Jeopardy

Apparently there is a firestorm about a Jeopardy ruling.

Last week a young man, who was picked for a coveted spot on Kids Jeopardy, misspelled "emancipation proclamation" and came in second.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/05/showbiz/jeopardy-wrong-answer-child/index.html

There is now a social media "fight" going on with gems like these

"I used to love Jeopardy, but how Alex treated that kid and embarrassed him was uncalled for," Luke Tran said in a post on the Jeopardy! Facebook page. "He called him out on his spelling saying it was badly misspelled when it wasn't that badly misspelled it was just misspelled slightly."

and this,

"Jeopardy is not a spelling bee game and frankly before Alex Trebek or the judges penalize this boy for not spelling a word correctly then Alex Trebek needs too explain too the contestants that spelling matters in the final around," Ash Cruz Rios-James also said on Facebook.

Ok.......WHAT!?!

First of all, the kid would have always been in 2nd place.
The winner was Skyler Hornbeck. He set a week record, winning $66,600 and was the third-largest-one-day total in the game's history.
The second place winner would have been in second place regardless of his or her answer.

Statements like "it was just slightly misspelled" and "Jeopardy is not a spelling bee" just goes to show you how ridiculous we have truly become.
But it also shows the horrible mistake of "everyone is a winner" parenting.

Everyone is not a winner
everyone does not get a trophy just for showing up.
This very intelligent boy made it onto Jeopardy, that's a big deal.
Unfortunately, he made a mistake in Final Jeopardy and Alex Trebek told him he made a mistake.
That's how the game is played.

Learning how to lose is a much more important lesson than learning how to win.
Winning is easy, losing is hard and you know what, you lose a lot more often than you win.
Learning how to do it gracefully and with character is a very important lesson.

His parents should be celebrating his intelligence and reminding him that he can learn from his error and move on.
Oh, it's also is an important statement on minor errors.
Errors are errors, however minor. If the loan officer writing out your mortgage puts the comma in the wrong place......it's wrong.
Technically speaking, that's a minor error...........with massive consequences.

Wrong is wrong.

I commend the judges for letting the rule stand and the producers of Jeopardy for not backing down.
There seems to be a major lack of standards in this country. I know, it's just a game show, but it does show how complacent our society has become.