New Orleans revisited
I'm more excited than usual for my next tournament in New Orleans. I must remember to not board on a flight to Reno because that was an uninterrupted tradition for a baker's dozen straight Martin Luther King Weekends. Speaking of Reno, that event and the Redeye have a combined 20 fewer players attending than New Orleans. Even though only New Orleans is a NASPA event of those three, I wasn't expecting attendance of the other two to be so low. Don't look now, but scrabblek8 and/or mthgeek may be Scrabble people of the year sooner than you think.
The only other time I've been to New Orleans was for the Nationals in 2004, when Scrabble was truly at its peak. We were in the midst of our four year deal with ESPN, division 1 itself was bigger than just about every other tournament last year, and Nigel was consistently finishing in 2nd or worse place. Here's what I wrote to cgp after it was over:
------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, August 6, 2004
Time: 4:04 PM
Subject: [cgp] congrats to the runaway Treyn
Apologies for the pun/typo in the subject, but wow, what a performance. And
what acceptance speeches. Not to root against Gibson, but once Trey won the
first game I hoped for a sweep, since my travel accommodations would not allow
me to cheaply fly out later that day, meaning that I would have missed the
aforementioned speeches.
Oh yeah, my performance. 18-12, 30th place, worst ever. That is rather
deceiving, as it was definitely the most exciting Nationals that I had ever
played. I had always fantasized making it to 'the cage' (top 6 or so isolated
tables) and I was honored to be in that area for a few rounds. Unfortunately my
typical day 4 meltdown occurred, and as much as I hate to admit it, I was just
plain unlucky. I'd be lying if I said I played flawlessly, but I felt very
deprived of opportunities to stay in those games. Too many back-to-back blank
bingos, 90 point Z plays, 50 point X plays, etc. Oh well.
Although David and Trey get the biggest congrats, there are a few more I would
like to add, which are as follows, in no particular order:
1. David Pearl, for winning his 3rd different division at the Nationals. Not
quite the accomplishment of Edley's three division 1 titles, but certainly a
unique distinction.
2. New wunderkid Jason Katz-Brown, for not fading until just a little later than
myself. Indeed a threat for the long term. He had one of the more impressive
finds in the tournament - the only 7 in AEFLOP? (a total bingo list will come
in a future message)
3. Chris Cree for 4th place, and for all appreciation he's received,
particularly from this year's two finalists. Also for defeating me for the 15
1/2th time. You LB! :)
4. Lisa Odom for winning the 2nd half with a 13-1-1 record. She was so way
overdue for a streak like that, and appropriately enough at a National
Championship.
5. All the Thai players and Nigel, who continue to seriously threaten at
becoming the first Non-North American champions.
And of course I can't thank everyone enough who organized the event. The list
is too long, but I'll note the more obvious: John and Jane Williams, John Chew,
Sherrie, Laura Klein, and all the division leaders.
List of bingos to come later. See you all next time!
-Joey
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
-----------------------------------------------------
I just don't want to be in that sports bar, when the Saints go over there. Oh over there! Oh over there! Oh over there.....
The only other time I've been to New Orleans was for the Nationals in 2004, when Scrabble was truly at its peak. We were in the midst of our four year deal with ESPN, division 1 itself was bigger than just about every other tournament last year, and Nigel was consistently finishing in 2nd or worse place. Here's what I wrote to cgp after it was over:
------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, August 6, 2004
Time: 4:04 PM
Subject: [cgp] congrats to the runaway Treyn
Apologies for the pun/typo in the subject, but wow, what a performance. And
what acceptance speeches. Not to root against Gibson, but once Trey won the
first game I hoped for a sweep, since my travel accommodations would not allow
me to cheaply fly out later that day, meaning that I would have missed the
aforementioned speeches.
Oh yeah, my performance. 18-12, 30th place, worst ever. That is rather
deceiving, as it was definitely the most exciting Nationals that I had ever
played. I had always fantasized making it to 'the cage' (top 6 or so isolated
tables) and I was honored to be in that area for a few rounds. Unfortunately my
typical day 4 meltdown occurred, and as much as I hate to admit it, I was just
plain unlucky. I'd be lying if I said I played flawlessly, but I felt very
deprived of opportunities to stay in those games. Too many back-to-back blank
bingos, 90 point Z plays, 50 point X plays, etc. Oh well.
Although David and Trey get the biggest congrats, there are a few more I would
like to add, which are as follows, in no particular order:
1. David Pearl, for winning his 3rd different division at the Nationals. Not
quite the accomplishment of Edley's three division 1 titles, but certainly a
unique distinction.
2. New wunderkid Jason Katz-Brown, for not fading until just a little later than
myself. Indeed a threat for the long term. He had one of the more impressive
finds in the tournament - the only 7 in AEFLOP? (a total bingo list will come
in a future message)
3. Chris Cree for 4th place, and for all appreciation he's received,
particularly from this year's two finalists. Also for defeating me for the 15
1/2th time. You LB! :)
4. Lisa Odom for winning the 2nd half with a 13-1-1 record. She was so way
overdue for a streak like that, and appropriately enough at a National
Championship.
5. All the Thai players and Nigel, who continue to seriously threaten at
becoming the first Non-North American champions.
And of course I can't thank everyone enough who organized the event. The list
is too long, but I'll note the more obvious: John and Jane Williams, John Chew,
Sherrie, Laura Klein, and all the division leaders.
List of bingos to come later. See you all next time!
-Joey
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
-----------------------------------------------------
I just don't want to be in that sports bar, when the Saints go over there. Oh over there! Oh over there! Oh over there.....