Came across several articles about Jeopardy champ Arthur Chu last week and decided to watch Jeopardy for the first time in years to see for myself. Chu has been criticized for "gaming" the system by jumping from one category to another and not going from lower value clues to higher value clues in that order. This was supposedly to find the daily doubles before the other contestants and thus pile up the score. From what I read, I don't see anything wrong with these strategies. He was also called obnoxious and arrogant and for that I had to see for myself.
In the five games I watched, I can't see anything he did on the show that was improper other than could have dressed better and get a better hair cut. And if those criteria make a bad contestant then many went before him were just as guilty. As for his strategies, none are new. My all time favorite Chuck Forrest started jumping around in the 1980s and he is considered one of the all time greats of this game. The bottom line is: Chu wins because he is quicker on the buzzer and knows more trivia than his opponents so far. If he had just gone down each row in order, he would have won all these games anyway. No less authority than Forrest, Ken Jennings, and Alex Trebek have come out and say that Chu plays the game right.
So is all these internet hate Chu gets due to racism. I do not think it is 100% because some are due to old Jeopardy fans who like the tradition of slow play going down each row in order. Some fans also like to play along and Chu's quick style may not be to their liking. But there are many mean spirited criticisms of Chu that obviously are race related. Chu takes the high road but he answers those mean spirited people with humor. Read Jennings' interview with him on the internet and you will find an articulate man with very good insight about society in general. He is certainly not a nerd who sits in the basement memorizing trivia. So I salute him not just as a great Jeopardy champion but a great human being with a great perspective about life.
Saturday, March 01, 2014
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My answer to his opponents who are complaining about him, is to answer the questions! It's not like he is answering all of them. The only thing he is doing is answering quickly.
ReplyDeleteAs long as he is within the rules, I have no problem with what he is doing.
I have read a couple of interviews with him and he does come off as arrogant. I'm not sure if I was reading into it more and haven't really heard him speak or watched any interviews. But I think you have to be very confident to play the way he plays.
You may be right, regarding the racism. I think that people think that Asians are soft spoken. When they listen to a guy who is the opposite, they automatically think there's something outrageous about him.
I have also heard people say that Trebek had a problem with Chu, which is the opposite of what you heard. Part of it was that Trebek could not keep up with Chu and was frustrated with him and was throwing off the rhythm of the game.
I just think a lot of the controversy is a stunt by the producers. This is getting people to tune in and talking about the show. If they wanted to make him lose, they would put up more sports categories, since Chu said that his weakness is sports!
-LBOAYM
The only interview I read was with Ken Jennings and like I said, Chu came off as very insightful and not arrogant at all to me. Trebek's problem with Chu is that he goes so fast that Trebek did not have time to tell a joke or some tidbits between clues. Chu recognized that and is doing better with it. Trebek said he had no problem with Chu on a Fox News interview.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the controversy helping the show whether the producers started it or not. So all those people say that Chu will make people stop watching the show are deadly wrong.
All the talk about changing the rules of Jeopardy because of Chu is also nonsense. It is like the no dunk rule that was supposed to stop Lew Alcindor. That didn't work as Alcindor won three championship (the maximum possible back then) with UCLA. Can you imagine the game without the dunk today? Now they are talking about no snapping the football in less than 10 seconds to slow down the fast tempo offenses. That is just wrong and hopefully won't pass. If they slow down Jeopardy, the ratings will go down for sure.