His appearance on “Jeopardy” may not have been victorious, but teaching assistant Jerome Socolof had a tremendous amount of support at Monday night’s watch party.
The School of Music hosted the party at Buffalo Wild Wings on North High Street at 6 p.m. Monday, and 10 percent of the proceeds from the party went to renovate School of Music facilities.
Close to a hundred of Socolof’s students, fraternity brothers and friends came out to cheer him on, have a couple beers and eat some wings.
Socolof was contracted to keep the outcome of the show confidential until it aired. If he let it slip, he would lose any money he won on the show.
“We tried to trick him, bribe him and get him inebriated so that he would reveal what happened,” said Ken Hoffman, his roommate and a music composition major. “He still refused to tell us.”
Socolof, who grew up watching “Jeopardy” with his parents in Ilion, Ohio, had to complete an online questionaire and an in-person mock version of the game show before being selected to appear on the show.
“As soon as we found out he made the show, we started taping and watching every episode of ‘Jeopardy,’ ” said roommate Tim Weale, a graduate student in computer sciences and engineering. “We basically had a ‘Jeopardy’ overload to prepare for it.”
Socolof spent most of his time answering phone calls and text messages, and mingling with friends. He appeared nervous, but says he wasn’t.
“I’m slightly scared of what my friends will say,” Socolof said. “But I am calm, I know how it all went down.”
Once 7 p.m. came, everyone at the party chanted for Socolof. Every time Socolof answered a question, people cheered, and every time other contestants appeared on screen, they would receive a vicious “boo.”
Then the final clue came up on the board: “This river goes through the most national capitals.”
Socolof said it was the Nile, but the answer was the Danube. He ended with $5,100, but will go home with $1,000.
Socolof’s friends gave him a round of applause when the show was over, but Socolof just shrugged his shoulders.
“I am just relieved that I don’t have to dodge questions anymore,” Socolof said.
“He did a great job and we’re all very proud of him,” Hoffman said. “We hope that demonstrating the exceptional abilities of people in the School of Music will demonstrate the exceptional need to update our facilities.”
Kelli Gardner can be reached at [email protected].
