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#Post#: 45788--------------------------------------------------
Spinoff: Champions of Sportsmanship (James Holzhauer - Spoilers
for "The Greatest of All Time"
By: JessTer Date: January 18, 2020, 11:13 am
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On our old forum, at some point when threads became old enough
but someone wanted to comment, they would start a spinoff
thread.
This is a spinoff to the one I started in June 2019 about how
Jeopardy sensation James Holzhauer seemed to be very classy
toward opponents (especially the really good ones) and those who
were critical of how he played the game.
HTML https://badmanners.createaforum.com/celebrities/i'll-take-'champions-of-sportsmanship'-for-$200-or-$2-4-mil/
Background:
Ever since Holzhauer's 32-day, almost-$2.5-million,
record-setting run, back in the spring of 2019, fans had been
clamoring to see how he would do pitted against the only
contestant ever to do objectively better than him: the legendary
(to Jeopardy fans) Ken Jennings.
I suspect that the producers of the show 1) wanted to capitalize
on the fans' "hunger" for more "Jeopardy James" and 2) wanted to
be sure Trebek would be around for such an event - so a week or
so ago, a special tournament was held to determine "The Greatest
of All Time - with play continuing until someone won three
matches. The contestants were Jennings, Holzhauer, and Brad
Rutter, a 2000 contestant who holds the record for the most
money won on Jeopardy - thanks to winning just about every
tournament he's ever played in - but because Rutter was on back
when Jeopardy did not allow more than five wins per person,
Rutter does not hold any records for non-tournament, "regular"
Jeopardy.
Jennings won after four matches had been played, winning the
first, third, and fourth ones. Holzhauer won on night 2.
Well, if you watched the tournament, you know that three engaged
in a lot of dialogue and banter, even "trash-talk" both on
Twitter and during the games themselves. Although it seems like
it was meant to be in fun, and most fans I have seen commenting
on Facebook loved it, I have to admit that some of Holzhauer's
remarks "tarnished" my previous he's-a-class-act view.
Particularly with his remarks toward Rutter. At one point, when
the scoreboards all showed 0 because the next match hadn't
started yet, Holzhauer joked that the 0 was Rutter's score. What
made this...not so funny was, if you saw the event, Rutter
definitely did...a lot less well than the other two, and much
less well than all his past performances in Jeopardy
tournaments. Although the tournament officially had no second
place (The winner received $1 mil and the other two both
received $250,000) clearly, fans perceived Holzhauer as coming
in second. Holzhauer clearly has a lot of admiration for
Jennings and at times seemed to be encouraging Jennings to bet
big on Daily Doubles, the way Holzhauer himself is famous for.
When he poked fun at Jennings, it seemed like he was poking fun
in ways other than digging at Jennings' play.
Holzhauer and Jennings had both said, during Holzhauer's
original run, that it was an honor to be compared to the other.
He seems to be at his most complimentary and gracious toward
people he perceives as being as good as he is at the game or
better.
I sense that the producers encouraged the banter among the three
as an additional entertainment factor - no three contestants
have ever talked to each other that much on an episode - and I
do believe that all three were joking with each other, but, in
addition to some of Holzhauer's digs at Rutter coming out wrong,
I wonder about the example it sets for people who want to say
sarcastic things about other people...not so much in fun.
#Post#: 45815--------------------------------------------------
Re: Spinoff: Champions of Sportsmanship (James Holzhauer - Spoil
ers for "The Greatest of All Time"
By: Amara Date: January 18, 2020, 5:54 pm
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I loved, loved, loved GOAT (Greatest of All Time). And I
remember James saying that about Brad. I don't believe he meant
it in a cruel way, that he truly admired Brad and wanted to
joke. However, for him the joke fell flat, one of those
unfortunate things that happen from time to time. It didn't
change my mind about James' graciousness.
I also enjoyed the interview Ken and Brad did with someone
before the tournament started. You could see how much fun they
were having with it and it didn't seem to matter to either one
if they won or lost, they were having fun.
James, on the other hand, while enjoying the whole thing,
brought to the table his usual manner. He is a professional
gambler, well skilled not just in his work but also in nonverbal
communication. The other gamblers he plays with back in Vegas
are equally professional and they no doubt approach their work,
the games, with skill, tactical plans, and bland faces, all of
which are tools of their trade. They aren't having fun, they are
deadly serious about their work and it pays off for them. So
James came into this game the same way. But when Brad and
especially Ken brought out their playful attitudes it really
seemed to throw James off his game. He's unused to fellow
players like that and as he later noted it did affect him. He no
doubt enjoyed it once he got over his initial surprise but he
never got his professional footing back except a few times.
I also enjoyed seeing those short stories about them. It is
fascinating that Brad invested almost all his winnings and is
back at work as a bartender. Ken gave himself a new career. And
James became known for his charitable generosity. it really was
a great game. I would love to watch a rerun of all four games.
So glad Alex got to do this too.
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