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Local man makes national headlines on ‘Jeopardy!’

By Courtney Flaherty
Creative Director

Answer: This Clayton High School science teacher and Garner resident recently competed in the game show “Jeopardy!” and quickly sealed his fate as a fierce opponent.

Question: Who is Andy Srinivasan?

Garner resident Andy Srinivasan with game show host Alex Trebek

After watching “Jeopardy!” since it started in 1984 and being confident in his mental reservoir of random information, Andy Srinivasan took an online “Jeopardy!” test in January 2009. After only a few months, Srinivasan was called to audition for the show in Charlotte.

Srinivasen was told that it could take up to 19 months for him to be called back, but it took less than three months till he got the call. On July 29, he showed up for his first taping.

Srinivasan was a four-day champion with winnings totaling more than $70,000. His strategy to win was simple: Don’t make friends.

“I am not here to make friends with any of you people,” Srinivasan said of his attitude regarding the other contestants. “You are my competition; my desire is to beat you. It’s nothing personal. On any other day, we could sit in a coffee shop and chat, but you are my competitor; you are my competition. As much as possible, I want to run you into the ground.”

Srinivasan doesn’t feel remorse for his competitive mentality, either.

“People go there, and they’re really friendly to each other, and they’re nice, and I wasn’t. I tried to feel bad about it, but I really couldn’t,” he said, laughing.

Srinvasan isn’t exactly the picture of a tough competitor. Dressed in a red polo shirt and khakis, politely sipping on a cup of coffee at Swift Creek Coffee House, Srinivasan said he can’t help his competitive streak; he gets it from his mother.

“My mom used to play monopoly, and my mom would cheat,” he said. “I would forbid her to be the banker. Every once and a while, I would just tilt the board up ‘cause there would be cash slid under, [and I would say] ‘Where did this money come from? I wiped you out, and you’re still pulling out money?”

As someone who never played sports, Srinavasan says he approached “Jeopardy!” as the football players at Clayton High would approach the game. He said the good football players can often separate the game from everything else. Regardless of whom they play — their best friends or their worst enemies — their goal is always to win, no matter what. Srinivasan insists the “Go big or go home” strategy is the only way to play if you want to win.

“I had a four-day run, and I think [that was because] I didn’t approach it as in, ‘Cool, I’m gonna be on a game show.’ I approached it as, ‘I’m on this game show; I’m gonna beat those people over there. … I am going to, as much as possible, run up the score on them.’ And that’s what I did for two of those days.”

And with a little luck, he might be playing again. Being a four-day champion and winning more than $70,000 qualify Srinivasan to play in the “Tournament of Champions,” an annual tournament of “Jeopardy” champions.

Srinivasan is unaware of when the tournament will take place and who, if anyone, has been chosen to compete. He is optimistic that his long run works in his favor and says he is waiting for the 304 area code (for Culver City, where they film “Jeopardy”) to pop up on his cell phone again.

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