Difference between revisions of "Ken Jennings"

Revision as of 18:09, 23 February 2021

Ken Jennings

Noted subjects	Jeopardy!
Past colleges	BYU (1996-2000)
Stats	HDWhite • NAQT

Ken Jennings is a former player for BYU and current NAQT member and editor who is best known for his record-setting run on Jeopardy! that captivated the country in the summer of 2004. Jennings won a still-record 74 consecutive games and defeated numerous other quizbowl personalities, including Leo Wolpert and Jeff Hoppes, in the process.

Quiz bowl career

Jennings was part of of the BYU team from fall 1996 until 1999-2000. In 1998, Adam Fine ranked him as the 81st best quizbowl player he had seen play.

Involvement with quiz bowl

NAQT vs ACF

Shortly after his win streak, Jennings and other NAQT diehards of the mid-'00s attempted to use their success on Jeopardy! to settle a "format war" between ACF and NAQT - the details of this feud are not well-established. This tactic blew up in NAQT's face when Jennings repeatedly lost on Jeopardy to Chip Beall-acolyte Brad Rutter.

Why Does Ken Jennings Play Quiz Bowl?

In 2018, NAQT put out a video featuring Jennings titled "Why Does Ken Jennings Play Quiz Bowl?"[1], in which he

Slate article

On April 9, 2019, Jennings wrote an article for Slate magazine discussing the relationship between quiz bowl and Jeopardy titled "The Jeopardy! Minor Leagues", in which he stated "quiz bowl—and NAQT in particular—has become a de facto farm system for the brains you see on Jeopardy! every night"[2]. A short forum discussion followed to discuss the choice of the phrase "minor leagues" and more generally the presentation of quiz bowl to the public.[3]

External Links

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 |Image = Kenjennings.jpg
 |Subjects = Jeopardy!
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 |schoolpast = [[BYU]] (1996-2000)
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+'''Ken Jennings''' is a former player for [[BYU]] and current [[NAQT]] member and editor who is best known for his record-setting run on [[Jeopardy!]] that captivated the country in the summer of 2004. Jennings won a still-record 74 consecutive games and defeated numerous other quizbowl personalities, including [[Leo Wolpert]] and [[Jeff Hoppes]], in the process.
-'''Ken Jennings''' is best known for his record-setting run on [[Jeopardy!]] that captivated the country in the summer of 2004. Jennings won a still-record 74 consecutive games and defeated numerous other quizbowl personalities, including [[Leo Wolpert]] and [[Jeff Hoppes]], in the process. He is currently an editor for [[NAQT]]. He (and the various NAQT diehards of the mid-00s who were also interviewed at the time) took his newfound fame as an opportunity to use the mainstream media as the vehicle to settle feuds with ACF from 1995, by crowing that his victory on a game show had resolved some "format war" with which the contemporary quizbowl circuit was unfamiliar. This tactic blew up in NAQT's face when Jennings repeatedly lost on Jeopardy to [[Chip Beall]] acolyte [[Brad Rutter]].
+==Quiz bowl career==
+Jennings was part of of the [[BYU]] team from fall 1996 until 1999-2000. In 1998, [[Adam Fine]] ranked him as the 81st best quizbowl player he had seen play.
-Ken Jennings was declared Jeopardy!'s "Greatest of All Time" in January 2020 after beating Brad Rutter and [[James Holzhauer]] in a first-to-three series of games, and returned to the game a year later as a guest host in place of the late [[Alex Trebek]].
+==Involvement with quiz bowl==
+===NAQT vs ACF===
+Shortly after his win streak, Jennings and other NAQT diehards of the mid-'00s attempted to use their success on Jeopardy! to settle a "format war" between [[ACF]] and NAQT - the details of this feud are not well-established. This tactic blew up in NAQT's face when Jennings repeatedly lost on Jeopardy to [[Chip Beall]]-acolyte [[Brad Rutter]].
-==BYU Quizbowl==
+===Why Does Ken Jennings Play Quiz Bowl?===
+In 2018, NAQT put out a video featuring Jennings titled "Why Does Ken Jennings Play Quiz Bowl?"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5ku181Zm8I], in which he
-Jennings was part of of the [[BYU]] team from fall 1996 until 1999-2000. In 1998, [[Adam Fine]] ranked him as the 81st best quizbowl player he had seen play.
+===Slate article===
+On April 9, 2019, Jennings wrote an article for Slate magazine discussing the relationship between quiz bowl and Jeopardy titled "The Jeopardy! Minor Leagues", in which he stated "quiz bowl—and NAQT in particular—has become a de facto farm system for the brains you see on Jeopardy! every night"[https://slate.com/culture/2019/04/jeopardy-quiz-bowl-connection-ken-jennings.html]. A short forum discussion followed to discuss the choice of the phrase "minor leagues" and more generally the presentation of quiz bowl to the public.[https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=22606]
-==Other media==
+==External Links==
-In 2015, Jennings appeared as himself on an episode of ''Mysteries at the Museum'' discussing the evolution of road maps.  Ironically, this same episode also featured as segment entitled "Attack of the Killer Bees", which one expects he might have had greater in-depth knowledge of, given his background with NAQT.
+*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Jennings Wikipedia article]
+*[http://ken-jennings.com/ Ken Jennings' website]<br>
-On the April 2, 2017 episode of ''The Simpsons'' entitled "Caper Chase", Jennings voiced himself alongside scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson, screenwriter/philosopher Robert McKee, and financial talking head Suze Orman, collectively referred to as "the greatest educators in the world" ... at least in the episode.
+*[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/scorecard/07/27/quintong.jennings/ "How I beat Ken Jennings", by James Quintong]
-In the 2021 ABC reboot of ''The Chase,'' Ken plays alongside the aforementioned Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer as a "chaser," and attempts to prevent contestants from banking money by answering more questions correctly than them.
-==Links==
-[http://ken-jennings.com/ Ken Jennings' website]<br>
-[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/scorecard/07/27/quintong.jennings/ "How I beat Ken Jennings", by James Quintong]
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