It's all over
Well, Ken's run on Jeopardy! is over -- and now the show's ratings can level off (at least after tomorrow to see how the new champion does).

Obviously, Final Jeopardy did him in, but he seemed slightly reckless on the Daily Double bets that hurt him going into the final. Plus, Nancy seemed to beat Ken on plenty of the higher-value clues, which at least put her in striking distance of the win. And, it was a bit aggravating (and I'm sure many sports-types will be snickering) watching everyone flub the sports venues category, which everyone avoided like the plague.

Still, it was fun while it lasted, and I'm kicking myself for not watching Nightline's coverage of it, since Ken wasn't going to be on Letterman until the last segment of the show (instead, I had to sit through Alec Baldwin and a Top Ten list from Kurt Busch, who really doesn't look like a typical NASCAR driver -- in fact, he probably could've been a teammate of Ken's on the quizbowl circuit).

And in the end, it did seem a bit anticlimactic since everyone knew it was coming for a while. It was just a matter of how (which I didn't know until actually watching it -- partly so I could witness it myself, and partly because those who knew kept it secret).

Now, if he actually shows up this weekend in Chattanooga, that would be one cool "victory lap," so to speak, especially since a couple of other Jeopardy! high rollers will be playing. And I'm pretty sure Kevin Olmstead will be around as well as a reader. Way too much game show money flying around some dingy classrooms at UTC. Then again, we could be repeating the process in Pittsburgh in April.