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Different Tournament of Champions

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ChuckNet:

--- Quote ---many months after his 1979 TOC shows ran, he still hadn't received his cash or prizes. That may have been why he chose not to compete in the $1,000,000 event for the right to become The Joker's Wild NATIONAL CHAMPION!!
--- End quote ---

Dillon supposedly expressed regret over participating in the 1979 ToC, claiming a champ should be allowed to retire in peace and not be continually challenged year after year...whether or not the lawsuit factored in, I don't know.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

JayC:
OT: The original Heidi Bowl happened when NBC cut the end of a Jets-Raiders playoff game to show the movie "Heidi"

Do you think a TPiR tournament could ever be possible?  For 1 week, keep the same audience, and the player with the highest winning wins a special prize?  Or something else...

Don Minyard:
[quote name=\'TLEberle\' date=\'Dec 23 2003, 11:43 PM\']I think Scrabble did something similar, where two players played for the whole show, and the best Sprint time over the week won $25,000.

[/quote]
Scrabble had as many different prize structures as they had Tournaments of Champions:

In February 1985 there was a tournament where the 20 highest earning players to date (the show had only been broadcast approximately seven months) competed over a two week period.  The champion won a jackpot of $53,500 (IIRC) -- this was $35,000 plus all the pink and blue square bonuses during the tournament.  Each of the players played two Crossword games (in sets of two - any given player faced the same opponent twice, win or lose).  The champion was whoever accumulated  the shortest time completing a four word Sprint (remember in those days the standard Sprint was three words).

In November 1985 there was a tournament where the five highest earning players between February 1985 and November 1985 competed against five players selected from the national Scrabble board game tournaments (the players were paired off as one TV player against one board game player).  Like the first tournament, each player played two Crossword games against the same opponent, win or lose.  Each game was worth $1,000, players kept any money earned through pink or blue squares, and players who completed a four word Sprint in under 25.0 seconds received a $1,000 bonus.  The player who achieved the shortest time that week had his or her earnings raised to $25,000.   I remember this tournament well, because I was the winner, getting four words in 15.2 seconds.  With earnings from ten games broadcast in September 1985, I was retired from Scrabble with earnings of $65,000.

In May 1986 there was a tournament where the 20 highest earning players not yet included in a Tournament competed (February 1985 through May 1986 players were included, except for the five TV players in the November 1985 tournament), in a format like the February 1985 tournament.  The prize for the shortest Sprint time was $50,000.

In the summer of 1986 there was a tournament where the 20 highest earning teen players competed for $50,000 in savings bonds.  The format was like the February 1985 and May 1986 adult tournaments.

Then in the fall of 1986 there was the 13-week $100,000 Scrabble tournament.  It started with a series of 12 weekly tournaments.  The winners of the 12 weekly tournaments returned in the 13th week (along with four wild card players from the 12 earlier weeks) to play for $100,000.  I don't recall much more detail there.

TheInquisitiveOne:
It is awesome to hear from an actual Scrabble contestant! It is even more awesome to hear from a tournament winner! I bet it was a lot of fun. Thanks for the input about the various tournaments, because I was very curious about them (especially the $100,000 tournament).

I also neglected to talk about the 1987 Tournament of Champions on $ale of the Century. That tournament had nine of the biggest winners (not competing in any previous tournaments as well as the aforementioned International Invitational Tournament). The winners from those three games played in the finals (keep in mind that the "Winner's Big Money Game" was just put into effect by the time this tournament began). The first one to win two games won the tournament. The first win allowed the player to play the WBMG (which was at that time five puzzles in 25 seconds) for $10,000. The second win resulted in an automatic $10,000 and playing the WBMG for a $30,000 Mercedes Benz.

If anyone knows the results of the tournament, please let me know. I only have one episode from the finals, so I do not know the overall winner. Thanks a lot!

The Inquisitive One

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