Episcopal priest is runner-up in ‘Jeopardy!’ match, falls short of tournament finals
[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. David Sibley’s quest for “Jeopardy!” tournament glory ended earlier than he and his fans had hoped on March 8, when the Episcopal priest lost in the semifinal round and failed to advanced to the finals of the show’s Tournament of Champions.
Sibley, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Walla Walla, Washington, had advanced to the semifinals with a dominant performance Feb. 27 in his opening-round match. Then on March 8, he faced off against Emily Sands, a project manager from Chanhassen, Minnesota, and Yogesh Raut, a psychologist from Vancouver, Washington.
The Rev. David Sibley earned $78,000 in four straight wins in October 2022 on “Jeopardy!” Photo: Jeopardy! Productions
Silbey was a four-time regular season winner, while Raut boasted a three-time win streak. Sands got into the tournament as a wildcard.
This time, Sibley was never in serious contention, finishing the first half of the show with just $600. He was able to work his way back to $6,200 entering Final Jeopardy! nearly drawing even with Sands at $6,800, but Raut clinched the game after taking a runaway lead with $21,400.
The Final Jeopardy! category, “New Testament,” would seemed to have given Sibley an edge, though the clue also required a knowledge of literature, specifically Shakespeare: “This city now in Turkey is the addressee of one of the New Testament epistles & the setting for ‘The Comedy of Errors.’”
Sibley’s guess: What is Corinth? Correct response: What is Ephesus?
Sibley won $78,000 during his first appearances on “Jeopardy!” in October 2022, fulfilling a lifelong dream. After his quarterfinal win in the tournament on Feb. 27, he said in a Facebook post that he hopes viewers will be inspired “to become more curious – about others, about our world – and in so doing, grow in love of God and neighbor for seeing the beautiful web in which we all live and move.”
