Philadelphia 500 - A Travelogue
"And I would bus 500 miles, and I would bus 500 more / Just be the man who went 1000 miles to put tiles on your board..."
So, what possesses somebody to travel for over 500 miles each way for a single day of Scrabble?
I'm still not quite sure of that answer, to be honest.
But at about 11:00 on Saturday morning, I had a thought. "I'm not doing anything else this weekend. I could go play Scrabble. In Philadelphia." After looking at some bus and train schedules and realizing that this trip was actually feasible, I found myself on the phone with Matt Hopkins, registering for the tournament the next day. Some of my friends warned me to watch my rating, making sure it stayed above 1300, but I figured I could avoid that by going 2-5 at the worst.
My travel plans had me leaving my home in St. Catharines on a 6:15 bus to Buffalo, leaving Buffalo at 8:30 for New York City, arriving in New York City at about 5:10 in the morning. From there, I was on a 9:09 Amtrak train to Philadelphia.
Times Square is certainly an interesting experience at 5:15 in the morning. I wandered around Times Square for about 15-20 minutes before picking up some breakfast at one of the about half-dozen McDonalds restuarants that I saw in the area. I switched batteries on my Treo at this point and then sauntered down to Penn Station where I picked up my ticket for my 9:09 train, and went to sit down. That was almost a mistake - as I had not slept on the bus ride (sleeping on moving vehicles tends to give me motion sickness), I almost fell asleep in the Amtrak waiting area. Not wanting to miss my train, I downed an iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts followed by a Rockstar energy drink a little while later.
I managed to stay awake for long enough to get on my train; however, I only remember about half of the train ride, as I fell asleep between about Metropark and Trenton. I remember being surprised to hear the conductor say "Philadelphia's next" and woke up, feeling slightly more refreshed, and pleased that I was almost in Philly.
Of course, once I was off the train, I was looking at about a 16-block walk from the station to the tournament site. I was at Market & 30th when I heard a car horn honk at me. Turning around, I saw Linda Wancel, Sue Gable, and Denise Mahnken, coming in from NYC. I managed to squeeze in the back seat of their car and was pleased to have avoided the walk.
After arriving at the tournament, Linda needed to help Matt get his printer, so Sue, Denise, and I went off in search of coffee.
After arriving, I start talking with people about what I'm doing in Philadelphia, and the general consensus (after talking with Linda Wancel and Winter) was that I was nuts. Now, when those two people tell you that you're nuts for playing in a tournament (Linda's played more tournament games than anyone else in 2007) -- you know you might be just a little crazy.
The tournament was a little slow starting, but once we got going, things seemed to open pretty well for me.
Game 1: vs. Diana Grosman
So, apparently my board vision is amazing when I'm hopped up on caffeine. Turn 2 was MO(I)STUrE (with the S hooking onto the front of EX); I then pull EKLNOST out of the bag and see the bango. Diana charges right back with Z(O)OS for 69 and GRoPERS for 78. My ill-advised attempt of C(O)JOIN(E)R* gets red-screened off the board and we stay neck-and-neck until the endgame, when I find CL(I)N(G)IER for 30 -- and Diana picks up quad A's. Final score: 385-375.
Game 2: vs. Joe Geibler
Again, the board vision was working well for me. I suspect that my being tired forced me into focusing on the board. Some fun stuff early on here was Joe's (FRUGAL)ITY and then me, seeing no place for my rack of AINNOTS to play, decided to play (U)NA(N)OINTS*. Joe got the second blank down as part of SAUsAGE, and we keeping with me until the endgame, where I opened up a single spot to play off the Z. Possibly thinking there was another spot for it, I immediately block the Z spot and coast to a Z-stick-and-time-penalty-assisted victory. Final score: 415-336.
Game 3: vs. Bunny Gorchov
Bunny got bingo-bango down early; I wasn't able to bingo. My highlight was getting JOB(b)ER down for 60. Final score: 297-401.
Lunch break: Good times with Rebecca and Jason.
Game 4: vs. Jay Strieb
I really suspect that Jay had tile issues this game; though he did get ZETA down for 50, he had back-to-back exchanges late. I got both blanks and used them for UnWEEDE(D) and RELIaNT. Final score: 392-266.
Gamd 5: vs. Paul Oleinick
In the first 8 turns, I got BARONET for 68, TAENIAS for 77, HASH for 55, and QAIDS for 70. At this point, I'm leading 368-193. Then, Paul gets BEDSIdE down for 81, and then KIDdY for 72 to pull within 34. Problem is, Paul back-hooked the K onto TIS. I hold, and reason that I should still be able to outrun Paul to the line, also knowing that with the X still out, and an X-bomb very much possible, a lost challenge probably costs me the game. I accept the play, block the X-bomb, and (I'll post this position later) Paul then plays what I think has been the most brilliant play I've ever seen played against me in any Scrabble game. Needless to say, I'm left in a position where I'm powerless to prevent Paul from winning. Final score: 418-434.
Game 6: vs. Scott Kitchen
At this point, I'm practically falling asleep at the table. I saw the Z, which I got down for 41, and a couple of Ss. Scott plays good defense and improves to 6-0 on the day. Final score: 324-372.
Game 7: vs. Jay Strieb
Again, I nearly fall asleep at the board; however, I'm awake enough to remember that REPINES is good and awake enough to play it. However, Jay got both blanks late, into a bingo with RaTTENs, and C(R)IMP isn't enough to win. Final score: 363-367.
While the tournament hasn't been officially rated yet, it looks as if I finished 3-4, +43, and with absolutely no ratings change. Not bad for travelling 500 miles on 30 minutes' sleep.
After the tournament, Winter was nice enough to give me a ride back to the train staion, where I was fortunate enough to be able to bump my train ticket up to the train leaving an hour earlier, which in turn was enough to get me on an express bus to Buffalo leaving at 10:30 instead of 1:15. I was back in my house in St. Catharines at 6:30 on Monday morning.
Not a bad 36 hour adventure, eh?
So, what possesses somebody to travel for over 500 miles each way for a single day of Scrabble?
I'm still not quite sure of that answer, to be honest.
But at about 11:00 on Saturday morning, I had a thought. "I'm not doing anything else this weekend. I could go play Scrabble. In Philadelphia." After looking at some bus and train schedules and realizing that this trip was actually feasible, I found myself on the phone with Matt Hopkins, registering for the tournament the next day. Some of my friends warned me to watch my rating, making sure it stayed above 1300, but I figured I could avoid that by going 2-5 at the worst.
My travel plans had me leaving my home in St. Catharines on a 6:15 bus to Buffalo, leaving Buffalo at 8:30 for New York City, arriving in New York City at about 5:10 in the morning. From there, I was on a 9:09 Amtrak train to Philadelphia.
Times Square is certainly an interesting experience at 5:15 in the morning. I wandered around Times Square for about 15-20 minutes before picking up some breakfast at one of the about half-dozen McDonalds restuarants that I saw in the area. I switched batteries on my Treo at this point and then sauntered down to Penn Station where I picked up my ticket for my 9:09 train, and went to sit down. That was almost a mistake - as I had not slept on the bus ride (sleeping on moving vehicles tends to give me motion sickness), I almost fell asleep in the Amtrak waiting area. Not wanting to miss my train, I downed an iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts followed by a Rockstar energy drink a little while later.
I managed to stay awake for long enough to get on my train; however, I only remember about half of the train ride, as I fell asleep between about Metropark and Trenton. I remember being surprised to hear the conductor say "Philadelphia's next" and woke up, feeling slightly more refreshed, and pleased that I was almost in Philly.
Of course, once I was off the train, I was looking at about a 16-block walk from the station to the tournament site. I was at Market & 30th when I heard a car horn honk at me. Turning around, I saw Linda Wancel, Sue Gable, and Denise Mahnken, coming in from NYC. I managed to squeeze in the back seat of their car and was pleased to have avoided the walk.
After arriving at the tournament, Linda needed to help Matt get his printer, so Sue, Denise, and I went off in search of coffee.
After arriving, I start talking with people about what I'm doing in Philadelphia, and the general consensus (after talking with Linda Wancel and Winter) was that I was nuts. Now, when those two people tell you that you're nuts for playing in a tournament (Linda's played more tournament games than anyone else in 2007) -- you know you might be just a little crazy.
The tournament was a little slow starting, but once we got going, things seemed to open pretty well for me.
Game 1: vs. Diana Grosman
So, apparently my board vision is amazing when I'm hopped up on caffeine. Turn 2 was MO(I)STUrE (with the S hooking onto the front of EX); I then pull EKLNOST out of the bag and see the bango. Diana charges right back with Z(O)OS for 69 and GRoPERS for 78. My ill-advised attempt of C(O)JOIN(E)R* gets red-screened off the board and we stay neck-and-neck until the endgame, when I find CL(I)N(G)IER for 30 -- and Diana picks up quad A's. Final score: 385-375.
Game 2: vs. Joe Geibler
Again, the board vision was working well for me. I suspect that my being tired forced me into focusing on the board. Some fun stuff early on here was Joe's (FRUGAL)ITY and then me, seeing no place for my rack of AINNOTS to play, decided to play (U)NA(N)OINTS*. Joe got the second blank down as part of SAUsAGE, and we keeping with me until the endgame, where I opened up a single spot to play off the Z. Possibly thinking there was another spot for it, I immediately block the Z spot and coast to a Z-stick-and-time-penalty-assisted victory. Final score: 415-336.
Game 3: vs. Bunny Gorchov
Bunny got bingo-bango down early; I wasn't able to bingo. My highlight was getting JOB(b)ER down for 60. Final score: 297-401.
Lunch break: Good times with Rebecca and Jason.
Game 4: vs. Jay Strieb
I really suspect that Jay had tile issues this game; though he did get ZETA down for 50, he had back-to-back exchanges late. I got both blanks and used them for UnWEEDE(D) and RELIaNT. Final score: 392-266.
Gamd 5: vs. Paul Oleinick
In the first 8 turns, I got BARONET for 68, TAENIAS for 77, HASH for 55, and QAIDS for 70. At this point, I'm leading 368-193. Then, Paul gets BEDSIdE down for 81, and then KIDdY for 72 to pull within 34. Problem is, Paul back-hooked the K onto TIS. I hold, and reason that I should still be able to outrun Paul to the line, also knowing that with the X still out, and an X-bomb very much possible, a lost challenge probably costs me the game. I accept the play, block the X-bomb, and (I'll post this position later) Paul then plays what I think has been the most brilliant play I've ever seen played against me in any Scrabble game. Needless to say, I'm left in a position where I'm powerless to prevent Paul from winning. Final score: 418-434.
Game 6: vs. Scott Kitchen
At this point, I'm practically falling asleep at the table. I saw the Z, which I got down for 41, and a couple of Ss. Scott plays good defense and improves to 6-0 on the day. Final score: 324-372.
Game 7: vs. Jay Strieb
Again, I nearly fall asleep at the board; however, I'm awake enough to remember that REPINES is good and awake enough to play it. However, Jay got both blanks late, into a bingo with RaTTENs, and C(R)IMP isn't enough to win. Final score: 363-367.
While the tournament hasn't been officially rated yet, it looks as if I finished 3-4, +43, and with absolutely no ratings change. Not bad for travelling 500 miles on 30 minutes' sleep.
After the tournament, Winter was nice enough to give me a ride back to the train staion, where I was fortunate enough to be able to bump my train ticket up to the train leaving an hour earlier, which in turn was enough to get me on an express bus to Buffalo leaving at 10:30 instead of 1:15. I was back in my house in St. Catharines at 6:30 on Monday morning.
Not a bad 36 hour adventure, eh?