The category is Food & Drink(s)

It's the biggest news in game shows since Watson! Well, sort of. Pat Sajak's half-serious "admission" that he might have imbibed between long ago Wheel of Fortune tapings has set off a fast and furious Net reaction.

Some generally respectable news outlets have joined in the liquid fun. The New York Daily News is running a poll (I swear) on this enormously significant issue. Right now the don't-care options are winning huge. Wish the News offered another choice in the poll: "I take a drink every time somebody buys a vowel."

Some Net posters have commented about the rumors of rampant boozing on the ancient Match Game. If I had been a contestant, I would have gotten good and sloshed, too. Hey, Richard, match this!

Halfway seriously, Sajak's image is hardly likely to get drubbed as a result of this silliness. Even if he batted back a few during some of the tapings, it was a long time ago. Nowadays, Wheel is so straight and sober, it makes Jeopardy look risqué. But game show bloggers everywhere are grateful for the story. I'd drink to it, in fact, except I hardly ever drink any more.

UPDATE: As you might expect, Pat Sajak now admits he was exaggerating a bit. "To be honest, and I hate to put an end to this drinking thing because we've gotten a lot of mileage out of it, but it was probably a half a dozen times we went across the street and had a margarita." Aw gee, Pat, just when the party was getting good, you take the punch bowl away.