Top 09 of 2009: Number Six

Edit: I apparently forgot to set the time to publish.  My mistake.

Number six on our countdown of the year is relatively new and we’ve covered it so much I don’t know how much discussion we can do.  It’s Jeff Kirby, the man who made national headlines by cheating Jeopardy!.  It should come as no surprise to any of you that you can only be a contestant on Jeopardy! once.  Jeff Kirby was originally on in 1999 and, well, he lost.  Somewhere along the line he thought he could bend the rules a bit and try again.  He made it on in October and lost yet again.  But he got caught by some readers who emailed me.  I hate parading myself around but we broke the story first, and it caught massive attention.  Comcast put it on the front page news, various news outlets and newspapers had articles about it, it was discussed on talk shows, and more.  Jeff got way more attention for losing than he would have if he won.  So thanks for the attention, Jeff!

There were a few freaky things with it.  First was that Jeopardy! couldn’t even check this at the time.  I mean I find it incredibly strange that no one caught it in this digital age.  If a few fans of the show could email me about it within the day it happened I think producers could also.  The next was the pictorial evidence.  Look at his tie.  I don’t know if it was a joke or if he did it on purpose but he wore the same freaking tie both times!  That was the icing on the cake.  So again, thank you, Jeff Kirby, for getting me and Mr. Andy Saunders some airtime on Regis and Kelly and for providing us with such a comical screwup.