ANN ARBOR—A trip to the mall has landed University of Michigan first-year student Craig Barker of Livonia, Mich., a spot on the popular syndicated game show “Jeopardy!”

Barker, who has been a fan of “Jeopardy!” since his elementary school days, happened to be in Minneapolis last November for a U-M College Bowl tournament. The same weekend, “Jeopardy!” was hosting tryouts for its college tournament at Minneapolis’ Mall of America. On a whim, Barker and three teammates went to the tryouts.

Barker went through a 50-question test at the tryout; the results led to a personal interview with show producers. Finally, Barker was among 15 students chosen from 32 tryout sessions across the nation.

“It was always just one of those things where you thought, ‘wow, you know, it’d be really cool to be on Jeopardy!'” Barker says, “but it wasn’t something I ever actively pursued.”

So just where did Barker accumulate such a breadth of knowledge that led him to a spot on the game show? “I always had a penchant for facts,” Barker says. “It was always fascinating to me, the huge amount of knowledge that was out there, and because I found it so interesting, a lot of it stuck with me.

“Of course,” Barker says, “I know I don’t remember everything—my mom can attest to that; but some things just stick.”

In order to prepare for the “Jeopardy!” appearance, Barker says he played a lot of the computer version of the game show with David Wallace, also of Livonia, his roommate at U-M’s Bursley Residence Hall. “Dave’s a real sharp player. He keeps me on my toes,” Barker says.

Barker says he watched a lot of the TV version of “Jeopardy!” to prepare for the show’s taping. “I would stand in the doorway of my dorm room while the show was on, just so I could get an idea of how it felt to be farther away from the monitors,” Barker says. “I also held a 7-iron in my hand to simulate the feeling of using the buzzers.”

Barker, a graduate of Livonia Stevenson High School, is a pre-business major, but says he is also leaning to a career in education. And despite the brainpower and knowledge that landed him on “Jeopardy!” Barker says he still sees himself as a typical U-M student.

“I like pop culture, movies, music, sports, especially hockey,” Barker says. “You know, average college guy stuff.”

The episodes of “Jeopardy!” featuring Barker will air May 16, 20, 22, 23 on WDIV-TV, Channel 4, in Detroit.
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