freshman year

VASJ Alumnus
SEAN HANSEN, vasj ’91
Game show
winner
learned his
most important
answers
at VASJ
By Mike Tobin ’91
Standing in front of cameras and a live audience
before the start of the popular game show
Jeopardy!, Sean Hansen was so nervous he
needed two hands to grip the buzzer used to answer
questions.
So Hansen did what he has done so many times in
life. The 1991 graduate, whose senior year was the first
of the merged schools, hearkened back to the lessons
he learned at St. Joseph and Villa Angela-St. Joseph.
“It was kind of like a football game,” says Hansen,
39. “You’re nervous for the first few minutes but after
that you get into the swing of the game and everything
falls into place.”
Things did fall into place for the Euclid native, but
not without some aggressive betting and correctly
answering questions outside his the comfort zone.
Hansen was trailing by $6,600 with less than a minute
left when he hit the “Daily Double.” The topic was
Jeopardy’s Alex Trebek and Sean Hansen ’91.
“21st Century Tony Awards.”
“I figured there was no point in not going for the
win,” says Hansen, who wasn’t too confident but
decided to bet $7,000. He nailed the answer, as well as
the answer in “Final Jeopardy,” and walked away with
$30,001.
The win was equal parts strategy, smarts and risktaking.
Hansen used the same formula to excel in the
classroom and in athletics at St. Joe’s and VASJ, and to
build a successful career.
He grew up in Holy Cross Parish, the youngest of
three boys born to parents who each had spent time
studying for the religious life before deciding God had
another plan for them.
Hansen was always big for his age, so much so that
he exceeded the weight limit in CYO football and
didn’t play organized football until his freshman year.
But he excelled there, starting as the center on the 1989
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Spring/Summer 2012 www.vasj.com 216-481-8414