Jeopardy! fans cringe over women-focused category that ‘hurt to watch’ as Joey DeSena breaks silence on brutal loss
JEOPARDY! fans have been left cringing over a female-focused category that ‘hurt to watch’ after stumping today’s contestants.
Wednesday’s game also marked the end of beloved newcomer, Joey DeSena’s, winning streak and the two-day champion responded to his brutal loss.
Joey, a development engineer from Raleigh, North Carolina, won back-to-back nail-biting games and scored an impressive $44,698.
He went up against Evan Dorey, a data analytics director from Toronto, Ontario and Lois Dioro, a realtor from West Haven, Connecticut.
At the top of the episode, host Ken Jennings, 50, introduced the categories – with one in particular leaving a fans uneasy.
In the first Jeopardy! round, one of the categories on the high-tech new scoreboard was “Great Women In Sports.”
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While the category was meant to honor iconic female athletes, it didn’t go over as smooth during the show as nearly every question was met with silence – awkwardly missing out on most clues.
Evan was first to choose from “Great Women In Sports” as he was told the $600 clue in a pre-recorded video message from tennis legend Billie Jean King.
“A star on four WNBA championship teams in Seattle, this woman became the league’s winningest player,” the 39-time Grand Slam champion read.
Both Joey and Lois made incorrect guesses while Evan did not attempt to respond.
All three failed to accurately respond with “Who is Sue Bird?”
Evan then went for the $800 clue, where Billie, 80, once again read it off: “A great all-around athlete, she excelled in many sports but later in life, golf was her game and she co-founded the LPGA.”
Lois did end up getting this one correct with “Who is Babe Didrikson?”
Looking to continue her streak, Lois chose the same category for $1,000.
Jeopardy! fans divided over ‘silly’ final question that stumped all three contestants and cost returning champ the game
“Before I switched to tennis, one of the sports I played was softball. One of the most decorated collegiate players of the game is this UCLA alum and two-time Olympic gold medalist,” Billie read.
All three players remained silent as no one was able to guess “Who is Dot Richardson?”
The $400 clue was chosen next, as Ken read off: “She was named Swimming World Magazine’s American Woman Swimmer of the Year 2013-2018, 2021 and 2022.”
Lois incorrectly guessed Diana Nyad, while Evan was able to swoop in with the correct “Who is Katie Ledecky?”
The final $200 clue was chosen, with Ken reading: “In 2022, she laid her tennis racket down, stepping away from the sport with 23 Grand Slam singles titles to her name.”
GIRL, PLEASE
Joey made another incorrect guess, and once again Evan swooped in with the correct “Who is Serena Williams?”
Fans were disappointed the players didn’t perform better on the category, with one bluntly putting it: “That Women in Sports category hurt to watch.”
“Sad they didn’t know more Great Women In Sports. Do better people!!!” another exclaimed.
A third tried to defend the group, adding “well, at least they got a few?”
After an impressive first two games, Joey’s winning streak came to an end as he finished the game with just $199.
Jeopardy! Contestant Rules
Passing Jeopardy!’s online Anytime Test is hard enough, but there are also many rules players must follow once they make it to the stage:
- The returning champion is always at the leftmost podium and keeps playing until they lose.
- Contestants don’t have to say “who is” or “what is” in the first round but must do so in Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy.
- Contestants can change their responses as long as Ken Jennings or the judges haven’t made a ruling.
- The minimum wager for a Daily Double is $5. The minimum wager for Final Jeopardy! is $0.
- Written responses in Final Jeopardy! do not have to be spelled correctly, but they must be phonetically correct (the judges decide this).
- If there’s a tie after Final Jeopardy, the tied players enter a bonus clue shootout, and whoever buzzes in first correctly wins.
- If all three contestants wager everything in Final Jeopardy! and are incorrect, leaving them with $0, there will be no returning champion (it’s happened before—six times).
Evan snagged his first win with $29,200 while Lois came in second with an impressive $12,000.
Following his loss, Joey went online and broke his silence on his “dream come true” debut.
“Well, the improbable mini-streak has come to an end. All the credit in this game goes to Evan and Lois, who were two amazing competitors that came to play.
“I felt like a fan myself during Final, excited to see how the tie would break! I know it’s been said maybe times before, but I have utmost respect for the players that can rattle off 5 wins in a tape day. That is draining!”
“But again, just appearing on the show was a literal dream come true, let alone winning anything,” he wrote.
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Joey continued: “Every single person on the Jeopardy crew and in the contestant pool made tape day an incredibly fun experience, and I can’t thank them enough for their grace and good humor.
“If anyone if on the fence – take that Jeopardy Anytime Test! You never know what might come of it. So again, thank you all, and I hope the games were entertaining!”
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