James Holzhauer on JEOPARDY!
Have you seen this guy? In only twelve days he’s racked up over $850,000. (That's almost as much as Mike Trout makes.) James has shattered the all-time one-day total three or four times already. It’s like if this new prospect joined the Yankees named Clark Kent.
Not only does he have an otherworldly knowledge of everything, he has super quick recall. And he’s a professional sports gambler by trade so it’s common when he lands on DAILY DOUBLES to push all his chips into the center and go for it. I mean, sure, I could do that, but only if the topic was “Natalie Wood” but he does it on “Pleistocene Era Children's Literature,” “Fifteen-letter words with u in them twice,”and "Lana Wood."
He’s extraordinary to watch. If I went on that show and they told me the answers an hour beforehand I still couldn’t retain all that information by the time the cameras were rolling.
JEOPARDY has always been a great game show. It moves fast, it’s smart, and has the perfect host in Alex Trebek. (He can pronounce difficult words and names – although who knows if he’s right?) Certainly, it’s bittersweet now watching JEOPARDY because we know of Alex’s medical condition and our hearts go out to him. (By the way, Alex was so good on the CHEERS episode he appeared on that we wrote him into another scene – the final scene in the bar. He can deliver clues and jokes.)
But now with Holzhauer it’s off the charts fun to watch the show. And unlike a TV series you get a new episode five times a week instead of once a week. And you get open-ended new episodes, not just thirteen in a row.
It’s also easy to root for Holzhauer because he seems like a good guy. He’s very low-key. Ken Jennings is still my favorite due to his sense of humor ("What be Ebonics?"), but James H. has an easy-going charm that (like everything else about him) is “winning.”
Like I said he’s a professional sports gambler from Las Vegas so most of his winnings will eventually go to the government and Caesar’s Palace.
Now the big question is can he top Ken Jennings’ record of winning 74 consecutive times? I think the old record was 20. And unlike “cash amounts” James can’t accomplish that in five days. So we may be in for an exciting ride for the next few months.
Holzhauer is rarely wrong. If he doesn’t know an answer he doesn’t ring in. And one day last week the answer (or question, excuse me) was “What is Final Draft?” (the screenplay writing program). And he didn’t ring in. I knew something James Holzhauer didn’t. HA! BAM! Mic drop!
from By Ken Levine
Comments
Post a Comment