Jeopardy: Was this Kid Cheated?

[Deleted]

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut eighth-grader who misspelled the correct answer to a ‘‘Jeopardy!’’ question and lost money over it says he was cheated.

Thomas Hurley III correctly answered the Final Jeopardy question about the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln. But Thomas spelled it ‘‘emanciptation’’ and was ruled out by host Alex Trebek.

He bet $3,000 of his $9,600 in winnings and finished well behind a rival who amassed $66,600.

‘‘I was pretty upset that I was cheated out of the final ‘Jeopardy!’ question,’’ he told The News-Times of Danbury (http://bit.ly/13KTg7D). ‘‘It was just a spelling error.’’

The Newtown Middle School student won $2,000 as the runner-up.

In an email, producers of Jeopardy! defended Trebek’s decision.

‘‘If ‘Jeopardy!’ were to give credit for an incorrect response (however minor), the show would effectively penalize the other players,’’ they said. ‘‘We love presenting young people as contestants on our show and make every effort to be fair and consistent in their treatment.’’

Hurley’s mother, Suzanne, said her son was ‘‘a little stunned’’ by the loss.

‘‘He felt embarrassed,’’ she said. ‘‘It was hard to watch.’’

Hundreds vented their anger at ‘‘Jeopardy!’’ and Trebek on the game show’s Facebook page.

‘‘Bad form, Jeopardy,’’ said one comment. ‘‘Every game show has bad calls ... this takes the cake.’’

The Kids Jeopardy! program was filmed in February and broadcast last week.

[Deleted]

Aug 4, 2013 17:31:31 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

you have to spell gud to win? well im fucked. you are too @septimus and asdfjkl

I read the story and said I'm never going to go on Jeopardy. I can't even spell Jeopardy right without the red squiggly line.

[decemberwedding07]

I said no. It's one of the rules, just like how you have to answer in the form of a question. (I would be effed.) I'm sure there are lots of examples of contestants throughout Jeopardy history who have lost points for just saying the answer instead of saying, "What is the ____."

[Velar Fricative]

Kid didn't stand a chance anyway given that the winner went into Final Jeopardy with over $30k while the other two had way less than half that.

And yes, spelling should count.

[ttt]

I think they should have given it to him, since it was only one letter off, it was clear what he intended, and it was the kids' tournament, of all things.

But I hate how they're pinning this all on Alex Trebek - he doesn't make these decisions. There are a panel of judges who do that, not him.

It's kind of pointless, though, because it being counted as right wouldn't have changed anything in the outcome of the game.

[orangeblossom]

Yes, it was clear what he meant, but he still spelled it wrong. It's a hard lesson to learn, and I'm sure was an honest mistake and he does know how to spell it, but he didn't.

I think his attitude of "It was just a spelling error" is annoying. It was wrong and you have to spell correctly.

I feel for the kid I really do, but his attitude is what makes me firm in the Jeopardy decision. Also, like others said he wouldn't have won anyway. If he were even close to winning, might feel differently but there was no way he could have won being that far behind. Be a gracious loser and keep it moving.

[AJL]

You lose a turn if you mispronounce an answer. Absolutely you would lose if you misspelled it. I guess someone needs to do some more spelling worksheets.

[LoveTrains]

Aug 4, 2013 17:59:39 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

Yes, it was clear what he meant, but he still spelled it wrong. It's a hard lesson to learn, and I'm sure was an honest mistake and he does know how to spell it, but he didn't.

I think his attitude of "It was just a spelling error" is annoying. It was wrong and you have to spell correctly.

I feel for the kid I really do, but his attitude is what makes me firm in the Jeopardy decision. Also, like others said he wouldn't have won anyway. If he were even close to winning, might feel differently but there was no way he could have won being that far behind. Be a gracious loser and keep it moving.

This. 

[cookiemdough]

The kid is annoying me so team jeopardy here.

[msmerymac]

Aug 4, 2013 17:36:57 GMT -5 decemberwedding07 said:

I said no. It's one of the rules, just like how you have to answer in the form of a question. (I would be effed.) I'm sure there are lots of examples of contestants throughout Jeopardy history who have lost points for just saying the answer instead of saying, "What is the ____."

That probably happens at least once a week! And yes, you lose money, and then someone else gets the answer right, and then they get to pick the next answer. Life sucks! Oh well!

[ttt]

Upon rereading the article, the fact that he says he was "cheated" out the answer makes me annoyed and makes me say "yeah, the judges were right."

[cookiemdough]

How do we know it was a spelling mistake and not just remembering the name correctly? I just think it is a slippery slope in a game that requires memorization of a lot of facts. I would think it is easy to get things confused. And the kid was not cheated. He wasn't winning anyway and his parents are setting a horrible example letting him go on and on about this rather than being gracious for having a great opportunity.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Jeopardy is nutso about correct pronunciation, even if the contestant clearly knows the answer. Naturally the same would be true of spelling. The rules are intense, but fair. So sorry, kid.

[gpw]

Aug 4, 2013 17:45:59 GMT -5 ttt said:

I think they should have given it to him, since it was only one letter off, it was clear what he intended, and it was the kids' tournament, of all things.

But I hate how they're pinning this all on Alex Trebek - he doesn't make these decisions. There are a panel of judges who do that, not him.

It's kind of pointless, though, because it being counted as right wouldn't have changed anything in the outcome of the game.

this is what bugs me...Alex Trebek is not the judge and jury of Jeopardy.  You ALWAYS see him look over to check with the judges.  

The kid spelled it wrong.  He gets it wrong.  

I'll be the dick who says it:  Is this even a news story if the kid isn't from Newtown?

[meshaliuknits]

I didn't know correct spelling was a rule but I'm unsurprised it is. Don't they go over the rules before the show?

And if homes has a gripe with anyone, it's the disembodied judges.

Sent from my EVO

[StrawberryBlondie]

I'm kind of on the team that believes the kid thought it actually is emanciptation, not emancipation.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using proboards

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Aug 4, 2013 19:06:26 GMT -5 gpw said:

Aug 4, 2013 17:45:59 GMT -5 ttt said:

I think they should have given it to him, since it was only one letter off, it was clear what he intended, and it was the kids' tournament, of all things.

But I hate how they're pinning this all on Alex Trebek - he doesn't make these decisions. There are a panel of judges who do that, not him.

It's kind of pointless, though, because it being counted as right wouldn't have changed anything in the outcome of the game.

I'll be the dick who says it:  Is this even a news story if the kid isn't from Newtown?

I'm right here with you.

[AJL]

It doesn't matter what he thought the answer was. It was the wrong answer and that's why he lost. Sure the spelling was "close" but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. *shrugs* This kid and his parents need to get over it.

[caden]

I had no idea they required correct spelling. I thought as long as it was written phonetically, a la emancapation, that was fine. Not that I had any chance of winning Jeopardy anyway, but damn that really counts me out for good.

As for this kid, if those are the rules and he knew them then too bad, so sad, buddy.

[joenali]

There are winners and losers in life. The rules are the rules. He lost. Bummer.

[polarbearfans]

It wasn't a small spelling mistake. The way he spelled it seemed like he didn't know the correct word. If you try to say, not even close. He wasn't cheated at all. He didn't write the correct answer. He was close but not close enough.

[gpw]

Aug 4, 2013 19:35:09 GMT -5 ChillyMcFreeze said:

Aug 4, 2013 19:06:26 GMT -5 gpw said:

I'll be the dick who says it:  Is this even a news story if the kid isn't from Newtown?

I'm right here with you.

thank god I'm not the only one...

[Deleted]

Aug 4, 2013 19:39:54 GMT -5 caden said:

I had no idea they required correct spelling. I thought as long as it was written phonetically, a la emancapation, that was fine. Not that I had any chance of winning Jeopardy anyway, but damn that really counts me out for good.

As for this kid, if those are the rules and he knew them then too bad, so sad, buddy.

This is right. The kid added a random "t" where there is none and there is no sound indicating there should a t.

I believe I have seen misspellings on there as acceptable.

That said, the kids final jeopardy questions were way too hard. I haven't watched Friday, but through Thursday, only 2 out 12 answers were correct.

[ttt]

I didn't even notice he was from Newtown. huh.

[Deleted]

I saw this episode. I was appalled at his behavior when he lost. Scowling, pouting, arms crossed, lower lip trembling. He wouldn't chat with the other contestants, Alex or his parents while credits were rolling.

That's the lesson right there, kid. And mom? It was hard to watch him lose? It was hard for us too, not for the reasons you think. Maybe you oughta work on him with that.

[rugbywife]

Guys...am I having a really dumb moment? The spelling in the article looks the same (emancipation vs. Emancipation)...so is the difference the capital E...I have read it like 5 times...

If it is the capital letter I still think it matters...spelling does matter, it is one of those things I struggled with when I taught...explaining to kids that, especially for 'key' words, it matters. Team Jeopardy...

[rugbywife]

oh crap...nevermind...now I see it...yeah, he spelled it wrong, he loses...

[IIOY]

Aug 5, 2013 6:07:41 GMT -5 rugbywife said:

Guys...am I having a really dumb moment? The spelling in the article looks the same (emancipation vs. Emancipation)...so is the difference the capital E...I have read it like 5 times...

If it is the capital letter I still think it matters...spelling does matter, it is one of those things I struggled with when I taught...explaining to kids that, especially for 'key' words, it matters. Team Jeopardy...

He spelled it emancipTation.

[rugbywife]

Aug 5, 2013 6:08:55 GMT -5 IIOY said:

Aug 5, 2013 6:07:41 GMT -5 rugbywife said:

Guys...am I having a really dumb moment? The spelling in the article looks the same (emancipation vs. Emancipation)...so is the difference the capital E...I have read it like 5 times...

If it is the capital letter I still think it matters...spelling does matter, it is one of those things I struggled with when I taught...explaining to kids that, especially for 'key' words, it matters. Team Jeopardy...

He spelled it emancipTation.

yeah, apparently I needed to read it 6 times, lol.  Still spelled it wrong though. He sounds like a brat.

Also, how can people think spelling doesn't matter in a game like that? Of course it matters. 

[bcv513]

His parents should be worried more about his crappy attitude than the rules on Jeopardy