The Jeopardy Walkover

Matt Amodio

I simply can't help it. Perhaps it's because I'm headed to Saratoga in a few weeks, having of course missed it last year for the first time in probably 28 years, due to the pandemic. Maybe it's where my mind is most of the time anyway. No matter. I can't seem to shake the racetrack metaphors to the run of the current Jeopardy champion Matt Amodio, now an 11-day winner who has turned his opponents into totem poles.

I'm not a die-hard regular Jeopardy viewer, but you gotta admit, when it gets this juicy, the plot lines start to flow. I've now set it up to record in case I can't plop down at 7 o'clock E.D.T. to watch the latest.

I was a bit busy last night and only peeked into the telecast at about the 7:20 mark as it was recording. That's near the end, and it was plain to see Matt had $42,000 or so, and BOTH opponents were in negative numbers; red.

Jesus, another blowout, beyond what I would have imagined. Since 7:20 is near the end of the show I was imagining what would happen if Matt's opponents each have no money for the final round, and are both asked to leave the set while Matt does a solo?

Like racing, I'm sure the producers have envisioned this scenario and have a procedure for it. Like racing and scratches in multi-leg wagering, there has to be guidelines on what to do when the unusual happens.

In racing, when there is only one horse that is primed to run in a race, for whatever reason, it is called a "walkover." The solo entrant is loaded into the gate, the gate is sprung, and the horse completes the route at their workout speed and collects a reconfigured, lower purse. Of course there is no betting, and when it's done, the effort goes into the record books.

Walkovers in racing are rare, and the one I remember is when Spectacular Bid did a solo in the 1980 Woodward Stakes. at Belmont.

So, last night, would Matt have been there by his lonesome as the Final Jeopardy question/answer was asked under a category labeled Declaration of Independence? 

The  first published announcement of the Declaration was by a Philadelphia paper that reported it in this foreign language.

Moot point, because when I again took a peek at he recording of the show on my DVR I saw that Matt's two opponents were armed with $600 and $400 each. Jesus. Talk about bringing a knife to a gun fight, that's bringing kindergarten scissors to a knife fight.

Neither of Matt's opponents got the answer right. Now Matt's an affable looking guy who you might like to spend some time with discussing hockey, but he got more than a little wild last night.

What was Matt's answer? Mine was French, as was one of the other opponents. Another opponent had Dutch as their answer. Both wrong. Matt also answered French, which wasn't harmful to his chances to become an 11-day champion, but was harmful to his day's stack of winnings, $43,200, depending on what he wagered. Bet.

And here is again where Jeopardy reminded me of horse racing. My late friend, the human FourstarDave, was an excellent handicapper, but was thoroughly lousy with managing his money, betting money and money in life. When he passed away he was subsisting solely on Social Security checks.

How many times did I sit with him at OTB as he picked winners from Finger Lakes and Gulfstream  Park while we waited for the next NYRA race and hit with some thoroughly obscure exacta for say $120 for a $1 from past performances that would lead you to believe each horse had only three legs.

And then the recklessness kicked in as he'd line up a $60-$70 triple ticket on the NYRA track and watch as it dissolved in front of him. The only way Dave could leave the place ahead was if the time to leave and come over for dinner coincided with money left in his pocket. That, or the lights had to go out, which didn't happen.

Okay, Matt's French answer was wrong. The know-it-all host at this point, Dave Faber, explains why German was the right answer. There were lots of German living in the Philadelphia area at the time, and still do in the Germantown section of Philly. (My wife has several cousins who come from Germantown.)

And what did Matt wager? An astounding $37,000! bringing his day's total down to a very pedestrian $6,200, obviously enough to beat the opponents, but really, Matt, what were you thinking? He looked embarrassed. He should be. FourstarDave lives on Jeopardy.

I'm wondering what racetrack memory will be triggered by tonight's episode. Matt, what have you got in store for us?

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