I really can't believe I'm doing this, but with a couple of requests to break it all down and to fully explain my position on this, I guess the blog entry just had to be done. For those who think it's ridiculous to discuss this for more than 2 minutes, you're probably right, but I just have to get this off my chest.
I'm sure you've all seen the link by now of the Wheel of Fortune contestant who managed to solve the puzzle with all only one letter on the board. I've been sent the link about ten times and I had the same reaction the last time I saw it as when I saw it the first time. For those who may not have seen it, here's the video...
The woman in question may have shown her book-smarts by being able to solve the puzzle so quickly, but she showed a complete lack of business sense by not maximizing her profit and bad clock management by not using a prolonged streak of spins on the wheel to dominate wheel possession.
I think she also made a grave error in proving to her opponents just how strong of a competitor she was. Your typical Wheel of Fortune usually needs the puzzle to have only one letter left before they solve. They must have been panicking badly when they saw that kind of bravado.
You should hear some of the comments I'm getting from people when I don't share the same sort of amazement of her abilities like they do. Everything from "I'm greedy" to "Why can't you be happy for her?" or "Why don't you like it when someone shows that they're smarter than you?" I bet if those people read the following, they wouldn't say those things anymore.
Alright, on the first subject of maximizing profit, if she knew what the puzzle was after just one letter, why not try and get more money by spinning the wheel as opposed to just leaving a ton of money on the table by doing the hero-solve and having your 5 minutes of fame as the girl that solved a Wheel of Fortune board with only one letter?
I'm sure she wasn't thinking at the time that she would be interviewed by Fox News or that her video would have millions of hits on youtube, but it's obvious that she wanted to show off a little bit to everyone about her puzzle-solving abilities and I just think her clouded judgment probably cost her thousands of dollars.
As the wheel is spinning, she could have easily worked out in her head what letters are multiplied within this puzzle and what letters are on their own. So, if she landed on some small figure like $300, she could have used the letter "B" in about. But if she landed on the $5000 figure, she could have said the letter "t" or "g" that would have given her 15K in one shot.
I understand that the threat of "bankrupt" and "Lose a Turn" exist on the wheel and that you might lose your opportunity to solve the puzzle and get the points, but that's just got to be a risk that you're willing to take. I was talking to this with Dirty yesterday and he figured that she was just taking the sure money, much like taking three points on a chip-shot field goal as opposed to spinning the wheel and running the risk of losing out while pursuing 7 points for the touchdown.
I get that, but it would be like sending Peyton Manning out onto the field with an all-star NFL offence against a high school team defence and starting a drive with the ball first and 10 on the 20 yard line. You know that unless something catastrophic happens, the NFLer's will be able to get into the end zone and score the touchdown. But instead, Peyton decides to go with a run play that nets him about 5 yards, then tells the coach that he wants the field goal unit to come to attempt and make an 85 yard field goal. The kick is good and the crowd is going insane, but it's still nets only three points.
This is where the failure of clock management comes into play. It's only a 30-minute show, so you know there's only going to be so many puzzles in which your opponents can gain money and possibly win out to get to the bonus round. But why give them an opportunity at a couple more puzzles when you have the ability to draw the puzzle out for minutes, dominate the possession of the wheel and completely shut them out of the game?
Again, back to the Peyton analogy. The NFL offence can have its way with the high-schoolers and do whatever they want. But why give the opponents the ball after one play when you can pound the rock over and over again and leave them no time whatsoever to put up any points on the board?
Also, solving a puzzle with only one letter up is such a strong message to your opponents that you're too good of a competitor. With the way the game works, that will force the other two to realize that they cannot allow you a chance to get a crack at the wheel and/or solving the puzzle.
I can guarantee you that when she pulled that stunt, the other two completely changed their strategy right on the spot to try and win the game, and at the same time, make sure that Super Woman didn't win the game either. Why make it harder on yourself by flaunting yourself like that?
In closing, I think she did an amazing job by piecing together what the phrase would be just base off of one miniscule letter, but it's too bad that someone didn't remind her as the show went along that she's not only there to solve puzzles, but to win more coin than her opponents as well.
Alright, now that I've gotten that off my chest, I don't want to see, read or hear about this clip ever again. I promise that I'll talk about sports for at least the rest of the week. I'm getting sleepy...a couple more hours until "Wheel" comes on...