Jeopardy!The era of the super champion is in full swing. The era is full swing for the super champion. Ryan LongShe has now won more than ten games and counting. One contestant remarked on the anomaly of last year.
A Quick Refresher
It feels like there’s more consistency from contestants than hosts for Jeopardy!. Five contestants have won ten games in the past year: Matt Amodio (Jonathan Fisher), Amy Schneider, Mattea Rach, and Ryan Long. These remarkable streaks have held the show together, despite having seen guests hosts such as Ken Jennings and Mayim Bikalik at the host desk.
A statistical anomaly
A former contestant and Twitter user points out what’s made the last year of Jeopardy!It’s so unique. “There have been just 14 people in the history of Jeopardy! to win 10+ games, and FIVE of them have been in the last year.”
For more perspective, take a look at the ranking of consecutive games won. Ken Jennings has 74 wins and is out of reach, but the next nine games are all from last year. This is unusual.
A Shift in The Rules
This kind of statistics can be misleading. Although Jeopardy! has existed since 1964, contestants weren’t always free to go on lengthy streaks. To combat the stigmas resulting from the 1950s game-show scandals, winning streaks were limited to one week.
The rules didn’t change until 2003, with Jennings going off just one year later. Super champions are now a reality. A little advantageBecause they get used to the buzzer. If that were true, however, then you’d see super champions multiple times a year. That hasn’t been true until this year.
Ryan Long: Who are you?
Long is the reigning champion. He’s a Lyft driver from Philadelphia who fosters cats and is a bit of a nerd. Long forgot his glasses in his first week of shows, but he’s retrieved them now. Long is currently at 13 wins and will bring home at least $252,700.
That’s certainly impressive, but it’s not much compared to the other champions this year. Roach earned $560,983, and Schneider took home over $1 million. Long’s potential future accomplishments will only be known by time. Gossip Cop can’t wait for the tournament of champions where all these folks will compete in a battle of wits for the ages.
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