What is… more attention than we’ve gotten in a while?

Every once in a while Jeopardy! jumps on to mainstream headlines and the general blogosphere, usually following someone who’s on a winning streak of note.

Enter James Holzhauer, the one-man wrecking crew who’s not only winning every night on Jeopardy! but just about bankrupting the enterprise in the process.

As of this writing Holzhauer has won 22 consecutive matches and tallied nearly $1.7 million. Among those 22 victories? The 12 highest single-game totals in the history of the show.

Yeah, he’s pretty good. What do you expect from a guy who’s job is “professional gambler”? (Yeah, that’s a job apparently. No less legitimate, I suppose, than professional game show contestant.)

One of the criticisms I’ve read about Holzhauer is that he’s just “too good” and makes the game uninteresting to watch. Yeah, Michael Jordan really made basketball unpopular, and after Babe Ruth nobody wanted to hit home runs anymore. You’re watching a master at work. Enjoy it.

And then I get looking at the Jeopardy! website again wondering when the next tryout is.

In case my career as a professional gambler doesn’t pan out.

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About moc

My name is Mike O'Connell. I am 41 years old and live in Northern Virginia. I am a teacher, a musician, and an enthusiast of all things American.

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