Damn you, Trebek
It's about time I mentioned Ken Jenning's amazing run on Jeopardy!. I'm thinking about writing something at work about him, but for now, I'm just feeding information to a friend working on an article on the run. In the midst of my research, I came across this page, which chronicles every contestant, answer, etc. from each game of the season. You can re-live all of Ken's wins (and in the case of my friend, can find all of the vanquished from the Atlanta area). It's an impressive site, and yet amazingly disturbing at the same time to find someone doing a play-by-play of every game for nearly a year.

It's good to see Ken doing well, although I've never met him. I thought for a while I played him at the ABD back in 2000, but I'm doubting that now because it took place on a Sunday. Oh well. Still, it's good to see yet another of the quizbowl world doing well on game shows. Right now, I'd like to see a team of Ken, Brian Weikle and Mark Dawson at a tournament as Team Jeopardy! (we'll stick with three because it's like a regular episode of the show; otherwise, there'd been a long list

I'm amazed by how well he's playing, even though I think I could keep up with him for good stretches of time before getting smoked. I'm even answering with the same cadences and/or goofiness. After a while, all you look for is how much he'll take home at the end of the day.

One of the good things about the run is that I'm getting my brain more tuned up for a game show run -- Jeopardy! is on at 4:30 here in Atlanta, perfect time for me to watch and then head out to work. Many people like Jake Johannsen have rediscovered the show just to watch Ken keep going. However, you've still got to wonder how some of the past champions might've done with an extended run.

Update: Thanks to Phil (in the comments), I finally got my confirmation that I actually played Ken four years ago at the ABD -- with my team beating his. I guess that makes for a little more fodder for whatever Jeopardy! story I eventually decide to whip up.