Jeopardy! fans spot ‘humiliating’ detail that ‘singles out’ one champion as jerseys for upcoming tournament are revealed
JEOPARDY! has revealed JERSEYS for its upcoming tournament.
The dashing designs scored points with fans, but they spotted a “humiliating” detail that “singled out” one champion.
Jeopardy! die-hards are surely clued into the Tournament of Champions.
The yearly round-up brings back players who won more than four games during the past season to go head to head – or brain to brain.
Fan-beloved alum Buzzy Cohen hosted the 2021 tournament, which was won by Sam Kavanaugh who scored the grand $250K prize.
The buzz-worthy battle will be held in November 2022 and there are 15 contestants from Season 38 currently eligible to win even bigger.
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The ToC has been held since 1985, but this year is perhaps more high-stakes since its players have already gone on simply head-spinning runs – four contenders now hold top-ten runs ever.
They are Canadian tutor Mattea Roach who won 23 games, the same as her age- and $560K – in May.
And beloved rideshare driver and 16-game winner Ryan Long who won $299K and will also return.
40-game winner Amy Schneider crossed the $1M mark before them and might be stiff competition.
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And 38-game winner Matt Amodio, also from this ridiculously stacked season is another top-10 record-holder and crossed the $1M mark too.
The 2022 host hasn’t been unveiled yet – nor has the late Alex Trebek’s permanent podium position between Ken Jennings and Mayim Bailik (as feverish fans are well aware) – but something else has – shirts!
MEET THE MERCH
Fans can score an official team shirt to cheer on their favorite player from this year’s super champ-heavy season, which spells adorable.
Well, they’re not official – a fashion-forward fan who has a page on Jeopardy’s website for following its players’ styles so closely – OneElecticMom – designed the Jeopardy!-blue jerseys.
Each one thoughtfully has the returning champ’s number of games they won on the back, along with their names – all except for one, that is.
One returning player was, unfortunately, “singled out” design-wise and fans can’t button up their disbelief.
The designer tweeted last week, “So many Jeopardy contestants qualifying for the ToC, & I’ve been busy making team shirts! … @MegOnJeopardy features her favorite colors, purple & turquoise (& a special jersey number).”
Indeed, the designs are categorically cool as fans gushed, one writing “I want a Team Ryan Long shirt!”
But as implied, Megan Wachpress – who won 6 games in June but only $60K (for reference, Amy won an average of $40K per game) – got some ‘shirt shade.’
Her design, instead of having her number of wins on the back, simply reads “$2.”
“I now appreciate that Jeopardy Megan Jersey once I saw that the back said $2,” another fan replied with cry-laughing emojis.
The player’s odd streak was playfully torn at by the designer for good reason – Megan’s run earlier this month was simply so peculiar.
‘OH SHIRT!’
The Berkeley, California player won less than half as much as any other five-day or six-day champion this year.
Fans were floored by her wildly “lucky” streak – which involved her winning three of her six wins by $2, thus the shirt.
One of Megan’s three $2 victories was her first, when she defeated then-champ Eric Ahasic – who also got a shirt and will play.
“I’m going to lose my mind if the current Jeopardy champ wins another game by $2” one Twitter user wrote amid the player’s wild pattern.
In another of her games, Megan won by getting Final Jeopardy! correct but only took home $401.
The second and third place winners received the larger $2,000 and $1,000 consolation prizes – meaning she made less money than them.
One fan tweeted on that stunning scenario: “When you win but actually lose.”
And most controversially, in a now-viral moment, fans claimed contestant Sadie Goldberger was cheated out of one win, which ultimately went to Megan.
Sadie responded correctly to FJ by writing “Harriet Tubman.”
But she was shockingly ruled incorrect for her script penmanship, which Mayim called “unfinished.”
“It looks like you were going for ‘Harriet Tubman’ but you did not finish, so unfortunately that is not going to be acceptable,” the mixed-reception receiving host said.
Sadie ended up wagering enough to have beaten then-champ Megan – but she somehow sailed on.
Hundreds of fans were confused with the results – as was Megan herself in a rare moment – even she admitted it looked like Sadie’s answer was fair and legible.
Megan sweetly tweeted right afterward: “It’s probably inappropriate for me to say anything about the judges’ call in FJ yesterday (you can see my immediate reaction on the tape).
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“But will say I’d love to see Sadie compete again (if she wants to!).”
A Twitter thread afterward also scored hundreds of replies – one from a former champ – on if writing out FJ responses instead of typing them should stay in place for Season 39.
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So with nearly all of her victories involving wins-by-default, if not wins by such close margins it was shocking – her tee-shirt much like her run, came out a little different.
Each chic shirt costs $25, or 12.5 Megan wins.