Date of first appearance:
July 7, 1994
Total winnings:
$88,902 ($83,902 regular season, $5,000 ToC)
Do you have a nickname associated with your performance?
One of my old college friends calls me the Game Show Wizard.
Records held/stats:
Five-time champion, ToC semifinalist. At the time of my appearance, I believe I was the fifth-highest regular-season money winner in the show's history (surpassed many times since after the dollar values were doubled).
Favorite anecdote associated with being on the show:
I was grabbing a bite at a fast-food joint near home and they had Jeopardy! on the TV behind the counter. While waiting for my order, I was standing there calling out the answers to all the questions. The guy behind the counter said, "Hey, you know, you're pretty good. You should try to get on the show." All I said was, "Yeah, maybe I'll try out someday." I didn't have the heart to tell him I was a five-time champion with winnings over $80,000.
Did being on Jeopardy! have any effect on your life?
I do think the family vacation we took in Europe with part of the winnings affected my kids' lives significantly. The trip inspired my daughter Ann to get involved in a student group at her college that organized an annual "model congress" in Europe, a U.S. government simulation for European high-school students. And my son David, who's now a college sophomore, was so captivated by our time in Italy that he's ended up majoring in Italian literature and is hoping to spend this summer studying there. So I guess you could say my being on Jeopardy! had a significant effect on their lives.
Did you do anything crazy with your winnings?
Well, aside from the aforementioned trip to Europe, we spent some of the money on a new roof and other assorted home improvements. Does that qualify as wild and crazy?
Is there anything else you would like viewers to know about you?
After my appearances on Jeopardy! I also went on to win $5,000 of Ben Stein's money. And I didn't even have to wear the dunce cap by slipping up and answering in question form. The other thing I'd like to say is that I'm so thrilled to be participating in this Ultimate Tournament of Champions that I probably would have done it even without the prize money--but shhh! Don't tell the producers that! |
"He was one of the top 1-day winners in the 1994-95 season. A technical writer from Berkeley, California..."
2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions Elite Eighteen (Round 2 winners) member: $57,802. (Defeated in Round 3 by eventual champion Brad Rutter by just $1 after leading going into Final Jeopardy!)
1994 Tournament of Champions semifinalist: $5,000.
Season 10 5-time champion: $83,902.
Steve's one-day total of $24,700 (#2298, aired 1994-07-27) was the eighth-highest single-day winnings amount at the time, and it remained the tenth-highest one-day total through 1998, earning Steve a spot on the list of the 13 highest one-day winners available on the Jeopardy! web site 1997-1998.
Won $5,000 on Win Ben Stein's Money.
The official UToC web site listed Steve's full first name as "Stephen".
Jeopardy! Message Board user name: OldSchoolChamp |
