Ken Jennings makes me laugh.
Can you believe this guy? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.
In case you haven't already seen, the all-time "Jeopardy!" winner — winner of $2.5 million to be exact — went on a tirade against the Sony Television game show on his personal Web site, calling host Alex Trebek a robot and going on to mock the show's set colors and production values.
He also went on to disparage senior citizens, saying the "Jeopardy!" median viewing age is 91, and that categories on the show are "effete, left-coast cr— nobody's ever heard of."
O-K. Didn't he win a record number of shows and money by answering questions about "effete, left-coast cr—?" Oh well.
I guess Jennings isn't too concerned with jeopardizing any future opportunity to appear on a reunion or Tournament of Champions show. I'd venture to guess that Jennings now will never be invited back to "Jeopardy," and that's a shame.
Even though he's a geek and otherwise not very good television, he's a great trivia game player.
This is what happens when people make money too fast.
It gives them a false sense of security and an arrogance that always comes back to bite them in the rear.
Just imagine if "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks came out with nasty comments about Ryan Seacrest and the "AI" logo, for instance. Not only would Hicks be looked at as an ingrate, it just doesn't make any business sense.
He'd do damage to potential earnings he may not even yet know about. Fortunately, Hicks wouldn't be so dumb.
Sadly, too many people suffer from the "money to burn" backlash.
When people win money and instant fame, it often goes to their head, and many people who knew these winners before they were rich say money changed their friend or family member for the worst.
I can only imagine how many people who know Ken wish he had never won "Jeopardy!"
Meanwhile, Jennings' head is featured on his Web page with his brain exposed and dissected into different Web site sections, under the header "Confessions of a Trivial Mind."
At least he said it first.
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