I Am Not Smarter Than a Grad Student
Well, I hope that by now everyone has seen the conclusion of my three-day Jeopardy! career last Friday. So…
Congratulations to Ben Taylor, the reigning Jeopardy champion for the next two months!
Okay, so a little explanation. Due to the way that Jeopardy works, being a pre-recorded program and all, Ben and I last saw each other in April. That’s when we taped the program seen last week. And that was the last normal (non-tournament) episode of Jeopardy’s 23rd season.
The 24th season will start airing in mid-September, and they of course invite back the champion from the previous season’s last game. And yet the first two weeks of the next season have already been taped, five on Tuesday and five today.
Who knows what has happened in real life already. Maybe Ben is still on a tear, like another Jeopardy champion who was studying for his master’s in Germany at the time. I wouldn’t doubt it if I heard it. Or maybe he’s caught up with whatever circumstances have kept every successive champ from reaching ten wins.
Of course, having three months between games also means that Ben has had three months of interregnum in which to prepare. I had mixed feelings about being in that position, since I would feel like I had to train and study for my return appearance, while knowing that it could all be over on my first game back. But hey, Ben’s a student, so studying for Jeopardy is not nearly as major a sacrifice for him, I figured. So that part of it worked out well.
Again, congrats to Ben, the reigning champ (as far as any of us know!) for a great game and for claiming the unique end-of-season Jeopardy crown. I’m eager to see what happened afterwards, so I’m looking forward to September.