The Final Jeopardy question (1/7/2013) in the category “American Sports Legends” was:

A bio from 1974, 26 years after his death, quotes him: “I swing big… I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.”

2-day champ, Ashok Poozhikunnel is up to $39,601 in winnings. Let’s see how he makes out today against these two new players: Steve Money, from Washington, DC and Wendy Hayes, from Kansas City, MO.

Steve found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “2000: The Year in Quotations.” He was in the lead with $4,000, $1,600 more than Wendy in second place. He bet $1,200 and he was RIGHT.

This country’s president in an address to the Knesset: “I am asking forgiveness… for myself and my generation.” show

WHAT IS GERMANY?

Steve finished in the lead with $6,200. Ashok and Wendy were tied in second place with $2,800 each.

Ashok found the first Double Jeopardy Daily Double on the second pick of the round in “Days of Yore.” He had $3,200 now, $3,000 less than Steve’s lead. He bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.

This mixture of potassium nitrate, sulfur & charcoal was perfected by the Chinese around 1000 A.D. show

WHAT IS GUNPOWDER?

Ashok found the last Daily Double in “Female Firsts.” He now had a big old lead with $15,000, $8,400 more than Steve in second place. He bet $3,000 again but he blew the last name by saying Stevens and that was WRONG. (We wonder if he could have got it by stopping at Wallis – after that marriage, she was known as Wallis, Duchess of Windsor).

The first to be named Time Magazine’s Woman of the Year, she soon married ex-British King Edward VIII. show

WHO IS WALLIS SIMPSON?

Ashok finished in the lead with $18,800. Steve was next with $13,000 and Wendy was in third place with $2,400.

ALL of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHO IS BABE RUTH?

The quote is from Robert Creamer’s “Babe: The Legend Comes to Life” The paragraph containing the quote has Ruth seriously discussing his batting. He said, “I swing as hard as I can, and I try to swing right through the ball. In boxing, your fist usually stops when you hit a man, but it’s possible to hit so hard that your fist doesn’t stop. I try to follow through the same way. The harder you grip the bat, the more you can swing it through the ball, and the farther the ball will go…” He continues with “I swing big…” and the omitted phrase is “with everything I’ve got.”

Wendy bet $1,600 and finished with $4,000.

Steve bet $6,000, finishing with $19,000.

Ashok bet $7,201 so he won the game with $26,001 today, and he now has a 3-day total of $65,602, which brought a great big smile to his face as that was announced, as it would to you, too, not to mention us.