On March 16, 2007, a great thing happened in Culver City, California. For the first time ever, all three contestants of the game show Jeopardy, without ending in a score of zero, tied. At the time, at least two incorrect interpretations of this event were made; one being that it was a chance occurrence, the other that it was caused by mistake.

In fact, this tie was purposefully created by the episode’s returning champion Scott Weiss, a puzzle-lover who must have been thrilled when he saw the opportunity arise (in the form of his tailing opponents being tied) in the Final Jeopardy round. Instead of wagering the customary one dollar extra needed to win, Weiss bet the exact amount required to tie, should all three contestants question the answer correctly, which they did.

When I saw this happen– coincidentally I was watching the show that evening, something I did rarely before and have barely since– it struck me as a profound gesture of good sportsmanship. All three got to keep their winnings and play again on the next episode.

Drawing on an amount of gathered research as well as formulated opinion on the event, we organized this twelve-song interpretation of the story, which takes place in ancient Greece. The album is entitled (a telling of) The Greatest Event in Sports History. As you might be able to guess by now, there is a fair amount of humor in this album. But also, I hope, a good and resounding lesson to be learned.

The cast:
John Wood as Alex Trebek
Lisa Tremain as the goddess Athena
Jeff Eliassen as Anders Martinson
Gabe Noel as Jamey Kirby
Douglas Pipes as the hero Scott Weiss

Thanks so much to these guys for helping create the songs to tell this story. Also thanks to Jason Golday, who plays guitar on this month’s single, The Ancients (this was the title of a category about ancient Greece in the Double Jeopardy round of this episode).

• tracks 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 written and recorded by John Wood in November 09. • track 3 by John Wood and Lisa Tremain. • 5 written by John Wood and Jeff Eliassen, performed and recorded by Jeff Eliassen. • 6 by John Wood and Jason Golday. • 7 by John Wood and Gabe Noel. • 9 by John Wood and Douglas Pipes. • 10 by John Wood and Gabe Noel. • 11 by John Wood, Lisa Tremain, Jeff Eliassen, Gabe Noel, and Douglas Pipes.

• cover artwork by participants of the Learning Music Workshop at Machine Project, Los Angeles, March 2009 [details at Flavorpill]