My Personal History with Jeopardy Super-Tournaments, Part 6
James Holzhauer and the Final Years of Alex Trebek
I mentioned in an earlier article that I was considered Ken Jennings the Lou Gehrig of Jeopardy. James Holzhauer is the Babe Ruth and few would argue that point who saw him play the game in his original run. Indeed, one could watch Holzhauer and compare him to Barry Bonds in the fact that he truly seemed to play as if he were on some kind of performance enhancing drug.
It’s hard to argue against that kind of idea when on his fourth day he shattered the one-day record Roger Craig had set of $77,000 by more than $33,000, then broke it again six days later, broke the $1 million dollar mark on his fourteenth game and the $2 million mark on his twenty-seventh game.
Many viewers and fans of the series alternated between being impressed by his achievements and also began to wonder if he had broken Jeopardy. When you have a lead so large you’ve got the game out of reach by the end of the Jeopardy round and then its completely out of reach for anybody by the halfway mark of Double Jeopardy, it’s hard not to think that way. When you are betting everything on your Daily Doubles regardless how much money you have, getting forty correct responses on an average day and averaging $70,000 per win, it’s hard not to feel that way. Holzhauer seemed so invincible it genuinely became impossible to watch the game because it seemed like he would go on forever. It did not help that his brash, aggressive manner really put off a lot of people, myself included. You admired what James was accomplishing but it was hard to like him, at least in his initial run. Indeed, Emma Boettcher, who manage to unseat James when he was just one day, two at most from beating Ken Jennings all time money record was one of the great accomplishment in game show history. That she managed to win nearly $100,000 in three games shows how good she is.
Interestingly enough, the 35th season ended with three superb champions Ryan Bilger, who won four games and over $107,000, Sam Kavanaugh, who won five games and over $156,000 and most impressively Jason Zuffranieri, who began one of the most impressive streaks in Jeopardy history a little more than a month after James Holzhauer’s ended. He managed to win 19 games and $532,496. At that point he was tied for fourth place all time on games won and was now in third place behind Holzhauer and Jennings for most money won in one’s original appearance. I would have loved a showdown between Holzhauer and Zuffranieri, but by the Jason’s streak ended the final spots for the 2019 Tournament of Champions had been locked down. Jason and almost everyone who had come after him would have to wait more than two years to appear in a Tournament of Champions. By that point the world had changed and not just in terms of Jeopardy.
It was, to say the least, an odd mix of participants in the 2019 Tournament of Champions: there were three players who had won at seven games in their original appearance but the question on everyone’s lips was whether James Holzhauer could be stopped before winning what was, by his standards, chicken feed. There was also a decided bittersweet air to the tournament as many knew it would likely be the last Tournament of Champions Alex Trebek ever hosted. Indeed, when he lost in his semi-final appearance Dhruv Gaur wrote in his answer for Final Jeopardy: “What is we (heart sign) you, Alex?” Both the audience and Alex were notably moved.
It actually took James a little more work than usual to get to the finals of the Tournament of Champions: he did not pull away the way he usually did until the middle of Double Jeopardy of his quarterfinal match and he could not get off a fast start in his semi-final match either — indeed, he ran away of the game but got Final Jeopardy wrong. But he was there — as was the one person who had ever defeated him to that point, Emma Boettcher. Francois Barcomb, who had won the 2019 Teachers Tournament was the last finalist.
James got off to a blazing fast start in the Jeopardy round of Game 1 and then lost all his money on the first Daily Double. He managed to rebuild and was back in the lead at the end of the round. He did better in Double Jeopardy, finding the first Daily Double and doubling his score and making still more money on the second one. The Double Jeopardy round ended with him at $37,412 to Emma’s $13,200 and Francois’ $7800.
The Final Jeopardy category for Game 1 was OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS. “By Hebrew word count, the longest book bears this name that led to a word for a long complaint or rant.” Both Emma and James came up with the correct response: “What is Jeremiah?” Emma did what she had do and bet everything. James was a little more and bet $12,314. Game 1 ended with James in the lead with $49,326 to Emma’s $26,400. Francois was at $1800.
In the Jeopardy round of Game 2, both Emma and James came out swinging and while James finished the round in the lead, it was far from a big one: $8800 to Emma’s $6600. In Double Jeopardy, James got the first clue wrong and then got six straight right before Emma was able to ring in on a $2000 clue. She found the Daily Double on the next one in FEMALE FIRST. She had $8600 and with time running out bet everything:
“Kathryn Bigelow became Oscar’s first female Best Director for this film with only one named female character.” She knew it was The Hurt Locker, doubled her score to $17,200 — and went ahead of James for the first time.
She and James split the next four clues before James found the second Daily Double in ‘R’ CHITECTURE. James bet big: $8615.
“As a style, it was early 19th century British; as a building, it’s the Atlanta Hyatt that began the hotel atrium era.” James answered too quickly: “What is Georgian?” He forgot the answer had to begin with R and it was regency. He dropped into a distant second and despite his best efforts, was still in second at the end of the round.
Going into Final Jeopardy Emma was ahead of James with $21,600 to his $17,785. The possibility for a titanic upset was there.
The decisive category was INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES: “A dispute over Etorofu, Habomai, Kunashiri & Shikotan has kept these 2 countries from ever signing a WWII peace treaty.” All three players knew the correct two countries: “What are Japan and Russia?” James wagered $9812, which gave him a two-day total of $76,923. Emma bet $17,000 which gave her a two day total of $65,000. Even if she had bet everything it would not have made a difference: James won the 2019 Tournament of Champions. In victory, he was gracious: when Alex told him that he was going into the game in second place, he remarked: “Not the first time to Emma” and he congratulated her heartily.
Not long after that the first prime-time Jeopardy tournament in thirty years was announced: Jeopardy: Greatest of All Time. It would be a series of games between the three greatest Jeopardy players in history: Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer. It would be a best of seven series, with the first player to win three two-game matches winning the tournament, a million dollars and the official title Greatest of All Time.
This should have been the kind of event a fan like me relished. I must confess I did not watch a single game and I’m not sure I even recorded in any form. I couldn’t have told you at the time why I didn’t but in hindsight I think I know: I think I realized that the real reason this tournament was taking place was as much a eulogy for Alex Trebek as it was a celebration of these three great players. And I was going through my own form of denial about his illness and I did not think I could face it.
So I didn’t watch the tournament, and as a result missed what was the end of an era. Ken Jennings finally managed to defeat — nay, crush — Brad Rutter for the first time in fifteen years of competitive game play. Brad played miserably throughout the tournament, getting Daily Double after Daily Double wrong. I had suspected for years that it would take the presence of the third greatest player of all time to prevail and it turned out James was the third. Brad never came close to winning any of the four matches that were played. After Ken won, he officially retired from playing Jeopardy and became a producer and writer on the show.
Not long after, the first reports of COVID became public in China and within the space of less than two months, the entire world would essentially be locked down.
Jeopardy would eventually follow suit, cutting its season short, though it would be awhile before the repercussions were truly felt. The show would come to an end after only 190 games and air its last live episode on June 12, 2020. By May 18th, the shows were being recorded without an audience and would not have a full studio audience until nearly two years had passed. Zach Newkirk, who had begun a four game winning streak at the end of Season 36 would not be able to return due to travel restrictions due to COVID.
During the lockdown I relied on rewatching super-tournaments, something I had done like clockwork for the last six years. I kept going through them hoping that by the time I got through one something resuming normalcy would be restored and then for solace going forward.
Death and despair stalked Jeopardy for the rest of the lockdown and through much of the tumult that followed 2020. On November 7 the same day the media called the presidential election for Joe Biden, Alex Trebek finally passed away at age 80. He had already recorded nearly two months of shows before he died and all took on a darker purpose, perhaps none more than his final weeks on the air.
The last five day champion to win on Jeopardy during Trebek’s era was Brayden Smith, a policy intern who had won five games and $115,798 before he was defeated. Less than a month after his final appearance, he would tragically pass away at the age of 24. Death had been stalking the Tournament of Champions for a while: the 2021 Tournament of Champions would be the third consecutive one where someone who had qualified had passed away before they could participate.
Brayden’s last game aired January 5th 2021. Alex Trebek’s final game aired three days later.
I watched all the games that aired between Trebek’s passing and his last recorded show — no matter how earth-shaking the events that transpired. I needed Alex Trebek’s presence as long as I could have it.
In the final article in this series, I will deal with the new era of super-champions that have led to the Jeopardy Masters.