what happened to the big winner on jeopardy
A Talk With That Cool-Glasses Guy Who Defeated Amy Schneider on Jeopardy!
"I recall it really helped that I let go of winning. I was and so Zen-like and happy." Photograph: Casey Durkin/Sony Pictures Television
What is … a yellow-hued defeat? Later on winning an astounding 40 games, amassing over $1.iii million in winnings, and cementing her status as an all-fourth dimension Jeopardy! fable, Amy Schneider was defeated on Wednesday'due south episode past Rhone Talsma, a librarian from Chicago with impeccable gustatory modality in eyewear and zippy buzzer skills. The slaying occurred at the terminate of the Final Jeopardy circular, when Talsma, inside reach of Schneider'southward winnings, pounced with his robust geographical knowledge; he knew the respond to "the merely nation in the world whose name in English ends with 'h,'" while Schneider did not. (Information technology's People's republic of bangladesh, by the style.) Talsma walked away from the lectern with an even $29,600 compared to Schneider's $19,600.
Talsma, who filmed his big game against Schneider in early on November, hopped on the phone with Vulture for a debrief about the feel — which he had to keep a clandestine until now. We chatted about his whirlwind twenty-four hour period in the studio, how being a librarian enhanced his gameplay, and why he thinks Ken Jennings should exist the evidence's permanent host.
Congratulations! The underground is out.
I tin't imagine how Amy and other Jeopardy! champions deal with this attention. We're regular people and non used to being in the limelight. Nosotros're a agglomeration of nervous and self-conscious nerds. It'due south actually intense, only I'yard then grateful.
I simply must begin by asking well-nigh your spectacles.
I wish they had a libation story, but I bought them from an Instagram ad for an online glasses company called Nihao Optical. I accept a lot of accessories in this color, then I thought, Why non? I took a risk, and the second I put them on, I was like, This is the look! It'south my new signature look! A calendar month after I got the glasses, I auditioned, and people certainly commented on them during the audition. I practise feel like they got me in that location, on some level. It's a nice way to stand out.
I love that Buzzy Cohen is challenging you every bit Jeopardy!'s official dandy.
That could never happen. He was wearing these custom-tailored suits and stuff like that, and I was in that location in head-to-toe Uniqlo. [Laughs.] No contest, he's the winner.
Tell me about your history with the prove. Was it a longtime goal of yours to be a contestant?
Absolutely. I've been watching Jeopardy! my entire life. My get-go retention of the show was Ken'south winning streak when I was a child. My uncle was a huge Jeopardy! fan. I take nifty memories watching information technology with him. I've e'er had a knack for trivia and memorization, particularly with geography, history, and social sciences, which come up upward a lot on the evidence. I realized when I was getting older that I was getting a lot of the clues right. Past the time I was out of college, I decided information technology was my dream and I wanted to be a contestant. I started taking the online test once a year for the past five years. 2022 was the first year I got invited to audition, and I made it to the stage.
When you arrived at the studio, was Amy far enough into her run that you lot knew who she was?
I didn't. The next taping twenty-four hours after us was later on Thanksgiving, and her first episode aired on November 17, about a week after I beat her. She was the outset person in the greenroom who I saw and introduced myself to. There was another contestant, Joanne, who played earlier in the week; she was the only person who knew Amy was the returning champion and had won so many games. Before nosotros were even briefed, Joanne got Amy to tell me she won 38 times.
Were you like, Oh, shit?
Pretty much that. [Laughs.] It was a kaleidoscope of emotions. I couldn't settle on one. Part of me went into this thinking that information technology's such a huge accomplishment to begin with. I'chiliad a librarian from Chicago and not in the limelight at all, and to get to do something like this is so rare and special. Information technology was a huge privilege, and I'thou a huge fan of the show, then when I found out Amy was going on this tape-setting run, I was briefly brokenhearted only immediately bounced dorsum. I thought, This is really cool. I'm going to exist a part of Jeopardy! history every bit someone who got Schneider-ed, and people will perchance remember me for my spectacles. I wanted to brand her sweat a little scrap. That's all I wanted to do. I wanted to let go of any zipper I had to winning or doing super well.
Since Jeopardy! films five episodes a 24-hour interval, I watched Amy play two games before I taped my ain episode. She crushed them. I mean, I call back those were the two most ascendant performances in her run. She destroyed them all. I was shocked by how good she was. So I was watching her and idea, She'southward beatable. Random gamble plays a huge role in the game. Inevitably, something will happen and she'due south non going to brand it. Even though I wasn't going into my game thinking I'd vanquish her, I had that mindset of, Well, someone might crush her. Maybe non today, simply it will happen eventually. I was paying attending to her strategy and decided when I went in that I was going to play differently than she was.
In what ways?
She tends to play from the summit of the lath to the lesser. She runs those categories, and she's really good on the buzzer. I realized during rehearsal that I wasn't half bad at the buzzer myself. I also knew that if I could stay inside a decent range of her and find a Daily Double and brand some coin on that, and if I could get into Final Jeopardy with more than fifty percent of her money total and get Final Jeopardy right while she got it wrong, it would exist my path to victory. And that's exactly what happened. [Laughs.] I bet all of my money on a Daily Double and got it correct, then information technology became Amy'southward first not-delinquent game in quite some time. The Final Jeopardy category was "Countries of the Globe," and I could've written the clue. It was so in my wheelhouse that it felt similar destiny or fate. I know it sounds ridiculous, merely it was my cognition base. I didn't know for sure that I won until the concluding second when it was revealed that Amy didn't become Final Jeopardy correct. I had 30 seconds to celebrate at the terminate of the episode.
I think it actually helped that I let go of winning. I was then Zen-like and happy. I ate a nice lunch beforehand. I was maybe projecting confidence more than I realized. A lot of people told me afterwards I won, Oh, I had a feeling about yous, you seemed and then confident up there. I didn't have that feeling at first, but my mindset was and then comfortable because I didn't care. I idea I was destined to lose, so I but did my all-time. I wasn't putting that pressure level on myself and wasn't as hard on myself as the other contestants who played against Amy. I didn't jump in and estimate; I only buzzed in when I knew the answers. I stayed at-home as much as possible. I was biting her heels like a petty dog the whole time.
Did you and Amy have a nice conversation afterwards the game?
I wish we could've talked more, but Jeopardy! is such a tight ship with the COVID compliances. I had very limited time to debrief with Amy before I played my adjacent game. During the petty chat we had with Ken later the game, it could've been about me, but I made information technology about Amy. I was similar, Amy, y'all're so amazing, and I'g so humbled. Y'all're a legend. It was difficult to read her reaction to losing. I would love to know how she felt. On some level, there could be a sense of relief, but too disappointment. I don't know. She did say that she felt glad that I was the i who beat her, and that she liked me. That was validating. We've since connected on Instagram. She's a lot less active on social media than I am. Very good-humored and kind but a lot more reserved. Nosotros exchanged a few letters at that place.
Did yous freak out seeing Ken after all these years?
It was like meeting Barack Obama. I was abreast myself. It was that level for me in terms of celebrity. I admired him my entire life and have always felt this kinship with him, with his personality and interests. Seeing him exist so successful while likewise existence and then apprehensive, funny, and himself is so wonderful. If Amy is Ken, I'm at present slotted into that Nancy Zerg role. But also, was Ken reliving his own trauma of his run ending while hosting? [Laughs.] But he was so prissy to me. He complimented my glasses! I tried to soak up as much equally I could. I didn't really get to express all of this to him, just I'm such a massive fan, and he's a god. When I found out that Ken was the host, I was and then excited and thought, Who cares how I exercise, I get to see Ken Jennings!
Should I assume you'd want him to go the permanent host?
If I'thousand able to endorse a host, I 100 percent endorse Ken Jennings. His knowledge of the game gives him and then much credibility. His ability to comment on the way that the game is going, as well equally his wit and quickness — being able to brand lilliputian jokes here and there without taking away the step of the game — is different from the way Alex hosted only equally effective. There'southward nobody better suited for the job.
I found it interesting that both you and Emma Boettcher, the woman who defeated James Holzhauer during his run , both work as librarians. What is it about the profession that helps you excel at Jeopardy!?
Not only that, merely we're both from Chicago and the same age. The parallels between us are crazy. Librarians have a little bit of a reputation in the Jeopardy! fandom. The reason nosotros're so adept on the show is that we're generalists by merchandise. I don't consider myself to have "deep" expertise in a lot of subjects, just we're very interdisciplinary and know a little scrap near everything. Nosotros're able to make connections and recognize patterns. We see names and dates come up a lot and can commit them to memory. Jeopardy! is the same. A broad range of topics come up up, and often it's hitting the surface. It's not about deep or technical knowledge on a topic but virtually memorization and recall of the important stuff. Every bit a public librarian, I'yard sitting at a reference desk for eight hours a mean solar day, and anybody tin can come to me and ask me questions. Every unmarried day at piece of work, I acquire something new. That'due south helped me a lot in getting ready for the show, and information technology certainly paid off.
If at that place was a dream Jeopardy! category where y'all would get every single inkling right, what would it be?
I could practice 12 full categories related to Pokémon. I'm humble and self-effacing, simply no, if nosotros're talking about Pokémon trivia, you don't stand a risk against me. Legends: Arceus comes out on Fri, then it's been a smashing week for so many reasons.
Source: https://www.vulture.com/article/interview-rhone-talsma-defeats-amy-schneider-on-jeopardy.html
Post a Comment for "what happened to the big winner on jeopardy"