An ancient danger! Champion expressed concern about the scheduling of this week’s Invitational Tournament edition of the beloved game show, claiming that certain veteran players were given an advantage over relative newcomers.
Michigan-based author Jennifer Quail first appeared on Jeopardy! In 2019, she won eight games and nearly $230,000, making her the second most successful contestant in the show’s history.
By live-tweeting the last of the three semifinal rounds of Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament (JIT) on Thursday night, Quail noted that the winners of the first and second semi-final rounds – Amy Schneider and Andrew He – had previously been in the Masters Tournament 2023which aired last May.
Quail herself had been eliminated in the first round of the JIT semifinals on Tuesday, losing to Schneider.
Old Danger! Champion Jennifer Quail expressed concern about the unfair advantage veteran winners had over relative newcomers in the game show Invitational Tournament.
Because of the danger! In the semifinals of the Invitational Tournament (JIT), it looked like there would be a rematch between Amy Schneider (right), Andrew He (center), and Steve Buttrey.
The JIT runner-up, who won Wednesday in the second round of the semifinals, was He.
In the final round of the JIT semi-finals on Thursday night, one of the contenders was another Masters champion, Sam Buttrey, playing alongside Matt Jackson and Victoria Groce.
While watching the game unfold, Quail tweeted that he felt Schneider, He and Buttrey should have been paired together in one of this week’s semifinal rounds.
After all, the trio, unlike their competition, had almost a year’s notice before the JIT, Jennifer argued, having appeared in the Masters games last year.
To make the matter even more egregious, the exact same trio, consisting of Buttrey, He and Schneider, had already faced each other in the final round of the 2022 Tournament of Champions – Schneider finally took the grand prize.
As Quail wrote in a tweet Thursday night: “Look, yesterday and today is why I feel like the three people who knew a year in advance that they would be here should have had to play each other in the semis or quarters, because “We are one game away from making no difference, it would just be a repeat of the Masters.”
As reported by The SunOther social media users were also angered by the somewhat unfair advantage that Schneider, He and Buttrey had had heading into the JIT competition.
Thanks to their Masters appearance, Schneider, He and Buttrey had nine months to prepare for the JIT, while other contenders were given just three weeks’ notice.
Quail expressed his ambivalence supporting “one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet,” Sam Buttrey, as that would have set up another rematch between Buttrey, He and Schneider.
Quail’s concern that the JIT final would be a rematch between Schneider, He and Buttrey never came true, as Pittsburgh’s Victoria Groce beat Buttrey in the semifinals.
Groce won a game of Jeopardy! in 2005, and has since risen to prominence in the international quiz community.
‘It’s a shame that they were not given the same conditions in terms of preparation time. “It would have been great to see everyone playing in top form,” said one person on social media, according to The Sun.
The way things played out in Thursday night’s game, it briefly looked like Buttrey might take third place in the JIT final.
Had that been the outcome, the three 2024 JIT finalists would also have been former 2023 Masters contestants, and the JIT finals would also host a three-way rematch of the 2022 Tournament of Champions finalists.
The potential of that alignment also left Jennifer confused about supporting Buttrey, whom she described as “one of the nicest people.”
“Hardest thing about watching this semi-final: Sam Buttrey is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, and after 2/3 of the Masters veterans were there, it was really hard to root for him,” he tweeted.
Whatever the implications for the fairness of the semifinal matchups, Jennifer’s fears proved unfounded, as Pittsburgh’s Groce ended up beating Sam Buttrey for the third and final finalist spot at the 2024 JIT.
Groce was a one-game champion on Jeopardy! all the way back in 2005, and since then he has risen in the world of competitive testing.
She also joined the quiz show The Chase in 2022, scheduled as a ‘chaser’ (one of the challengers to the hopefuls in each game) known as ‘The Queen’.
“The Queen saves us from an all-time Masters final,” Quail tweeted about Groce’s victory.
And he added: “Although it is sad to have to eliminate the one everyone loves.”
