Meet the guy who just became a Jersey ‘Jeopardy!’ legend

There’s something about seeing one of our own stand behind that podium on "Jeopardy!" that feels Jersey Strong. Maybe it’s just that it gives us a rooting interest. Maybe it’s a little of our arrogance in saying, “Yeah… Jersey’s got this.”

And right now? Jersey really has got this.

Meet Jamie Ding. He's a Lawrenceville guy, Princeton grad, who just carved his name into Garden State trivia history. This isn’t just a nice little run. This is a full-on juggernaut.

Ding has rattled off a 15-game winning streak, putting him among the top runs the show has ever seen, and stacking up more than $700,000 in winnings. $690,000 as of Friday evening's show to be exact. That makes him the highest-earning "Jeopardy!" contestant ever to come out of New Jersey according to NJ.com. Not just good, but elite.

And here’s where perspective plays in.

The gold standard is still Ken Jennings with 74 straight wins and over $2.5 million during his original run alone. Ding’s not there yet, but let’s be honest, is anyone ever going to be again? What Ding is doing is putting himself in rare air and making himself a household name.

And he’s doing it with a little Jersey edge, too. At one point, he even took a swipe at neighboring states over housing, because despite all that nerdy, brainiac knowledge, he's still a Jersey dude, that's why.

That’s our guy.

The best part? This isn’t over.

Ding is set to be back on "Jeopardy!" Monday night, and now it’s no longer “let’s see how he does.”

Now it’s "let's see how far he goes."

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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