'Jeopardy!' Has Become MacKenzie's Game and It's Time We Acknowledge It
Here's the thing about "Jeopardy!" Sometimes the next great champion doesn't come at you in a huge, dramatic, amphibious assault, plant their flag on the beachhead and capture the island. They're not all Ken Jennings, Austin Rogers or James Holzhauer, wowing you right off the bat with with their undeniable brilliance and unique, signature style. Sometimes it's more like the tide gently rolling in, practically unnoticed, until you look around and see you're up to your ribs in water.
Consider the case of current champion MacKenzie. Who tonight won her eighth show, with total winnings of $204,000 and counting. She is just such a "Jeopardy!" winner. She's not a colorful, larger than life character, oozing charisma. America isn't talking about her. Not yet anyway. She's that stealthy sort of multiple champion that you don't pay much attention to until the bones of her defeated enemies pile up around her. She's that one you don't take too seriously until it's your throat being cut. Think of the 2011 Butler basketball team or the 2012 Super Bowl champion Ravens.
Tonight was another example. She buried the competition so badly that she only had to wager $0 on Final. So it didn't matter that she couldn't spell the word that comes from the Latin word for "attendant" and describes some of Galileo's discoveries.
She can be forgiven. She's not alone.
But the larger point is that she's starting to work her way deeper and deeper into the innermost concentric circles of the true greats. Winning by a lot. Winning by narrow margins. Winning with high scores. Winning with low scores. Winning when she and one of the contestants she sends home in defeat inexplicably wager the same weird amount on Final.
More importantly than the eight wins, the $200K and the odd wagering, is that she's starting to grow on people. For sure she's growing on Trebek. Whether it's her spark of personality:
Her charity work:
Her love of animals that produce wool.
Or her absolute refusal to hide her contempt for guys who lay a hand on Rihanna.
So while we never know what the future holds, I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves because eight wins does not an all time great make, it's time the world start to notice MacKenzie. Keep this going, my trivia queen. This "Jeopardy!" nerd turns his lonely eyes to you.