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PEI Tankard competitor and former Jeopardy! champion reflects on Alex Trebek’s legacy

Charlottetown resident and Summerside native Jonathan Greenan, who competed on Team Darren Higgins in the PEI Tankard provincial men’s curling championship last year, was on CBC PEI’s Mainstreet radio program on Monday, reflecting on the fond memories of his time meeting Jeopardy! show host Alex Trebek, who died of pancreatic cancer on Sunday.

Greenan, who appeared on  two episodes of the popular game show in 2018, became a Jeopardy! champion on his first appearance, but lost on his second show after not finding the Daily Doubles and not knowing the Final Jeopardy clue. His two-day winnings totalled $29,201.

(L-R): Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, Jonathan Greenan (contributed)

Trebek started off his first contestant interview with Greenan with the line “You’re a professional curler”. Greenan responded, “I wouldn’t say professional, I’d say semi-professional at best, and only because we’ve won a little bit of money here and there, at bonspiels”. Trebek asked about the “Canadian Brier” and Greenan responded that “we’re not quite there yet”.

Jonathan Greenan (right) delivers a rock at the PEI Tankard last year at the Montague Curling Club

On Mainstreet on Monday, Greenan said that Jeopardy! “instills a love of knowledge and makes knowing things cool … and certainly Alex Trebek himself was someone who saw the value of what the show did for people.”

Click for CBC PEI story “Islander and former Jeopardy champion reflects on Alex Trebek’s legacy

Trebek, who, like Greenan, attended the University of Ottawa, is also no stranger to the sport of curling, having been on the CBC curling broadcast team back in the 1960s, as can be seen in this 1968 promotional photo for CBC World Championship Curling:

From left to right: Doug Maxwell, Alex Trebek, Johnny Wayne and Hec Gervais are seen in a photo promoting CBC-TV Championship Curling series coverage in January 1968. (Robert Ragsdale/CBC Still Photo Collection)

Curling has also made it onto Jeopardy! from time to time:

Greenan wrapped up his CBC interview with the reflection “It’s a sad day, but it’s not, at the end of the day, something that we should be sad about. We should be able to celebrate his life.”

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