From Tribune staff reports
TRUSSVILLE – Trussville’s Jake Garrett had an impressive showing on Jeopardy on Monday afternoon, finishing in second place just $1 short of winner, Melissa Klapper. The Cahaba Elementary teacher and HTHS coach banked $24,800 during his appearance.
But furor erupted among Jeopardy fans as soon as the show ended, claiming host Ken Jennings apparently accepted an incorrect answer from Klapper earlier in the show.
According to Fox News, Klapper selected the “Quite the Fishy Story” category for $200, and was presented a clue by Jennings.
“The force of Lasse Hallström was strong to pull in this Scot to play a fisheries expert in ‘Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,'” the clue read.
Klapper answered with Ewan Gregor, which Jennings accepted. The correct answer was Ewan McGregor.
Adding insult to injury, Garrett’s answer to another question, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself,” was not accepted when he slightly misquoted FDR’s “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Despite the outcome, Garrett said he does not feel cheated and he congratulated Klapper on a game well-played.
“Melissa did a great job,” he said. “It was a good little game. It was exciting, hopefully, for people watching it coming down to the wire. I’ve seen some people talking about a controversy or whatever. I’ve watched it three times and was there live and I’ve never at one time thought that she said it wrong. I think the judges would’ve caught it if she did. I’ve got no sour grapes; I don’t feel slighted or cheated in any way. She played a great game and she found the Daily Doubles at the right time and she bet right. So, congratulations to her. I’m just glad to have had that opportunity. I’d love to have another opportunity to do it again because it was a lot of fun.”
It’s impossible to determine if Klapper’s incorrect answer would have changed the outcome of the game, but a reminder that Jeopardy fans take the game seriously and not much slips past them.