Here's your Ben Chan cheat sheet as the 'Jeopardy!' champ and local celeb competes for $250,000 in Tournament of Champions finals
If you're late to the Ben Chan party at on "Jeopardy!," no worries.
There's still time to brush up on the Green Bay champion's winning ways before Tuesday when he heads into the Tournament of Champions finals, where he'll need to be the first player to win three games in the best-of-seven series to bag the $250,000 grand prize.
Here's a handy timeline of how the St. Norbert College assistant professor of philosophy has become an 11-game "Jeopardy!" champ, a fan favorite and a local celebrity.
April 12, 2023: Makes his 'Jeopardy!' debut; casually name-drops Aaron Rodgers.
Not only does he win $16,001 in his first game, but he introduces himself to viewers with an anecdote about once beating Aaron Rodgers at pub trivia while the former Green Bay Packers quarterback was recuperating from an injury. Even host Ken Jennings seems impressed. “Wait, so Aaron Rodgers just shows up in the bar with his trivia team?” Yes, Ken.
April 17, 2023: COVID-19 abruptly puts his winning streak on hold.
With three wins under his belt and $69,001 in winnings, viewers learn illness is temporarily pausing his streak. Chan had tested positive for COVID-19 and was unable to travel for his next round of tapings in Los Angeles. The show promises to bring him back in May, a scenario that has only happened a few times in “Jeopardy!” history.
May 15, 2023: Makes a triumphant return by defeating champion Hannah Wilson.
He’s back! He ends reigning champion Hannah Wilson’s eight-game streak and extends his own to four. His $60,000 in winnings is the second-highest one-day amount of the season. The victory secures his spot in the Tournament of Champions. It’s also the first time he plays with Mayim Bialik as the host.
May 2023: 'Ben!' becomes a fan favorite.
Chan, who went into "Jeopardy!" saying he wanted to be super prepared, play with joy and make Green Bay proud, quickly becomes a fan favorite. Viewers can't help but notice his humility. He sometimes mouths "Hi, Mom" to his mother in New York during his signature raise-the-roof gesture for player introductions, wears the watch he inherited from his father and talks about his rescue dogs, Ruthie and Chester. He always puts an exclamation point behind his name on the podium and often holds the buzzer close to his chest.
May 17, 2023: Makes 'Jeopardy!' history with six runaway wins.
His total hits $182,000, but even more impressively, he makes “Jeopardy!” history by becoming the first player to win their first six games in runaways. A runaway is when a contestant is so far out ahead there’s no way for the next closest contestant to catch them, even if they wager their entire earnings for Final Jeopardy! There will be more runaways in his future.
May 20, 2023: Gets to fire the famous Bratzooka at a Wisconsin Timber Rattlers game.
He’s an eight-game champion and fan favorite with $227,800 in winnings when he throws out the first pitch at the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers' minor league baseball game at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. It’s no sweat for Chan, who played NCAA Division II baseball at Swarthmore College. But what he’s most excited about is getting to man the Bratzooka, the cannon that launches wrapped bratwursts high into the air and into the hands of fans.
May 22, 2023: Petition seeks to proclaim him 'King of the North' with new Green Bay mural.
A petition on change.org seeks to get Chan the kind of local fame he really deserves: his own mural in downtown Green Bay proclaiming him the new “King of the North." Rodgers had previously been given that honor by artist Beau Thomas in a mural he painted over immediately after the quarterback was traded to the New York Jets in April. “After Aaron Rodgers abandoned the City of Green Bay, a new hero emerges,” reads the Chan petition. It falls short of its 200 signatures.
May 23, 2023: A single letter ends his 'Jeopardy!' streak at nine games.
Darn you, Shakespeare. A spelling error in Chan’s response to the Final Jeopardy! clue looking for the names of the two lovers in a Shakespeare play from the Latin words for "blessed" costs him the game. He writes “Who are Beatrice & Benedict?” The correct response is Beatrice and Benedick. Fans on social media are not happy. Chan’s impressive streak ends with nine runaway victories and $252,600.
Feb. 21, 2024: Attends Wisconsin State Capitol for joint resolution honoring him.
Leading up to his return to “Jeopardy!” for the Tournament of Champions, he is honored at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison with Assembly Joint Resolution 114 for his humility, excellence and positive representation of Green Bay during his “uplifting tenure” on the show. “Green Bay is not only known as the home of the Green Bay Packers but is also now known as the home of nine-time ‘Jeopardy!’ champion Ben Chan,” Rep. Kristina Shelton, D-Green Bay, says during the Assembly floor session.
March 5, 2024: Dominates in his Tournament of Champions quarterfinal win.
What rust? The 2023 Writers Guild of America strike delayed the Tournament of Champions until 2024, but Chan picks right back up where he left off 10 months ago, handily defeating Justin Bolsen and Emmett Stanton in his quarterfinal game (while wearing a Zippin Pippin lapel pin from Bay Beach Amusement Park). He adds $29,800 in winnings and joins the prestigious 300 Club, contestants who have correctly answered 300 or more clues.
March 7, 2024: Tournament of Champions finals, here he comes.
He defeats actor Ike Barinholtz, the winner of “Celebrity Jeopardy!" (and a Chicago Bears fan), and three-game champ Jared Watson of Greenville, Texas, to lock up the first spot in the finals, where the winner gets $250,000, while second place gets $100,000 and third place gets $50,000. Proving he really is the people's champion, he watches the episode with family and friends at St. Michael's Pub, a proud dive bar for decades in Allouez.
April 27, 2024: Scheduled to throw out ceremonial first pitch when Milwaukee Brewers host New York Yankees.
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: A timeline of Ben Chan's rise to 'Jeopardy!' champ, local celebrity
