Along with millions of others, I was a big fan of “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek, who lost his very public battle with stage four pancreatic cancer earlier this month. He was 80.

Every weekday evening, in ritualistic fashion, I parked myself in front of my TV to match wits with three super-intelligent contestants. In almost every instance, I wound up in fourth place.

I was in awe of Trebek’s talent and unflappability as he reeled off the answers to complicated, tricky and sometimes near-unpronounceable tongue-twisters. He mixed in just the right amount of wit, ad-lib humor and an occasional dash of condescension.

In case you have been cloistered for 36 years on some mountaintop retreat and just returned to society, “Jeopardy!” works in reverse of other game shows.

For example, Trebek might say, “This picturesque county seat in eastern Pennsylvania was once a terminus of the famed Switchback Railroad.” The contestants were charged with coming up with the correct question: “What is Jim Thorpe?” (Mauch Chunk would probably be acceptable, too.)

From time to time, especially when I was having a pretty good run of answering correctly, my wife would say, “You should try out for ‘Jeopardy!’?” I was too embarrassed to tell her that I did once, unbeknown to her and other family members, but never made the cut.

I sneaked off to Merv Griffin’s Resorts Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City several years after Trebek took over the show in 1984 to try out for “Jeopardy!” There were hundreds of people there vying for a shot at fame and fortune. I made it through the 10-question pretest with eight correct answers vs. the passing score of seven.

Those of us who moved on were then confronted with a 50-question test in which I performed miserably and was eliminated from further consideration.

Because of my poor performance, I vowed to keep the experience secret and am revealing it now for the first time. Even these many years later, I can feel my face flush with embarrassment - that’s how horribly I did in that second test.

In the thousands of columns I have composed during my 60-year journalistic career, I have written just one that had Trebek’s name in it until now, and with his passing I am feeling bad about having panned him.

It was during the October 2018 Pennsylvania gubernatorial debate that Trebek moderated between incumbent Democrat Tom Wolf and Republican challenger Scott Wagner. Wolf went on to win re-election easily with 58% of the vote.

When I first heard that Trebek was going to be moderator, I was star-struck and thought what a great catch it was for the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, the event sponsor, to nail down such a beloved icon.

Almost immediately, though, I concluded that Trebek, a Canadian native and California resident, might be out of his element.

I was right. He performed poorly. From the outset, it was clear that Trebek was not going to be a traditional moderator. While this in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, the moderator’s role is to stay in the background and let the candidates be the stars. That didn’t happen.

He said that he accepted the invitation on the condition that he would get to moderate his way – with a “conversation” among him and the candidates rather than a “debate.”

It didn’t take long for the rumbling and grumbling in the sold-out audience of 2,100 to start. During his four-minute opening, compared to a minute and a half for each candidate, Trebek told several jokes that fell flat. “I’m not here to embarrass the candidates,” he said. “They are perfectly able to do that all by themselves.”

He also joked, “I won’t tolerate any booing or hissing, even if it’s directed at the candidates.”

Actually, the only booing and hissing was aimed at Trebek himself. It came when he noted that the state Legislature’s approval rating is just 14 percent. “The only thing with a lower rating,” he said, ‘``is the Catholic Church.”

Also maddening was when Trebek took issue with some of what the candidates said and interjected his own views about education and other controversial subjects.

Calling Trebek a “failed moderator,” candidate Wagner wanted two additional debates, but they never happened.

After the debate, Trebek realized that he had bombed and issued his “sincere apologies to the people of Pennsylvania.”

Trebek said he thought that as moderator he was to provide a “certain lighthearted approach while still being able to challenge the candidates on their records. I didn’t realize that I was to ask a simple question, then let the gentlemen go at each other.”

Trebek said he learned a valuable lesson at age 78 - “Stick to what you know and do best.”

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com