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Jeopardy! legend Ken Jennings had to sit there in his Seattle home all of last spring and watch as the confident and personable James Holzhauer went on his dominant run and won over large parts of America.
Time and again during that streak Jennings had to hear others, including Holzhauer, speak of how this professional gambler from Las Vegas, this Jeopardy James character, could take out anyone in this game, even the great Ken Jennings.
Imagine how Jennings felt having to listen to these claims. Jennings, as we know, is the GOAT of Jeopardy, having won a record 74 games in a row. Holzhauer only had a 32-game streak but still, in this day-and-age of what have-you-done-for-me-lately attitudes, everyone was wow’d by how much money Holzhauer was winning on each show and how easily he was beating his competition, and how his strategy was game-changing!
On Tuesday night Jennings finally got his shot at Holzhauer (and Brad Rutter), as the first episode of Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time aired. It was a very close night and a perfect way to kick off the tournament. I’m going to give a spoiler here, so if you didn’t watch, go away right now. Dump your phone in your coffee. Turn and sprint out of your office. Throw your computer off the desk.
Do whatever it takes (within reason).
Because here comes a spoiler.
Jennings, the GOAT, let everyone know he’s still the baddest man in the Jeopardy planet as he went all-in on a Daily Double in the Double Jeopardy round and then held on to win the first game of the night with 33,200 points. Holzhauer finished in second with 16,600 and then Rutter was third with 5,200 after missing an all-in Daily Double in the Double Jeopardy round.
What a message sent by Jennings, who is second only to Rutter in most money earned on Jeopardy. What. A. Stud.
Here’s a man who won 74(!) in a row and had to hear doubters weigh in with thoughts that some big personality professional gambler could take down the champ.
Shame on them!
Sure, Holzhauer won the night’s second game but Jennings won the overall night by 200 points over Jeopardy James and takes a 1-0 lead into the rest of the tournament.
This special Jeopardy tournament could go three nights if Jennings wins the next two, or it could go seven nights if it goes the distance. Either way, this seems like a nice little distraction from all that’s going on in the world right now.
And here’s to Ken Jennings, one of the greatest mental athletes of our time looking to prove once and for all that nobody takes down the king.
He’s now just two steps away from history.
I know I wouldn’t bet against him.
Tuesday’s biggest winner: J.J. Watt and Kealia Ohai.
The Houston Texans star rightly stuck up for his fiancee, Kealia Ohai, after a local ABC station tweeted a terrible headline about Ohai, a professional soccer player, being traded from the Houston Dash to the Chicago Red Stars. Well done, J.J.
Quick hits: McGregor’s awful UFC shirt… Stephen A. Smith crushes Giants… Kevin Love’s childish outburst… And more!
– There’s no way Conor McGregor can wear this official walkout shirt at UFC 246 next week. It’s just awful.
– Stephen A. Smith rightly destroyed the Giants over the Rooney Rule.
– Kevin Love admitted he acted like a child during an on-court outburst.
– Former Eagles RB Jay Ajayi is now a pro FIFA player for the Philadelphia Union.
– Ravens are now nervous about the Drake Curse.
(Follow me on Twitter at @anezbitt. It might change your life. Just don’t tell me about your fantasy team.)