Jeopardy! had a nail-biting show on Thursday, as champ Eric Weldon-Schilling barreled out of the competition and he admitted he didn’t take it very well
Weldon-Schilling opened up about the defeat (
Image: Jeopardy!)
On Jeopardy! this week, Eric Weldon-Schilling put on an impressive display as he defeated star player Ashley Chann during an exciting episode on Wednesday Dec. 17.
However, his winning streak was short-lived, as he proceeded to lose on Thursday’s show. He wound up with $0 after coming up short in the final round, which was about sports.
He admitted he had a very adverse reaction to losing out, so much so, that he cursed during the round.
Weldon-Schilling, a bar manager and sommelier hailing from Houston, Texas, faced off against Laura Faddah, a manager from Memphis, Tennessee, and Neal Bowling, a journeyman lineman from Mackinaw, Illinois.
Eric, who went into the championship with $21,000 fought a close race throughout the show, with host Ken Jennings even remarking on how intense the competition was.
It was a closely fought contest (
Image:
Jeopardy!)
He remarked: “Close game. You won’t want to miss this!” Faddah catapulted into the lead, with $6,400, while Weldon-Schilling found himself in second place with $3,400, while Bowling found themselves in last position with just $400.
In Double Jeopardy, Bowling then was able to break through, securing the second Daily Double and adding $3,000 to the prize pot after guessing correctly.
Weldon-Schilling then succeeded with the final Daily Double, adding $4,600 to the prize fund, seeing the game get even tighter.
Going into the final round, Faddah had the lead with $13,600, while Weldon-Schilling went in with $10,000 and Bowling was on $9,800.
It all then hinged on the a ‘Super Bowl History’ clue. The clue was: “It’s the only team to play in the Super Bowl before Neil Armstrong’s moon walk that has not been back to the big game since.”
Ken Jennings admitted it was a close race (
Image:
Jeopardy!)
No one correctly guessed ‘The New York Jets’, and after waging everything on the round, champ Weldon-Schilling spectacularly bowled out of the competition.
Viewers took to Reddit to comment on the sports defeat.
A fan said: “Once again sports category proves to doom Jeopardy players. Anyone who knows anything about football should easily get that.”
Another added: ““Either the person on the writing team who wrote up today’s FJ is a massive Jets fan releasing some pent-up frustration, or they’re taking incredible delight in the absolutely awful season the Jets are having this year. Either way, it’s a great & timely clue.”
Remarking on the thread, Weldon-Schilling said: “Sports has always been my absolute weakest category. When Ken announced that the final Jeopardy category was Super Bowl history I legitimately cursed under my breath. I’m shocked the microphone didn’t pick me up saying ‘f–k.’ But I knew I had to make a big swing if I had any chance of winning, and unfortunately it didn’t pay off.
“Ultimately though I am happy with the way things went. Sure, I would’ve loved to have broken some records or gone on a crazy run like James Holtzauer Amy… or Ken. but I had at least one really good day made my lifelong dream come true and there’s always a chance I could come back for champions wild card. And honestly, Laura was such a nice lady and so calm and collected who ended up being a ferocious player. I’m honored to have lost to her.”
