The Jeopardy Invitational Match is approaching this month, and it’s set to showcase a few of the finest Jeopardy! gamers of all time, together with, followers hope, former champ Brad Rutter.
Jeopardy! followers might need been upset that Rutter wasn’t part of final yr’s Masters event, nevertheless it’s speculated the highest-earning contestant might return for JIT, which begins March 29.
Rutter, who received the 2001 Match of Champions, instructed Vulture final yr that he’s “all the time down” to compete on the present once more.
Rutter final appeared on the present in 2020’s The Best of All Time event, the place he completed in third place behind current Masters winner James Holzhauer (2nd place) and the present’s now host Ken Jennings (1st place). The GOAT event marked the primary time Rutter had misplaced a sport in opposition to a human opponent (he and Jennings misplaced to IBM’s pc system Watson in 2011). His whole earnings of $4,953,436 (together with tournaments) is a report for the present, forward of Ken Jennings’ $4,370,700.
In a June 2023 installment of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss responded to his assertion, saying, “A lot of you puzzled, ‘The place’s Brad Rutter? How is he not a part of Masters?’” Foss continued. “And sure, Brad Rutter has made more cash on Jeopardy! than another contestant in historical past; these stats are so spectacular. So what we now wanna see is, how is Brad proper now? Can he come to the JIT, competing in opposition to another greats, and show that he deserves a spot as one of many present greats in Masters subsequent yr?”
Now, throughout a February 2024 installment of the podcast, Foss shared some extra particulars on the JIT, revealing she’s “[…] actually excited to see a few of these people again on the Alex Trebek stage competing,” earlier than stating, “a few of them haven’t competed in over a decade… some lately.”
Many followers are torn on the prospect, some eager to see his return and others believing he has performed all of it.
(Credit score: ABC/Richard Cartwright)
“On one hand, I’d like to see him get redemption. Alternatively, I’d hate for his mystique to be diminished even additional. He actually doesn’t have something left to show,” one Reddit person expressed.
“I’m very curious to see if Sam Kavanaugh and Brad Rutter will probably be within the event. The explanation that I believe they won’t be is that the 2 of them are the one two gamers that make sense because the “producers selection” choose for the masters,” one other person mentioned. “Brad as a result of he’s one of many GOATS (regardless of his efficiency on the precise GOAT event) and Sam as a result of he most likely ought to have been on the final masters,” they conclude.
Rutter lately served as a Chaser for the American model of ABC‘s third season of The Chase.
Match of Champions 2022 finalists Amy Schneider, Andrew He, and Sam Buttrey are anticipated to take part within the upcoming invitational, with the likes of Kavanaugh, Colby Burnett, and Austin Rogers to make appearances as properly.
However are you satisfied Rutter will make his triumphant return? Tell us within the feedback under.
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