The first-ever sa国际传媒淛eopardy!sa国际传媒� team championship came down to a clash of the titans, Ken Jennings vs. Brad Rutter.
With $1 million at stake, a big Daily Double bet by Rutter positioned his team for a runaway victory as the quiz showsa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒淎ll-Star Gamessa国际传媒� ended Tuesday.
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Rutter and teammates Larissa Kelly and David Madden split the top prize, with Jennings, Matt Jackson and Monica Thieu sharing $300,000. Colby Burnett, Pam Mueller and Alan Lin took third place and $100,000 on the show hosted by Alex Trebek.
Rutter entered the contest as the top winner on any game show with a haul of $4.3 million in regular and tournament sa国际传媒淛eopardy!sa国际传媒� play. Jennings was a 74-game winner and top moneymaker in the quiz showsa国际传媒檚 non-tournament competition with $2.5 million.
sa国际传媒淭o see it come down to the two heavyweights was the perfect culmination of it,sa国际传媒� Madden said in an interview. sa国际传媒淚t certainly did not disappoint in terms of the quality of play, and we just got lucky that Brad pulled the Daily Doubles when needed and had a great round.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淜en played great, too, as did Team Colby,sa国际传媒� he said, graciously.
For his part, team captain Rutter was happy to share the credit with Madden and Kelly.
sa国际传媒淭he money is great, but these champs arensa国际传媒檛 here for the money. Theysa国际传媒檙e here for the glory,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚 wanted to bring it home for my team, because they worked so hard and prepared so well and played so well.sa国际传媒�
A daring $10,000 bet by Rutter ended up making the contest a lock, Kelly said. A history buff, Rutter said he felt confident enough about the category, Colonial America, to go big. (He knew which war Britainsa国际传媒檚 1764 Sugar Act was intended to retroactively pay for. If the answer doesnsa国际传媒檛 spring to mind, heresa国际传媒檚 a refresher .)
sa国际传媒淏rad and I have probably played against each other more than any two other people in sa国际传媒楯eopardy!sa国际传媒� history, but itsa国际传媒檚 never enough for me,sa国际传媒� Jennings said in a statement. sa国际传媒淥n the one hand, Isa国际传媒檓 thinking, sa国际传媒楯ust once, can somebody take this guy out in the semis?sa国际传媒� But on the other hand, you want to see how you stack up against the best talent available.sa国际传媒�
Kelly called Ruttersa国际传媒檚 performance sa国际传媒渋ncredible to watch.sa国际传媒� It also made easy work for her in the final round of sa国际传媒淛eopardy!sa国际传媒� as she faced a question about constitutional amendments.
sa国际传媒淚 was assuming I would have to get it right, and it turned out it didnsa国际传媒檛 matter at all. I was totally in a no-pressure situation,sa国际传媒� she said, happily.
The winning teammates boast longtime friendships. Madden and Kelly were quiz-bowl teammates at Princeton, and Rutter and Madden met at a tournament in 2006. Playing as a trio was an sa国际传媒渁mazing aspect of the whole experience,sa国际传媒� Madden said.
Lynn Elber, The Associated Press
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