Date of first appearance:
(airdate) Jun. 20, 2001 [taping date Feb. 28, 2001]
Total Winnings:
$56,100 and 2 Camaros
Do you have a nickname associated with your performance?
The Champ (yeah, it's nothing special, but it came from the anecdote below; it's also a funny in-joke if you listen to college radio in Ontario)
Records held/Stats:
5-time champ
One of only three Canadians to win 5 times (as far as I've been told)
Did being on Jeopardy! have any effect on your life?
After my win, some of my acquaintances at an executive placement company called me up and asked me to be their ringer. They were participating in a charity trivia night, hosted by none other than Alex himself!
So I went to the charity event and our team crushed all competition. At the end of the night, Alex revealed that I was a 5-time Jeopardy! champ, which caused a few groans around the room.
The next year, my team decided to be sporting and auctioned me off for half of the trivia competition, with the proceeds going to charity. So Alex brought me up on stage and called a real live auction. I ended up going for $4,000. At the end of the first half, the team that had bought me was in third place. After I left, they ended up in 27th place, so we all know who was doing the heavy lifting there!
Did you do anything crazy with your winnings?
Before I went back to the Tournament of Champions, I knew that I had to look good. I went out and splurged on a very nice black suit, which I soon dubbed “The Intimidator.” It was actually recommended to me by a friend who wore the same suit when firing people at his company, hence the name. Actually, he's quite a nice guy.
The night before flying down to do the show, I foolishly ended up going to his bachelor party. Needless to say, I was in pretty bad shape when I arrived. In the quarterfinal, I was off on the buzzer and I was making uncharacteristic mistakes.
During Alex's interview, he asked me about “The Intimidator.” It didn't seem to work, because I was in dead last and way behind heading into Final Jeopardy! I was the only one who got it right, but I still finished second with a fairly low amount. When I heard the semifinalists' names being called out, I only counted eight. Then Alex said, “It must be the suit, because you're our ninth semifinalist, Lan.” I ended up losing in the semifinal, but I wasn't wearing the suit that day either.
Outside of what you've just read, I'm actually quite a sensible guy so I mainly did boring things like invest my winnings.
Is there anything else you would like viewers to know about you?
I'm single :-) |
"He was a 5-time champion in 2001. Today he's a health policy analyst. From Toronto, Ontario, Canada..."
2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions Elite Eighteen (Round 2 winners) member: $63,100.
2001 Tournament of Champions wildcard semifinalist: $5,000.
Season 17 5-time champion: $51,100 + 2 Chevrolet Camaros. |
