It’s been years since Ken Jennings actually competed on Jeopardy! as a contestant — and in fact he’s now technically banned from playing again — but either way, it’s still somewhat alarming anytime the host admits to not knowing one of the clues. He’s one of Jeopardy!’s biggest winners, after all, with a seemingly unbreakable 74-game win streak. So when Jennings opened up about the category that made him nervous, it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting.
I have absolutely loved seeing Ken Jennings settle into his role as the host of Jeopardy! over the past couple of seasons, and I think it’s delightful that he’s smart enough to often provide context to some of the clues that may elude contestants. So it’s hard to imagine him being stumped by any particular subject, but apparently there was one that made him nervous. Ken Jennings spoke to Fox News Digital, and one pesky category seemed to keep popping up over the course of his time on the show. He said:
There was always a lot of hockey on Jeopardy! When I was on, and maybe because of Alex being Canadian, and it turned out I did not know as much about ice hockey as a genuine Canadian like Alex.
Alex Trebek was, indeed, a proud Canadian, and Ken Jennings has continued the tradition of championing our neighbors to the north, often bringing up his iconic predecessor when there’s a Canadian contestant or clue.
So maybe that is why hockey seemed to come up so often, or perhaps it only felt that way because Ken Jennings played 75 games of Jeopardy!, and there are only so many sports to form clues around. Naturally some topics are going to be recycled. I would actually be interested to know how often other major sports came up in comparison to hockey stuff!
Sports and pop culture do tend to be areas where many Jeopardy! contestants have trouble. I suppose those are harder to study than “World Capitals” and “U.S. Presidents,” which Ken Jennings says give you the most bang for your buck when cramming for the show.
To be sure, I’m terrible when I try to play along with hockey questions, and I’m fairly knowledgeable about sports as a whole. But is hockey really less desirable than clues about poetry, world history or (shudders) “The Dreaded Opera Category”? I guess with as much knowledge as the contestant-turned-host has in that noggin, there’s going to be one category that puts him in the penalty box.
Does that reference even make sense? Give me a break, I already told you I’m not great at hockey.
Let’s all brush up on our knowledge of the sport, then tune into one of the best game shows of all time to see when Ken Jennings’ most dreaded category pops up again. Check your local listings to see when Jeopardy! airs, or stream episodes the next day with either your Hulu subscription or Peacock subscription.
