This is Jeopardy: Tales of the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, Part 1

 

 

For much of the summer and fall of 2004 not just Jeopardy fans but the entire world was mesmerized by a young man from Salt Late City, Utah named Ken Jennings. On December 1, he finally lost after 74 consecutive victories and $2,520,700. Alex Trebek said that he thought those numbers would stand forever and twenty-one years later, despite the efforts of Amy Schneider and James Holzhauer, they still do.

A question that was no doubt going on through so many fans of the show throughout that streak was going through mine. Ken was undeniably extraordinary but he was playing after the 5 game rule had been lifted just the season before. Was it possible that freed from those limitations other players could do, if not as well, but have had similar streaks? As we’ve seen in the twenty yeas since Ken’s regular run ended there have been players who have been able to reach double digits over the years. Could they have done in? And more interestingly, could they have defeated Ken?

The producers of Jeopardy themselves seem to have been considering the same question. Because on February 9^th 2005, less than months after Ken’s run ending the Ultimate Tournament of Champions began.

Jeopardy had attempted these kinds of tournaments before but they have never once tried anything this ambitious. The UTC would gather together 144 former Jeopardy Champions to play in what would end up being a more than fifteen week tournament that would eventually lead to a three game play-off in which two finalists would face Ken Jennings for a two-million dollar cash prize. Until the so-called ‘endless postseason’ occurred at the start of Season 40, it was the longest continuous stretch of tournament play in Jeopardy history. Unlike last year there were infinitely fewer complaints from the masses, certainly not for your scribe.

By that point I had been watching Jeopardy on a nightly basis for almost thirteen years and the Tournament of Champions, whenever it was scheduled each year, was appointment television for me. If the Million Dollar Masters had lit the spark in me of being a Jeopardy historian the UTC officially set in ablaze and I spent February to May of that year (in what was a very directionless period of my life post-college) making sure I watched every single episode from beginning to end. Nearly four years later when the Game Show Network rebroadcast the entire UTC, I did everything I could to record every single episode possible and managed to get more than three-quarters of them on VHS. (This was a necessity in those pre-streaming days; even now Jeopardy still has great control of the majority of its episodes and much of what you see online is essentially pirated.)

When the UTC was going on I had favorites going into it and some of whom became favorites with each win they notched. More than any Tournament of Champions, the UTC made it clear that what a Jeopardy champion does in the past is no guarantee of how they will do in a tournament. By contrast, it also led me to appreciate and even admire some of the bigger winners in that Tournament and even years afterwards still consider them superior to some winners of the TOC who were their contemporaries.

Because this year marks the 20^th anniversary of the Ultimate Tournament of Champions it marks an occasion to discuss some of the great players and surprises of that great tournament. And because earlier this year I began a series in which I discussed several players who I thought deserved invitations back to Jeopardy who have been excluded thus far I think it would do well to start there.

However before we begin, it’s worth describing the set-up.

Jeopardy extended invitations to 144 former Jeopardy greats. The parameters were:

1.   Every living winner of a Tournament of Champions,

2.   Every winner of a Teen Tournament or College Championship

3.   Every five game winner who had won over $47,350

This last parameter led to some exclusions, largely from the early years of Jeopardy when five day champions didn’t win as much as they would even ten years later. That said, Jeopardy couldn’t invite everybody back or the Tournament would never have ended.

 

The structure as Alex Trebek would explain was modeled loosely on March Madness and there were different structures then all tournaments before or since. The winner of each game in each round would keep the cash they won with a minimum guarantee for the winner at each level. In the first round, the minimum was $15,000 and each non-winner received $5000. In the second round, the minimum guarantee was $20,0000 and the non-winners received $10,000. In the quarterfinals, the winner received $30,000, the non-winners $15,000. (I’ll deal with the semi-finals and the finals later.)

The makeup of the tournament worked like this:

-45 first round games, yielding 45 winners.

-18 second round games, in which nine seeded players would compete against the forty-five first round winners. This led to what would be called by the show as ‘The Elite Eighteen’.

6 quarterfinal matches, leading to ‘The Sweet Six’

2 sets of semi-final matches, each one a two-game total point affair with the winner advancing.

-      A three game final with the highest total at the end receiving $2,000,000. Ken Jennings was waiting for that one.

If you’re a Jeopardy fan during this period you know who eventually won that tournament (Ken has certainly never forgotten). And if you’ve read all of my previous entries on the Battle of the Decades over the past month you know that quite a few of them have since returned to Jeopardy already. So since the initial topic of this piece is potential invitees to future JIT tournaments you know where this going – and no, I’m not suggesting that the show invite all of the ones of the UTC back. (Though on a long enough run for Jeopardy some might at least.)

I think a good place to start would be with those who made it to the quarterfinals of the UTC, the so-called ‘Elite Eighteen’. Pam Mueller and Shane Whitlock have already returned and Brad Rutter will be back in the Masters. One of them will be discussed in a future entry and for all intents and purposes at least one, possibly two may be too old to viably compete.

This leaves us with an even dozen and based on not only their performance in their original appearances, the UTC and who they defeated getting to that point I believe there’s a valid argument to invite back all 12.

What follows is a brief summary of those twelve and their past performances. I’ve ranked them in order of the amount of money that they won in the UTC, as well as by process of elimination. I remember many of their original appearances as well and in many cases their performances were what I was expecting of them when I first saw them twenty years ago.

 

APRIL MCMANUS - $57,801

April McManus holds a special place in my heart as a Jeopardy viewer. She won the very first Teen Tournament I ever saw when I was watching the show way back in February of 1992. I had just turned 13 when she made her first appearance so it had a double significance to me. Even more significant (thought I had no idea of it in 1992) was that in the two-game final she would face off against Cori Van Noy and Jill Young in what was the first tournament in Jeopardy history to have an all-female final. (It has almost never happened since.) She ran away with the Tournament, winning $25,000

More significant to me as  a fan was watching her compete in the 1992 Tournament of Champions. That she ended up qualifying for the semi-finals (even as a wild card) and managed to remain competitive with Leszek Pawlowicz, who eventually won the whole Tournament stuck with me as a viewer and I spent much of the rest of my days always wondering what a Teen or College Champion could do in each TOC that followed as a result.

By the time she returned to the UTC in 2005 she was advertised as a homemaker in Hertfordshire, England and has developed a prominent accent. She was one of the more enjoyable contestants to watch during that Tournament and as you can see one of the more successful ones.

In Round 1, she spent much of the Jeopardy round trailing Larry Cloud, participant in the 2001 TOC champions. She moved ahead on the first Daily Double in Double Jeopardy (she managed to find all three) and finished the round in the lead with $17,000 to Larry $11,400. When she responded correctly to Final Jeopardy she moved into the next round with $22,801.

She then appeared in the last game of the second round against Ed Schiffer, a five game winner of great prominence in 1993 and Jonathan Groff, a TV producer and writer with a pretty decent credit roll. April moved ahead by the end of the Jeopardy round and was never really challenged in Double Jeopardy. All the while she was fun to watch as to see her play. In Double Jeopardy looking at a category called UNGULATES:

“I don’t know what an ungulate is, so let’s have that for $400.”

(It’s a hoofed mammal.) She had no confidence in her knowledge in this category so when she found the Daily Double she said: “No, no, $100.” (I’d never heard of the okapi, either.)

Going into Final Jeopardy she was in the lead but the game wasn’t out of reach. The category was FICTIONAL ANIMALS: “The name of this character, introduced in 1894, is from the Hindi for bear.” April’s response was revealed last.

As Alex said: She struggled with this

“What is Baloo?” From The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. She was stunned she was right.

In the quarterfinals she faced off against Robert Slaven and John Cuthbertson and managed to give eighteen correct responses and four incorrect responses. The critical one was a Daily Double in ‘DIDN’T YOU GET YOUR INVITATION?” (You had to tell us what event was being described.)

“Westminster Abbey, November 20, 1947.” April was wrong but she was close: “What is the Christening of Prince Charles?”  As we now know because of The Crown it was the wedding of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. (April’s reaction: “I should know that too.” It cost her $3000 and she dropped into third.)

The circumstances of Final Jeopardy I’ll relate below but for now I’m just going to share my favorite anecdote she said on that interview:

“My brother Paul, who is smarter then me, funnier then me, better looking than me, said he wanted to try out for Jeopardy. I said: “Paul, let me have this one thing. Let me be better than you at one thing!”

 

MICHAEL DAUNT - $62,602

Michael Daunt has an impressive Jeopardy postseason record before there was an even such a thing as a postseason. Originally from Waterloo, Ontario, he won an impressive $64,198 in five games,  a higher total then anyone but Mike Dupee and David Sampugnaro going into the 1996 Tournament of Champions. Michael made it into the Finals and so did Mike Dupee, so the latter agreed to take the derivative for the Finals.

The battle of the Michaels, I should add, was no real contest: Michael Daunt was in third place at the end of Game 1 and Mike Dupee managed to run away with the match by the end of Double Jeopardy of Game 2. Michael Daunt left with $8200 (back then, if your two-day total exceeded $7500 for third you kept it.)

I ended up seeing Michael again sooner than I thought. That May Jeopardy held an International Tournament in which they brought back champions who had won Jeopardy in foreign markets. Michael was invited back because he was from Canada. He ran away with his semifinal and ended up defeating Per Gunnar Hillesoy of Norway and Boris Levit of Israel in a surprisingly close two game affair.

The Final Jeopardy clue was one of the toughest I’d seen in any Tournament to that point: “His grandson was the cinematographer of Barbarella & The Spy Who Loved Me.” Somehow Michael knew the correct painter: “Who is Renoir?” He ended up taking home another $35,000 and no doubt was the pride of Canada for a while.

In his first round match he played one of the most dominant games in the Tournament that didn’t end up being a runaway: he responded correctly on 29 clues and only gave 1 incorrect response. He had $13,800 by the end of the Jeopardy round alone and it was only because of superb play by Jeff that Michael didn’t lock it up by the end of Double Jeopardy. He still won $24,801.

In the second round he faced off against Bruce Borchardt and Bob Harris and ended the Jeopardy round with a small lead. He spent Double Jeopardy going back and forth with Bob for the lead and only after Bob nearly ran the category 1970s POP MUSIC at the end of the Round did Bob surpass him with $17,200 to Michael’s $16,000.

The Final Jeopardy category was INVENTED WORDS. “In works by Lewis Carroll, this word means ‘four in the afternoon; the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.” I’ll deal with Bob’s response in his own entry (he’ll be prominent there) but Michael knew it was: “What is brillig?” “Twas brillig and the slithy toves” the famous first line of Jabberwocky. He won another $22,801.

His luck ran out against Jerome Vered in the quarterfinals and he ended up leaving with another $15,000. He was one of five possibilities fans had to vote on for fan favorite for The Battle of The Decades: The 1990s and I was divided between him and Shane Whitlock being the best choice. Shane got it. Considering that Shane has since been invited back this past March, I think Michael’s more than due a return visit.

 

LAN DJANG - $63,100

I’ve written about Lan at least once before when I did a series on Jeopardy champions from Canada. (There are a few of them in this article.). Lan won $51,100 in June of 2001. In that year’s field it was not an impressive sum of money and even his appearance in the 2001 TOC didn’t go particularly well. He barely got to the semi-finals as a wild card and was flatted by Rick Knutsen in the semi-final match. I would not have pegged him for going very far in the UTC.

But slowly but surely he proved himself in his first round match, particularly after sweeping a category in Double Jeopardy called SECOND-LARGEST CITIES. (You have to identify the country) I was impressed in particular that he knew that Surabaya was the second largest in Indonesia. And I was even more impressed during Final Jeopardy with one of those clues that was guaranteed to stump you.

The category was HISTORIC PLACES. “The towns of Vierville-sur-Mer & Colleville-sur-Mer entered history with this 2 word area named for a U.S. City.” Lan figured out the correct response: “What is Omaha Beach?” He managed to win $26,850.

His second round appearance against Mark Dawson and Jeff Richmond was even more impressive. He led from the beginning of the game to the end and it was only because Mark got a correct response on the last clue of Double Jeopardy that he didn’t run away with it. He still managed an impressive win of $21,250.

Then in the quarterfinal he faced off against Matt Zielinski and Chris Miller. He didn’t do badly but Chris did better. His best moment came near the end of Double Jeopardy when he found the second Daily Double in UNIVERSITIES BY ALUMNI. “Mathematician John Nash, Donald Rumsfeld.” He knew it was Princeton and gained $1800.” Unfortunately for him that was the last clue in Double Jeopardy he got right and he was very lucky Chris didn’t managed to run away with the game right then. Final Jeopardy didn’t go his way but it wouldn’t have mattered because Chris responded correctly. I’d like to see Lan back – and his famous intimidator suit.

 

GRACE VEACH - $64,700

Grace’s original appearance on Jeopardy was in February of 1997. Her total in her five days of $51,601 seems modest but in reality she was a demon. Four of her five wins were runaway victories and she just missed a runaway in the fifth, which is the definition of a dominant champion.

Bob Harris and Wes Ulm learned that in her quarterfinal match when she nearly ran away with the semi-final. She was just as magnificent in her semi-final game, giving 20 correct responses and not making a single mistake. But Kim Worth stayed close to her all game long and it came down to Final Jeopardy.

The category was THE ACADEMY AWARDS. “1 of the 2 Best Picture winners in the 1990s with one-word titles. (The Tournament of Champions took place in February of 1998, so Titanic had not yet been crowned Best Picture.) Grace was unable to come up with either Braveheart or Unforgiven. Kim came up with the former. Kim bet nothing. Grace bet too much. Kim went to the finals. Grace went home with $5000.

But Kim, however, had only won four games in his original run so he didn’t get to come back to the UTC. Grace, however, did and she played with a level of skill and luck. Luck was more on her side in her Round 1 appearance. Though she went into the lead with $7600 at the end of the Jeopardy round, she wasn’t able to ring in with a correct response in Double Jeopardy until the twentieth clue of that round. By that point Keith Williams, who’d won the 2004 College Championship (and wouldn’t appear in the Tournament of Champions until 2006) had built up what could have been an insurmountable lead. Fortunately Grace managed to build herself to $13,200 to Keith’s $23,600, just enough to keep him from running away with it.

Then she got incredibly lucky in Final Jeopardy. The category was U.S. ISLANDS. “Dutch for either ‘devil’s whirlpool’ or ‘spite the devil’, Spuyten Devil Creek forms part of its northern border.” Grace wrote down: “What is Manhattan?, which was the correct response. She added $13,000 to her total. Keith wrote down: “What is New York?” The judges could not accept that. Keith’s wager of $10,000 was irrelevant. Grace had won.

In her next match she faced off against Michael Rankins and Brian Weikle, one of the nine seeded players who I’ll get to in another entry. Brian went off on an incredible tear in the Jeopardy round and had $11,200 to Grace and Michael’s $2000 apiece.

In Double Jeopardy Grace found the first Daily Double in RELIGION. With little choice she bet the $3600 she had. “A homophone of a weapon, it’s the list of books making up scripture.” She knew it was canon and doubled her score. Four clues later she found the other Daily Double in AMERICAN ‘W’RITERS. This time she had $7600 and again she bet everything: “In the 1940s this epic war novelist served aboard the destroyer-minesweeper Zane.” She knew it was Herman Wouk and went into the lead. The rest of Double Jeopardy was a back and forth match between her and Brian for the lead and Brian took it over on the last correct response in Double Jeopardy. Even then it was razor thin: he had $24,400 to her $24,000. Michael was in contention with $2000.

The Final Jeopardy category was 19^TH CENTURY AMERICAN ART. It was a tough one: “Some versions of this painting based on a Bible verse show William Penn making a treaty with the Indians in the background.” I had never heard of the painting in question when it was revealed and neither had any of the three players. It was Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks. (You can find it online and buy reproductions as well.) Brian by far wagered the most losing $24,000. Grace smartly bet only $500 and that left her with $23,500 more than enough to win.

In the quarterfinal she faced off against two formidable players Shane Whitlock and Frank Spangenberg. After the Jeopardy round it got harder for her to ring in but she did not go quietly. At the end of Double Jeopardy she had $10,000 to Frank’s $17,200 and Shane’s $18,400. But that was as far as it went. Frank was the only player to come up with a correct response in Double Jeopardy and he went on.

Among the reasons I think Grace should come back I’ve reiterated is fairness. Despite having defeated Brian in the UTC and played well against Shane, both of them were named as potential fan favorites and Grace wasn’t. Considering Shane was invited back just a few months ago, I think it’s well past time Grace returned.

 

ROBERT SLAVEN - $66,201

I have a vague memory of Robert’s original appearance on Jeopardy back in March of 1992. His total of $53,202 would have been decent in a lesser year. Of the players who made up the lineup of the 1992 Tournament of Champions which featured four players who won over $75,000 and two of the top five money winners prior to the dollar figures being doubled in 2001, it was not impressive. In fact of the 12 regular season players he was next to last in money earned.

Indeed in his quarterfinal match Robert and Richard Kaplan were up against John Kelly, who’d won $84,701. It was an incredibly close match and by the end of it Robert had $5500 in third place and trailed John in first by $1100.

The Final Jeopardy category was POLAND: “Laid to rest temporarily at Arlington in 1941, his remains were returned to Poland in 1992.” Robert knew the correct response: “Who is Paderewski?” the pianist and first prime minister of Poland. He wagered everything and that would be enough to make him the winner.

In the semifinals he ended up facing off Jerome Vered, who we will discuss below. He led going into Double Jeopardy but his luck didn’t hold. Jerome went on to the finals and Robert went home with $5000.

The following year Robert was picked to participate in the 10^th anniversary tournament. In his semi-final appearance he was flattened by Frank Spangenberg. However after his first two appearances in a postseason I had a high opinion of him and going into the UTC I thought he would do rather well.

My opinion of Robert Slaven is highly based on the players he beat over the years and such was true during the UTC. In the first round he faced off against Bill Pitassy and Russ Schumacher, who’d won the 2004 Tournament of Champions just six months prior. Robert led from beginning to end of the game though Russ closed the gap by the end of Double Jeopardy.

The Final Jeopardy category was EUROPEAN LANGUAGES: “In this language spoken by 120 million worldwide, all of the days of the week but one end with the same 3 letters.” Robert knew it was German. (As Alex said: “Mitwoch is the only one that doesn’t end in T-A-G.” Robert won $28,801 and proudly chanted Canada! after his victory. (He resides in Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories.)

In his second round, the Canadian flag was added to the B in his name on the podium. He was now facing off against his second consecutive Tournament of Champions winner in Mike Dupee and Mike was clearly the better player during this game. Mike led from beginning to end of the Jeopardy round. Robert was in second but during Double Jeopardy Eugene Finerman made a spectacular recovery and moved into second. Mike had a big lead with $21,700 to Eugene’s $13,200 and Robert’s $11,200.

The Final Jeopardy category was NEW LAWS. “CEOs must personally certify their corporate books following a July 2002 law named for these two men.” It’s worth noting Robert is from Canada and Eugene and Mike were Americans. Robert wrote down: “Who are Sarbanes and Oxley?” which was correct. He bet everything to go to $22,400. Next came Eugene. He wrote down: ‘Who are Feingold and McCain?” (I thought that was it that at home, by the way.) Eugene lost everything. It came down to Mike. He wrote down McCain Feingold. There was a cut to a stunned Robert. He had come from behind to win and was shocked – but not stunned enough to not chant ‘Canada’ again.

In the quarterfinals against April and John, the Canadian flag was its biggest yet. Robert led throughout the Jeopardy round and the majority of Double Jeopardy. At the end of it he had $15,000 to John’s $12,800 and April’s $11,200.

Then came Final Jeopardy. The category was LITERARY MUSICAL THEATRE. “Songs in this 1956 show include ‘Oh Happy We,” “You Were Dead, You Know” & “The Best of All Possible Worlds.” Of all the quarterfinal games this was the only one I knew the correct Final Jeopardy response: “What is Candide?” John and April knew this. Robert did not: “What is Our Town?” John went on to the quarterfinals and Robert’s run ended.

Robert was always cheerful in his interview segments and he had amusing stories. His last one was about how he was a trombonist in a funk band and one cover he’d insisted they learn was Weird Al’s ‘I Lost on Jeopardy!” I’d like to have him back just to hear if he’s been hanging out with more Canadians now that Mattea Roach has made it hip again.

 

 

PHIL YELLMAN - $68,801

Full disclosure: I have no memory of Phil’s original appearance on Jeopardy and while I technically saw his appearance in the 1992 Tournament of Champions the only reason I remember it at all was because that is the game I remember April McManus from. This may sound like a disservice to a man who won $60,400 in his original appearance on Jeopardy but as I mentioned in the previous entry that was a fairly low total for that period.

He made far more of an impression in his appearance in the UTC though it didn’t look like it would at first. In his initial appearance in Round 1 he spent a fair amount of the Jeopardy round in the red and was still in third place by the end of it. Then he managed to run the category WORLD HISTORY in Double Jeopardy and began to make an impression. When he somehow won $25,601 at the end of the game I was impressed.

His second round appearance, like his first, was very close to the end of the round and he was up against one of the all-tome greats Chuck Forrest. Yet again he spent the entire Jeopardy round in third and again in Double Jeopardy he made his move, also finding both Daily Doubles. This time, however, he couldn’t get out of second place though it was another thriller: he had $14,200 to Lara Robillard’s $20,700 and Chuck $12,800.

The Final Jeopardy category was FEMALE FIRSTS: “After 285 years, in 1945 this British organization inducted its first women, including Kathleen Lonsdale, seen here:”

Phil was the only player who knew the correct answer: “What is the Royal Society?” He won another $28,200.

In his quarterfinal he faced off against Brian Moore and Pam Mueller. This match was the most thrilling of all of the quarterfinals and it paid tribute to Cheers with its categories in Double Jeopardy: CIVIL SERVANTS, STAMPS FROM AROUND THE WORLD, MOTHERS & SONS, BEER, ‘BAR’ TRIVIA & CELIBACY. CELIBACY, I should tell you, decided the game. Pam found the Daily Double in it and Phil got two questions wrong in that category.

In truth the game was decided in Final Jeopardy when Pam officially entered the pantheon of the all-time great Jeopardy players. That’s not the only reason Phil should come back but it’s good enough for me.

 

MICHAEL ROONEY - $70,201

Michael Rooney is a remarkable Jeopardy player even before you get to his appearance in the UTC. He won the last three games in April of 1999, had to spend most of May waiting for both that year’s College Championship and Celebrity Jeopardy to play out, then won the next two games to finish with $50,201 and two Camaros.

He then had to wait pretty close to a year to return to the Tournament of Champions in May of 2000. He then ran away with his quarterfinal match – against eventual winner Robin Carroll who had to settle for a wild card spot in the semi-final. Then playing against Carolyn Cracraft (the College Champion) and Steve Fried he came from behind to take the lead in Double Jeopardy. Unfortunately for him Steve managed to close the gap, giving him the barest of leads $9000 to Steve’s $8900 with Carolyn still in contention with $4800.

The Final Jeopardy category was WORD ORIGINS and it was tough. “In Homer, Athena takes the form of this old friend of Odysseus to advice Odysseus’ young son.” No one had the right answer but in a sense Michael was the closest when he wrote down: “Who is Hero?” It was actually Mentor. Unfortunately for Michael he wagered by far the most and it led to Steve Fried going to the finals and Michael going home with $5000.

This was impressive on its own. But his record in the UTC five years later puts him in the pantheon of great players.

In the first round of the UTC, he faced off against Mark Lowenthal (winner of the 1988 Tournament of Champions) and Erik Larsen who went back to 1990. In Double Jeopardy Michael shot to a commanding lead and only a late correct response in Double Jeopardy stopped him from a runaway. Michael finished with an impressive $24,000 to Erik’s $17,600 while Mark trailed with $3800.

The Final Jeopardy category was 20^TH CENTURY NOVELS: “It begins ‘To be born again,’ sang Gibreel Farishta tumbling from the heavens, ‘first you have to die.” Michael knew it was The Satanic Verses and ended up winning $35,201, one of the biggest one day totals of the entire tournament.

His second round match put him against Catherine (then Fred) Ramen and the first seeded player, seven-game winner Tom Walsh. He had the misfortune of the finding the Daily Double on the first clue of the Jeopardy round and in a sense peaked too soon. At the end of the round he was in third.

In Double Jeopardy it got worse. Three consecutive incorrect responses dropped him to -$2000 very early in the round. It was a big hole to dig out of but he managed it in the category THE ISLAND OF VANUATU. Sadly for Michael Tom got hot at the right time and took the lead away from him. Still the scores were very close at the end Michael had $6000, Catherine $8397 and Tom led with $9100.

It came down to Final Jeopardy and again Michael got lucky. The category was BRITISH ROYALTY. “When his tomb was opened in 1102, a fragrance filled the air and his body was perfectly preserved.”

Michael wrote down the correct response: “Who is Edward the Confessor?” He wagered $4500, putting him in the lead. Catherine also wrote down Edward the Confessor but only wagered $706. Tom, however, wrote down: “Who is Edward I?” And as Alex explain: Edward I was Edward Longshanks, not Edward the Confessor. Michael won and his total was bumped up to $20,000.

In the quarterfinals his opponents were Steve Chernicoff and Brad Rutter. In other circumstances Michael wouldn’t have had a chance. But he and Steve were not fighting the Brad Ken Jennings couldn’t beat; indeed this Brad was very mortal. Indeed it was the closest Brad would come to losing a Tournament game for the next fourteen years.

At the end of Double Jeopardy Brad was in third with $5600 to Michael’s $9200 and Steve’s $12,400. He knew the outlook wasn’t good. The category was PEOPLE & PLACES.

“This Mediterranean island shares its name with President Garfield’s nickname for his wife.”

Brad wrote down: “What is Crete?” Somehow he knew that Garfield’s wife was named Lucretia. He wagered $800, putting him at $6400. Michael wrote down: “What is Malta?” It cost him $3599, dropping him to $5601. He was clearly betting to have enough left over to beat Brad if he wagered nothing. Steve wrote down: “What is Rhodes?” He wagered $6001. That dropped Steve to $6399, and by one dollar, Brad went on to the semi-finals. The first words out of Brad’s mouth were: “I don’t believe it.” Michael and Steve nearly ended Brad’s streak before it began and both went home with $15,000.

Considering the level of competition Michael has played against and defeated in his few experiences in the postseason and considering how many of them have been invited back on multiple occasions, I think Michael’s more than earned his shot. The fact that he has one of the great impish senses of humor in his multiple appearances (he had a history of banter with Alex Trebek that few did) he’d be a lot of fun to be around.

 

MATT ZIELINSKI - $70,601

In the era where the rules for ‘age-appropriate’ tournaments where the grand prize was $25,000, Matt Zielenski has a place in the annals of Jeopardy history that will stand for his era. Playing the 1995 Teen Tournament, he set the official high-water mark for two-day winnings not just for Teen Tournaments but all-age appropriate tournaments in the pre-2001 era, when he won $42,300. Going into the 1995 Tournament of Champions he’d won more money then one four-game winners and five game winner Jim Morgan, who he would face off against in the quarter-finals.

Incredibly he ended up in first place going into Final Jeopardy and ended up winning his quarter-final game, the first to do so since Eric Newhouse in the 1989 Tournament of Champions. (I’ll be getting to him in a different entry.)

Going into the semi-finals he seemed overmatched in the Jeopardy round against Jim Vercolen and David Siegel, who that year had won $86,200 in five games. But a late surge in Double Jeopardy helped him stay in contention and he was in a close second in Final Jeopardy. Unfortunately he was the sole player to respond incorrectly and his run came to an end with another $5000.

I remembered vividly Matt’s the original appearance both in the Teen Tournament and the Tournament of Champions. But I wasn’t convinced he’d be able to go far into the UTC. Going up against Bob Fleenor and Kurt Bray, I remained unconvinced of his staying power until he began to catch fire late in Double Jeopardy. He finally managed to pull ahead when he found the second Daily Double but it was neck and neck. He finished with $20,200 to Bob’s $17,800 and Kurt’s $3000.

The Final Jeopardy category was AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY: “In 1959 the ad firm of Doyle Dane Bernback began using the slogan ‘Ugly is only skin-deep’ for this import model.” I had know idea this referred to the Volkswagen Beetle, but all three players, including Matt, did and for Matt it have him $35,601 for his first round victory, one of the highest marks for anyone in that round.

I still thought Matt was overmatched going into his Round 2 game against Robin Carroll, who’d been seeded into the Tournament and Steve Newman, a superb 5 day champion from 1992 who’d won $38,700 in his first round appearance. And indeed after a quick start in the Jeopardy round he fell in third by the end of it. Indeed he spent most of Double Jeopardy struggling. But it helped matters that Steve, in addition to giving 23 correct responses, gave nine incorrect ones and after a bad daily Double by Robin late in the round, Matt was in second with $8800 to Steve’s $12,400 while Robin had just $4800.

The Final Jeopardy category was U.S. CITIES. “In 1790 this Midwest city was named for a society that had been named for a Roman citizen-soldier.” Both Robin and Matt knew it was Cincinnati. Steve thought it was Council Bluffs. Matt had wagered $801, putting him at $9601, $2 ahead of Robin after her wager. Steve lost $5201, dropping him to $7199 and Matt became the surprise winner. His total was bumped to $20,000.

Matt spent a lot of his quarterfinal match struggling behind both Chris Miller and Lan Djang. It was only because he got the very last clue correct ahead of Chris in Double Jeopardy that he stopped him from running away with it. The category was one rarely seen again on Jeopardy: POEM & POET. (You needed to name both the author and the title.)

“The sea is calm tonight, The tide is full, the moon lies far upon the straits.”

Matt knew it was ‘Dover Beach’ by Arnold. But after that Final Jeopardy went Chris was the only player to respond correctly in Final Jeopardy and Matt left with another $15,000.

Matt had a very quirky personality and a way of ringing in that was unique among Jeopardy champions at the time. As Alex said he had his own rhythm that was always fun to watch. I’d love to see him back.

 

BRIAN MOORE - $72,200

Brian Moore has always held a special place in my heart over the years. He’s one of the first Jeopardy champions who I remember very vividly in his original appearance with good reason. His original appearance was in the second game of the 1993-1994 Jeopardy season, the second season I watched pretty much from beginning to end. And he is one of the very few players I’ve ever seen begin a five game run at the start of any Jeopardy season since. He won an impressive $62,002.

He then had one of the longest hiatuses to appear in a Tournament of Champions –  fourteen months until November of 1994 and he was facing off an impressive roster. He faced another one of the greatest players I’ve ever seen Steve Chernicoff, who’d won $83,902 and David Venderbush who’s original appearance came just a few weeks after Brian’s. Brian got off to a fast start in the Jeopardy round but Steve jumped over him in Double Jeopardy. Brian was lucky to get into the semifinals as a wildcard.

He then had to face off against Rachael Schwartz, the eventual winner of that tournament and Kurt Bray who I mentioned in Matt’s entry. He spent the entire game in a distant third and when he got Final Jeopardy wrong, he went home with $5000.

Still he’d made an impression on me and I thought going into the UTC he would be a formidable contender. That became clear slowly but surely his first round appearance against John Zhang, the winner of the 2003 Teen Tournament and Dan Katz, a five-game winner from 1990. He managed a narrow lead late in the Jeopardy round, then struggled early in Double Jeopardy.

Then he went on one of the most incredible runs in the tournament, managing to give 9 out of 12 consecutive clues correct. He already had $17,000 when he found the first Daily Double in GRAMMAR. He added $6000 to his total. He finished with 29 correct responses and only four incorrect ones, giving him $29,000 at the end of Double Jeopardy and an overwhelming runaway.

The Final Jeopardy category was WORDS: “This 6-letter word can mean both a bright light above someone’s head & a dark cloud over our head.” Brian knew it was a nimbus and added $3000 to his total, giving him $32,000.

His Round 2 game against Vinita Kailasinath and Mark Eckard was, if anything, more dominant. He had a narrow lead in the Jeopardy round but in Double Jeopardy he ran the category CAPITAL CITIES and finished it off with $6000 on a Daily Double. He managed 30 correct responses, only two incorrect ones, and finished with the highest mark at the end of Double Jeopardy for any contestant during the entire tournament: $37,600. The question was, how big would his payday be.

And it was diminished because of one of the toughest Final Jeopardys in the entire tournament. The category was LITERARY INSPIRATIONS: “This real man inspired a 1719 novel character & a poem that says, ‘I am the monarch of all I survey.’” No one was even close to coming up with the correct answer: “Who is Alexander Selkirk?” (the real-life marooned sailor who was an inspiration for Robinson Crusoe) It cost Brian $12,400 and he won ‘merely’ $25,200.

In his quarterfinal match against Phil Yellman and Pam Mueller it seemed like more of the same during the Jeopardy round: at the end of it, he had $9000 to Phil’s $5400 and Pam’s $3600. However in Double Jeopardy he gave four incorrect responses and the great play of Pam near the end moved her ahead of him. Still it was incredibly close: Pam had 414,800 to Brian’s $12,600 and Phil’s $11,000.

And it that game Pam proved her ability to be among the all time greats when she alone could come up with a correct response in Final Jeopardy. Brian’s impressive run was over and he left with was, for all intents and purposes the 8^th highest total won by any player in the UTC. (Dan Melia, who was just as good as him, won a dollar more.)

Part of the reason I liked Brian in addition to everything else was his human side: while interviewed by Alex Trebek he made it clear that if you killed a king or were an obscure European figure he’d know who you were, but if he met you a week ago, he wouldn’t remember your name. I have always remembered his and I’d like to see him back.

This takes me through all of the quarterfinalists who were eliminated. The three who were part of ‘The Sweet Six’ deserve more time and space then some of the others here and for that reason I will deal with them in a separate entry.