Thread by @mattearoach

So, I completely fell off in my pursuit to share my thoughts about every game of Jeopardy I played - when I have more time/energy, I hope to compile my memories/analysis somewhere. But right now, we have important business to discuss: the end of my run on Jeopardy!

On my last tape day, I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be coming back to Los Angeles in two weeks’ time to tape more. I couldn’t put a finger on why, and for my first three games of the day, all went relatively smoothly

Things went downhill after lunch. I think I ate too much orange chicken from the Sony commissary in the parking garage, because I entered a light food coma and was yawning uncontrollably prior to playing Thursday’s game

When Sarah was able to go toe-to-toe with me on the buzzer and convert on DDs when I couldn’t, I thought it was curtains for me. My thinking on this solidified when I saw Thursday’s FJ clue - watching the footage back, you can see me smiling while I’m writing down my response

I had come to my FJ response super quickly, so I assumed that Sarah would get it as well. I wasn’t smiling because I thought I would win the game - just the opposite. I had made my peace with losing, but apparently this feeling was about an hour premature!

Between Thursday’s game and Friday’s game, we had a longer-than-usual break, so I sat around for awhile with Danielle and one of the contestant coordinators swapping travel stories. At the time, I was grateful for the break in taping because it gave me time to decompress

Now, I feel grateful for the break because it gave me a chance to connect with the player who would end up beating me! I’ve never been upset to lose at anything as long as I like the person I’m losing to, and I had a GREAT time talking to Danielle and loved her energy

I didn’t play badly in my final game of Jeopardy, at least in my opinion. It was far from my strongest performance, but also far from my weakest. However, as always, I didn’t really hunt for DDs, and I made a fairly conservative wager on the one I did find

By contrast, Danielle seemed to be hunting for DDs by picking from the middle of categories, and she made EXCELLENT strategic choices on the two she found to keep her in contention for FJ. I think my first words to her after the game were “you did everything right!”

So, FJ was going to matter! I made a standard bet to cover double Danielle’s pre-FJ score, which is the same thing I had done in every previous game that wasn’t a runaway. Unfortunately, this FJ clue totally stumped me!

I knew the “Coca-Cola = Atlanta” connection, but got hung up on the “old racetrack” part of the clue rather than thinking of modern facilities in Atlanta that are named after two people. I also completely forgot that there are other kinds of racetracks besides ones for horses

About halfway through the FJ music, I realized I was getting nowhere, so I started writing down an answer that I knew was wrong, but that kind of sounded like it could be two people’s names and that would at least be kind of funny while corresponding with part of the clue

I am actually familiar with Hartsfield-Jackson airport and have flown through it, so this was a case of me just not being able to parse a clue properly in time! As soon as I saw Danielle’s response, I knew she must be right, and when I saw her wager I knew my time was up

I think that nearly losing on Thursday had caused me to make my peace with the idea of my Jeopardy run coming to an end, so my immediate response in the moment wasn’t one of sadness, but of pride at what I had accomplished and excitement for Danielle

Becoming a Jeopardy champion is such a special moment, and Danielle's reaction to it is one for the record books! Since I lost on a Friday, I have no idea what happens in her next game - I’m rooting for her to win a few more games so that I can maybe get a rematch in the ToC 😈

Jeopardy has consumed my life for the past four months - since 2022 began, I’ve either been waiting to tape Jeopardy, taping the show, waiting for my episodes to start airing, or watching my episodes and doing Jeopardy-related press

Many people deserve my thanks, but I’ll try and keep it brief here. Thanks to @missmayim for being a wonderful steward for my first four games! I had a great time taping with her, and I’m excited to see her back on the Jeopardy stage for Monday’s game

@missmayim Thanks of course to @KenJennings! Ken’s name has been synonymous with Jeopardy greatness since I was just a kid, and I’m even more impressed with his streak now - the skill and stamina required to win 74 games is unfathomable to me. It was huge honor to share a stage with him!

@missmayim @KenJennings Thanks to the behind-the-scenes personnel at Jeopardy - I had the time of my life taping my games, and this is largely thanks to the overwhelmingly positive atmosphere that the team at Jeopardy creates. I’m so excited to return to set and see these incredible folks in the fall

@missmayim @KenJennings I’ve been lucky to be supported by so many people during my run, but I want to shout out a few in particular. My friends Avneet, Katrina, Armin, and Nick knew the deal with my streak from the beginning

@missmayim @KenJennings I visited Avneet in Montreal for 48 hours between my second and third trips to Los Angeles and went to a get-together with some of his grad school cohort. He was a pro at not giving away the bit and at one point told someone there that I’d been “traveling a lot for work lately!”

@missmayim @KenJennings Katrina came down to California to vacation with me in the days after my first taping, which she absolutely didn’t have to do because it’s not like she even got to watch me play! The days I spent with her (and our LA-based friend Vincent) were so magical and memorable

@missmayim @KenJennings Armin and Nick were my first call after I left the studio on my first tape day, and they continued to gamely receive my phone calls after every subsequent day of taping in which I updated them on my “day’s work” and they told me what news I’d missed while I’d had my phone off

@missmayim @KenJennings I also have to thank my family - my parents have been so patient with me and so encouraging of my desire to learn from day one, and I’m so grateful for how well they dealt with being thrust into the spotlight as a result of my time on Jeopardy

@missmayim @KenJennings My brothers have also been hugely supportive and never once bitter about their older sister’s success, although one of them has proclaimed that he’ll have to try and one-up me by trying to get on Survivor. (Personally I would be thrilled to see this happen)

@missmayim @KenJennings And that’s all from me for now when it comes to my time on Jeopardy! 23 wins at 23 feels kind of perfect, and I don't know that I'll ever stop feeling deeply grateful and humbled to have had this experience at the time that I did