Trailblazing Jeopardy! queen Amy Schneider claimed the internet’s heart with her 40-game winning streak last year, and now she’s won over the heart of an entire California city, too. Oakland, a city in the Bay Area with a very large LGBTQ+ population, has officially declared September 7 to be Amy Schneider Day.
Mayor Libby Schaaf tweeted to commemorate the occasion on Wednesday, writing that Schneider, who lives in Oakland, has “made our city proud” as the “winningest woman and second-longest winning streak ever” on Jeopardy! (Schaaf also said that Schneider was the first trans contestant on the game show, but that honor actually belongs to Kate Freeman. Schneider was, however, the first trans competitor in the quiz show’s Tournament of Champions, a special two-week contest featuring the cream of the prior contestant crop.)
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“Amy doesn't just say she's from Oakland, she shouts it!” Schaaf wrote in her caption, accompanied by pictures of herself handing the Mayor’s Proclamation to Schneider. “Oakland ❤ you Amy!”
Schneider herself quote-tweeted the mayor’s post and added, “I love this town so damn much, and to be honored like this, to be told that I’ve made Oakland proud… I’m genuinely getting emotional over here,” capping off with a teary-eyed emoji.
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The designation comes shortly after the rumor broke that Schneider could be part of an upcoming special episode of Jeopardy! The annual Tournament of Champions will return to the air on Halloween, and Schneider is already set to compete in the semifinals (executive producer Michael Davies told the Inside Jeopardy podcast said that she was “so far ahead of the curve” that it wouldn’t be fair to make the lower bracket compete against her).
But Davies also hinted that Schneider could return even sooner than that, in a special episode that he said would “break the internet.” That will likely be the November 8 episode that will pay special tribute to Alex Trebek, the show’s illustrious host who passed away last January at the age of 80.
Even Schneider herself said in an interview with Them earlier this year that she believed she’d be invited back on for something other than the Tournament of Champions.
Them might not be based in Oakland, but every September 7, you’ll definitely catch us honoring our favorite champion.
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