What’s unsportsmanlike conduct?
One “Jeopardy!” contestant is being blasted by fans after he was seemingly rude to fellow challengers while appearing on the show Friday.
Contestant Aaron Craig, who competed on the show’s Champions Wildcard tournament, drew the ire of several die-hard fans after he clapped for himself when host Ken Jennings announced that he was the winner of the night’s game.
“I turned the TV off after the self-congratulatory behavior,” one die-hard fan complained on Reddit. “I definitely am not rooting for this guy to win and never even sure if I’ll watch the remaining of the tournament. I’ve watched Jeopardy for many years and don’t recall seeing such rudeness.”
“The clapping at the top was unnecessary,” one other fan slammed.
“My husband and I checked out one another with mouths agape lol. It was wild,” a 3rd fan agreed.
Other fans defended Craig, arguing the celebration was warranted.
“Heaven forbid a contestant have enough situational awareness to know the importance of that clue and have a good time slightly when he beat out two tough competitors to it,” one fan posted.
“In Aaron’s defense, it may possibly be hard to maintain your emotions in check on stage,” former Champions Wildcard winner Jilana Cotter commented. “In one in all my games (I do not know which one) I used to be so mad that I’d rung in with an incorrect answer that I stomped my foot” adding that “the adrenaline does wild things to you.”
Craig further irked fans through the show’s Final Jeopardy! round after Jennings, 49, read the “British History” clue.
“At Leicester Cathedral in March 2015, the Archbishop of Canterbury led a spiritual ceremony for this deceased English monarch,” Jennings read.
After each competitors wagered — and lost — all the cash that they had made through the game, Craig also did not guess the proper answer, which was King Richard III, but only wagered $32 and was left standing with a whopping $9,768.
As Jenning announced that Craig would advance to the ultimate round of the tournament, the Canadian lawyer blew a kiss into the audience and started chanting something indistinguishable.
The motion left more people complaining about his behavior.
Later that night, an individual claiming to be Craig wrote an apology note on the Reddit forum.
“TJ [Tallie] and Leah [Wiegand] are amazing and wonderful and good, and either one would have been an incredible and deserving winner today,” Craig allegedly wrote. “I’m sorry if I got overly excited. I definitely didn’t mean to indicate anybody up, but my kids were there and I couldn’t imagine that they got to look at me not only play in a semifinal, but win!”
“Anyone who thinks I used to be excessive, that’s 1000% fair,” Craig reportedly added. “No argument here.”
