RIP Alex Trebek

Alex Trebek has passed away from his bought with pancreatic cancer.  I've heard more of that cancer in the last half dozen years than I had for my entire life.  I wonder why.

Anyway, he will be missed.  I remember when Jeopardy was rebooted by in my youth. I hadn't heard of the show before, but noted the buzz.  By the time I was a young adult, I began watching the show.  I enjoyed the challenge of trying to guess the answers before the contestants.  Truth be told, I wasn't bad.  But knowing nerves and my dislike for being up in front of people, I see me not making it to Final Jeopardy.  I still watched it, humbling though it was.  For many years it was required viewing in my house, and all four of my boys became better at it than I ever was. 

Over the years, Alex Trebek and his show became a cultural icon.  In the last years, Jeopardy began to emerge as a new attention getter, with various contestants arriving to either wow the audience, frustrate Trebek, or just break the system.  That last one was with Jeopardy super-winner James Holzhaur. In fact, to be honest, after Holzhaur departed, the game was never the same.  He had more or less beat the system, and the feel of the post-Holzhaur games was always different than before.

But through it all, Trebek remained the face of the show.  Though his own beliefs and leanings weren't hard to guess, he didn't flaunt them.  Perhaps harkening back to an age when we didn't define people by their politics, he kept a low profile in that regard, even if it could be said Jeopardy was the more liberal version of the conservative leaning Wheel of Fortune. 

It took Trebek to be the host, because he had the personality, the charisma, and the intelligence.  Even if at times he seems a bit haughty with his knowledge, he had the brains to back it up.  It was nothing for a contestant to give a wrong answer, and Trebek to nonetheless know exactly to what the answer alluded.  

So for the years of entertainment, challenge and general good will, I say thank you Mr. Trebek.  You will be missed.  May the loving arms of God receive you in all His mercy, and may perpetual light shine upon you.  May God cover the hearts and minds of all you leave behind, your family, your friends, and your millions of friends.  Pax.