Eddie Timanus
Encyclopedia
Eddie Timanus is a Jeopardy!
champion and USA Today
sportswriter who grew up in Reston
, Virginia
, then graduated from Wake Forest University
. He met his wife through a Yahoo! Groups
discussion group on game shows; the couple now has a son. Timanus has been blind since he was a toddler due to retinoblastoma
.
Timanus's father, Chuck, was a play-by-play announcer. Eddie began attending sports events with his father at the age of six, and he started keeping statistics at the age of eleven. Timanus graduated from Wake Forest University
in 1990 with a degree in economics. In 1991, The Washington Post reported that Eddie worked alongside Chuck as a statkeeper for American University
's basketball games, using pegboards and abaci
, compiling statistical information for WINX-AM radio.
; his games aired in October 1999. He was the first blind
contestant to compete on the show. The only special assistance given to him during his games was a card on which the category names were printed in Braille
(which he only received at the very start of the round), and a computer keyboard to type out his name on the podium's computer and his response for Final Jeopardy!. There were also no video-based clues during his appearances. Also, beginning with his appearances, contestants started out the episode already at their podiums, instead of the old practice of walking up to them as they were being introduced. (The practice became permanent starting in September 2000.)
Timanus won five consecutive games and then, according to the rules in effect at that time, retired undefeated. His winnings totaled $69,700 (USD
) plus two new cars (Chevrolet Camaro
s in his case), and he was invited back for the show's Tournament of Champions, where he reached the semifinals and won $5,000 there. The story became a minor media sensation, with Jeopardy!s Nielsen ratings
rising 15% for Timanus's fourth and fifth games. Timanus was a contestant on the Jeopardy! Million Dollar Masters Tournament which aired in May 2002, but did not advance beyond the first round and took home $10,000.
Timanus also appeared in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions
on March 16, 2005, in a first-round game. He finished in second place, taking home $5,000. In addition to the Braille cards and computer keyboard provided on his earlier appearances, an audible tone that was in sync with the game board's lights was added in order to give him an indication of when he could begin buzzing in to respond.
. On November 26, 2004, Timanus appeared again on Millionaire, this time as a contestant, and won $50,000 in prize money. When he used the Phone-a-Friend lifeline, host Meredith Vieira
would read the question and the four choices to the friend that he chose to call and would also remind him how much time was remaining on the 30 seconds used for that lifeline.
whose articles appear frequently in the publication. In addition to general reporting, he is responsible for compiling the weekly USA Today Coaches Poll. He also writes the preview section for college football
games.
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
champion and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
sportswriter who grew up in Reston
Reston, Virginia
Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The population was 58,404, at the 2010 Census and 56,407 at the 2000 census...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, then graduated from Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
. He met his wife through a Yahoo! Groups
Yahoo! Groups
Yahoo! Groups is one of the world’s largest collections of online discussion boards. The term Groups refers to Internet communication which is a hybrid between an electronic mailing list and a threaded Internet forum, in other words, Group messages can be read and posted by e-mail or on the Group's...
discussion group on game shows; the couple now has a son. Timanus has been blind since he was a toddler due to retinoblastoma
Retinoblastoma
Retinoblastoma is a rapidly developing cancer that develops in the cells of retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye. In the developed world, Rb has one of the best cure rates of all childhood cancers , with more than nine out of every ten sufferers surviving into...
.
Early life
At age 3, Timanus had an operation to remove tumors from his eyes, leading to his blindness. Following his Jeopardy! success, Timanus related a story from his childhood that his mother told him: "I came home and said, 'Turn on the lights.' And she said, 'They're on and you won't see them.' And I said, 'Well, OK' and went on." http://www.nbcsandiego.com/entertainment/137853/detail.htmlTimanus's father, Chuck, was a play-by-play announcer. Eddie began attending sports events with his father at the age of six, and he started keeping statistics at the age of eleven. Timanus graduated from Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
in 1990 with a degree in economics. In 1991, The Washington Post reported that Eddie worked alongside Chuck as a statkeeper for American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
's basketball games, using pegboards and abaci
Abacus
The abacus, also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool used primarily in parts of Asia for performing arithmetic processes. Today, abaci are often constructed as a bamboo frame with beads sliding on wires, but originally they were beans or stones moved in grooves in sand or on tablets of...
, compiling statistical information for WINX-AM radio.
Jeopardy!
Timanus was a contestant on Jeopardy!Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
; his games aired in October 1999. He was the first blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
contestant to compete on the show. The only special assistance given to him during his games was a card on which the category names were printed in Braille
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
(which he only received at the very start of the round), and a computer keyboard to type out his name on the podium's computer and his response for Final Jeopardy!. There were also no video-based clues during his appearances. Also, beginning with his appearances, contestants started out the episode already at their podiums, instead of the old practice of walking up to them as they were being introduced. (The practice became permanent starting in September 2000.)
Timanus won five consecutive games and then, according to the rules in effect at that time, retired undefeated. His winnings totaled $69,700 (USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
) plus two new cars (Chevrolet Camaro
Chevrolet Camaro
The Chevrolet Camaro is an automobile manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand, classified as a pony car and some versions also as a muscle car. It went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed as a competing model to the Ford Mustang...
s in his case), and he was invited back for the show's Tournament of Champions, where he reached the semifinals and won $5,000 there. The story became a minor media sensation, with Jeopardy!s Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
rising 15% for Timanus's fourth and fifth games. Timanus was a contestant on the Jeopardy! Million Dollar Masters Tournament which aired in May 2002, but did not advance beyond the first round and took home $10,000.
Timanus also appeared in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions
Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions
The Ultimate Tournament of Champions was a special fifteen-week single-elimination tournament that aired during the twenty-first season of the syndicated game show Jeopardy! that began airing on February 9, 2005 and concluded on May 25, 2005, covering 76 shows in all...
on March 16, 2005, in a first-round game. He finished in second place, taking home $5,000. In addition to the Braille cards and computer keyboard provided on his earlier appearances, an audible tone that was in sync with the game board's lights was added in order to give him an indication of when he could begin buzzing in to respond.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
In 2000 he acted as a lifeline on Who Wants to Be a MillionaireWho Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television quiz show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 for correctly answering 14 consecutive multiple-choice questions of random difficulty. Until 2010, the format required contestants to correctly answer 15 consecutive questions of increasing...
. On November 26, 2004, Timanus appeared again on Millionaire, this time as a contestant, and won $50,000 in prize money. When he used the Phone-a-Friend lifeline, host Meredith Vieira
Meredith Vieira
Meredith Louise Vieira is an American journalist, television personality, and game show host. She is best known for her roles as the original moderator of the ABC talk program The View and co-host of the long-running NBC News morning news program, Today...
would read the question and the four choices to the friend that he chose to call and would also remind him how much time was remaining on the 30 seconds used for that lifeline.
Sportswriting
Timanus is a staff sportswriter for USA TodayUSA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
whose articles appear frequently in the publication. In addition to general reporting, he is responsible for compiling the weekly USA Today Coaches Poll. He also writes the preview section for college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
games.