Sound Familiar? A Jeopardy! Second Chance Tournament

Michael Davies, Jeopardy!’s Executive Producer, announced on J!Buzz today that plans are in the works for a Second Chance Tournament. That happened when, in response to criticism of the setup of the current Jeopardy! National College Championship tournament (J!NCC), he said that the fourth place semi-finalist will be invited back “for our postseason Second Chance Tournament that will precede, and feed, at least one player into the Tournament of Champions.” That sounds like a commitment to me.

Davies said that he began thinking about a Second Chance Tournament almost on the very day he began working at the show. It occurred to him, he said, when he saw Jessica Stephens beat Matt Amodio and then lose to Jonathan Fisher by just $401. He thought, “Wow, wouldn’t it be a cool idea to have a tournament where we bring excellent contestants like Jessica back?” LOL!! He very quickly added that he became aware that “many, many other people – both inside and outside the show – had had exactly the same thought, long before me.”

So that’s my question: If you heard about the Second Chance Tournament before Michael Davies thought of it, do you remember who, where or when you heard about it?

I specifically remember Susan Ikenberry suggesting it towards the end of Season 33 (July of 2017). She wrote to me at the site’s email about it and I brought it up in the comments on the last game of that season. There are a number of people who commented on that post who are still regular posters but I don’t expect them to remember that the Second Chance Tournament suggestion on this site came from Susan. I just wanted Susan to get the credit for who, when and where I heard it first.