And On The 32nd Day Jamie Ding Rested: How His Run Came to An End

 Jamie Ding had owned the Alex Trebek stage for one month. And as Ken Jennings put it he was now in fifth place behind James Holzhauer, Matt Amodio, Amy Schneider "and one player I'm too humble to name.' If Jamie managed a victory on this day, he would tie the original Jeopardy James for fourth place on the all-time win list.

There had been signs, subtle but there, that Jamie was beginning to struggle in the past week. On Thursday he'd barely managed to eke out a victory over Patrick. Three times out of the last five games he'd won but gotten Final Jeopardy incorrect, and fortunately all of them had been runaway victories. And in Tuesday and Thursday games he was slowing, getting 22 correct responses on the former and only 21 the latter, though he didn't get a single incorrect response. Its easy to say it was a portent of things to come in hindsight but it became clear almost immediately on Monday that Greg Shahade might be able to do what no one had done in 31 games.

No one expected it to be that impressive.

Early in the Jeopardy round Jamie had already gone into the lead when Greg got to the Daily Double in SQUEALERS. He was in second with $2200.  Naturally he bet it all:

You don't want to be called this, the last name of John Turturro's title character in a Coen brothers flick.

Greg held his head: "What is…fink?" And the film was Barton Fink. Greg moved into the lead and he managed to hold onto it by the end of the round with $5600 to Jamie's $4400. Katrina Puckett was in third with $2200. Jamie was in second place, unusually, but he'd overcome bigger leads before.

Then Greg responded correctly on the first clue in Double Jeopardy. He picked PLAYS & PLAYWRIGHTS. There was the first Daily Double. He bet the $7600 he had:

The title object of this Oscar Wilde play is both a fashionable accessory & a mark of femininity.

It really looked like Greg didn't have it: "What is Lady Windemere's Fan?"

Now Greg had $15,200. "Fortune favors the bold," Ken said and told them to pick again.

On the very next clue he found the other Daily Double in HISTORIC ALLIANCES. By the previous two standards he was modest and bet just $7000. It went just as well:

This 55-nation group launched in 2002 has its headquarters in Addis Abada. Greg pulled it out: "What is African Union?" Suddenly Greg had $22,200, an $18,000 lead over Jamie.

Never had the phrase: "Now's the shoe's on the other foot," ever been more applicable. Jamie now knew what so many players over the last month had been up against at this stage at the latest in so many of his victories.  If anyone could make a comeback under these circumstances it was Jamie Ding and he got the next four clues correct to cut $6000 of Greg's lead. And Greg was not perfect: he got five incorrect responses. But he also got 23 correct ones and Jamie was only able to get 18.

By the time Double Jeopardy was in its final stages Jamie's only chance was to stop Greg from a runaway. On the last clue Greg had $33,000 to Jamie's $16,400. The final clue was in THE SHAPE OF THINGS and it was for $400:

Home to private residences and hotels, the man-made archipelago seen here in Dubai is built in the shape of one of these.

Greg rang in. "What's lotus?" It was wrong. Jamie: "What's a palm leaf?" They wouldn't accept that. Katrina rang in. "What's a palm tree?

With that Jamie Ding found himself in a runaway game – but this time he was the one who had no chance of overcoming an opponent as Greg had $32,600 to his $16,000. But the thing is even if he'd responded correctly  as Final Jeopardy played out it would not have made a difference.

The category was WORLD LANGUAGES. Of South Africa's 12 official languages, these 2 are alphabetically first & last."

Katrina knew the correct two: "What are Afrikaans and Zulu?" She bet $1990.

Jamie knew it and in parentheses wrote TTFN. "Ta-ta for now." He wagered $3010 for the record.

But Greg also knew it was Afrikaans and Zulu, so there was no tarnish on his victory as he added $400 to finish with $33,000 and become a giant-killer to rank with Nancy Zerg, Emma Boettcher, Johnathan Fisher and Rhone Talsma, each of whom respectively beat the four players ahead of Jamie on the list of both wins and money won.

None of them had accomplished was Greg had done to Jamie: win in a runaway. It's not unheard of in Jeopardy history. Just two years ago Adriana Harmeyer had her chance to tie Ryan Long (then in tenth place alone in all-time wins with 16) when Drew Basile managed to runaway with the game. Jamie did perform better then Adriana who ended up finishing third to Drew and Tekla Sauter and he did get Final Jeopardy correct, which Adriana couldn't manage to do. That's by far the closest comparison in Jeopardy history when it comes to a super-champion. In most cases they're either trailing going into Final Jeopardy and the opponent responds correctly (as happened to Holzhauer and Amodio) or they're in the lead and they get Final Jeopardy wrong and one of their opponents responds correctly (as is true not just of Ken and Amy but also Mattea Roach and Cris Panullo) By any standards Greg's win is historic.

Whether he will master the kind of run that Drew or Jonathan Fisher did remains to be seen; the fact that he has a place in Jeopardy lore is undisputed. We'll see where he ends up down the road.

For Jamie Ding he leaves Jeopardy the fifth most successful player in its tenure in both games won with 31 and money in one's original appearance with $882,605. Without a single postseason appearance to his name he is already eighth all time in money won, not just behind the four players ahead of money won and Brad Rutter but also Yogesh Raut and Mattea Roach who have a significant track record in Jeopardy Masters already ahead of them and may well in the future. Jamie managed to pass the Queen Victoria Groce and David Madden in all-time earnings in his original run. By any standard he is one of the greatest players in Jeopardy history.

When we see him next is an open question. There are only thirteen weeks left in Season 42. We've had two super-champions already and obviously I'm looking forward to see Harrison Whitaker battle with Jamie in the exhibition of the next TOC. But given how things have ended it may very well be awhile before the next postseason take place. Aside from the two super champions only two other players James Denison and Will Riley have officially qualified for the next Jeopardy Tournament of Champions and only two others may make it in if they lower the bar to three games. While one dares not predict the future when it comes to Jeopardy its hard to imagine the producers not having to consider delaying whatever postseason might happen for 2027, if not pushing it into Season 44 altogether.

That, however, is a problem in a few months' time. For now we can consider ourselves blessed by the reign of Jeopardy James II, a generous and soft-spoken New Jersey bureaucrat clad in orange. He might have joked about describing himself as a nameless bureaucrat when his run began but that's no longer possible and we should all be grateful for that. I certainly am.