Think of the most fearsome, dominant individual-sport athletes of the past couple of generations. At their best, you had little chance of beating them.
Mike Tyson. Michael Phelps. Tiger Woods. Serena Williams. Jason Belmonte. Usain Bolt. James Holzhauer.
Yes, James Holzhauer.
Holzhauer, the record-breaking “Jeopardy!” doyen, is undeniably the most dynamic, unstoppable force in the show’s modern 35-year history.
He doesn’t just vanquish his foes; he annihilates them. Like Tyson, Holzhauer often delivers a knockout blow in the first minute. The ex-heavyweight champion once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Holzhauer bolts out of his corner by choosing the highest-priced clues, and before his opponents have even settled in, he is ahead by $4,000 or $5,000.
What amazes about Holzhauer — other than he has to know all this stuff — is that they tape five “Jeopardy!” shows in a day. He goes up against new competition all afternoon; they bring ‘em in two at a time, fresh-minded and fresh-bodied, and he keeps sending ‘em out on a slab.
.. By the way, let’s give a brief nod to the understated brilliance of Trebek. He has the perfect contestant-side manner for the job. What, you want Steve Harvey or Drew Carey fronting this baby? No. Trebek seems more expedition guide than game-show host.
Holzhauer says he has prepared for years for this; he made it his personal mission. So, you ask, “Who turns over their life to ‘Jeopardy!’?” Hey, it’s not as if he devoted his energies to “Wheel of Fortune.”
Kate Upton’s allegations against Paul Marciano are part of the fashion industry’s reckoning
Upton said she felt uncomfortable being alone with Marciano, who allegedly fondled her breasts on the first day of shooting a lingerie campaign in 2010. He continued to aggressively touch her throughout the shoot, she said, and she was fired after denying him access to her hotel room.
Photographer Yu Tsai, who refused to leave the shoot after Marciano told him to go, was also let go. (Yu Tsai corroborated Upton’s allegations, according to Time.)
Marciano’s behavior got worse during a subsequent shoot for a Guess Jeans campaign, Upton said, as his language was “extremely dominant and possessive.”
“At one point, to avoid Paul coming to set, I told him my boyfriend was going to be there,” she said. “He was absolutely furious at that. It was an emotional and nonstop battle of games, power struggles and creative avoidance tactics.”
.. Last month, as the movement continued to pick up steam, several male models went public with allegations against famed photographers Mario Testino and Bruce Weber. Fifteen models who had worked with Weber on risque advertisements for Calvin Klein, Abercrombie & Fitch and the like told the New York Times they’d been coerced into “unnecessary nudity” and sexual behavior.
.. Gene Kogan, who previously worked as an agent at Next Management, told the Times, “If you said you were not going to work with someone like Bruce Weber or Mario Testino, you might as well just pack it in and go work in another industry.”
.. “If the models don’t get paid, the agencies and managers and everyone around them doesn’t get their cut,” she said. “Agencies need to be stronger when they hear these stories. They’re saying, ‘Oh, Kate’s not O.K. with this’ and bringing in the next model. The next model needs to know why I’m not O.K. with this.”