents. In the Detroit
area, the show airs at 7:30 p.m. weekdays
on Channel 4 (WDIV).
She recites stats about Jeopardy! the
way others rattle off details about sports
stars. She knows all kinds of arcane
details about the production.
"We were very competitive. I was
always better at the pop culture catego-
ries, and my dad was better at econom-
ics, math and history:' said Sara, now in
Baltimore earning a master's degree at
Johns Hopkins University
A graduate of Detroit Country Day
School and the University of Illinois, Sara
spent two years in Burkina Faso in West
Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer.
She tried out for the game numer-
ous times before she actually made it
onto the set. The first audition round is
online, then some hopefuls are invited in
for an interview and live audition.
"I tried out for the teen tournament
in 2006 and was called for an interview
in New York. I tried out for the college
tournament in 2009 and was called to
Chicago:' she said. Neither live audition
resulted in a contestant spot.
Sara took the online adult Jeopardy!
test three times, most recently last
January. She was asked to an interview
A
A TRUE PROMISE WILL NEVER BE BROKEN
Less than one percent of the world's diamonds can carry the Forevermark® inscription
- a promise that each is beautiful, rare and responsibly sourced.
GREENSTONE'S
FINE JEWELRY SINCE 1925
430 NORTH OLD WOODWARD • BIRMINGHAM
(248) 642-2650
www.greenstonesjewelers.com
12
September 25 • 2014
Jeopardy! addicts: Allen and Sara
Goodman
and live audition in Detroit on May 1. A
few weeks later, the producers called and
invited her to be on the show.
Her father appeared on Jeopardy! in
February 2009.
He was in the lead in the first seg-
ment of the game. He even "ran the cat-
egory" on questions about Little League,
answering all the questions correctly.
Then he buzzed in on the highest-value
question in the category "Countries
Beginning with N": the country formerly
known as German South-West Africa.
Goodman, a professor of economics at
Wayne State University, answered "What
is Namibia?" and host Alex Trebek
awarded him the $1,000.
But after the commercial break,
Trebek announced that the judges had
reviewed the tape and determined that
Goodman had said "Nabibia." They
deducted $2,000 from his score — the
$1,000 question value and a $1,000 pen-
alty — and Goodman never recovered
his momentum. He was tied for second
place before "Final Jeopardy:' answered
incorrectly and finished third.
When Sara and the other contestants
arrived at the Jeopardy! studios in Los
Angeles for the taping — five shows are
taped each day — the contestant pro-
ducer, Maggie Speak, stressed the impor-
tance of clear, correct pronunciation.
She told them about a past game
where the judges reviewed the tape
14 times before determining that the
contestant had said "Nabibia" instead of
"Namibia" and penalized him.
"That was my father!" Sara said.
Sara said Speak made a point of greet-
ing Allen, who was in the studio audi-
ence.
Beth Shalom, at 14601 W Lincoln in
Oak Park, is holding a Jeopardy! view-
ing party on Oct. 1 from 6:30-8 p.m.
Beverages and snacks will be served. All
are welcome.
❑