The "So, Who Is This Nancy Zerg?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just finished watching the TV show Jeopardy.  Tonight's episode was a repeat of the 75th show that Ken Jennings appeared on during his record setting regular-season run.  I saw quite a few of those episodes, but had missed the show when he had lost.  Contestant by the name of Nancy Zerg defeated Ken on November 30, 2004.  He had won 74 straight games which was an all-time record for the show.  

Brad Rutter, student where I taught high school

It was in 2000 that Brad Rutter, a former student at Manheim Township High School won for 5 days in a row.  At the time, that was as many times as you were allowed to win.  Brad graduated from MTHS in 1995 where he was on the Quiz Bowl Team which took second place in the 1994 Texaco Star National Academic Championship.  He is one of 19 people who has been named to the National Academic Championship Hall of Fame.  During graduation in 2005 at MTHS, Brad returned to announce the start of a scholarship fund in memory of his late high-school Quiz Bowl coach, Anne Clouser.  Brad described himself as a slacker in high school and a Johns Hopkins dropout before his success on Jeopardy.  At the time of his 5 day run on Jeopardy he was working at a Lancaster record store.  

James Holzhauer and Ken Jennings

Today he is said to have a net worth of over $4 million.  I often wonder how many games he could have won had the rule been the same as it was when Ken Jennings won 74 straight and recent champ James Holzhauer won 32 straight.  Counting tournament money, Brad is still the all-time champion.  He never lost until he and Ken had to face Watson, an IBM computer platform.  He recently lost for the first time to a human when he came in third in the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time in 2020.  I have had the chance to see Brad in the past few years when he returned to the Manheim Township Public Library to compete in a Jeopardy! type competition against students from his alma mater, Manheim Township.  I went to watch and take photos to share on another blog story I had written.  Today, Brad is listed on the internet as a TV host, producer and actor.  I enjoyed watching the latest competition, but felt awful after realizing I might have known maybe half-a--dozen of the answers on the show.  I just love the game show, but feel the same after each evening show---stupid!  My wife did assure me that I wasn't the only one watching that felt that way.  She's such a sweetheart!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Want to bet that sometime in the future there will be a clue in the game of Jeopardy listing the name of Nancy Zerg!