# Jeopardy, Admit it: Jennings Ain't All Dat **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 31, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-admit-it-jennings-aint-all-dat/282371 "2004-12-31T03:58:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-admit-it-jennings-aint-all-dat/282371/21 "2004-12-31T17:07:32Z")
But to be truly fair, you can’t say it’s the greatest streak in the game’s “fifty year history” when the rule governing streaks was changed last year. But I like your spelling of “unlikely”, I will begin using it in chatrooms. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-admit-it-jennings-aint-all-dat/282371/22 "2004-12-31T17:08:27Z")
Frank Spangenberg racked up $105K in five times. Doubling that for the new amounts on Jeopardy is $210K, which multiplied by 15 (to average out Ken’s 75 appearances) is $3,150,000. I really hope Frank gets to go against Ken. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-admit-it-jennings-aint-all-dat/282371/23 "2004-12-31T17:12:29Z")
Well, i never watched a single episode of Jennings’s great run, and i don’t even know what the guy looks like, so i have no particular like or dislike for him. But, to those who are contending that he is simply head-and-shoulders above any other multiple winner, surely the best way to prove this is to have him as part of the main tournament, not simply as the last guy that gets to play the winner of the tournament. I’m no savant, and i’ve never been on Jeopardy, but if you put me in Jennings’s place, and let me take a one-time crack at whichever of those 150 former champions survived, there’s a decent chance that, given the right question categories and a bit of luck, i could beat that person. Would that make me the Jeopardy champion? No, it would make me the winner of a single game. Put Jennings in the main competition with everyone else, or at the very least make him join the competition when there are 8 or 16 people left. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-admit-it-jennings-aint-all-dat/282371/24 "2004-12-31T17:36:25Z")
You also have to wonder if the pool of contestants is as strong as it once was - there are a lot more game shows competing for talented contestants. Some of the people who went up against Ken wouldn’t have known the temperature of boiling water. And the producers do have some control over that. ---
**Author:** ![CuriousCanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@CuriousCanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuriousCanuck)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-admit-it-jennings-aint-all-dat/282371/25 "2004-12-31T19:27:05Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Frank Spangenberg racked up $105K in five times. Doubling that for the new amounts on Jeopardy is $210K, which multiplied by 15 (to average out Ken’s 75 appearances) is $3,150,000. I really hope Frank gets to go against Ken. Yeah, but what are the odds he would have been a 5 time champ 15 times in a row? With wins that large? I’d say slim. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-admit-it-jennings-aint-all-dat/282371/26 "2004-12-31T22:33:54Z")
Jennings is great, but there’s no Jeopardy champion that can touch Sean Connery! ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-admit-it-jennings-aint-all-dat/282371/27 "2004-12-31T22:46:29Z")
Jennings is the best there ever was. He had buzzer power, incredible recall, and depth of knowledge.I agree that he sould be in the main tournament, or at least added to the mix in quarterfinal level. However, a two or thee day total money match would not be a good fit for his style. It’s not going to be a runaway, and his betting strategy is very conservative. In that game, you’d have to play totally balls-out if you got a Daily Double, and I never saw him do that. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-admit-it-jennings-aint-all-dat/282371/28 "2005-01-01T00:32:36Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Jennings is great, but there’s no Jeopardy champion that can touch Sean Connery! This game is afoot. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-admit-it-jennings-aint-all-dat/282371/29 "2005-01-01T02:50:10Z")
I’m not saying anything new here, but I’m a guest on borrowed time so I feel like posting a lot. Ken Jennings is a demigod and should replace the bald eagle on all our coins. Rating-wise, the tourney will smash MASH, smear Cheers, boot Roots. Sony stock will triple. Jeopardy! fever will rage across the land and the game will replace baseball (or football) as our national pastime. Stacking the deck for Ken by seeding him into the final is shoddy and crass, and deprives Ken of the chance to prove himself the true all-time champ. ---
**Author:** ![DarkPrince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@DarkPrince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkPrince)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-admit-it-jennings-aint-all-dat/282371/30 "2005-01-01T06:57:11Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Jennings is great, but there’s no Jeopardy champion that can touch Sean Connery! Trebek: “The category is Famous Mothers.” Connery: “Hahaha, my day has come!” 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-admit-it-jennings-aint-all-dat/282371.md?page=1)