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‘Millionaire’ player reveals final answer
It’s no longer a secret. The Valley now knows how much the Poland High debate coach won on the show.
BOARDMAN — Sean Sich kept his secret until the end.
The Youngs-town man was a contestant Thursday on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” The software tester and Poland Seminary High School debate team coach had kept mum for five months on how much he won, even though his students and friends tried to get it out of him.
Sich, his wife, Beth, and close to 100 of his family, friends, co-workers and debate students crowded into a banquet room at the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Southern Park Mall to catch the show. Others watched from the restaurant.
Just before the 4 p.m. show started on two walls lined with televisions, Andrew DeCarlo, a member of the speech team, tried one last time to get Sich to reveal his winnings.
“I’m not saying anything,” said Sich. “You waited all this time, you can wait another 25 minutes.”
Sich was under contract not to reveal his winnings until the show aired. The episode was taped in September.
A roar went up in the room when the show began and Sich appeared on screen. Sich gave some play-by-play as the room fell silent and the show’s guest host, Cat Deeley, asked the first question. It was a typical first-round softball: “Where does the sea breeze originate?”
Said Sich: “I had to think a long time about this one” (the answer was “the ocean”).
Nate Podboy, a Poland High senior and member of the debate team, said he knew Sich would do well, but teased him nonetheless. “I told him he’d be one of those who gets the first question wrong.”
Being well-versed in the art of debate definitely helped Sich, according to Podboy. “I knew he wouldn’t crumble under pressure,” he said.
Podboy said he has a great deal of respect for his coach. “He’s a really good guy, and I’m glad that he was in my life,” said Podboy. “He taught me well.” The Poland debate team’s final tournament of the season is today, said Podboy.
During the show, Sich introduced Beth and his parents, Edward and Edna Sich of Austintown, all of whom were in the studio audience. He told Deeley, the host, how he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, a form of cancer, just two days before his wedding in 2006. After receiving chemotherapy, the 28-year-old has been fit and cancer-free for more than two years.
Sich used his Ask the Audience lifeline on the $2,000 question: “Which of these signs of the zodiac is traditionally symbolized by a person and not an animal? A: Aries, B: Virgo, C: Pisces, D: Cancer.” He went with the advice of the audience, and correctly chose B.
Sich also sought help in answering another question.
He used the Ask the Expert lifeline on the $8,000 question: “Which of these types of bread is commonly prepared using a culture of yeast and bacteria, known as a ‘starter’? A: Sourdough, B: Soda bread, C: Challah, D: Cornbread.” The expert, author A.J. Jacobs, had no clue and was unable to help.
So Sich used his Phone A Friend lifeline to ask his mother-in-law, Charlotte Hudach of Boardman, who was very certain about the correct answer (A — sourdough).
Shortly after, Sich’s time in the hot seat ended when he decided not to take a stab at the $25,000 question: “What U.S. city’s main airport uses the three-letter code “SAN”? A: San Antonio, B: San Jose, C: San Diego, D: San Francisco.”
He was unsure of the answer so he walked away with his winnings of $16,000. And in an instant, the weight of keeping that amount secret for five months was lifted from his shoulders.
After the show, Beth talked about how proud she was of her husband. “Most contestants get greedy and go for the money and wind up losing everything. But Sean did the smart thing, and now we have $16,000.”
Sich had said earlier that he would use some of his winnings to pay off his hospital bills, repay his parents for the financial help they gave him while he underwent chemotherapy, and donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
And by the way — that airport with the SAN abbreviation?
San Diego.