news-record.com

ELON (MCT) — Stephen Stiegel, an English teacher at Western Alamance High School, is scheduled to appear on the long-running television quiz show "Jeopardy" tonight.

The taped episode airs at 7:30 p.m. on WFMY (CBS, Channel 2).

Despite the best efforts of his family, friends, co-workers and students, Stiegel has kept his agreement with the show's producers to keep the episode's results secret.

"I've actually been having fun with it. I'll throw in a red herring here and there," Stiegel said. "Sometimes you say the truth and then laugh."

There were, however, several show-related questions Stiegel could answer:

What's host Alex Trebek really like? (He doesn't know. Guidelines set up to prevent the appearance of favoritism mean contestants' dealings with the host are strictly limited.)

How many shows do they tape in one day? (Five. They take about 35 minutes to film, and producers tell contestants to bring a few changes of clothes in case a winning streak sets up a multiepisode stint.)

Was there any concern about showing off his handwriting on the show's touchscreen monitors? (Yes. Stiegel admits he doesn't have pretty handwriting. He needed a couple of tries to end up with a signature he was happy with.)

How well do you get to know your fellow contestants? (Quite well, actually. Stiegel said the entire week's worth of players stay in the same hotel, ride the same shuttles and hang out in the same green room, thus creating plenty of bonding opportunities.)

Tonight's show will end a nearly two-year process that began when he took an online test for prospective players in February 2007. A few months later, he did a regional tryout in Washington.

After going more than a year without hearing anything more from the show's producers, he took another online test.

A short time later, he got a call at school telling him to book a ticket to Los Angeles for the taping. Stiegel taped the show in February.

Without giving away any details of the show's outcome, Stiegel said he was happy with the way things went. However, there was one thing he wished could have gone differently.

During one portion of the show, Trebek approaches each player for brief banter. In addition to filling out a form detailing personal information, contestants supply the show with more than a dozen funny stories or interesting facts about themselves to provide fodder for conversation.

Stiegel was almost certain that he would be asked about his habit of running at least 3 miles every day.

If asked about it, Stiegel said he would have mentioned his role as Western Alamance's cross country coach and followed it with a hearty "Go Warriors!"

"By the fact I'm telling you that, I can say that's not what he asked me," Stiegel said.