WTH? Contestant Mangles Texas City Name, Wins Prizes Anyway

A contestant on a popular, long running game show butchered the pronunciation of a Texas city and some viewers are angry that she was awarded the prize anyway.

Wheel of Fortune has been on the air since 1975. Though the shows heyday seems to have been from the mid 80's through the mid to late 90's, it remains very popular today. An appearance by cohost Vanna White in Playboy in '87 didn't hurt the shows ratings any. (Careful, that link may be a little NSFW.) ... .

The premise of the show is pretty simple, contestants spin a wheel for a shot at cash and/or prizes while "buying" letters to try and solve the word puzzles and then reading them. Correctly.

The contestant in question was Alicia Sagle, a school nurse and fitness instructor from Red Wing, Minnesota, who was awarded the money in the first round’s “On The Map” category in spite of her mangled pronunciation of Lubbock.

Sagle had control of the wheel when she opted to solve the puzzle, which read “Dallas, Houston, and Lubbock, Texas.” However, she made a mess of pronouncing the name of the final city, calling it “Loo-bock” rather than “Lubbock.”  - tvinsider

Despite the mispronunciation, Sagle was awarded the prize and wrapped up that particular episode with a trip to New York in her hand and $22,020 in her pocket. Can you imagine what she would have done with Nacogdoches, (Nah-ku-doe-chus), Boerne, (Burn-ee) or Gruene, (Green)?

Not to mention Balmorhea ...