An environmental scientist from Burlington, Vermont...

Don Meals

Hi Burlington, I'm Don Meals. You might not have seen Champ lately on Lake Champlain, but watch me on Jeopardy! to see if I can be a champ.

[2010-10-04 Winner's Circle interview]
How does it feel to be the new Jeopardy! Champion?
I'm stunned to be a Jeopardy! champion. I'm amazed, and I'm so happy to be here, I'm happy I got here at all.

Did you have any goals for your appearance on Jeopardy!?
I had, uh, no expectations; I had a hope that I wouldn't embarrass myself. But, uh, I can't believe that I actually won a game.

Any messages to the folks back home?
Yeah, I'm'na thank my wife and daughter who are in the audience, and also my, uh, trivia team pals at, uh, R.J.'s--I--I'll buy the next round next Tuesday night.

[2010-10-05 Winner's Circle interview]
Tell us about Final Jeopardy!
I can't believe I missed Mary Martin on that Final Jeopardy!--my daughter should be ashamed of me. She's big into Broadway, and she's gonna kick me around the house for that one.

How does it feel to win your second game?
I--it feels amazing. The second--the second game is all gravy. Y'know? Once I've proven that I didn't humiliate myself. There's always the third game. I could still do that.

[2010-10-06 Winner's Circle interview]
Did you guess during Final Jeopardy!?
I finally won a Final J--got a Final Jeopardy! right. Uh, even though Alex seemed to think I should because it's in my field, but, uh, uh, astronomy is really not my field, although science is science, I guess, so I'm just happy I got a Final that I could actually answer. Uh, the rest of the categories, eh, not so much. But...

How does it feel to win your third game?
Yeah. I want somebody to buy me a beer.

What has the Jeopardy! experience been like for you?
Oh, this has been fabulous. I can't say enough about how this has made me, uh--everybody made me comfortable, everybody, uh, did their best, I--I didn't really have any nerves. I wish the damn buzzer worked a little bit better, but, uh... [chuckles]

Season 27 3-time champion: $42,599 + $2,000.

Don appeared in the following 4 archived games:
#5994, aired 2010-10-07 Don Meals vs. Mike Hodel vs. Sarah Rabin Spira
#5993, aired 2010-10-06 Don Meals vs. Kelly Moore vs. Peter Landesman
#5992, aired 2010-10-05 Don Meals vs. Kristen Schroeder vs. James Brown
#5991, aired 2010-10-04 Emily Jusino vs. Lois Petzold vs. Don Meals

[player statistics]

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