In a match that must have played like Rocky’s takedown of Ivan Drago, New Jersey congressman Rush Holt managed to stifle Watson, the Jeopardy-juggernaut computer, at his own game.

The Los Angeles Times reports Holt, a physicist who won Jeopardy five times back in the 70s, managed to beat Watson in a round, $8,600 to $6,200. Watson eventually came out ahead in the tag-team match against the congressional quartet, but we imagine Skynet headquarters were shaken at Watson’s setback.

The non-televised exhibition, which pitted Watson against five House members at a D.C. hotel, was staged to promote the need for more math and science education.

Said Holt in a statement after the contest:

“I was proud to hold my own with Watson. While it was fun to out-do Watson for one night in trivia; it is vital that, as a nation, we out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world for generations to come.”

Translated into Rocky-ese, what Holt might have meant was “I guess what I’m trying to say, is that if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change.”

Watson, the ‘Jeopardy!’ champ, loses to Rep. Rush Holt [Los Angeles Times]
(Thanks, Alisa!)

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