# The Master on Jeopardy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 17, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-master-on-jeopardy/255631 "2004-07-17T22:47:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sangfroid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@sangfroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sangfroid)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-master-on-jeopardy/255631/1 "2004-07-17T22:47:52Z")
Given that the Most Illuminated One need not stoop to the level of mere mortals, the question still gnaws at my conscience: Why not petition the Master to demonstrate his powers before the masses, even if under a ‘nom de plume’ ? A current Jeopardy champion has won almost a MILLION!! 🆒 Cecil could ab-solutely C-R-U-S-H the competition, while simultaneously enhancing the already rarified air of the SDMB. I posted here in the dim hope that it might filter up. Let’s face it, $$ talks. If this is to be THE Great Board, we need some capital, and this could be too easy. (As an aside, who says the current champ AIN’T the current Cecil? :dubious: ) Your Comments, As Always, Are Appreciated… ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-master-on-jeopardy/255631/2 "2004-07-17T23:14:50Z")
> [@sangfroid](#): > > (As an aside, who says the current champ AIN’T the current Cecil? :dubious: ) Well, for one thing Ken Jennings is way too young… he is as old as Cecil’s column. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-master-on-jeopardy/255631/3 "2004-07-17T23:16:03Z")
> [@sangfroid](#): > > (As an aside, who says the current champ AIN’T the current Cecil? :dubious: ) That couldn’t happen, because Cecil is really Ed Z&!@(^@\*@% NO CARRIER ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-master-on-jeopardy/255631/4 "2004-07-17T23:16:36Z")
Couple things: -Ken Jennings was over 1.1M as of yesterday -Under the HUGE assumption that Cecil is a real person, he’s a research librarian, not a trivia wiz. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-master-on-jeopardy/255631/5 "2004-07-17T23:19:12Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > -Under the HUGE assumption that Cecil is a real person, he’s a research librarian, not a trivia wiz. Which is exactly what he _wants_ you to think! ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-master-on-jeopardy/255631/6 "2004-07-18T17:10:31Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > [Cecil is] a research librarian, not a trivia wiz. Exactly. The “intelligence” people see in Jeopardy winners is very thin. The smartest man in the world is not the one who knows everything, but rather the one who knows where to find the answer to everything. ---
**Author:** ![Mithgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Mithgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithgard)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-master-on-jeopardy/255631/7 "2004-07-18T19:53:57Z")
> [@Mathochist](#): > > Exactly. The “intelligence” people see in Jeopardy winners is very thin. The smartest man in the world is not the one who knows everything, but rather the one who knows where to find the answer to everything. a quote comes to mind after reading your post. I think it was Einstein who said it “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” lol thought that was interesting 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Teelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-master-on-jeopardy/255631/8 "2004-07-19T02:37:18Z")
> [@sangfroid](#): > > Cecil could ab-solutely C-R-U-S-H the competition, while simultaneously enhancing the already rarified air of the SDMB. > … > Your Comments, As Always, Are Appreciated… I have to say, it’s pretty pathetic that within your first 3 posts you’ve already decided to suck up. This isn’t a workplace, if you kiss ass you will not get a raise. No need to be a brown nose. And like already mentioned, Ken Jennings is a trivia whiz that recalls small things immediately through memory, while Cecil Adams spends days or weeks researching 1 - 3 questions for each thorough column. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-master-on-jeopardy/255631/9 "2004-07-19T18:01:42Z")
You can also know more random facts than anybody else out there, but if you’re not good with timing your buzzing in, you’ll never make a dime at Jeopardy. (I happen to suck at the timing thing, and did badly with that part of Jeopardy tryouts a couple of years back, although I easily made it past the knowing-lots-of-random-facts part.) It’s fairly tricky, in that your buzzer isn’t always on - there’s a guy offstage who activates them when Alex is finished reading the question, meaning that you have to time it to that guy’s reflexes rather than just buzzing in as soon as you’ve figured it out.