Meteorologist goes on 6-game winning streak as 'Jeopardy!' champ
It was a "dream come true" for the NWS forecaster who outmaneuvered his competition for six straight nights. In the end, it was a clue about one of the country’s most notorious crimes that brought him down.
By
Marianne Mizera, AccuWeather front page editor
Published Jun 17, 2022 4:29 PM EDT
|
Updated Jun 20, 2022 10:44 AM EDT
Eric Ahasic, who had been trying out for the iconic game show since he was in high school, talks nerves, studying for trivia, his future and more after his six-game winning streak.
Turns out the weather isn’t the only field of expertise for one Minneapolis meteorologist who fulfilled a lifelong dream of standing on the Jeopardy! stage as a reigning contestant for six straight days.
Category after category, Eric Ahasic, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Minneapolis, served up one blow-out performance after another, earning him the title of “potential super champion” by avid Jeopardy! fans.
But in the end it was Watergate that brought him down.
The Final Jeopardy! question that tripped up the 32-year-old? Under the category “1972,” the clue was: “In June he said, ‘Don’t lie to them to the extent to say there is no involvement, but just say this is…a comedy of errors.’ ”
Ahasic incorrectly wrote down John Dean instead of former President Richard Nixon. And with that, Ahasic’s six-day winning streak on the beloved battle-of-the-minds game show came to an abrupt halt.
Just shy of $2, Ahasic lost Game seven to adept competitor, California attorney Megan Wachspress. Yet, in rattling off and nailing a multitude of correct answers in blow-out rounds each night, Ahasic still walked away with more than $160,000 in winnings. Not bad for a Jeopardy! fan and trivia buff who has been trying to land a spot as a contestant on the show for 16 years.
"It was a dream come true," Ahasic told AccuWeather Broadcast Meteorologist Melissa Costanzer during an appearance on AccuWeather Prime.
Ahasic said he was a rather inquisitive kid, always interested in playing little trivia games in the car on the drive up to his grandmother's house. And then that summer after middle school he got hooked on the Jeopardy! show.
Three or four times, he managed to get to the audition stage after taking the online knowledge tests, but he never quite made the cut--until this year.
"This was my lucky turn, I guess!" Ahasic told AccuWeather.
The episodes that aired over the past two weeks were taped in April, and Ahasic admits he had butterflies during the filming.
"I was nervous that first night, my hand was actually shaking," he said. "It is so much harder on stage. Your brain just doesn’t work the same up there. It goes by so fast and your brain is whizzing by a million miles an hour."
Ahasic called his stint on Jeopardy! a life-changing experience.
“It was just so much fun to play the game for real," he said.
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In fact, Ahasic credits Minnesota's less-than-thrilling weather with helping him prep for the big show.
"You know I’m up here in Minnesota. Our winters are long and our winters are cold…so I thought 'Maybe I’ll just stay in, read some Wikipedia and watch more Jeopardy! episodes. I did that this past winter and I managed to shovel a lot of stuff in my brain and managed to pull it out during the show."
With a wedding on the way this fall, Ahasic said he plans on using some of his newly won earnings to help offset some of the costs.
And hold tight because we haven’t heard the last of Ahasic. He gets one more shot on the Jeopardy! stage this fall, as his winning streak qualified him for the show's elite Tournament of Champions. Stay tuned!
"I'm just recovering from the world right now!" said Ahasic.
Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts™ are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.
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News / Weather News
Meteorologist goes on 6-game winning streak as 'Jeopardy!' champ
It was a "dream come true" for the NWS forecaster who outmaneuvered his competition for six straight nights. In the end, it was a clue about one of the country’s most notorious crimes that brought him down.
By Marianne Mizera, AccuWeather front page editor
Published Jun 17, 2022 4:29 PM EDT | Updated Jun 20, 2022 10:44 AM EDT
Eric Ahasic, who had been trying out for the iconic game show since he was in high school, talks nerves, studying for trivia, his future and more after his six-game winning streak.
Turns out the weather isn’t the only field of expertise for one Minneapolis meteorologist who fulfilled a lifelong dream of standing on the Jeopardy! stage as a reigning contestant for six straight days.
Category after category, Eric Ahasic, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Minneapolis, served up one blow-out performance after another, earning him the title of “potential super champion” by avid Jeopardy! fans.
But in the end it was Watergate that brought him down.
The Final Jeopardy! question that tripped up the 32-year-old? Under the category “1972,” the clue was: “In June he said, ‘Don’t lie to them to the extent to say there is no involvement, but just say this is…a comedy of errors.’ ”
Ahasic incorrectly wrote down John Dean instead of former President Richard Nixon. And with that, Ahasic’s six-day winning streak on the beloved battle-of-the-minds game show came to an abrupt halt.
Just shy of $2, Ahasic lost Game seven to adept competitor, California attorney Megan Wachspress. Yet, in rattling off and nailing a multitude of correct answers in blow-out rounds each night, Ahasic still walked away with more than $160,000 in winnings. Not bad for a Jeopardy! fan and trivia buff who has been trying to land a spot as a contestant on the show for 16 years.
"It was a dream come true," Ahasic told AccuWeather Broadcast Meteorologist Melissa Costanzer during an appearance on AccuWeather Prime.
Ahasic said he was a rather inquisitive kid, always interested in playing little trivia games in the car on the drive up to his grandmother's house. And then that summer after middle school he got hooked on the Jeopardy! show.
Three or four times, he managed to get to the audition stage after taking the online knowledge tests, but he never quite made the cut--until this year.
"This was my lucky turn, I guess!" Ahasic told AccuWeather.
The episodes that aired over the past two weeks were taped in April, and Ahasic admits he had butterflies during the filming.
"I was nervous that first night, my hand was actually shaking," he said. "It is so much harder on stage. Your brain just doesn’t work the same up there. It goes by so fast and your brain is whizzing by a million miles an hour."
Ahasic called his stint on Jeopardy! a life-changing experience.
“It was just so much fun to play the game for real," he said.
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In fact, Ahasic credits Minnesota's less-than-thrilling weather with helping him prep for the big show.
"You know I’m up here in Minnesota. Our winters are long and our winters are cold…so I thought 'Maybe I’ll just stay in, read some Wikipedia and watch more Jeopardy! episodes. I did that this past winter and I managed to shovel a lot of stuff in my brain and managed to pull it out during the show."
With a wedding on the way this fall, Ahasic said he plans on using some of his newly won earnings to help offset some of the costs.
And hold tight because we haven’t heard the last of Ahasic. He gets one more shot on the Jeopardy! stage this fall, as his winning streak qualified him for the show's elite Tournament of Champions. Stay tuned!
"I'm just recovering from the world right now!" said Ahasic.
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Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts™ are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.
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