Leonard Cooper is a Brown University student and game show contestant from Little Rock, Arkansas. He went viral after his humorous response of “Who is some guy in Normandy, but I just won $75,000!” won him the Jeopardy Teen Tournament despite not having a guaranteed win.
Jeopardy! Teen Tournament[]
In January 2013, Cooper was invited to compete in the mostly annual Teen Tournament. His quarterfinal game saw him go up against Tori Amos and Jordan Villanueva. Despite being very strong on the signaling device, Cooper had seven incorrect responses in the first two rounds, which led to him entering Final with $10,200 to Amos’ $18,800. He wagered everything and got Final Jeopardy right, giving him $20,400, and automatically advanced him to the semifinals as Amos did not make a cover bet, instead wagering only $800. Amos’ $19,600 was enough to grant her a wild card slot, while Villanueva’s $4,799 was insufficient for a wild cart slot.
His opponents in the semi-finals were Emily Greenberg and fellow finalist Nilai Sarda. As with most of his quarterfinal game, he trailed behind Sarda, and Greenberg passed him right before Final Jeopardy, with the scores being $15,200-$16,200-$18,400. Cooper bet $15,000 and was right, and Greenberg also responded correctly but only wagered $6,000, taking her out of competition. Sarda, however, wagered $14,200, which propelled him above Cooper by $200 and gave him the finalist spot. However, since a previous group of semifinalists - including Tori Amos - all finished with $0, Cooper got into the finals regardless, as he had the highest score of all the non-winners.
The finals saw him face off against Sarda and Barrett Block. In the first game, he lagged behind considerably, finishing with $3,000 to his opponents’ $17,600 and $19,000. At one point in the second game, he found himself struggling to remember the collarbone. However, in late Double Jeopardy of the second game, he found the last Daily Double - the only time he found a Daily Double the entire tournament - and wagered $18,000, which was at the time a tie for highest Daily Double wager with Roger Craig. He got it right and entered Final Jeopardy with $37,000 to Sarda’s $14,400 and Block’s $9,000.
The category for Final Jeopardy was Military Men. Cooper knew that Sarda, as a freshman, would be very likely to miss the question. Thus, if Sarda bet to cover Cooper and was incorrect, all Cooper had to do was wager nothing and he would win the tournament. He also knew that wagering nothing would lock Block out of contention, as he could only accumulate a 2-day total of $35,600, less than the $37,000 Cooper had.
After the question was revealed and the 30 seconds had passed, Block had his response (Dwight D. Eisenhower) revealed first, as he was in third place. He got the question right and wagered all of his $9,000, giving him a 2-day total of $35,600. Sarda’s response was next, but he answered FDR after crossing out Winston Churchill. He wagered $7,000, dropping him to $7,400 and giving him a 2-day total of $26,400. Cooper’s response was revealed last, and he came up with the answer “Who is some guy in Normandy, but I just won $75,000!” The audience immediately roared with laughter as Alex Trebek confirmed that his two day total ($40,000) was enough to win the tournament and the grand prize of $75,000.
Notes and Trivia[]
- His response, "Who is some guy in Normandy, but I just won $75,000!” had Normandy, which is a region in France.