Sophomore Wins Big On College "Jeopardy!"

Jonah Knobler '03 dreamed of appearing on "Jeopardy!" as a child growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Last month, the Winthrop House sophomore's dream came true, as he earned $15,000 for himself and $15,000 for Harvard in the show's 2000 College Championship.

Knobler won second place in a field of 15 contestants in the Seattle tournament--a group he said was eager to see a Harvard student lose.

"I sometimes felt like the type-cast Harvard guy to be defeated by the wholesome All-American state school student," he said.

The third place recipient told his local newspaper that all of the contestants were united in the goal of preventing the "Harvard guy" from winning.

The college tournament will air beginning in early November.

Knobler's "Jeopardy!" experience began last May, when the linguistics concentrator was procrastinating by playing the game online. He noticed a link for applications for the 2000 college tournament. After typing in his name and e-mail address, Knobler promptly forgot about the contest, he said.

But when he received a call in July from the producers inviting him to compete in regional tryouts for the chance to appear on the show, Knobler said he figured, "Why not?"

Contestants for the tryouts were chosen randomly from the information they had entered online, according to Knobler.

Knobler attended the regional tryouts in Philadelphia, where he and about 1,000 other contestants were asked to answer 50 questions displayed on the typical "Jeopardy!" blue screen.

"The 14 people who passed the exam had their name read out and the rest were told they could leave," Knobler said. "The coordinators consoled them by saying, 'If you didn't get called, you can tell everyone you missed by just one question.'"

The remaining 14 contestants were interviewed by the tournament coordinators. They were asked about their school, year, major, interests and experience, as well as what they would do with the $50,000 prize if they won.

"I didn't have a rehearsed answer like many people so I didn't really know what to say," Knobler said. "I ended up saying I would use the money to take a trip to China."

Grant Loud, "Jeopardy!" contestant coordinator, said the four coordinators involved in contestant selection were looking for people that seemed relaxed and looked like they were having fun.

"I don't think people realize how much of a game 'Jeopardy!' is," he said. "There is much more [than trivia] that goes into it, such as ringing in at the correct time and keeping the momentum going."

Knobler received a Federal Express package notifying him that he was a semifinalist just as he was pulling out of the driveway headed for a family vacation.

"It was a pretty close call," he said. "If you didn't respond within two days, they gave your spot to someone else."

Knobler was mailed a plane ticket to Seattle, where the competition was being held on September 15 and 16. He was given a $200 stipend for travel expenses, as well.

Knobler said the atmosphere on the show was competitive, but friendly.

"Certainly no one was dead set on winning, or at least they hid it very well," he said of his fellow contestants.

Once on stage, Knobler described the experience as "very surreal." "When you're up there, everything just becomes a reflex...it is quite a weird feeling," Knobler said.

Knobler made it through the two semifinal rounds in Seattle to the finals. In the final rounds, he said the competition became fiercer.

"I knew just as many questions as before [in previous rounds], but the buzzing was much more intense," he said. The competitors had to wait for host Alex Trebek to finish reading the question before a light appeared, signaling that they could buzz in.

"It basically became a test of psychological reflex to the light," Knobler said.

In the end, Knobler missed the grand prize of $50,000 and a new car. Instead, he won $30,000 from "Jeopardy!"--$15,000 for Harvard University and $15,000 for him.

"That's more money than I've ever had in my life," Knobler said. He plans to follow through with his earlier plan to take a trip to China. He also bought a new television, and said he will invest the rest of his winnings.

What would he like Harvard to do with its share--an amount that might seem insignificant to a University with a $19 billion endowment?

"I would like it to go towards the Harvard College Bowl Team," Knobler said. "As it is now, Harvard doesn't sponsor it at all; people have to pay for competitions out of their own pockets."

Overall, Knobler said he is satisfied with the results of the competition.

"I was worried about letting down the student body. I know there's so many brilliant people here who could have answered every question right--I didn't want to shame the school," he said.