Eddie Timanus (born 1968) is a ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

and game show contestant who grew up in Reston,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, then graduated from

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

. Timanus has been blind since he was a toddler due to

retinoblastoma Retinoblastoma (Rb) is a rare form of cancer that rapidly develops from the immature cells of a retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye. It is the most common primary malignant intraocular cancer in children, and it is almost exclusively fo ...

. He is best known for his five-game

winning streak A winning streak, also known as a win streak or hot streak, is an uninterrupted sequence of success in games or competitions, commonly measured by at least 4 wins that are uninterrupted by losses or ties/draws. Although sometimes claimed as a ...

on the

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...

'' and for being the first blind contestant to appear on the show.

Early life

Timanus was born on August 9, 1968, in

St. Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. At age three, 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." Timanus' father, Chuck, was a

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

announcer. Eddie began attending sporting events with his father at the age of six, and he started keeping statistics at the age of eleven. Timanus graduated from

in 1990 with a degree in economics. In 1991, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' reported that Eddie worked alongside Chuck as a statkeeper for

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

's basketball games, using pegboards and abaci, compiling statistical information for WINX-AM radio. His mother, Terri Timanus, was also a ''Jeopardy!'' contestant, appearing in 1991 and losing her only game.From the Vault: Eddie Timanus , JEOPARDY!
Jeopardy! official Youtube account (August 4, 2020). Retrieved August 4, 2020.

''Jeopardy!''

Timanus was a contestant on ''

''; his games aired in October 1999. He was the first blind contestant to compete on the show. There were a few changes made to accommodate Timanus: the first was that he received a card with the category names printed in

Braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

before each round, and a Braille keyboard to type out his name on the podium's computer and his response and wager for Final Jeopardy!. There were also no video-based clues during his appearances. Also, beginning with his appearances, contestants started out the show 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 refused further accommodations. Timanus won five consecutive games and then, in accordance with the rules in effect at that time, retired undefeated. His winnings totaled US$69,700 plus two new cars (

Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro share ...

s in his case), and he was invited back for the 2000 Tournament of Champions in Atlanta, Georgia, where he reached the semifinals and won $5,000 there. The story became a minor media sensation, with ''Jeopardy!''

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

rising 15 percent for Timanus's fourth and fifth games. Host

Alex Trebek George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian-American game show host and television personality. He is best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 season ...

received one of six Access Awards from the American Foundation for the Blind in 2001 for his role in accommodating Timanus. Timanus was a contestant on the '' Jeopardy! Million Dollar Masters'' Tournament in New York City 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. Timanus participated in the March 3, 2014 episode of the ''Jeopardy!'' Battle of the Decades tournament. While he had the most money going into Final Jeopardy! round in which every contestant answered incorrectly, he lost by a margin of $200 finishing in second place behind Rachael Schwartz. As with his Ultimate Tournament of Champions appearance, he was given Braille cards, a computer keyboard, and an audible buzz-in indicator.

''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire''

In 2000 he acted as a lifeline on ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and ...

''. 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 Louise Vieira (born December 30, 1953) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. She is best known as the original moderator of the daytime talk show '' The View'' (1997–2006), the original host of the syndicated ...

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

for ''

''. His 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 (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

games.

Personal life

He met his wife through a

Yahoo! Groups Yahoo! Groups was a free-to-use system of electronic mailing lists offered by Yahoo!. Prior to February 2020, Yahoo! Groups was one of the world's largest collections of online discussion boards. It allowed members to subscribe to various group ...

discussion group on game shows; the couple now has a son.

References

External links

''USA Today'' college pollsArticle on Timanus from Wake Forest University paper ''Old Gold & Black''Timanus's player profile on the J! Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timanus, Eddie 1968 births Living people People from St. Joseph, Missouri Jeopardy! contestants American blind people Wake Forest University alumni People from Reston, Virginia USA Today journalists American male journalists American sportswriters Journalists from Missouri Journalists from Virginia