Time to be a big boy
Well, shit. I'm not slated to play another big tournament until nationals- just a few one days here and there. My rating is 1798. Division two at nationals cuts at 1700. So barring an absolutely horrendous run at these one-days, it looks like I really am going to have to play in division one for the first time in my Scrabble career. Sigh.
I'd already conceded that this nationals (for me) would be fun first, Scrabble second. But that being said, I don't want to get my ass handed to me. I know I really have no realistic chance to place in d1. So I don't really have any motivation to study or improve my game like I have in preparation for past nationals. I know that no amount of studying I can get done in ~3 months will get me as far as I need to be. So why bother? I know I'll have to buckle down and learn these words at some point if I ever want to be a top player, so I guess it can't hurt to stop. Bleh. Can't they have a division 1-B? Or a division 1-STEE? or something? It'd be awesome to get a few games in with some true experts, the Nigels and the Wiegands and whatnot. But after I inevitably start 3-4, I won't really be playing any of those guys anyway.
On one hand, this will be cool. I think it'll be a chance to see how I *actually* stack up to other players. No offense to Texas players, but at one-days, I feel like I'm several steps ahead of the field (unless Geoff plays, in which case I'm about 100 steps behind him), and when you're *expected* to outplay your opponent in just about every game, I don't think it's easy to get a good estimate of your true rating.
On the other hand, I feel like apathy will really set in after I'm 6-8, 10-10, or whatever, and I won't be playing my peak Scrabble, so my performance may not be a good measure at all.
I'm not saying nationals won't be fun. Because it will be. But the actual *playing* aspect won't be incredibly exciting. Is there an annotator position open? Do staff members get paid/free room/some sort of monetary compensation? Because that'd probably make me more excited than getting/having to play 31 games of Scrabble in a division where I have no real chance at taking home any money.
And if I do end up playing (and let's face it, that's almost certainly what I'm gonna end up doing), could someone give me a good reason to study words?
I'd already conceded that this nationals (for me) would be fun first, Scrabble second. But that being said, I don't want to get my ass handed to me. I know I really have no realistic chance to place in d1. So I don't really have any motivation to study or improve my game like I have in preparation for past nationals. I know that no amount of studying I can get done in ~3 months will get me as far as I need to be. So why bother? I know I'll have to buckle down and learn these words at some point if I ever want to be a top player, so I guess it can't hurt to stop. Bleh. Can't they have a division 1-B? Or a division 1-STEE? or something? It'd be awesome to get a few games in with some true experts, the Nigels and the Wiegands and whatnot. But after I inevitably start 3-4, I won't really be playing any of those guys anyway.
On one hand, this will be cool. I think it'll be a chance to see how I *actually* stack up to other players. No offense to Texas players, but at one-days, I feel like I'm several steps ahead of the field (unless Geoff plays, in which case I'm about 100 steps behind him), and when you're *expected* to outplay your opponent in just about every game, I don't think it's easy to get a good estimate of your true rating.
On the other hand, I feel like apathy will really set in after I'm 6-8, 10-10, or whatever, and I won't be playing my peak Scrabble, so my performance may not be a good measure at all.
I'm not saying nationals won't be fun. Because it will be. But the actual *playing* aspect won't be incredibly exciting. Is there an annotator position open? Do staff members get paid/free room/some sort of monetary compensation? Because that'd probably make me more excited than getting/having to play 31 games of Scrabble in a division where I have no real chance at taking home any money.
And if I do end up playing (and let's face it, that's almost certainly what I'm gonna end up doing), could someone give me a good reason to study words?