We interviewed Brad Rutter the week after his
breathtaking victory over Ken
Jennings in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions (UToC),
one of a half dozen tightly scheduled interviews on a busy
afternoon. "I signed my first autograph yesterday," says
Rutter.
Although
he'd never say so, Rutter has achieved something remarkable.
Not only did he outscore Jennings, he outscored him in all
three games, and in the last of them, he more than doubled
Jennings' score. Moreover, having won his Tournament of
Champions and the Million Dollar Masters (M$M), he is the
only person to win three tournaments and is now the only
remaining undefeated player in Jeopardy history.
Plus, the $2 million prize was cumulative with his winnings
in other UToC games, and when added to the $1 million he won
in the M$M, he is now ahead of Jennings again in all-time
Jeopardy winnings and becomes the biggest winner in quiz
show history. His current total is $3,255,102, plus two
cars, although the total may rise by a further $15,000,
depending on how the show resolves a rules question
concerning the byes.
As Rutter recalls, "When Ken passed me, I sent him an
e-mail, and he wrote back saying, 'Maybe someday, we'll play
each other in a Billion Dollars Masters.' We weren't playing
for a billion, but it good to get a chance to play against
him."
In the opening moments of the first game between Rutter,
Jennings and Jerome Vered, it seemed
like Jennings was going to annihilate the other champions,
as he roared through the categories. "I thought to myself,
'Maybe he is that much better than me after all.' But I
didn't get discouraged. I adjusted my timing and started
getting in ahead of him. I can't explain how I did it, but
you just got a feeling for the buzzer and go with it."
This ability to stay cool under pressure often makes the
difference in Jeopardy. "It's strange, but I play better in
the studio then I do watching the game at home. A lot of
people seize up when they're on the set with all the lights,
but for me, the adrenalin helps me focus."
It also helps that, since winning the M$M, Rutter has
landed a dream job. The former record store clerk now hosts
InQuizitive, a quiz show on WLYH, Sundays at noon in
Central Pennsylvania. "It's full-time work, but it's not
really full-time pay, so now I can give it the time it
needs."
In addition to hosting the show, he also writes many of the
questions, which also helped him on the show. "It keeps you
sharp. Even when you're researching things that you won't
use on the show, you're learning things and they stick with
you."
The show is designed for high school students, and reflects
Rutter's own experiences with quiz bowl in high school.
Unusually, he was both a high school athlete and a quiz
bowler, having been drawn to the latter by a teacher named
Anne Clouser, at Manheim Township High School. A portion of
his UToC winnings will be used to fund a scholarship for
Mannheim students in Clouser's name.
�She died just a few months before I went on the show,� says
Rutter. �I would have really liked for her to have seen what
happened to me on the show, since she was the one who
interested me in quizzing in the first place.�
He also remains involved in the National Academic
Championships and acts as moderator for many of its events.
Ironically, the week before the game show host beat Ken
Jennings, Comedy Central announced that Jennings would
become a host as well. And in fact, the buzz around Rutter's
victory hasn't quite matched the attention attracted by
Jennings' unprecedented march through the Jeopardy record
books in 2004, a streak facilitated by a recent change in
the rules allowing unlimited play.
Indeed, in the days following Rutter's victory, the
Internet was buzzing as diehard Ken fans mustered their
dubious stats, insisting that Rutter's decisive win had
somehow been a fluke. Rutter's brother came to his defence
online, but Rutter himself understands the reaction. "He's
just as likable in person as he is on TV, so he's inspired a
lot of loyalty. A lot of people became part of the Jeopardy
community because they were fans of Ken's, so they had never
seen me play, let alone somebody like Jerome, who'd played
more than 10 years ago."
To a degree, part of Jennings' mystique was that he had
played so many games, without ever facing tournament-style
competition. "I'm sure a lot of people he played could have
won at least five games, but it's a different sort of game
when you face two new people every day. He was playing under
different circumstances. He's a great player and I would've
been surprised if he hadn't been in the finals, even if he
hadn't been given the bye. But I never thought he was
'faraway the greatest player of all time.'"
Of course, he doesn't feel he deserves that title himself.
"I think any one of us in the tournament could have ended up
in the final round, if things had worked out a bit
differently. When you get players like this, almost nobody
is going to get a runaway, so it comes down to Final
Jeopardy, and if that question squeaks through one of the
holes of your knowledge, you'll lose. That's why it's called
Jeopardy."
In fact, there was surprising camaraderie backstage, despite
the stakes. "You go in expecting a lot of mind games, but
it's actually nothing like that. I've been on the show 20
times, and you never get those social misfits, those quiz
bowl stereotypes."
As for the champ, Rutter doesn't have many plans for the
money, although after the M$M, he bought a Porsche Boxster,
which he dubbed "the car that Jeopardy bought." Now he's
planning on upgrading to a Porsche 9/11.
Who knows what he'll buy if he ever plays that Billion
Dollar Masters.
June 2004