[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Thursday, June 5, episode of Jeopardy!]
Jeopardy! contestant Joey Quismorio obtained actual about his psychological well being struggles whereas on the recreation present. The contestant returned for his second recreation after a robust ultimate query decided the win throughout Wednesday’s recreation.
Quismorio, a product supervisor initially from San Antonio, had a one-day complete of $17,201. He returned on Thursday, June 5, to play towards Sara Fuller, from Athens, Ohio, and Nikhil Joshi, from Montville, New Jersey.
The sport didn’t begin off effectively for the reigning champion. As an alternative, Joshi, a veterinarian, was on a roll answering a lot of the clues appropriately. By the primary industrial break, Quismorio solely had $1,200 after answering three clues proper and one fallacious.
Fuller, a particular schooling instructor, discovered the Every day Double on clue 21. She was in second place with $2,800 and made it a real Every day Double. In “American Authors,” the clue learn, “This novelist died in 1851 & is buried a few quarter-mile stroll from the Baseball Corridor of Fame.” “Who’s Washington Irving?” she answered. That was the fallacious reply and Fuller dropped to $0. The proper response was James Cooper. This gave Quismorio a greater shot at profitable as he was then in second place.
On the finish of the primary spherical, Joshi nonetheless led with $4,200. Quismorio had $1,600. Fuller caught up, however was nonetheless in third, with $1,000.
In Double Jeopardy, Quismorio had the lead for a lot of the spherical. He discovered the primary DD late within the recreation. With a $5,000 lead of $10,400, he wagered $2,000. In “Ladies on Stamps,” the clue was, “One among 2 girls honored within the American Choreographers Collection of 2004.” He didn’t give a solution and dropped all the way down to $8,400. After host Ken Jennings mentioned the reply was Martha Graham or Agnes de Mille, Quismorio mentioned, “Ohhh!”
He discovered the final DD two clues later in “French Historical past.” For the reason that subsequent two clues after the primary one had been triple stumpers, the quantities had been the identical. He wagered $1,000. “On the French Revolutionary calendar, it’s the month the Reign of Terror ended (in 1794) & its chief’s goose was cooked,” was the clue. “What’s June?” he answered, which was fallacious, dropping him to $7,400. The proper response was Thermidor.
The totals on the finish of Double Jeopardy had been: Quismorio with $7,400, Fuller with $,1400, and Joshi with $5,400.
The class for Remaining Jeopardy was “Model Names.” The clue was, “Based in 1972, this firm obtained its title from a time period that means ‘hit the goal’ within the board recreation Go.”
The reply was Atari, which turned out to be one other triple stumper. Fuller responded with, “What’s H&R Block?” She wagered $0 to finish up with $1,400. Joshi wrote, “What’s Nintendo?” He additionally wagered $0, to finish with $5,400. Quismorio’s response was, “What’s Samsung?” He wagered $3,401, giving him a ultimate complete of $3,999. That left him in second place and Joshi the evening’s winner. Joshi will return on Friday towards two new opponents.
Quismorio shared his expertise on Reddit and obtained candid about his psychological well being. “Hello once more, everybody, Joey right here – and big congrats to Nikhil! That FJ! wager completely caught me off guard. Tremendous sharp transfer, and effectively performed throughout,” he wrote.
“As for me… yeah. Very tough recreation. I’m sorry for the way it turned out, particularly with these DJ! DDs and my complete fumble on FJ!. I understand how dangerous it regarded (I did the identical top-row choice s**t once more – however the boards this week have been robust as hell, and I wanted to recalibrate by some means!), and belief me it was painful on my finish too. However since I’ve nonetheless obtained a mic for a sec, I needed to speak about why I believe I unraveled, not as an excuse, however as a result of I want I’d heard extra folks speak about this earlier than I obtained on the present.”
“Psychological well being doesn’t come up so much in J! retrospectives (so far as I do know, at the least), however it actually ought to. My anxiousness is dangerous by default. Being on that stage, with cameras in your face, a dwell viewers, and the considered thousands and thousands extra watching later pushed that baseline to the sting. And standing at first podium, contemporary off a recreation I didn’t totally really feel like I deserved to win made it worse. The self-doubt, the sensory overload, the impostor syndrome; all of it made my mind short-circuit. I may barely hear the clues, not to mention make sense of them,” he continued.
“Once more, I’m not saying this to excuse a foul recreation. I performed and carried out badly, full cease. However I do suppose it’s vital to say that J! isn’t nearly figuring out stuff, it’s additionally about with the ability to entry that data whereas the lights and stress are attempting to interrupt you. And for anybody who offers with anxiousness, imposter syndrome, or any type of government dysfunction, that stage could be a minefield. That doesn’t make you much less ready. Generally your thoughts simply s**ts the mattress, and that’s okay. I’m saying this as a result of I want I’d heard somebody say it earlier than I performed: feeling overwhelmed within the second doesn’t make you any much less worthy of being up there.”
“Regardless of all of it, I’m deeply grateful. The folks I met, the kindness and camaraderie, the bizarre little moments within the inexperienced room: I wouldn’t commerce any of it. And I’m nonetheless proud that I made it there in any respect. If you happen to’re studying this and hoping to play sooner or later, please understand it’s okay to return as you might be and present that up there. It’s okay to be human,” Quismorio ended.
Followers mentioned that he was “being too onerous on himself” and that he was “pure class!”
“On my TV, I didn’t see somebody who unraveled, I noticed somebody who solely misplaced as a result of he bumped into two robust DDs back-to-back,” one other mentioned.
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