“American Dream”: My own Jeopardy! tournament

It was the song playing when we completed an odd task that I thought was not possible. I was part of a group organizing a “Jeopardy!” tournament for King Louis, a week-long festival in 1989, and the only thing we needed was the buzzer system.

As we drove to a high school in Edmonton, playing on the radio in my friend’s white Toyota Tercel was “American Dream” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Every time I hear that song, I think of King Louis 1989, and the journey to putting on a “Jeopardy!” tournament.

Planning committee
“Jeopardy!” has been my favourite game show for a long time, so I jumped at the chance to organize a tournament when it came up at our organizing committee meeting. I was working with some others and each had a particular job. Glen Rohatyn made the questions, while Brad Kopas and I would do our best Alex Trebek imitations and read them.

The only problem left to solve was the system for players to buzz in.

The ghosts of “Reach for the Top”
My first thought was “Jeopardy!” was a lot like a show we used to watch on CBC, Channel 9 on the peasant vision dial, called “Reach for the Top”. It was a quiz show made up of high school students. I had spent some time on the “Reach for the Top” team in my high school and recalled we had a buzzer system to practise on.

That gave me an idea.

So, on a day in early January I, and my best friend of the time Chris Vining, went to the students’ association office that we worked for, grabbed the phone book, and I started calling high schools in Edmonton while Vining made notes as I talked.

I even called the CBC, and turned some heads when they phoned the office returning my call.

Ultimately, I was able to secure three sets, from three schools in three separate parts of Edmonton.

Now, I just needed a way to get them.

Road trip
Enter my friend Bruce Freadrich who was also on the organizing committee. He said yes when I asked him if he was interested in a road trip, so we were off.

I can still remember the feeling of going to each school and slowly filling the back of Bruce’s car as we added each system.

They were all different, ranging from ones obviously purchased from somewhere to homemade. I was guessing that one was made by the shop class at that school.

When we were crossing the city, I remember being stopped at a red light and hearing, “American Dream” playing.

The tournament
The tournament went off without a real hitch. I dressed up in my best suit jacket, dress pants and tie – well my only formal clothes because the theme of King Louis was “Putting on the Ritz”.

Glen had warned us to read the questions in advance, so we didn’t stumble on any wording. I, of course, didn’t listen, and well, stumbled on the wording in a couple questions. My co-quiz master stumbled a couple times, but what I will always remember was his pronunciation of the word “Szechuan”.

The other memory was that, part way through the tournament, Bruce joined a team. It was cool to see him use the actual buzzer board he helped pick up.

The song
“American Dream” did not even chart in the Billboard Hot 100, but it went to number four on the Billboard Modern Rock chart.

It was my first real entreé into the music of Neil Young and Crosby Stills Nash and Young. It remains one of my favourite songs of Young’s and Crosby Stills and Nash.

Parting thoughts
I have played along with “Jeopardy!” on TV. I’ve played the board game. I’ve played the video game, a live action game put on by my spouse, and played the game on the Nintendo switch. I have also played thousands of other trivia games.

Yet the one I will always remember best, I didn’t even play in. Instead, I was the quizmaster, I was the host.

And every time I hear “American Dream”, I am taken back to that night I wore my only pair of dress pants and a suit jacket that was getting a little tight. And I’m transported back to a Saturday morning, speeding around Edmonton in a white Toyota Tercel.

Ahhh, the power of music.