Tag: James Holzhauer

Jeopardy! GOAT: James Holzhauer coldly roasted Brad Rutter for finishing with zero points

Ouuuucchhhhh!

Jeopardy! legend James Holzhauer always likes to have a little fun when he’s playing the game and he did just that during Tuesday night’s episode of the Greatest of All Time tournament… at the expense of fellow Jeopardy! legend Brad Rutter.

The three players were heading into the night’s second game when Alex Trebek stated that they would clear the points from the first game. Rutter finished that game with zero points, which is something that Holzhauer was too happy to point out.

We’re going to miss this tournament when it’s over because boy has it been some great television.

Check out this sick burn by Holzhauer:

Ouuuuuuuuuch.

Jeopardy! GOAT: Ken Jennings rocks James Holzhauer with a savage Twitter burn

We thought James Holzhauer was the Jeopardy GOAT of trash talk.

Ken Jennings turned a friendly gesture into a savage burn on Twitter on Saturday night.

Jennings finally gave James Holzhauer a follow on social media, and Jennings promptly tweeted about the decision: “BREAKING: I have decided to follow @James_Holzhauer on Twitter, since he’s been following me on Jeopardy all week.”

In “Jeopardy! GOAT,” a competition between the most legendary Jeopardy! players in the history of the game, Jennings (two wins) has the lead over Holzhauer (one win) and Brad Rutter (no wins). The competition will end when one player gets three wins.

We thought Holzhauer, who started this war of words months before the competition began, was the GOAT of trash talk in Jeopardy! circles. But perhaps Jennings has taken the lead in that category, too.

Play will resume Tuesday night on ABC at 8:00 p.m. ET.

That’s when Jennings could be crowned winner, a victory which would earn him $1 million and the title of Jeopardy! GOAT.

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James Holzhauer’s hysterical trash talking now includes giving Brad Rutter a participation award

James Holzhauer is the GOAT of Jeopardy! trash talk.

We won’t know until next week if James Holzhauer will be crowned the Jeopardy! GOAT by beating Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament. But one thing that is absolutely clear is that the professional sports gambler is the Jeopardy! GOAT trash talker.

And it started on Twitter months before this tournament did.

But in addition to taunting Rutter mid-game the other day and teasing Jennings about never winning a Jeopardy! tournament, Holzhauer has been on fire on Twitter with his trash talk since this special tournament began Tuesday.

(Remember, this is all in good fun, and these guys are clearly joking with each other and having a good time competing. The two runners-up also get $250,000, so no one’s really a loser here.)

For this tournament, the first player to win three matches (made up of two regular Jeopardy! games) will be named the GOAT. So far, Jennings has won two — he won the first match Tuesday and the third Thursday — Holzhauer has won one and Rutter is still looking for his first match win.

Although Rutter — who has the record for most money won on Jeopardy! with $4,688,436 — has struggled this week, including missing several Daily Doubles after he and Jennings have followed Holzhauer’s lead to go all in every time.

But while Jennings has capitalized on the chance to double his totals, falling back to zero on Daily Doubles is a large reason why Rutter has consistently finished third each night.

And Holzhauer has had a little fun with that, honoring Rutter with a participation certificate.

Holzhauer is also still making jokes about himself, especially after Rutter got back-to-back Daily Doubles correct during Thursday’s episode.

During Holzhauer’s 32-game win streak on regular Jeopardy! in 2019, he employed some gambling moves when going all in on his Daily Doubles, which is how he’d regularly separate himself from his opponents by tens of thousands of dollars. He would often pretend to push all his chips in as a way of risking everything, and Jennings has since adopted that move.

However, Holzhauer had some hilarious criticism about that.

The Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament continues Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Jeopardy! GOAT: James Holzhauer needs to pull it together!

It’s do-or-die time for Jeopardy James.

This is the online version of our morning newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.

I don’t know if you watched the third episode of the Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time tournament Thursday night so I’m going to give you a warning – I’m going to provide a spoiler in just a second so turn and run away if that’s something you don’t want to start your Friday with.

I told you to get outta here! What are you still doing here?

OK, here comes the spoiler.

Ken Jennings rolled to victories in both games on Thursday night and is now one episode victory away from winning the whole thing and collecting a million bucks.

To which I say – and I respect the heck out of Jennings – James Holzhauer has to pull things together and not just bow down and let Jennings win this thing in just four shows.

Because that would be brutal.

Holzhauer become a hero last spring when he racked up 32 straight wins. His strategy was incredible. His personality was fun. He was a star.

Now he’s just one loss away from letting a huge opportunity to be the GOAT of Jeopardy slip out of his soft, professional gambler hands. This isn’t what I expected from Jeopardy James. This is not what I wanted to see from him. I wanted to see this great champion put up a fight and win this thing.

Now he’ll have to do just that if he wants to be the GOAT.

Holzhauer has had a lot of fun in the first three episodes and his tribute to Alex Trebek’s during Thursday night’s show was pretty awesome.

But now I need him to focus on the task at hand. And yes, I know these shows were shot back in December so I’m asking a man from the past to focus on the now, but whatever!

It’s clear that we Jeopardy fans want this tournament to go on for as long as possible. It’s never fun when we get to a championship series and one team just runs away from it.

That could very well happen tonight, which would be a shame.

Jennings is a great champ and we all respect the you-know-what out of him. But this is boring old January and we need more of Jennings vs. Holzhauer (and Brad Rutter) in our lives.

Not less!

So come on, Jeopardy James. Buckle down and get the job done for us. Because if you do, next Tuesday night’s fifth episode will be insane.

 Thursday’s biggest winners: Russell Westbrook and OKC Thunder fans.

(Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)

Westbrook returned to Oklahoma City on Thursday night for the first time as a member of the Houston Rockets and man was the crowd happy to see their former star. The video tribute was really awesome and the ovation he received upon being introduced was even better.

Quick hits: LSU’s great hype video… A fun “FOOTBALL GUY” quiz… Time for Ben Simmons to step up… And more!

– LSU’s hype video will make you run through a wall.

– You need to take Steven Ruiz’s great/hilarious quiz about Giants coach Joe Judge, who is a big “FOOTBALL GUY.”

– Mike Sykes says it’s time for Ben Simmons to prove that he’s a star, now that Joel Embiid is out with an injury.

– We’re going to see Tiger Woods back on the golf course very soon, which is always good news.

– Mike Leach and Lane Kiffin are about to make the SEC even more fun.

(Follow me on Twitter at @anezbitt. It might change your life. Just don’t tell me about your fantasy team.)

Jeopardy! GOAT: James Holzhauer paid a sweet tribute to Alex Trebek with Final Jeopardy answer

What is GHOST?

The third episode of the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament is in the books, and it was another fun night of trivia between three very smart people.

I won’t play the role of spoiler here, so if you want the results check out my pal Charles Curtis’ great recap of the episode right here.

I will tell you about a fun moment when James Holzhauer paid a sweet (and funny) little tribute to Alex Trebek with his Final Jeopardy question. Jeopardy James didn’t know the answer so he wrote down “GHOST: Greatest Host of Syndicated TV.”

But he also had some fun with it, as did Trebek:

Well played.

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James Holzhauer had a hilarious reaction to his result on a Jeopardy! GOAT BuzzFeed quiz

Amazing.

James Holzhauer picked up a huge win in Wednesday’s Day 2 of Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time, and he’s continued to let his fan-favorite personality shine in both the contests and on Twitter.

That was no different on Thursday.

With a few hours to go until the airing of Jeopardy! GOAT’s Day 3, Holzhauer filled some time by taking the BuzzFeed quiz, Which “Jeopardy!: The Greatest Of All Time” Contestant Are You?

The quiz asks the user to choose favorite Jeopardy subjects, themes, Alex Trebek look and Daily Double bet — to name a few. Based on the answers, you’d draw either Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter or Holzhauer. Well, “Jeopardy James” took the quiz and, uh, he didn’t get himself.

Upon getting the result of Ken Jennings, Holzhauer took to Twitter and shared the screenshot with a reaction of “wut.”

Yeah, that caption will do. I’m not sure what it takes to draw Holzhauer — I took it and got Jennings as well. But you’d hope that James Holzhauer would be … well … James Holzhauer.

But you have to love the response. Holzhauer has had some fun with both his competitors during the tournament, playfully taunting Rutter during the first day and joking about Jennings on Twitter.

Let’s hope that continues.

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Jeopardy! GOAT: Brad Rutter is living the Jeopardy dream without even winning

Brad Rutter > People making fun of him on Twitter.

This is the online version of our morning newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.

The second night of the Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time tournament wrapped up in dramatic fashion Wednesday night and continued to be the perfect type of distraction TV we need in what is a wild world these days.

I won’t spoil it for you, because that’s just not the type of person I am. I think the word you’re looking for here is “hero”.  You can find the results right here with my pal Charles Curtis’ great breakdown of the second, one-hour episode.

But I will spoil it a little – Brad Rutter, much like on the first night, didn’t win. But he still won and will continue to win for as long as this tournament goes on.

Let me explain why.

Rutter made his first appearance on Jeopardy! way back in the year 2000 – when HDTV’s weren’t really a thing and Twitter definitely wasn’t a thing.  Champions were only allowed five title defenses before they were sent home with a nice check and whatever prizes they won – Rutter got two cars for being an undefeated 5-day champion. That’s not bad.

But here we are in the year 2020 and this guy is still getting a chance to play Jeopardy! on the biggest stage this game has ever seen, as he has a front-row seat to what should be a classic battle between Ken Jennings (who won 74 straight games) and James Holzhauer (who had 32 straight wins). Chances are if you told Rutter 20 years that he’d be in this position he sign up in a hurry.

Rutter is here because he is the record-holder for money earned on the show with $4,876,036, which he has won through various special games and events over the years. That’s not bad, either.

Think he cares about all the jokes being made about him on Twitter that past two nights by people who will never get a chance to even play this wonderful game?

Yeah, I don’t think so either.

None on this should be embarrassing for Rutter. He’s living the dream of many Jeopardy! fans, getting to play more of the legendary game while competing head-to-head with two incredible legends. Plus, he’s won more money than both players, which is something I’d take over the win streaks.

Chances are things will continue to not go his way in the remaining episodes of this tournament.

And chances are he couldn’t care less.

Because his lengthy and profitable run on this show if proof that he’s a winner, no matter how many Holzhauer beats him to the buzzer.

Wednesday’s biggest winner: Mike McCarthy.

McCarthy waited until he was officially introduced as the new coach of the Dallas Cowboys before admitting that he lied a little bit in his job interview with Jerry Jones. I mean, who hasn’t done that before? (I haven’t and if any of you @ my boss about this I will deny all. Also, if my boss subscribes to this newsletter I’d like to wish you a happy Thursday, Nate.)

Quick hits: Ed Orgeron shotgunning Red Bulls… Rudolph’s gloves go for a ride… Garrett’s awkward meeting with Jones… And more!

– LSU center Lloyd Cushenberry III told a great story about a shirtless Ed Orgeron shotgunning Red Bulls to fire up his team.

– Vikings TE Kyle Rudolph thought a reporter was going to use his game-worn gloves to raise money for charity. Instead, they ended up on Ebay. But then a fan did something awesome.

– Jerry Jones revealed details on what must have been an awkward meeting with Jason Garrett last week.

– The Clippers’ Montrezl Harrell opens up about his obsession with sneakers.

– Here are three reasons why Clemson will win the national title game.

– Here are three reasons why LSU will win the national title game.

(Follow me on Twitter at @anezbitt. It might change your life. Just don’t tell me about your fantasy team.)

Jeopardy! GOAT: Ken Jennings used one of James Holzhauer’s moves and nailed it

All the chips!

The Jeopardy Greatest of All Time tournament continues to be some really fun television as Ken Jennings, James Holzhauer, and Brad Rutter faced off in the second episode on Wednesday night.

Jennings won the first night and the first one to three total wins is the champ, so things were a little more intense on night two.

But Jennings did find a moment to have some fun of his own, thanks to some prompting by Alex Trebek.

Jennings landed on a Daily Double in the night’s first game and needed to keep pace with Holzhauer so he went all in. But then he had to do Holzhauer’s classic all in gesture:

Here’s a reminder of Holzhauer being Holzauher during his epic run last spring:

Jennings got the answer right, by the way, as the two continued to battle in the second episode.

Yeah, this is fun.

James Holzhauer continues his Jeopardy! GOAT trash talk with a joke about Ken Jennings

The numbers don’t lie.

James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter faced off in the opening edition of Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time on Tuesday with Jennings taking Day 1 by a mere 200 points over Holzhauer.

But in the lead-up to the Jeopardy! GOAT premiere, Holzhauer brought some heat to the matchup with Twitter trash talk against Jennings. Holzhauer even went as far as to playfully taunt his opponents during the opening episode.

So, of course, we shouldn’t expect that narrow Day 1 loss to dampen the Jeopardy legend’s spirits. Come Wednesday, Holzhauer was right back at his game with the trash talk against Jennings, pointing out how Jennings had never won a Jeopardy tournament.

Holzhauer won the most recent “Tournament of Champions” while Jennings — despite his record 74-day winning streak — had never won a tournament after his streak. Holzhauer grouped Jennings in the same class as President Donald Trump who, uh, hasn’t won a Jeopardy tournament either.

The numbers don’t lie.

The three Jeopardy legends will continue their GOAT tournament on Wednesday. The first to three wins takes home the $1 million prize.

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James Holzhauer hilariously owned Pat McAfee over Jeopardy! GOAT debate

Good point, Jeopardy James.

The Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament is officially underway as game show greats James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter compete in a special series to determine who is truly the best of the best.

Jennings — who holds the record for consecutive games won with 74 — won the first match in the opening hour-long episode of the GOAT tournament Tuesday. A match is the combined score of two regular games, and the first player to win three matches will be crowned the Jeopardy! GOAT.

He won the first game, and Holzhauer won the second. But with their combined points totals for the first match, Jennings is on top after beating out Holzhauer by a ridiculously slim margin with 63,400 points versus 63,200. (Rutter gambled big on Daily Doubles and lost, finishing the first match with 10,400 points.)

Holzhauer has been trash talking his competitors on Twitter and even made a joke at Rutter’s expense during the first match. He’s clearly having fun with the tournament, which taped in December, and poking fun at his experiences.

And his sass game was strong Wednesday when he hilariously owned ESPN analyst and former NFL punter Pat McAfee, who was offering his support to the professional sports gambler.

Good point.

While all three contestants certainly have loyal fans, Holzhauer has an advantage when it comes to recency bias with Jennings and Rutter first appearing on the show in 2004 and 2000, respectively. He dominated the game like no one ever has, and whether or not you think he’s the GOAT, he undeniably changed Jeopardy! forever with his strategy.

His 2019 Jeopardy! run reignited the GOAT debate and led to this special tournament — which could be as short as three matches or as long as seven — which was specifically designed to crown the best of the best.

So regardless of whether casual fans, diehard viewers or McAffee think Holzhauer is the GOAT, if he doesn’t win this tournament, he’s officially not.

Here’s a same of Jeopardy James’ tweets reacting to the first match:

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