If some of you are lucky enough to get a double-dose of Jeopardy! in your neck of the woods (and I am happy for you if you do), that means you not only get the first-run for the current season, but also the repeat from the previous season.
Today, we got to see Kristin Sausville's solo Final Jeopardy! from March 12, 2015. For those who don't know, she is the wife of 2011 Tournament of Champions semifinalist and Season 28 contestant Justin Sausville, who had won $134,000 in 6 games, plus $2,000 for his second-place finish in game 7, for a total of $136,000. Kristin herself had won $24,801 as the new champ the previous day.
When all was said and done in Double Jeopardy!, she ended the round with $8,400 while her two challengers ended the round with -$200 and -$6,800, respectively. So this meant that she would win the game, provided that she didn't bet it all and get it wrong.
So let's go to the Final Jeopardy! clue in the category of "The U.S. Government":
"On August 15, 1994, 59 years & 1 day after FDR signed the original act, Bill Clinton made this an independent agency."
The correct response was "What is the Social Security Administration?"
Kristin said "What is the FDIC", and only bet $1,600, leaving her with $6,800 and $31,201 after 2 days. She would complete her run with a 5-day total of $94,201 and $1,000 for her third-place finish in game 6, for a total of $95,201. She would later compete in this season's Tournament of Champions, and pick up $5,000 as she did not make it past the quarterfinals.
With all of this aside, let's get to the point of this post, shall we?
There have been copies of this moment on YouTube. However...there was one user who kept saying the following:
"Oh Man! This girl had a chance to make history on Jeopardy by creating the first Jeopardy STALEMATE under Alex Trebek. The girl should have bet everything on the Daily Double and force herself in the Red. Do you know what that means. It means that there would be NO Final Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune would come on 10 minutes early. Instead, the girl won only to be beaten the next day or so and become a forgotten champ. But, she could have been the first contestant in Jeopardy History to create a STALEMATE."
And I had something to say to him, as I will to those who are reading this now (feel free to cover your ears if my decibel levels are too high for you): $0 on Jeopardy! IS NOT A WINNING SCORE! IF SHE HAD BET EVERYTHING, WHETHER IT BE ON THAT DAILY DOUBLE OR EVEN FINAL JEOPARDY!, SHE WOULD'VE LOST, AND THEY WOULD'VE HAD THREE NEW PLAYERS THE NEXT DAY! NOT ONLY THAT, SHE WOULDN'T HAVE QUALIFIED FOR THIS SEASON'S TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS. I have seen solo Final Jeopardy! playings before, and never--and I mean NEVER--have those instances featured the solo contestants bet their entire stash. And I saw a feature on the show's redesigned website that showed an animated GIF of Alex dancing on the stage...if there were negative or $0 scores at the end of Double Jeopardy!. Let's hope that doesn't happen...as the site says.
OK, rant over. Chime in below. Gameshowguy2000 (talk) 03:28, March 11, 2016 (UTC)