CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA: Some 'Jeopardy!' viewers were left surprised when the game show gave out an easy clue worth $1000 to 'Second Chance' finalists in a recent episode.
The clue was about the soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, and fans of the show were divided over whether it was a valid choice made by the show writers.
'Jeopardy!' asks finalists to identify Cristiano Ronaldo for $1000
On Thursday, September 21, episode of 'Jeopardy!', the show kicked off the second set of finals for the 'Second Chance' special tournament.
During the first round of clues, there was a category called "World Soccer." Under the $1000 tab, the clue read, "Sporting number 7, this Portuguese soccer star helped his nation win the 2016 European Championship, its first major title," and a picture of the player was shown.
Naturally, 'Jeopardy!' fans questioned the decision of the writers to have such a clue be worth so much prize money. Notably, the trivia game show is currently recycling all of its clues due to the ongoing WGA strikes.
'Jeopardy!' fans divided over an easy clue for a $1000 prize
Soon after the episode was aired, a fan took to the r/Jeopardy subreddit to vent about the Cristiano Ronaldo clue being worth $100.
They wrote, "Even if it were a $200 question, showing a picture of Ronaldo and asking "Who is this Portuguese man" under the category of soccer would arguably be too easy."
"Other than Pope Francis, Donald Trump, and Barrack Obama, it's hard to think of a more well-known person in the world than Cristiano Ronaldo. He has the most followed Instagram account in the world, and it's not even particularly close," argued the poster.
Another came in with the point that sports is definitely a category that is difficult for most 'Jeopardy!' contestants, but they expect them to work on it anyway.
"The most common struggles for contestants seem to be sport's, pop culture and current events,yet every episode seems to have them," read the comment.
They continued, "On one hand,it's pretty obvious to me that for the demographic that makes up contestants that this is going to be a weak spot, but on the other hand when it so consistently is asked I don't know why they don't study."
One wrote, "Why do people here have such a strong tendency to defend Jeopardy’s clue writing at every turn? Just admit that this was a poor 1000 clue and move on; I can’t think of any athlete, or even any person living today that’s more well known than Ronaldo."
Another person who had observed this consistent trend on the game show with the sports category, stated, "They go much deeper on other topics but shallow on sports. At the same time, I see why they do because sports can be impossibly deep if they want it to be and it isn't a sports trivia show."
A user defended 'Jeopardy!' and the contestants, saying, "He’s well known in countries where soccer/football is THE sport. In America, we don’t have as big a following. I’d argue David Beckham is more well known than Ronaldo in the states."
"Well, like everything, it's easy if you know it, and it's hard if you don't. I usually do extremely well at couch-Jeopardy but I've never heard of him. I wouldn't even have got it if he had been named and the clue was about his nationality," said one.
