Greg Otto, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – A computer scientist and former Virginia Tech student is now the answer to the question “Who has shown the most guts in the history of ‘Jeopardy!’?”
Roger Craig, from Newark, Del., won the show’s “Tournament of Champions,” pocketing $250,000 in cash, including going all-in on back-to-back Daily Doubles — and nailing them both.
The tremendous trivia display isn’t Craig’s first mark on the “Jeopardy!” history books. In September 2010, Craig broke the single-day earnings mark on the show, earning $77,000, snapping a record held since 2004 by Jeopardy wunderkind Ken Jennings.
In an interview with Esquire, Craig says he had to watch Monday’s show (it was taped months prior) to jog his memory of his Daily Double jackpot.
“When you’re in a groove like that, time just disappears,” Craig told the magazine. “It’s hard to explain, but it almost feels like you’re just having your own conversation with Alex Trebek.”
Craig, currently on his way to earning a doctorate in computer in information sciences at the University of Delaware, has his secret to “Jeopardy!” success floating around the Internet.
The Next Web posted a video in which Craig explains the creation of an app that allowed him to study thousands of Jeopardy questions and answers.
Craig graduated from Virginia Tech in 1999 with bachelor’s degrees in biological sciences and biochemistry.