MINNEAPOLIS — If you caught Jeopardy! on Monday, you saw a Minnesotan competing. Do-Hyoung Park had a 13-time champion sweating as he closed in on her lead. We caught up with the MLB Twins beat writer about his journey after the episode aired.
Editor's Note: Some of the responses have been shortened.
Gia: First, just tell me how you felt being on that stage and playing the game you call a life-long dream?
Do: Well, the funny thing is I didn’t really know how I’d feel stepping on that stage. It’s something that I’ve been hyping up and building up for myself for a long time, as you said. But let me tell you one of the more unforgettable moments in the whole day for me was when I was standing on that stage, the music started to play, the lights dimmed, they called my name out and I was just shocked because I just felt so at ease.
Gia: I think even for viewers, it lived up to expectations, because you were playing against Amy Schneider, a now 14-time winner after your game. So what's the feeling as you look back the stiff competition?
Do: At the time I had taped, there was this previous super champion, Matt Amodio, who won more than 30 games. As I was preparing to go on the show I was at least mentally preparing for the fact that Matt might still be, so imagine my shock when I show up for COVID testing and orientation and it’s a relief when Matt's not there. At the end of orientation they tell us "Oh by the way, there's this new champion, she's won 13 games and $500,000. Good luck."
Gia: How do you go from being a chemical engineering grad at Stanford to an MLB beat writer for the Twins?
Do: I’m still not 100% sure how that happened to be honest. I think it came down to as I was doing my engineering degrees... I didn’t want to pigeon hole myself into just one aspect of my development. When I got to college I was like, "I’ll join the student newspaper. I like sports, lets try that." I was just so fortunate at the end of it as I was looking for engineering jobs I also got an internship to write with MLB.com and one thing led to another.
Gia: You revealed in your Jeopardy! episode that you haven't been to a hockey or football game. I have to think that's a conscious decision living here in Minnesota?
Do: I don’t know if it’s a conscious decision, but it’s just one of those things where you get to a certain point and you’re like, "You know, it’s kind of funny that this hasn’t happened yet." I didn't expect to talk about it with Ken Jennings on a national stage with my home state hearing that gross shame of my life, that I've never seen a hockey game from start to finish, let alone go to one. But I think it's just a fun tidbit and I thought people would get a kick out of since I write about sports for a living.
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