Jeopardy! is an excellent game to play from the comfort of your couch. Any viewer is naturally going to perk up at certain categories, then falter in others. A recent Jeopardy! champion, $160,601 earner Eric Ahasic, recently revealed what his Achilles heel is. Did it do him in on his final episode? Let’s find out.
Who Is Eric Ahasic?
A meteorologist from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ahasic immediately made a name for himself by ousting fan-favorite super champion Ryan Long. Long had won 16 games before a daily double about Martin Luther King Jr did him in. Ahasic was able to win, then went on an impressive six-game winning streak of his own, earning over six figures in the process.
The Worst Categories
Game six brought Ahasic a little bit of trouble. Were it not for a few clutch Daily Doubles, he could have been done for. He gave some interesting insight on Twitter afterward where he revealed some categories that gave him trouble. Ahasic wrote, “You couldn’t come up with a worse Final Jeopardy category for me than “TV Legends” (“Children’s Literature” from last Thursday is up there too…).”
It’s a tad surprising to see a Jeopardy! champion struggle with a TV category. One typically thinks of the dreaded opera category as a real killer. Ahasic jokes that he should have bid $0 on the Daily Double, a far cry from his customary high bids.
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Bidding $0 dollars wouldn’t have been the most embarrassing part of that episode either. One of Ahasic’s competitors, Mazin Omer, confused Michael Caine for Mick Jagger. That’s a tough one to live down on national television.
The Streak Is Over
The risks Ahasic took on game six were enough to earn him the win, but his streak came to end the next day. Heading into Final Jeopardy!, Ahasic had the lead. The category was “1972,” not TV Legends. The answer read “In June he said, “Don’t lie to them to the extent to say there is no involvement, but just say this is… a comedy of errors.”
It stumped the first contestant, but Megan Wachspress wrote down the correct response: Richard Nixon. Ahasic knew immediately he had lost, for he wrote down John Dean. Afterward, Ahasic said “My first thought was disappointment. No one wants to lose. But then, honestly, I felt some relief. It was an emotional rollercoaster.”
Ahasic may not be done with Jeopardy!. Winning five games means he’s eligible for the Tournament of Champions coming up in November. He could duel again with Ryan Long, and take on legends like Mattea Roach, Matt Amodio, and Amy Schneider. We can’t wait.
